Chapter 7
The Rivalry Begins
Samus ran as fast as she could to the sight of the wreck, tripping a few times along the way. The closer Samus came to the downed ship, the more wreckage she came across. The ship had crashed into a marshy area of Crateria where a few underground tunnels led to flooded areas that connected to the Sea of Maridia. The flames burned about the ship causing some of the nearby water to boil. The steam from the water condensed on Samus' visor making it harder for her to see. Samus looked around the wreck trying to locate an opening or door in which to enter the ship. She finally spotted a hole in the side and headed for it. She cautiously poked her head into the ship; the only light came from the burning consoles and fuel lines. Sparks flew from ripped wires that swung mindlessly about. Samus slowly stepped inside heading for a monitor that was flashing. The keys on the console were useless, each one inscribed with the earth's English alphabet. The monitor only flashed two words, "Critical Condition". Samus noticed a few bodies on the floor and she walked over to them and immediately noticed each throat had been slashed. One body was impaled in the wall, its chest torn wide open, and the human's face was frozen in terror. She turned from the bodies and noticing a door in the roof tried to reach it. Samus somersaulted up onto a nearby I-beam where she leaned over and opened the door. A slew of wires fell through the opening and Samus jumped in surprise as she noticed a body entangled in the mess. She recovered and swung up into the next room where she found more consoles ripped from the walls. Glass and debris covered the floor; the smell of burning flesh invaded her nose. She could hear whimpering higher in the vessel and quickly made her way through two other rooms. She came into a lab like room, test tubes and other medical equipment was shattered and thrown all over the room.
~What in the world~ Samus thought as her visor began to flash red. "Unknown Life form", Samus heard in her ears. Looking around Samus spotted a blue and yellow floating molecule and it was heading straight for Samus. Not taking any chances, Samus fired at the thing, disintegrating it into nothing. Samus turned around at the sound of whimpering. She noticed a consol on top of a body. She ran over and lifted the debris off the man. The man's face was swollen, his eyes crusted over with goop and blood was running from his mouth.
"What happened here?" Samus asked.
"It was horrible.", the man gasped coughing blood onto Samus' suit, "the one.who.caused.this..was....the". Before the man could finish he took his last breath and died.
"Damn!" Samus said getting up and continuing with her investigation of the ship. She was interrupted by a loud thud on the topside of the ship. Samus quickly dropped to the bottom of the ship and exited. She stopped and looked up to the top of the wreck. She could see someone or something up there. She started climbing the side of the ship. The closer up she got, the more she recognized someone talking and another screaming. Samus peaked over the top in hopes of seeing the source of talk. She immediately recognized Old Bird's voice. The other voice she could not discern until the figure popped out from behind a thruster. It was the leader of the space pirates, the red dragon Ridley.
"How many times have I told you to respect me", Ridley said holding the small Chozo in his claws.
"No one will ever respect you or your evil way", Old Bird replied defiantly.
"So be it then", Ridley spat throwing the fragile Chozo to the ground.
Samus could watch no more, "Stop It!" She yelled jumping to the top and firing a missile in Ridleys direction. The missile exploded just in front of Ridley creating more smoke then damage. Samus grabbed Old Bird and began descending back to the ground leaving a coughing and confused Ridley behind. Once on the ground, Samus took Old Bird behind some rocks for cover.
"Old Bird? Old Bird?" Samus said slowly shaking the old Chozo. Old Bird moaned in response.
Ridley appeared on the far side of the wreckage searching for the culprit who evaded him. "Show yourself cowardly Chozo!" Ridley yelled throwing around debris in anger.
Samus turned to face her newest challenge only to be stopped by Old Bird. "No child.you must not.fight him.you", he said wincing in pain before blacking out.
"I will avenge this crime of hate Old Bird", Samus said with a burning fury in her eyes. She would no longer sit back a watch helplessly as the space pirates destroyed what she had known to be her family. Samus leapt from behind the rock, landing just to the right of Ridley, "Here I am!"
Ridley looked down at Samus and cracked what Samus assumed to be a smile. "A human?" Ridley mused. "How did you survive that wreck? No matter, I will rip you apart like the others."
"I'm not from that mess. My name is Samus Aran and I am the protector of the Chozo. You Ridley will pay for the pain and suffering you have put my tribe through.
Ridley began to laugh, "you.protector.hahahahahahaha, yeah and I'm really an angel."
"ENOUGH! Your nothing but a monster", Samus said.
Ridley's face changed from a smile to a leering sneer, "Monster? Alright then pawn, if you wish to play hero.lets play!" Ridley swung his tail at Samus catching her off guard. She was smashed to the ground and she shrieked in surprise. Samus immediately recovered and rolled out of the way as Ridley's tail smashed into the ground where Samus had just been. Coming out of the crouch, Samus fired her canon at Ridley. The energy harmlessly ran through his body before dissipating into the air.
"That tickled. Why not try this on for size", Ridley laughed spewing hot flames, which engulfed Samus. The suit heated up fast and Samus could feel a burning sensation around the joints of the suit. She quickly dove into a puddle of water, extinguishing the flames. She rose out, the steam lifting off of her suit. Thunder rolled by as the rain began to come down heavier.
"Do you really think you can defeat me with that scrawny suit of armor?"
Samus ran at Ridley bringing her right foot around for a kick. Her foot connected with Ridley's beak, jerking his head back hard. Ridley yelped then retaliated by slamming his claw into Samus' head, causing her helmet to snap loose. Samus' visor went blank whereupon she removed it. She laid face down on the ground motionless.
"You're just another measly human. What challenge is there fighting your weak race", Ridley asked walking toward the fallen fighter. Once over her, Ridley bent over to turn Samus over. He wanted to see the face of this fighter who had to his surprise caught him off guard. He turned Samus over and his face turned into a look of pure surprise, "What the hell? You're a girl!"
Samus opened her eyes and smiled. She brought her canon up to his face firing a missile at him. Ridley flew back from the explosion sliding across the wet ground. Ridley screamed in pain as blood began pouring from his wounded eye. Ridley, holding his eye, flew up into the air, "Outsmarted by a human, a women nonetheless! This can't be"
"Believe it Ridley", Samus said getting on her feet, "prepare to die." Samus aimed her canon at Ridley, setting him inside her cross hairs. Ridley dodged an oncoming missile.
"No Miss Aran, I think not", Ridley said flying higher up, "mark my words Samus Aran, I shall be back for you. You may have me in check but I will be damned you've mated me." Ridley turned and began his climb into space. Samus fired her missiles blindly toward Ridley till he disappeared into the clouds.
"Damn it!" Samus turned and headed back to Old Bird, picking up her helmet on the way. Samus picked up the unconscious Chozo and headed back home leaving the flaming wreck to fight for itself against the torrential rains.
Samus ran as fast as she could to the sight of the wreck, tripping a few times along the way. The closer Samus came to the downed ship, the more wreckage she came across. The ship had crashed into a marshy area of Crateria where a few underground tunnels led to flooded areas that connected to the Sea of Maridia. The flames burned about the ship causing some of the nearby water to boil. The steam from the water condensed on Samus' visor making it harder for her to see. Samus looked around the wreck trying to locate an opening or door in which to enter the ship. She finally spotted a hole in the side and headed for it. She cautiously poked her head into the ship; the only light came from the burning consoles and fuel lines. Sparks flew from ripped wires that swung mindlessly about. Samus slowly stepped inside heading for a monitor that was flashing. The keys on the console were useless, each one inscribed with the earth's English alphabet. The monitor only flashed two words, "Critical Condition". Samus noticed a few bodies on the floor and she walked over to them and immediately noticed each throat had been slashed. One body was impaled in the wall, its chest torn wide open, and the human's face was frozen in terror. She turned from the bodies and noticing a door in the roof tried to reach it. Samus somersaulted up onto a nearby I-beam where she leaned over and opened the door. A slew of wires fell through the opening and Samus jumped in surprise as she noticed a body entangled in the mess. She recovered and swung up into the next room where she found more consoles ripped from the walls. Glass and debris covered the floor; the smell of burning flesh invaded her nose. She could hear whimpering higher in the vessel and quickly made her way through two other rooms. She came into a lab like room, test tubes and other medical equipment was shattered and thrown all over the room.
~What in the world~ Samus thought as her visor began to flash red. "Unknown Life form", Samus heard in her ears. Looking around Samus spotted a blue and yellow floating molecule and it was heading straight for Samus. Not taking any chances, Samus fired at the thing, disintegrating it into nothing. Samus turned around at the sound of whimpering. She noticed a consol on top of a body. She ran over and lifted the debris off the man. The man's face was swollen, his eyes crusted over with goop and blood was running from his mouth.
"What happened here?" Samus asked.
"It was horrible.", the man gasped coughing blood onto Samus' suit, "the one.who.caused.this..was....the". Before the man could finish he took his last breath and died.
"Damn!" Samus said getting up and continuing with her investigation of the ship. She was interrupted by a loud thud on the topside of the ship. Samus quickly dropped to the bottom of the ship and exited. She stopped and looked up to the top of the wreck. She could see someone or something up there. She started climbing the side of the ship. The closer up she got, the more she recognized someone talking and another screaming. Samus peaked over the top in hopes of seeing the source of talk. She immediately recognized Old Bird's voice. The other voice she could not discern until the figure popped out from behind a thruster. It was the leader of the space pirates, the red dragon Ridley.
"How many times have I told you to respect me", Ridley said holding the small Chozo in his claws.
"No one will ever respect you or your evil way", Old Bird replied defiantly.
"So be it then", Ridley spat throwing the fragile Chozo to the ground.
Samus could watch no more, "Stop It!" She yelled jumping to the top and firing a missile in Ridleys direction. The missile exploded just in front of Ridley creating more smoke then damage. Samus grabbed Old Bird and began descending back to the ground leaving a coughing and confused Ridley behind. Once on the ground, Samus took Old Bird behind some rocks for cover.
"Old Bird? Old Bird?" Samus said slowly shaking the old Chozo. Old Bird moaned in response.
Ridley appeared on the far side of the wreckage searching for the culprit who evaded him. "Show yourself cowardly Chozo!" Ridley yelled throwing around debris in anger.
Samus turned to face her newest challenge only to be stopped by Old Bird. "No child.you must not.fight him.you", he said wincing in pain before blacking out.
"I will avenge this crime of hate Old Bird", Samus said with a burning fury in her eyes. She would no longer sit back a watch helplessly as the space pirates destroyed what she had known to be her family. Samus leapt from behind the rock, landing just to the right of Ridley, "Here I am!"
Ridley looked down at Samus and cracked what Samus assumed to be a smile. "A human?" Ridley mused. "How did you survive that wreck? No matter, I will rip you apart like the others."
"I'm not from that mess. My name is Samus Aran and I am the protector of the Chozo. You Ridley will pay for the pain and suffering you have put my tribe through.
Ridley began to laugh, "you.protector.hahahahahahaha, yeah and I'm really an angel."
"ENOUGH! Your nothing but a monster", Samus said.
Ridley's face changed from a smile to a leering sneer, "Monster? Alright then pawn, if you wish to play hero.lets play!" Ridley swung his tail at Samus catching her off guard. She was smashed to the ground and she shrieked in surprise. Samus immediately recovered and rolled out of the way as Ridley's tail smashed into the ground where Samus had just been. Coming out of the crouch, Samus fired her canon at Ridley. The energy harmlessly ran through his body before dissipating into the air.
"That tickled. Why not try this on for size", Ridley laughed spewing hot flames, which engulfed Samus. The suit heated up fast and Samus could feel a burning sensation around the joints of the suit. She quickly dove into a puddle of water, extinguishing the flames. She rose out, the steam lifting off of her suit. Thunder rolled by as the rain began to come down heavier.
"Do you really think you can defeat me with that scrawny suit of armor?"
Samus ran at Ridley bringing her right foot around for a kick. Her foot connected with Ridley's beak, jerking his head back hard. Ridley yelped then retaliated by slamming his claw into Samus' head, causing her helmet to snap loose. Samus' visor went blank whereupon she removed it. She laid face down on the ground motionless.
"You're just another measly human. What challenge is there fighting your weak race", Ridley asked walking toward the fallen fighter. Once over her, Ridley bent over to turn Samus over. He wanted to see the face of this fighter who had to his surprise caught him off guard. He turned Samus over and his face turned into a look of pure surprise, "What the hell? You're a girl!"
Samus opened her eyes and smiled. She brought her canon up to his face firing a missile at him. Ridley flew back from the explosion sliding across the wet ground. Ridley screamed in pain as blood began pouring from his wounded eye. Ridley, holding his eye, flew up into the air, "Outsmarted by a human, a women nonetheless! This can't be"
"Believe it Ridley", Samus said getting on her feet, "prepare to die." Samus aimed her canon at Ridley, setting him inside her cross hairs. Ridley dodged an oncoming missile.
"No Miss Aran, I think not", Ridley said flying higher up, "mark my words Samus Aran, I shall be back for you. You may have me in check but I will be damned you've mated me." Ridley turned and began his climb into space. Samus fired her missiles blindly toward Ridley till he disappeared into the clouds.
"Damn it!" Samus turned and headed back to Old Bird, picking up her helmet on the way. Samus picked up the unconscious Chozo and headed back home leaving the flaming wreck to fight for itself against the torrential rains.