-Metroid Fusion

--Blackdie

---Chapter 5: Boiling the Big Blue

Samus Aran found her arrival to Big Blue much easier than expected. Any business owner who had ever run a chain of intergalactic resort casinos and hotels could track Samus's ship a mile away. Usually because whenever she showed up, damage and destruction were not usually too far away. Particularly creative insurance companies had begun to offer "Bounty Hunter Insurance" after handling countless claims that Samus Aran had damaged the premises trying to acquire a bounty. And after the B.S.L. incident became widely known, it had almost become a necessity if you ran a business with the slightest possibility of attracting undesirable visitors.

There was no contact during landing like most of the other times, but the minute she took five steps away from her ship, someone had stepped forward to meet her on the spaceport-landing zone. It was a man in green, with an electronic notebook in hand. He talked fast and was generally interrogating Samus in order to figure out how much they should start their claim for damages at. Although as nervous the man was with confronting a bounty hunter, he was clearly intent on fulfilling his job. The handshake he attempted to offer was rejected.

"We just wanted to make sure how long you're going to be staying." The man was explaining. "The people I represent become very... nervous about their investments when you're around. They've heard stories."

"I'm looking for a man. The faster I locate him, the faster I'll be on my way." Samus explained in a flat tone. "The Federation has hired me."

The fact that the Federation was somehow involved did not make the man feel any better.

"They hired you?" The man was extremely surprised. "Maybe... the owners of The Serpent Reef Hotel could be of assistance in locating this man. Now... what was his name?"

Samus did not reveal anything and began walking away.

"Wait! Hold on-"

"I don't have time for this. We're done talking." Samus declared, picking up her pace.

At this point, she had caused the man in green to run and leap in her way. He was shaking, but seemed desperate to stop her from continuing.

"Look... The emperor brothers Sturm and Drang just arrived yesterday. They're the leaders of Black Hole. It's their first visit to Big Blue; we need to make a good first impression. And the Vespula royal family has also come here on a trip. Big Blue... as well as the business I represent does not want you causing trouble. Please!" The man paused to gulp and loosen his tie. "You could jeopardize diplomatic relations! Not to mention cause billions of credits in damage. Haven't you detonated enough things for one lifetime?"

Samus paused, and gave the man in green the mistaken feeling he had gotten his point across. However, the bounty hunter began walking again, and the man in green attempted to continue pleading his case. He didn't get very far before she cut him off.

"I'm only after my bounty. I'd advise everyone to stay out of the way until I'm done here."

By that time, the conversation was over and Samus had made her way down to the streets of Neptune. It was the largest of the resort cities on Big Blue, and seemed to have a field of towering reflective skyscrapers. They were in various shapes. Some looked like lightning bolts and some like hourglasses. Palm trees lined the streets as countless antigravity cars with convertible tops passed by. It had been a long time since Samus had visited the resort planet, and she had to keep in mind that there were sprawling underwater communities as well. It would not be easy to find anyone on Big Blue.

But the man that had approached her on the spaceport offered some information that could be useful. Such as the fact that there had recent arrival of important guests hailing from areas outside the Federation. It had already begun to feel like they had come for a purpose, not just to enjoy a vacation. The idea of a vacation was a human concept anyway, and many other creatures could not understand. Now Samus was not familiar with the emperors from Black Hole, but the Vespula, she was well knowledgeable in, and the Vespula are one of the species that did not understand vacations.

The humanoid-wasp race, though very intelligent, was an empire driven to complete one goal. The entire species worked to serving their royal family and queen. There was no other objective in mind other than duty. The Vespula had clashed with the Galactic Army several times before the arrival of the Space Pirates. Those conflicts were based over simple need for territory and planet space. Eventually a compromise was attained, but everyone knew that the Vespula were still bitter because they had not taken the planets they wanted.

Samus knew this, but the mention of Black Hole required consulting Adam and the Federation databanks. She made her way to the nearest hotel, getting strange looks from the lightly dressed visitors and inhabitants the whole way. It had just occurred to her at that moment how comfortable the climate made her feel in the Fusion Suit. The temperature was on par with a regular tropical paradise. She almost missed a hotel with a communications kiosk thinking about it.

The glass doors slid open, and she found the kiosk was more than suitable enough to contact Adam in her ship.

"Something wrong Samus?" Adam asked, hearing earlier from her than usual.

"No. I need you to look through the Federation databanks. Find anything concerning a group known as Black Hole."

Adam went about searching the databanks as Samus requested. He was still primarily a Federation machine and had full access so long as it applied to the mission. While that was being done, Samus was looking at the crowds that passed her by. Many would avoid trying to make any eye contact and some went out of their way to keep their distance. So far, she had spotted no one from Sand Trap, and there was at least twenty personnel still missing.

"There is no mention of any faction or organization by the name of Black Hole. However, I have heard stories."

There was a long pause, and Samus knew that he was drawing information from his uploaded consciousness.

"What I've heard the most before my mind was uploaded into the Federation databanks, was that Black Hole is driven on conquering other planets. The big deal about them was that they supposedly possess unparalleled technology, but for some reason only use the weapons of the planets they are taking over to fight with."

"They do it for sport." Samus realized, slightly disturbed.

"Hm. Very perceptive. It never occurred to me their reasoning why, mostly because no one in the Federation has ever seen any of them to back up reports and rumors."

"Hence, no information in the databanks. Well, the resort official mentioned the names, Sturm, and Drang."

"Hm... that would be more information on them in years, but I'm sure anything they say to others is a lie. But I know nothing more about Black Hole or their leaders."

"Hm... alright."

"Take extreme precaution. Especially with the presence of civilians."

That wrapped up the conversation with Adam, and Samus made her way out onto the street in front of the small hotel. She looked up and down the block, seeing the mass of inhabitant's scurry back and forth. It was time to go about the most drawn out portion of the mission, looking around. The strained relations with the Federation made it a safe bet she wouldn't be able to depend on the local authorities and this didn't bother her. The only thing that bothered her was that it had been awhile since she had worked in a highly populated area. Still, her instincts made her recall the conversation with the resort representative. The Serpent Reef Hotel had received a flood of important visitors, it would be a good place to start.

The hotel was a massive structure just down the street from where Samus had landed. It stood out in the Neptune skyline with its two brightly colored towers. The data acquired from the initial scan made it known that the hotel went deep into the ocean as well, with a sprawling underwater section. The sea level entrance was located on its circular foundation, and the towers continued the circular structural design. It seemed to be built around a massive coral reef that was bursting with activity. Any first look would quickly label it as an expensive hotel, especially with the army of employees out front moving about to please any and all visitors with wealth to spare.

Samus was watching the entrance carefully, observing the guests that came in and out of the hotel from right across the street. They were all very important people by Federation standards. CEOs of companies from all aspects of life, members of the intergalactic council, and leaders of planets and more. But a name soon popped up on her visor, she had scanned someone from Sand Trap. She quickly adjusted her view to spot where the person was, and the files from the Federation made a match with the face.

"Sylus 'Scratch' Thompson." Samus said, reading off the name.

As the nickname suggested, the man was currently busy scratching his head while walking out of the hotel. His clothes would have been on par with your typical tourist. A red shirt full of tropical plants and khaki shorts. There were goggles around his neck so he could get a better range of his head. However, his arm began to slow down as he made Samus out from across the street. They stared at each other for a couple seconds. Scratch seemed dumbstruck, nearly turning white, and then turned around and darted back into the hotel.

The chase was on.

Cars came to a dead stop in order not to hit Samus as she ran across the street with no fear. The hotel employees at the door saw her coming and got out of the way as she charged into the circular lobby. The round and primarily white area was crowded, the artificial sky being the cause for most people to stop and look up. The gold colored floor didn't help Scratch any as he ducked down and tried to get out of Samus's view. He knew he couldn't possibly outrun her if she could keep visual contact. The stories of her "Speed Booster" was just one of the legends he heard Tanner barking to him on the trip to Big Blue.

Scratch's small stature made it easy for him to get lost in a sea of people. But this didn't stop Samus in the least as she cut her way through the crowd, most of the people moving to the side themselves. However, there was too many people to rip through the lobby with a speed boost, and too many to make use of the ice beam. But the fleeing Sand Trap technician soon lost his crowd cover as everyone had stopped to see Samus Aran running through the lobby in full stride. They were running circles around the desk in the center, and it wasn't long until black clad hotel security came running out to try and figure out just what the hell was happening.

They nearly ran headlong into Samus while fighting their way through the crowds. They probably would have too if it wasn't for Samus's acrobatic jump over them and ten or so guests. Now the whole room was in an uproar with people clapping and some screaming out of surprise. Scratch took the time during the commotion to find an exit and darted through it. He had picked some red carpeted stairs leading downward into the underwater section of the hotel. His urgency nearly caused him to go head first, but he caught himself... only to lose it on the last three steps.

"Aw! Son of a bitch!" He cursed, landing flat on his rear.

When he looked up, Samus had come to the top and had spotted him at the bottom. He was off like a light once again. Once the bounty hunter had made it down the stairs without plowing through anyone, she found herself in a snaking circular hallway. It was reminiscent of an underwater tunnel, with curved glass walls and ceilings to display the vibrant reef around them. A shriek somewhere down the hall pointed Samus in the right direction, and stumbled upon a woman that Scratch had gut checked while looking over his shoulder.

"I can't believe that jerk!" The woman was moaning, but quickly forgot about him when Samus passed. "Hey! It's Samus Aran!"

Scratch was running like hell was on his heels. To his relief, he came to a T-section and turned right to head further downwards. He thought he had read a sign that mentioned "Deep Water Suites". It didn't really matter, so long as he could lose the bounty hunter chasing after him.

"Look out!" Samus yelled.

The large group of octopus men that had just come down another set of stairs hardly understood what the bounty hunter had yelled, and instead froze in their tracks as the strange metal creature charged toward them. They were soon treated to a Morph Ball maneuver as Samus rolled in-between their tentacle legs before changing back and continuing her run after Scratch. The next people to come along were two members of hotel security. They had their back to Samus and were talking amongst themselves.

"Central just reported a stranger approaching the Deep Water Suites, you see anyone?"

"Phhh... I dunno. Topside is going crazy about something. I think a loony bastard just charged into the lobby."

They soon heard Samus slide to a stop and pivot to run off toward the Deep Water Suites. Both guards just gave a look at each other, not even shouting or trying to stop the individual that had just charged past them.

"Hell, I'm not going after that." The first guard muttered.

The atmosphere changed in the Deep Water Suites, the red carpet had changed to a teal color, and several re-enforced rust colored doors began to show up. Through the glass, Samus could make out that they branched off to the more expensive rooms of the hotel. The water, although clear as can be, had gotten much darker, creating the need for running lights along the floor. It was also a much quieter place than the lobby or the hallways before. One could make it out as an almost eerie silence.

It was this silence that caused Samus to slow to a creep, listening intently for sounds of heavy breathing or quivering lips. The hallway had branched out several more ways, like an intersection and she had not seen which way Scratch had run.

"Scratch!" Samus called out suddenly.

A frightened cry escaped to the left, and Scratch came rolling out from a janitor's closet. As Samus had expected, the chase had turned him into a ball of nerves, and easily excitable. He jumped up and took off, running much slower than when they were on the surface. This was the difference between the hunter and the hunted, the hunter still had stamina to spare due to the suit she wore. It looked like she was about to catch up to him when he turned the corner. But when she rounded the bend, an unpleasant surprise awaited.

"Freeze worm! Identify yourself!" A strangely garbled voice barked.

The sound of weapons charging came next as Samus raised the arm cannon to counter. The standoff was due to a dozen or so strange creatures Samus had never seen before. They were blue skinned, and wore a large black spacesuit, that's shape could be compared to a bean of some sort. These creatures had gun arms that resembled the way Samus had her blaster built into the suit, except they had no Chozo design influenced by Metroid DNA. Through the large porthole visor, Samus could make out short snouts like elephants, only that it was completely straight.

Another observation was that Scratch had seemingly disappeared, but one could only assume he had gone further down the hallway the creatures were blocking. The actions going on now made Samus think they were protecting him for some reason, but she couldn't say why at the moment, still partially distracted by their strange appearances.

"Lower your weapon! Before we make you lower it ourselves!"

"I'm pursuing someone," Samus said after awhile, keeping completely calm. "You are in my way and letting him escape."

A creature in a suit with a silver stripe stepped forward. Clearly it was the leader of the group.

"Tch. In your way? We are Sturm and Drang's personal guard. We are meant to be in your way."

Several more moments of standoff went by, as each side was trying to decide who would fire first.

"You are lucky our leaders are resting, worm, or we would not hesitate to open fire."

"The feeling is mutual, only I'm more concerned about the guests getting into something they don't have any part in." Samus shot back.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Someone called out from behind Samus.

A swarm of hotel security came running out. All of them were waving their arms and signals to back off. The group of creatures quickly stood down, and Samus shortly afterward.

"There's no need for this..." The hotel representative in green from before stepped forward. "Gentlemen, I'd like to offer a deep and full apology from the Serpent Reef Hotel... We're terribly sorry about this breech of security and overall, the disturbance."

"We shall see if your apology is accepted when we report to our rulers about this." The leader threatened.

"And Aran... what the hell are you doing? Didn't I tell you that you weren't welcome here?"

"A man needed for questioning ran in here... I pursued him. It was critical I talked to him concerning my mission from the Federation."

"Yeah about that." The man in green scoffed. "General Graves just contacted our head of security, he wants to know why you're tearing up a hotel. He wanted me to pass along an order to report back immediately."

It was clear to Samus that she was outnumbered, both in presence and outside power. She soon turned away from the group of strange creatures and passed the mob of hotel security without giving a second look.

"This doesn't bode well for you... worm." The leader of the creatures said before leaving.

The man in green stood there watching both sides retreat and ran his hands through his hair.

"Well dear God, this is just... great." He turned to his men. "Keep your eyes peeled from now on, she'll be back."

-To be continued...

--Next Chapter: Encircled