Chapter 6
Tourian and Mother Brain
Samus had been exploring tunnels for the past four hours trying to find the Metroid creature or the being Ridley had called Mother Brain. She had finally found a room near the top of the first vertical shaft she had encountered. She ran through the tunnel and entered the next room after destroying the red door. The room contained what looked like to pedestals. Samus walked over to them and after touching one of them a light began to flicker before a holographic image of Kraid appeared on top of it. Samus ran her hand through the image in amazement. She walked over to the other pedestal and placed her hand on it telling herself that an image of Ridley would soon pop up. Within a minute the flickering light stopped shimmering bringing into view the ominous figure of Ridley.
"So what do these holograms do?"
As if on queue a low rumble started on the far side of the room. A small space became visible under the statue and Samus quickly morphed into her ball and dropped into the passageway. At the end was a drop off into Brinstar's acidic sands. She stopped and wondered what would happen next. Again as if answering her questions a small bridge began to extend from the far side of the room. She quickly crossed and it soon disappeared again. She bomb jumped out of the other side and after returning to normal entered the next room. She found herself in an elevator shaft. She quickly jumped on and began her descend down into a new area.
When the elevator stopped, Samus found herself surrounded by cement blocks, which had obviously been imported in seeing that they were not native to Zebes. Wires and tubes ran throughout the shaft from which she was about to descend. Ledges below her were made of some type of piping. As she went down Samus began noticing a slight chirping sound. Near the bottom of the shaft, a creature emerged from behind one of the pipes and began floating toward Samus. The green exterior skin of the creature dripped of slime and was transparent. The creature's innards were visible through its transparent skin and Samus could make out three distinct nerve bundles within it. Fangs jutted from the bottom side of the creature giving it a slight resemblance to an earth being called a jellyfish. As the creature came closer Samus could see how big the creature actually was; almost half the size of Samus herself. Samus scanned the creature as it came into range but couldn't find a match for the creature in the Zebesian creature index. She switched to a galaxy size search and still found nothing. It wasn't until she searched within two light-years from the planet did she come across the creatures origins.
"Metroid (Alpha): A native creature of planet SR-388, the Metroid is an energy sucking creature. When exposed to beta-gamma rays, this being has the ability to grow into an advanced form of a Metroid of the beta type. Metroids are particularly vulnerable to weapons of the frozen type and ice elements. Metroids do not have eyes in their alpha stage but sense surrounding through unknown means; many scientists assume it to be through radar like functions."
"I finally found you, you little sucker", she said thinking how literal that statement actually was. She armed her ice beam ready to take on the floating creature. She took aim and fired as the Metroid charged her. The Metroid seemed to sense the oncoming beam and quickly rose over the attack, which barely missed the creature. It quickly swooped down and latched onto Samus' helmet. Samus could feel the fangs trying to break through the armor, but stopped when the satisfying thirst for energy was quenched by the suit. A message appeared on Samus' visor.
"WARNING! Energy level drastically decreasing. Unknown cause of drainage."
Samus tried dislodging herself from the being but couldn't do so and she began panicking. She tried firing at the creature but couldn't bring her arm up high enough to fire at it. She rolled into the morph ball but with no help. She laid a few bombs and upon explosion the creature was thrown from Samus' suit. She unrolled and quickly aimed at the Metroid as it began to charge her again. She waited until it was nearly on top of her and then she fired. The creature shrieked and froze in place. Samus fired missiles at the creature destroying it after five hits. Samus collected the energy left behind and continued down the shaft.
"Start Log: I have come across the Metroid threat and destroyed it. End Log."
Samus continued through the next door and found more Metroids awaiting her. Once she was sensed, the creatures chirped excitedly at there newfound dinner. They quickly charged her and Samus destroyed them as they attacked.
"Start Log: I am too late. The Space Pirates have successfully cloned the Metroid and now they inhabit the interior of Zebes. There are still no sign of Mother Brain. End Log."
Samus continued through Tourian destroying the persistent Metroids that seemed to lurk within every room. Samus found herself constantly plagued by Rinkos, a small fire ring creature that appears out of nowhere to attack its prey. If Samus destroyed one Rinko then another two would replace it. In order to keep her enemy numbers down she left the Rinkos frozen as long as possible, exiting the room before they could thaw themselves out.
Samus entered into a small room where Metroids were yet to be found but Rinkos still loomed. A cannon on the roof of the small room began firing at Samus who tried to blow it up with a missile but to know avail. She tried her wave beam on the cannon but the cannon only continued; however, the energy from the wave beam caused the turret to malfunction whereas it shot around the room mindless and erratically. The only way Samus could see to continue through the room was by breaking a glass tube like structure against the wall. Upon further investigation, Samus found something was in the tube. It was a reddish flesh like material pulsating with life. Samus shot at it with a missile and the glass broke, but before she could destroy the living tissue behind it, the glass was reformed. Samus scanned the substance behind the glass.
"Unknown", was all that the scan brought back. Samus fired another missile only to watch it regenerate its shield. She tried again, this time firing multiple missiles as quickly as possible not allowing the pulsating mass time to regenerate itself. Samus entered the next room, which was very much like the one before. She continued through three rooms in the same manner. The last room Samus entered contained an island surrounded by an acidic substance. She blasted the Rinkos and dodged the cannon as she fired at another pulsating regenerating wall. Once broken Samus found herself looking upon a huge glass case.
Numerous cannons and Rinkos protected the glass container. The jar held a brown and red mass of pulsating flesh. Two tusks jutted out from the brainy looking being with massive veins throbbing on its side.
"Mother Brain", Samus said as she looked upon what had to be the most grotesque image she had yet to come across. Two eyes on the front lobes of the creature rolled from the backside and gazed at the astonished bounty hunter.
"You must be the one who defeated Kraid and my general Ridley", it thought, talking to Samus through some type of physic ability.
"Yeah and you must be the brains behind this wacky operation", Samus retorted. Samus didn't give the brain any time to answer as she began firing missiles at the glass surrounding the brain. After a few blasts the glass began to weaken and eventually broke into pieces leaving the throbbing brain vulnerable. Samus again released a slew of missiles, each one hitting the brain, which shook with each explosion. The nerves that ran along the inside of the container began breaking apart and some were even burning from the explosions. One of the defense turrets hit Samus dropping her back into the room with the acidic solution. She fell into the acid and was immediately warned of the impending danger of energy loss. She quickly climbed out and braced herself between the frame where the glass tube had once been. She continued to fire at the hideous brain until finally with a sonic like explosion, the brain laid disintegrated on the base of the container. Samus sat on the edge of the wall frame dangling her feet down as the Rinkos subsided along with the defense turrets, apparently disengaged without the commands from the brain.
"Start Log: The being known as Mother Brain has been destroyed. She was the apparent leader of the Metroid mission and leader of the Space Pirates. The Metroids have been destroyed here on Planet Zebes. End Log." Samus closed the logbook screen and looked around at the destruction. "Boy am I glad this is over", she said rising to her feet. Before she could rise completely a blast rocked the room throwing her into the shattered glass.
"Self-destruct Sequence has been initiated. Evacuate immediately", a computer-generated voice announced over a hidden speaker somewhere. A countdown began at 999 making its way down. Another explosion rocked the room and a hole fell open in the wall. Samus ran through dodging the falling pieces of the cavern. She entered into a long vertical shaft she could only assume was an escape route. She quickly began jumping from ledge to ledge making her way up toward the top. She only hoped that this would lead straight out, otherwise she might not make it out alive. Once at the top she found an elevator in working order and climbed aboard.
Samus had been exploring tunnels for the past four hours trying to find the Metroid creature or the being Ridley had called Mother Brain. She had finally found a room near the top of the first vertical shaft she had encountered. She ran through the tunnel and entered the next room after destroying the red door. The room contained what looked like to pedestals. Samus walked over to them and after touching one of them a light began to flicker before a holographic image of Kraid appeared on top of it. Samus ran her hand through the image in amazement. She walked over to the other pedestal and placed her hand on it telling herself that an image of Ridley would soon pop up. Within a minute the flickering light stopped shimmering bringing into view the ominous figure of Ridley.
"So what do these holograms do?"
As if on queue a low rumble started on the far side of the room. A small space became visible under the statue and Samus quickly morphed into her ball and dropped into the passageway. At the end was a drop off into Brinstar's acidic sands. She stopped and wondered what would happen next. Again as if answering her questions a small bridge began to extend from the far side of the room. She quickly crossed and it soon disappeared again. She bomb jumped out of the other side and after returning to normal entered the next room. She found herself in an elevator shaft. She quickly jumped on and began her descend down into a new area.
When the elevator stopped, Samus found herself surrounded by cement blocks, which had obviously been imported in seeing that they were not native to Zebes. Wires and tubes ran throughout the shaft from which she was about to descend. Ledges below her were made of some type of piping. As she went down Samus began noticing a slight chirping sound. Near the bottom of the shaft, a creature emerged from behind one of the pipes and began floating toward Samus. The green exterior skin of the creature dripped of slime and was transparent. The creature's innards were visible through its transparent skin and Samus could make out three distinct nerve bundles within it. Fangs jutted from the bottom side of the creature giving it a slight resemblance to an earth being called a jellyfish. As the creature came closer Samus could see how big the creature actually was; almost half the size of Samus herself. Samus scanned the creature as it came into range but couldn't find a match for the creature in the Zebesian creature index. She switched to a galaxy size search and still found nothing. It wasn't until she searched within two light-years from the planet did she come across the creatures origins.
"Metroid (Alpha): A native creature of planet SR-388, the Metroid is an energy sucking creature. When exposed to beta-gamma rays, this being has the ability to grow into an advanced form of a Metroid of the beta type. Metroids are particularly vulnerable to weapons of the frozen type and ice elements. Metroids do not have eyes in their alpha stage but sense surrounding through unknown means; many scientists assume it to be through radar like functions."
"I finally found you, you little sucker", she said thinking how literal that statement actually was. She armed her ice beam ready to take on the floating creature. She took aim and fired as the Metroid charged her. The Metroid seemed to sense the oncoming beam and quickly rose over the attack, which barely missed the creature. It quickly swooped down and latched onto Samus' helmet. Samus could feel the fangs trying to break through the armor, but stopped when the satisfying thirst for energy was quenched by the suit. A message appeared on Samus' visor.
"WARNING! Energy level drastically decreasing. Unknown cause of drainage."
Samus tried dislodging herself from the being but couldn't do so and she began panicking. She tried firing at the creature but couldn't bring her arm up high enough to fire at it. She rolled into the morph ball but with no help. She laid a few bombs and upon explosion the creature was thrown from Samus' suit. She unrolled and quickly aimed at the Metroid as it began to charge her again. She waited until it was nearly on top of her and then she fired. The creature shrieked and froze in place. Samus fired missiles at the creature destroying it after five hits. Samus collected the energy left behind and continued down the shaft.
"Start Log: I have come across the Metroid threat and destroyed it. End Log."
Samus continued through the next door and found more Metroids awaiting her. Once she was sensed, the creatures chirped excitedly at there newfound dinner. They quickly charged her and Samus destroyed them as they attacked.
"Start Log: I am too late. The Space Pirates have successfully cloned the Metroid and now they inhabit the interior of Zebes. There are still no sign of Mother Brain. End Log."
Samus continued through Tourian destroying the persistent Metroids that seemed to lurk within every room. Samus found herself constantly plagued by Rinkos, a small fire ring creature that appears out of nowhere to attack its prey. If Samus destroyed one Rinko then another two would replace it. In order to keep her enemy numbers down she left the Rinkos frozen as long as possible, exiting the room before they could thaw themselves out.
Samus entered into a small room where Metroids were yet to be found but Rinkos still loomed. A cannon on the roof of the small room began firing at Samus who tried to blow it up with a missile but to know avail. She tried her wave beam on the cannon but the cannon only continued; however, the energy from the wave beam caused the turret to malfunction whereas it shot around the room mindless and erratically. The only way Samus could see to continue through the room was by breaking a glass tube like structure against the wall. Upon further investigation, Samus found something was in the tube. It was a reddish flesh like material pulsating with life. Samus shot at it with a missile and the glass broke, but before she could destroy the living tissue behind it, the glass was reformed. Samus scanned the substance behind the glass.
"Unknown", was all that the scan brought back. Samus fired another missile only to watch it regenerate its shield. She tried again, this time firing multiple missiles as quickly as possible not allowing the pulsating mass time to regenerate itself. Samus entered the next room, which was very much like the one before. She continued through three rooms in the same manner. The last room Samus entered contained an island surrounded by an acidic substance. She blasted the Rinkos and dodged the cannon as she fired at another pulsating regenerating wall. Once broken Samus found herself looking upon a huge glass case.
Numerous cannons and Rinkos protected the glass container. The jar held a brown and red mass of pulsating flesh. Two tusks jutted out from the brainy looking being with massive veins throbbing on its side.
"Mother Brain", Samus said as she looked upon what had to be the most grotesque image she had yet to come across. Two eyes on the front lobes of the creature rolled from the backside and gazed at the astonished bounty hunter.
"You must be the one who defeated Kraid and my general Ridley", it thought, talking to Samus through some type of physic ability.
"Yeah and you must be the brains behind this wacky operation", Samus retorted. Samus didn't give the brain any time to answer as she began firing missiles at the glass surrounding the brain. After a few blasts the glass began to weaken and eventually broke into pieces leaving the throbbing brain vulnerable. Samus again released a slew of missiles, each one hitting the brain, which shook with each explosion. The nerves that ran along the inside of the container began breaking apart and some were even burning from the explosions. One of the defense turrets hit Samus dropping her back into the room with the acidic solution. She fell into the acid and was immediately warned of the impending danger of energy loss. She quickly climbed out and braced herself between the frame where the glass tube had once been. She continued to fire at the hideous brain until finally with a sonic like explosion, the brain laid disintegrated on the base of the container. Samus sat on the edge of the wall frame dangling her feet down as the Rinkos subsided along with the defense turrets, apparently disengaged without the commands from the brain.
"Start Log: The being known as Mother Brain has been destroyed. She was the apparent leader of the Metroid mission and leader of the Space Pirates. The Metroids have been destroyed here on Planet Zebes. End Log." Samus closed the logbook screen and looked around at the destruction. "Boy am I glad this is over", she said rising to her feet. Before she could rise completely a blast rocked the room throwing her into the shattered glass.
"Self-destruct Sequence has been initiated. Evacuate immediately", a computer-generated voice announced over a hidden speaker somewhere. A countdown began at 999 making its way down. Another explosion rocked the room and a hole fell open in the wall. Samus ran through dodging the falling pieces of the cavern. She entered into a long vertical shaft she could only assume was an escape route. She quickly began jumping from ledge to ledge making her way up toward the top. She only hoped that this would lead straight out, otherwise she might not make it out alive. Once at the top she found an elevator in working order and climbed aboard.