-Metroid Fusion

--Blackdie

---Chapter 3: Three-Eyed Devil

"Decontamination completed."

The electronic voice signaled the end of the lockdown and the airlock soon swung open. Samus made one last glance to the spaceport where her ship was parked and entered. There were three Federation Police cruisers already landed in the spaceport, and Graves had failed to mention sending two more units after the one had not reported back. Then, add on a freighter ship devoid of crew or cargo... anyone could see something was going on.

Finding the facility wasn't too hard after reaching the planet. It stuck out among the black sand like a beacon, since it was the only defining characteristic on the surface. The Sand Trap facility was a large dome structure with five arms branching away from the central area. The spaceport was located on the topmost point of the dome, and occupied with five different crafts. It's maximum was four.

Now Samus had successfully entered the facility and could begin her search. The derelict ships in the spaceport had already made it obvious something was wrong. Her blaster was fully powered and ready to go.

"...attention. Attention. Spaceport has exceeded its limit. Will facility manager report and clear out the unnecessary ships. Attention..."

The message repeated several more times before stopping and silence descend again. With the amount of deserted ships in mind, it was easily an eerie silence. Samus didn't have much of a choice as where to go, as the hallway only led to the large cargo elevator. But before going any deeper into the facility, she moved over to a computer along the wall and turned it on.

"Adam, are you reading anything through the base's sensors?" Samus asked, using the console as a uplink with her ship's computer.

"The base is in fine condition, but not a single system is responding. It's like..."

Adam paused in mid speech, seemingly carried away with some sudden discovery. The bounty hunter waited patiently for him to continue.

"I've gotten weak readings. Life has been detected, in the mess hall located on level 6, living quarters. It seems that our objectives now include searching the base for personnel. Any objections, lady?"

"Hm, copy that. Moving in."

It was hard for her to break the habit of ending any conversation with Adam in her planned actions. For her, it seemed like there were things too deeply ingrained to forget no matter what happened. She went into a little daze, and only snapped out of it when the cargo doors closed and let the lift descend to level 6. That's when she noticed a shadow in the corner. Scanning it would reveal a dead human, a dead Federation Police officer. A closer look would reveal the left eye was missing, torn out and put somewhere, blood dried around the empty socket.

It had been awhile since Samus had seen such an officer. The last time would have been a couple years ago, when she was confronted about the events surrounding the B.S.L. The officer wasn't wearing any heavy combat suit, but was wearing the teal uniform and light armor surrounding the chest, arms, and legs. The standard issue blaster was still firmly in its holster. Whatever had killed the officer, didn't give him the slightest chance to react. The next question to come to mind was where the rest of them were.

Now Samus had her attention fixed on the mouth. It was slightly open, and something was causing the cheeks to bulge out. There was no hesitation, as she carefully took two fingers and opened the mouth completely. Blood spilled out before the object could be made out clearly. The officer's left eye was now staring at her. It had been carefully placed in the mouth after removal. This discovery didn't phase Samus in the least. Instead, the picture of the officer with an eye in his mouth jogged a small memory, one that she could not fully realize at the time, but lingered like someone with a word on the tip of their tongue.

"Level 6, living quarters. Mess Hall, Sleeping Chambers, and Hygiene Stations." The electronic voice announced.

Stepping off the elevator would only provide more corpses for Samus to look about. It was more Federation officers; all missing a left eye. She inspected the mouth of one corpse, to find the eye in the mouth as well and didn't bother with any other corpses. Every body had been treated after death by removing the left eye and placing it in the mouth. It was strange to Samus, only because it was unnecessary. The victims were long gone before the left eyeball was relocated.

The mess hall was easy enough to find because of the many signs designed to hurry base personnel and visitors through the sleeping chambers. Samus would have probably found the mess hall easy enough without the signs, because a trail of corpses was littered about the area like breadcrumbs. The crew of the cargo freighter soon filled in for the lack of Federation officers on the trail. When the hatch to the mess hall was found, she stood there for awhile, then readied her arm cannon.

The hatch opened automatically when Samus was close enough. Now she found herself in a two level room with rows of long tables. It was a massive area, and on the opposite side of the entrance were windows, overlooking the endless black sand. A red sun had begun to rise and served as a substitute for the base lighting. The leftmost wall contained a counter for serving food and the rightmost wall was a table for stacking used dishes and trays.

It seemed to be empty. Then the panicked whimpers of someone from under one of the tables could be heard. When Samus moved to find the source of the whimpers, her loud footsteps caused them to change into tortured cries.

"Who ever is under there, come out." Samus ordered. "You have no need to be afraid. I've been sent by the Federation."

Whoever had wedged themselves under the table refused to follow Samus's commands, and she was forced to push a section of it out of the way. Underneath was a thin, frail man curled up in the fetal position and shaking as if he was having some sort of episode. A quick scan indicated nothing of the sort, only that his heart was racing due to some sort of trauma and that there was evidence of a speech impediment due to brain damage caused by a years old head wound.

"What's wrong-"

Her sentence was cut short by the feeling of a presence in the room. A presence that seemed familiar, but from a long time ago. It only added to the desperate searching of the memory caused by the corpses with the eyeballs in their mouths. Samus readied her arm cannon, and began to carefully move it about the room. The man on the floor continued to squirm more violently.

"Oh god... I thought he was gone! Make... make him go... go away!"

"What? Who's 'he'?"

"He drove all those... people... to... suicide"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something pressed up against the window, outside in the sandstorm. It was a blood red eyeball staring in as if squinting through a microscope. Samus paused as if doubting her senses.

It couldn't be... Samus thought.

Two more eyeballs popped up against the other two windows and they all centered their vision on her. The three began to knock up against the window. Slowly at first, and then faster and faster until cracks began to appear. Red splotches were left wherever the eyeball impacted, and soon enough all three windows were covered with blood. The knocking stopped, and silence resumed. Samus was still on high alert.

"No..." The man whimpered. "He won't go away..."

As if on cue the three eyeballs shattered the windows and broke into the room. Emergency shutters slammed close, blocking any sand from entering from the outside. The room was pitch black now, because the shutters also kept out the light. Dead silence consumed everything else. Samus instinctively reached to actuate her X-Ray scanner.

But she didn't get far, before something latched onto her arm...

A shot rang out as she blasted in the direction of whatever had touched her. The room lit up for a split second, and the three eyes that broke in could be seen together, in a triangle formation floating just before her with two on the bottom and one up top. When the quick flash ended, Samus needed no light to know the eyes were still staring at her endlessly.

Don't you remember?

A foreign voice forced it's way into Samus's mind, and made her head ache. She was barely able to fight it back and stay focused.

Can't you... feel me?

"You were killed." Samus declared, trying not to believe the voice.

You should know as a bounty hunter, you cannot kill what has already perished.

An eerie heartbeat began to echo throughout the room, it almost sounded amplified from some other source.

However easy it was to destroy the body... it is much more difficult to destroy the soul. You'll learn. I will teach you.

The heartbeat became erratic, and only then did Samus realize it was coming from the man on the floor.

The Wrecked Ship... the darkness... the despair... Surely you can remember me now.

"Oh God!" The man cried in agony. "Go away!"

The heartbeat stopped, and the man stopped shaking. The life signs faded from Samus's visor.

There is no greater satisfaction than watching a creature die of fear. The total breakdown of their mind, and their spirit shortly afterward. They began to appreciate death. They begin to yearn it. And I am only so happy to provide them with their wishes. Did you enjoy my self-portrait as shown by the bodies in the hall? They did it themselves.

"...after you drove them insane." Samus finished. "Where are you Phantoon?"

The three eyes began to generate a weak red light. This light was strong enough however, to reveal the man on the floor was dead, having clawed out his own eye before shoving it in his mouth. The blood boiled in the mess, as if being cooked. It seemed like the room was on fire, and soon enough it was. The walls had become scorched with a blue plasma flame. Samus spun around toward the eyes.

I am right here. Beside you. Just like old times.

Then he was fully visible. The jaw that had once contained one eyeball now contained the three. The yellow diseased skin of the spirit was now as black as charcoal. Dozens upon dozens of black twisted tentacles branched from each side of the mouth, thrashing about as if they were all possessed. An otherworldly gray mist poured from the back of Phantoon, almost hiding the countless jagged spikes lining his back. Phantoon's body was more terrible now than what Samus had ever seen on Zebes before.

"Do you like my new eyes? They should be familiar, I developed them after consuming Kraid's soul. He's a part of me now, you know. Despite his death, he still believes he was the best Mother Brain ever had."

Samus backed away with her arm cannon aimed dead center in Phantoon's three eyes. She wanted to fire away, but there was something holding her. It seemed like some influence was keeping her from interrupting the one sided conversation.

"The destruction of Zebes was a miracle. I never thought I could harvest enough souls for a new body without vanishing into the darkness of space. But... you were there. You destroyed Zebes and killed so many in mere seconds... I could never thank you. Oh, but there is one thing I must ask."

Phantoon suddenly disappeared, and then reappeared with his mouth full of eyes lined up point blank with Samus's arm cannon.

"Shoot me Samus." The twisted Phantoon begged. "I must feel the suffering you cause, again. I must feel it again, before I consume you."

Samus finally regained control of her body and fired without a second thought. Phantoon's three eyes took the full blast and began to spin around in random directions. But the eyes slowly came to a stop, staring directly at Samus once again. The direct hit had done nothing.

"Heh heh heh... I remember that pain. Now I can devour you without regrets."

Phantoon "blinked", and blue plasma began to pour from his three eyes. It over took Samus before she could so much as fire off another shot. It knocked her off her feet, and carried her into the wall. A sickening thud could be heard as her suit connected with the reinforced metal walls. She made it out of the barrage with a Morph Ball roll, but the ghost was quick to notice and reacted just as fast. Phantoon merely phased out view and appeared before Samus. He could hear her ready the missile system and lashed out with his tentacles.

The tentacles did not thrash the Fusion Suit and instead went right through until striking Samus's body directly. She went limp as soon as Phantoon's many limbs touched her. Excruciating pain followed next, shooting up and down her body. It was as if someone was trying to rip her brain right out of her skull without bothering to make a hole for removal. The pressure was immense. Whatever Phantoon was doing to her it caused an out of body experience several times. Each time she came out of it with her eyes shooting wide open and seeing the ghost still before her.

"Can't you feel me tearing away your life energy?" Phantoon laughed. "Soon... you'll become a part of me. Then you can spend eternity resolving your issues with Kraid and the other Space Pirates you slaughtered on Zebes!"

Then he became silent for a time, watching Samus jerk around in his grip.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you Samus!"

Samus did not have much choice as Phantoon lifted her body up, causing her head to fall back to look up at him. The three eyes resting in the bizarre jaw drilled through her body with their strange sight. However, there was no fear to be found in the hunter's eyes.

"That's what I always liked about you. Looking into my eyes would drive a normal creature insane. Where you simply see your own reflection. You've brought misery to more worlds than the Space Pirates ever could. If it weren't for your choice to preserve rather than destroy... I would have followed you to the ends of existence."

Now Phantoon was shaking Samus up and down, crashing her into tables and any wall they might have gotten close enough too.

"Such dirty blood." Phantoon groaned. "It's hard to peel the soul from your body. It doesn't seem to be able to let go. What have you done to yourself?"

Suddenly, control returned to Samus's body, and she wasted no time raising her arm and firing a missile point blank into her phantom attacker. With Phantoon's eyes wide open, she expected it to be a critical hit. But there was no ungodly roar, no confirmation of the attack she had just launched. But it did accomplish one thing, the ghost did let go of her. Landing on the ground soon let her know just how much pain he had inflicted.

"Is that.... a part of a Metroid in your body?" Phantoon asked in a curious way.

Samus looked to see nothing had happened to her target from the missile attack.

"It's changed your life energy. Your soul... it is unlike anything I have ever seen." He now laughed. "It looks so delicious."

Samus struggled to stand, feeling as if someone had stabbed her a million times all over. Every part of her body braced for another attack since she was down and mostly disabled at the moment. But it never came. Instead she looked up to see that Phantoon had turned away, staring off into the distance in a strange trance. Almost as if someone was calling him.

"Oh... In that case..." Phantoon turned back to Samus. "You have been given a stay of execution, Samus Aran. You are allowed to cause more suffering where you may. Do enjoy it as much as I will."

Lights returned to the room as well as the whole base as Phantoon's influence left the systems of the Sand Trap facility.

"Tch.... Damn." Samus moaned, having trouble getting on her feet.

But eventually she did and stumbled across the room in order to take a seat. The recent encounter with Phantoon had already begun to weigh heavily on her mind, seeing as how she did nothing to hurt him. So much thought was trained on the recent fight, that footsteps making it's way toward the mess hall were not heard until they entered it. Samus reacted quickly, pointing her arm cannon in the direction of the sound.

"For the love of god! Please don't shoot!"

A woman in a red jumpsuit had just entered. The personnel roster identified the woman as Victoria Maitlin, the head of the Sand Trap science team. She didn't look too much better than when Samus located the frail man on the floor. But she was alive.

"Victoria Maitlin? Are you ok?" The woman reluctantly nodded, and that was good enough for Samus to move on. "What happened here?"

Tears formed around Victoria's eyes. They were tears of joy.

"Thank God you came! I thought that... thing! That three-eyed devil was going to..."

"He's gone now."

This statement disturbed Victoria.

"You sound like... you've..."

"We've run into each other before." Samus admitted. "Now, tell me what happened here. Where are the other personnel?"

Victoria slowly made her way toward the table where Samus sat and then noticed the frail man on the ground.

"Lloyd... Jeez'us! He's like the others..."

"Lloyd Jenson, you mean?" Samus asked upon locating another name on the personnel roster.

Her visor pulled up the picture for the name, and the face matched what was left of the man on the ground.

"We always called him the Worm Guy because he loved to stare at the sand snakes outside. The other guys always called them worms to give him a hard time." Victoria explained, finding comfort in the memory. "Why are you here... who are you?"

But as soon as Victoria had asked it, she knew the answer.

"Wait... you're Samus Aran. You... you're that bounty hunter. I can't believe this. This place was so normal days ago. Things are going so fast. Tanner would have never expected any of this..."

"Sebester Tanner?" Samus said quickly. "Where is he? Where is everyone else? Are they dead?"

Victoria didn't answer, she seemed overwhelmed by everything and began to gag. The feelings experienced from seeing her first dead body rushed back and vomiting followed. Some of it landed on Samus's suit, but there was no reaction to it.

"Oh god... I'm so sorry." Victoria stuttered.

"There have been worse things on it before." Samus told her, then paused. "Now that you've gotten that all out of your system. Start at the beginning, and tell me everything I need to know."

--To be continued...

---Next Chapter: Hunter and the Hunted