Heart of a Dragon
By Karasuhato, the "Raven Dove"
(karasuhato@ecmail.i-p.com)
and
Ultima Mayu
(mayu_roxx@hotmail.com)
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The "Metroid" series is copyright of Nintendo co. ltd.
"Rudra no Hihou" (Rudra's Secret Treasure) is copyright of Squaresoft and Graphical Corporations CROWD inc.
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Karasuhato's Key/Legend to story elementals:
= A character's thoughts
italics=character's point of view
CAPITAL LETTERS= character talking loudly
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Escape!
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It was time for Riza to get up. She had enough resting up done for herself. However, Ridley was still exhausted and decided to lay down some more. Riza tightly shut her eyes and made herself glow radiantly.
"Meifa, please, give me your power..." Riza thought as she was making some pieces of silk, satin and yang (holy) crystals materialize in front of her. The young woman then started to form silvery feathers on her arms, and getting a tail of silver feathers as well. Her feet were also becoming talons as well. Her red hair was now full and wispy, free from her pony tail holder and headband. Then, the divine fabric and yang crystals started to wrap around her body, forming itself as a type of armor. The elastic armor had a yang crystal in her chest and two other crystals on her wings.
As the room softly glowed, Ridley slightly opened one eye to get a glance at Riza's transformation and was quite amazed at it. As Riza turned around, the dragon shut his eye and went back to sleep. Riza felt like she had some undone business that needed to be done, so she decided to leave the room, have something to eat and observe the surroundings . Ridley woke up again, and found some of Riza's silver feathers, crystal debris and her now cleaned armor and garments. He took all of those objects Riza left behind, and went back to bed, with the objects in his great arms.
As Riza observed the surroundings of the ship, making sure nothing was to go wrong, she went back and checked up on the Aeonese Dragon.
"Ridley......" Riza softly said, smiling. Ridley lifted his head and looked up at the new form of Riza.
"Is that you Riza...?" Ridley asked, being rather amazed at Riza's new form. It was quite similar to the being called Meifa.
"Yes Ridley, are you impressed?" Riza asked. "It helps me become more powerful. Or, do you like my other form better?"
"I don't care. Whatever makes you feel better." Ridley responded, smiling.
"Very well." Riza said softly. "Anyways, I need to check how safe we are and protect you guys from any harm." Riza then flew away. Ridley started to feel slightly concerned.
"Please be careful Riza! Danger could lurk anywhere....."
---
Out in the voids of space, away from home, Scion, Surlent and Dune were being introduced to the people whom worked with the Galactic Federation. They really did not want anything to do with the Galactic Federation's ideas of pursuing the Aeonese mother-ship, but what choice did they have? They were trapped.
"Okay guys, do you all know what you need to do?" Samus asked the men with the Jades. Scion, Surlent and Dune looked tense and felt nervous, but they knew what the bounty hunter and decided to play along until they find Riza.
"Eeeeh, I guess we have to find out where Riza went to?" Surlent asked nervously, his stomach being tied into a painful knot.
" And we must destroy the wicked dragons from Planet Aeon that turned against you...?" Scion stuttered. ".....uh....am I....right?"
"But we spare Riza, since she is one of us." Dune told Samus. The bounty hunter nodded her head and looked rather pleased.
"Indeed!" Samus replied, having a determined look on her face, brushing away her orange hair. "Our plan is to spare Riza, but get rid of a dragonian named 'Ridley'. Got that?" All three men nodded their heads, but had a look of great discomfort on their faces.
"Okay......I.....got that." Dune stuttered nervously. Samus noticed the looks on Scion, Surlent and Dune's face and felt rather concerned.
"What's wrong?" Samus asked. All the guys then started to smile sheepishly.
"Nothing! Nothing at all!" boasted Scion. Samus gave the Jade heroes an odd, concerned look.
"Okay. Very well then." Samus said as she exited the room where Scion, Surlent and Dune were staying. All of the sudden, Surlent, the leader, thought up of a plan.
"We know Riza was not kidnapped. She decided to go along with the Aeonese crew, right?" Surlent asked Dune and Scion. Both nodded their heads.
"Right!"
"Plus, she wanted to help one of them reform." Dune responded. Surlent started to take off his hat and scratch his head.
"Yes. Well, as we find their mother ship, with all our speed, we are going to catch up to Riza and her 'acquaintance' and then, we are all going to use the escape pods and get out of the ship as fast as possible, with Riza and her Aeonese partner."
"Uhhhh....Surlent." Scion said nervously. "Won't Samus find out that we separated from the Galactic Federation?"
"She might....." Surlent sighed. Dune had another idea.
"Hey Surlent!" Dune spouted. "Since we have the power of the ancient divine heroes, we could use their powers and abilities in case anything goes wrong."
"Okay! Perfect!" Surlent responded happily. "I was thinking the same thing as well."
"Ha ha ha! I don't think anyone is a match for the divine powers and abilities we have." chuckled Scion, being his brave self again. Then, before they knew it, some sirens started to go off like crazy.
"ALERT! ALERT! WE ARE APPROACHING THE SPACE VESSEL HANA-NIM, WHICH BELONGS TO THE PLANET AEON! ALL MEMBERS OF THE GALACTIC FEDERATION, GET THE SPACE VESSEL AND RID THE CRIMINALS THAT MAY LURK THERE!"
"Guys!" Samus shouted, bursting into the guys' room, fully armored. "Get ready, we are going to raid the Aeonese mother ship!"
"Yes Ma'am!" the men responded as Samus left the room frantically.
"Remember our plans?" Surlent whispered in Scion and Dune's ears, reminding them of the plans.
"Yes, we do." Scion said quietly. Dune started to look impatient.
"Now let's go right now, before Samus does!" So Scion, Dune and Surlent started to change into their forms that were passed down from the deities Saizou, Mitora and Houzhen. Scion became his giant horned knight form, Surlent started to form some radiance in his garments and Dune had extra pieces of web-like armor around him. All of them tried to sneak around, finding an exit way for them to leave without Samus or any other Galactic Federation members knowing about their escape. So Surlent, being wise as he is, turn off the emergency exit alarms and find an exit way for him, Dune and Scion to escape out of. Surlent carefully opened up the emergency exit door, and as they jumped out of the Galactic Federation ship and Surlent created a crystal bubble for him and the others to safely float down to the Aeonese mother ship, the "Hana-Nim".
As the Galactic Federation got pre-paired in their special exploration gears, Samus Aran started to have a strange feeling about the people from Planet Dai-Chi.
"Okay, we got almost everyone.....anyone missing?" the head chairman shouted out around the big crowd of space warriors. Samus started to raise her left hand into the air, trying to get the chairman's attention. "What is it Samus?"
"I don't think the foreigners have arrived here yet!" Everyone in the room looked suspicious.
"OH REALLY?" asked the chairman. "What are they up to now? Did you tell them that we were going to evacuate the Galactic Federation ship Samus and attack the Hana-nim?"
"Yes, I did, HONESTLY! Where could those Dai-Chi bastard have gone to at a time like this?" The chairman started to look concerned and had to think of idea, and quick.
"OKAY EVERYONE, BEFORE WE GO TO THE HANA NIM, SEARCH FOR THE WARRIORS FROM PLANET DAI-CHI!"
As every person and being on the Galactic Federation ship were searching around, Surlent, Scion and Dune started to explore the Hana-Nim for themselves, hoping to search for Riza and her partner she was helping out, warning them of a planned attack. As they started to search every corridor, a couple of Aeonese dragon guards stood in their way, getting ready to attack.
"What are you doing here?" snarled one of the guards.
"Are you with the Galactic Federation and planning to attack us?" another guard asked in a rather stern, gruff sort of voice.
"What is the meaning of this?" Scion asked, looking like he was ready to brandish his Apocalypse sword. Surlent and Dune jumped in the way, trying to prevent the Aeonese and Scion from battling.
"SCION!" Surlent shouted. "REMEMBER WHY WE ARE HERE?"
"WE ARE HERE TO HELP, NOT TO START FIGHTS!" Dune reminded Scion. All of the sudden, Scion's life jade in his right eye socket started to glow frantically, which triggered Surlent's Re-birth jade and Dune's Death jade to glow as well, making the Aeonese dragons back off, shielding their eyes from the radiant light.
"Good Lord! These people, they........" One guard stuttered hysterically. "..... THEY HAVE THE JADE! Just like the other one that is here!" Hearing those very words, the Jade warriors' glowing stopped, after hearing about another one with the jade.....
.....RIZA!
"Where is that one with the Jade?" Surlent asked frantically. One of the guards just shrugged their shoulders, looking clueless.
"Eh? Oh, she's with Ridley." one guard responded.
"Who is Ridley?" Dune asked. Another guard stepped out.
"Ridley is the one that girl with the jade protects." the guard responded. "She is also helping him reform as well. Seems like he takes quite a liking to that young woman."
"Where are they though!?" Scion shouted.
"Please, this is important." Surlent pled. "The Galactic Federation is here, we must help them." One guard made a signal for the three men to come here.
"Come, follow us!" the lead guard said as he hovered in the air. While Surlent, Scion, Dune and the Aeonese search around, Riza, in her deity form, felt the presence of the others whom carry the jades.
"Ah......Aaaaaaaah!" moaned Riza in slight agony. "I can sense the others being here! They want to tell us something important." Ridley dropped some items in surprise, hearing what Riza had to say and how she was feeling.
"The others? Who might they be?" Ridley asked in concern, holding onto Riza's shoulders.
"The others....WITH THE SACRED JADE!" wailed Riza. Ridley's eyes widened and started to look around.
"The 'Jade'? Others?" Ridley muttered as he shut his eyes tightly.
It started with landing on Dai-Chi.........
"I could help!"
"A few years ago, I was one of the four heroes that stopped the cycle of 'Rise and Downfall' that once threatened our planet. The four elder gods gave up their life force and gave it to me and the others that stopped the cataclysm." Surlent shows all the Aeonese the Re-Birth jade, indicating that he is a neo-Rudra.
"By the way, my name is Surlent. I am one of the new generation of sacred heroes. This Jade is the proof of great godly-hood."
I get it now! I GET IT! Riza then appears.
"Even though I was born out of 'chastity' (where a woman is impregnated by a godly force), my 'father' seemed to have died when I was rather young, so I have never known him very well. However, my grandfather is alive and well, so are my friends. I befriended Scion, Surlent and Dune, whom are also destined to become a Neo-Rudra, like me. We saved life on the planet together. Then, there is Garlyle, a rebellious young man from the city of Babel, which is not too far from here. Even though he has a crush on me, I just like him as a friend or brotherly figure! And there is Pipin, young prince of the Reptilian Hahchu-Rui race. Marina, the Mizushu-Sai's princess and the children of Babel"
After these thoughts, Ridley's eyes snapped open.
"You...mean the mage I ran into is your friend Riza?" Riza looked at Ridley, looking rather anxious.
"You mean Surlent, right?"
"Eh, yes." Ridley said nervously. Riza started to fall to the ground again, clutching her head. "What's wrong???"
"They are telling me........" gasped Riza, her head throbbing with pain. She curled herself into a tight ball and held onto her head. "........That some intruders are coming for us. The ones with the Jades tell me that they are going to help us out of here when the intruders come." More pain started to hit Riza's mind. "The intruders are.... are....are......EGH!"
"WHO ARE THEY?" cried Ridley in shock.
"They are..........GALACTIC FEDERATION!!!" Riza shouted before she passed out on the floor. As Ridley stares down at Riza and feels her forehead, General Arvis, Kary and the Aeonese doctor, Lagua, came bursting into the room in distress.
"What happened now Ridley?" sighed Arvis, always feeling suspicious of Ridley. Kary elbowed Arvis and gave him a dirty look.
"I did not hurt her, I swear!" pled Ridley. "Riza is not feeling well." Dr. Lagua nodded his head and looked quite determined. He put his hand against Riza's burning forehead.
"Yes, she feels quite burning hot." Lagua said softly. "Definitely a fever. Did she act strange or something?"
"Yes doctor." replied Ridley, lifting the young woman into his arms. "She saw some horrible things happen to her."
"GUYS COME ON!" a voice shouted. "The Galactic Federation is after us!"
"Where is Riza, and Ridley?" another voice shouted in distress.
"I hope they are okay. We got to help them out of here!" As Kary and Arvis cleared the way, great beings alongside the Aeonese guards, came bursting into the room where Ridley, Arvis, Kary, Lagua and Riza stayed. They all had a special Jade imbedded into a part of their body. One being looked extremely familiar to Ridley.
"Ss....s...SURLENT?" Ridley gasped. The being nodded his head.
"Yes, it is I. We are here to lead you all out!" As Surlent helped the Aeonese out of the room, Scion noticed Riza being unconscious and started to feel quite suspicious about the whole situation.
"Now how the hell did Riza become unconscious?" Scion asked. "Did you do something to her?"
"No, I didn't" Ridley responded. Dune and Surlent agreed with the Aeonese dragon.
"Scion, come on!" Dune laughed, nudging Scion.
"I think Riza is not feeling good." sighed Surlent, looking down at Riza in the great dragon's arms. "I could sense it inside her."
Everyone on the Hana-Nim started to run(and fly) for their lives and warned a few others about the Galactic Federation's plans on hitting the Hana-Nim. Everyone started to get every tool, weapon and anything else that could help them defend themselves from the intruders. Everyone then saw a nearby place to find refuge. THE STORAGE ROOM!
"Come on everybody! We are almost there!" cried out Arvis as everyone started to frantically follow him. As everyone started to make their way to the Storage Room, they were surrounded by members of the Galactic federation.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Shouted the Chairman of the Galactic Federation. Surrounding the chairman, was some people from Planet Aeon, the descendants of the Chozo refugees on Planet Hatikva and to Ridley's nasty surprise........
SAMUS ARAN! IN NEW ARMOR!
"SAMUS! I knew you were the one that planned this!" Ridley shouted. Samus held her gun cannon up to Ridley's head.
"RIDLEY! LET THE GIRL GO." Samus commanded.
"We know of your crime Ridley." Azrael snarled. "Why did you capture that poor girl?"
"LISTEN!" Surlent shouted, stepping out of the crowd. Samus looked confused under her armor.
"What is it?" Samus asked.
"Ridley did NOT capture Riza. She decided to go along and help this creature, Ridley." Surlent pled. "Ridley has been through enough already. Riza is there to help him out and reform. "
"Yeah Samus." Kary responded. "He was once a criminal, but the days of Zebesian piracy is long gone!"
"Really.....?" Samus responded. She then took the gun cannon away from Ridley's head and decided to listen to what everyone has to say. Suddenly, Riza started to slightly twitch around in Ridley's arms, her eyes slightly opening.
"Wha....what's happening?" yawned Riza as she started to gain consciousness. To her surprise, she saw Samus, Azrael and the others from the Galactic Federation surrounding them. This gotten Riza confused and rather provoked at the same time. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US!?"
"Young woman, we have came to save you from that horrible being!" Azrael told Riza.
"What did he do to you?" Samus asked in concern, stroking Riza's bright pink face.
"Nothing happened." moaned Riza. "I was NOT kidnapped. I want to help Ridley and his people. They need our help, please listen. If I was kidnapped, I could fight back and escape."
"TRUTHFULLY! Did Ridley hurt you in any way?" Azrael asked again, looking concerned.
"NO! HE DID NOT!!!" shouted Riza in anger as she started to get in the position to attack. This now made Surlent, Scion, Dune, Ridley and his crew feel worried about the young woman.
"Why are you doing this?" cried Samus as Riza started to approach the bounty hunter.
"LOOK! I want you to LEAVE ME, RIDLEY and MY FRIENDS, ALONE!" snarled Riza as she jumped into the air and flew. "If you don't, you will suffer the same fate as 'The Nothingness from Beyond' one fateful day!" Riza then started to shoot out beams of light at Samus and the Galactic Federation.
"You wanna play rough, huh?" Samus chuckled as she pointed her gun cannon at Riza. No matter how much she tried to shoot at Riza, the young woman with the Jade would always quickly dodge all the lasers and bullets Samus and the Federation shot out at her. Being rather dismayed, Scion came into the scene, jumped into the air and fetched Riza.
"RIZA! STOP THIS AT ONCE!" shouted Scion as he slapped Riza across the face, making her snap out of her hysteria. Riza looked around and started to feel humiliated.
"So sorry everyone." whimpered Riza in pain. "We......must.......go........UGH!"
"Riza, don't worry, all will be fine!" Ridley said as he approached Riza and Scion, both of them lending a helping hand to the dazed and confused Neo-Rudra. Surlent, Dune, Arvis, Kary and Dr. Lagua started to follow behind them, keeping a watchful eye on both their crew and Galactic Federation.
"Hey, humanoids, why are you going?" shouted the Chairman of the Galactic Federation, seeing Scion, Surlent and Dune leaving them. Three of the men looked back at the chairman.
"Leave us alone!" scolded Scion.
"We found our destiny right here." Surlent responded. The chairman turned crimson with rage.
"WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT! COME BACK HERE OR I'LL..........."
"No use." sighed Samus. "They know what they wanted, they know their destiny. So let them be!"
"But Samus, they are accompanying RIDLEY, the most infamous Space Raider EVER!"
"No use chairman." Azrael softly said, rubbing the chairman's sore shoulders. "I think they will watch over Ridley just fine. Besides, there are no more Space Pirates and no more Mother Brain to help him out anymore, so he needs guidance from a force that seems much more civilized and less treacherous." the Chairman just stared at Azrael and Samus, feeling rather odd about the whole situation.
"Very well then." the Chairman sighed in disappointment. "We might as well go...."
"GOD I HATE THIS JOB!"
As the Galactic Federation started to leave, the Aeonese and the ones chosen by the "Jade" had another thing on their hands. A new planet and new frontier was to approach all of them. The atmosphere was right for the beings, so they decided to safely land on this new frontier.
---
As the Galactic Federation left the Hana-Nim, the Chairman went into his own private room on the ship, throwing things around and kicking the walls.
"Damn, damn, DAAAAAAMN!" the Chairman shouted in rage as he torn things off his wall. "No, no, Ridley changed. Don't hurt him. Oh no, that girl from Dai-Chi was not captured, she just wants to help! GRRRRRR! I.....HATE.....MY.......JOB!!!" As the chairman blew his fit, chief officer Gulim-Che came into the room, feeling quite concerned.
"Are you okay Kilmer?" Gulim-Che asked, scratching his head. The chairman Kilmer just looked at the young Chozo, breathing heavily, sort of like hyper-ventilating.
"Those god damn humanoids idiots from Dai-Chi. Damn that Ridley! Are those humanoids so stupid or something?" Gulim-Che just looked at Kilmer blankly.
"Actually, about the humanoid race on Dai-Chi, they are very smart." Gulim-Che responded. "Four of them fought off the cycle of Rise and Downfall on their planet, remember the news?"
"Then why are they believing everything that bastard Ridley tells them?" sneered chairman Kilmer. Gulim-Che just sighed and shook his head.
"You don't get it sir. I think Ridley changed his ways. Remember, Mother Bran and Zebes are no more. They have been gone for almost a decade now." Kilmer then dropped his head and gripped onto his bed.
"I know.......I know!" he sighed, sounding quite out of breath. "I *huff* still don't *gasp* believe Ridley. Sometime, I want something other than those crazy people from Dai-Chi to watch over them."
"But chairman, those people are really a race of Demi-Gods. They can handle it, honestly! Don't you......." Gulim-Che was suddenly cut off.
"I heard enough of this! I don't care if the humanoids are really the people that found Atlantis, Mu and Lemuria! I still want to send out some people to monitor them, since Azrael and Samus refused. I'll say it once and say it again Che, I STILL DON'T TRUST RIDLEY!"
"Very well....." Gulim-Che said as he left the room, leaving the chairman alone in his messy room and his sore feet.
While in the meantime, Samus started to feel tired, when suddenly, some virus bit her and traveled into her body. She started to rush to the restroom and felt really ill. Azrael, hearing her making agonizing noises in the restroom, started to fly out of his place of residence and decided to check up on the Bounty Hunter.
"Are you okay?" Azrael asked, knocking on the door. The toilet started to flush and Samus started to stagger out of the room, feeling quite nauseated, but still looked ambitious.
"Don't worry......Uhhhhh, I am fine." Samus slurred out. "I will be fine, I won't go! I will......" with those words, Samus passed out, clutching to her sore torso. Azrael started to lift up Samus and put her back into her bedroom.
"I think you need to rest up before going on anymore adventures." Azrael whispered as he put Samus into bed and got ready to leave the room, hoping for Samus to be safety.