Chapter 9
Prelude To The End?

The sound of rushing water echoed through the cave chamber in a raging fury, the riverbanks covered in a low mist where the water met the rocks; the type of mist that only dampens the legs below the knees. The tiny particles of water flew around in the air wildly trying to find an object to cling too. The mist was prejudice toward nothing, collecting on everything before it became to heavy for its own weight and slipping back down along the surface of whatever it had clung too.

The SA-X was sitting on a boulder along the riverbank, shaking violently. She had broken into a heavy sweat and if she hadn't been suited up, the brisk breeze that began blowing down the cave would have easily made it a cold sweat. The wind howled slightly lower then the water as it blew between stalactites creating sounds like that from an old church organ. The eerie howl giving an ominous atmosphere to the bounty hunters current situation.

Lana stood armed and ready to fight the Houston impersonator. She quickly took in the surrounding area, taking note of possible spots to take cover in if the fight turned really ugly. She continued her train of thought by accessing her weapons. They both had about twenty missiles on them and of course a various assortment of beams and bombs. Lana spoke calmly to Samus, "Samus. Pull yourself together. Just tell yourself that it is not Houston, just an X-parasite impersonating him."

"I know that, but how does that make me any different. In reality, I'm not Samus Aran. I'm just another X-parasite impersonating her", she replied, her voice quivering on the edge of cracking. "You pretend to like me, but you don't. You only see the Samus Aran in me. That's not me. I'm an X too and it's a fact that I have to accept. I mean, if he can so mercilessly slaughter an entire space station then what keeps me from doing that?"

"Why are you talking like this? The difference between it and you is that you have a heart."

"I don't have a heart! I have a fabricated collection of gel pretending to be someone else's heart. The organ that beats here is fake", she said pounding her chest armor, "it isn't mine. My feelings are not my own, they belong to someone else."

"You're wrong. Regardless of who or what you are, it is your choice on how you perceive and act on the feelings of others. You don't have to be like Samus, you choose to be like her because it makes you feel good. You know if you acted like that thing over there," Lana said pointing toward Houston, "You know what kind of pain that gives because Samus felt those pains before and you don't want to be the one to administer such pains needlessly."

Samus dropped her cannon and turned to the SA-X. "You are who you want to be. Whether you remember yourself or not doesn't matter because you will be who you truly are."

"I hate to interrupt you lasses...", Houston began, "But we've never met before. That suit looks much more advanced then mine, and though I don't care too much for the design itself, I'm sure it would be a great addition to my wardrobe. Samus? Are you going to introduce us?" Samus had jumped off of the boulder and stood beside Lana on the riverbank seemingly back in her senses.

Lana stepped forward, saving the SA-X from having to speak if she had wanted to do so. Lana sized up her opponent, noting closer now the striking resemblance to Samus' power suit. The biggest accomplishment that she could deduce herself was the fact that someone had even been able to replicate the complicated science of the gravity suit's abilities. These were things that the human race had yet been able to accomplish on their own. The detail taken in creating a perfect replica of Samus' power suit was well reflected in this mock opponents attempt. "My name is..." she said before stopping herself, knowing full well that Houston never knew she existed. Telling this imposter who she was could make her a vulnerability if the SA-X was put in a situation where it was either her or Lana, but on the other hand, Lana could hope that this Houston X would maybe feel something for someone related to her. She decided she would risk it, "My name is Lana. Lana Aran," she said confidently, striking one of her signature poses just for the hell of it.

Houston laughed a little, "So love, you decided to go on and find some other man after my demise huh?" Houston said rubbing his free hand behind his head.

Lana spoke up again, "Actually...I'm your daughter...daddy."

"Pfft", Houston sputtered, "an offspring from me. I never would of thought it. Regardless, you two seem to have quite a bounty on your head for the massacre of that space station. Money I could use to fund my own little campaign."

"What the hell are you talking about", Samus managed to mumble, forcing her to confront her dead spouse.

"Oh it's nothing big. I'm just planning a crusade to wipe out the Galactic Federation. It's high time some one took those political pigs out of control, and besides, the space pirates are paying a pretty penny for it."

"How could you work for them, especially after what they did to you?"

"I'm not working for them, I'm merely collecting a little bit of money from them before I collect my share from the GFP." Lana cocked her head sideways in confusion. Houston continued, "It seems the GFP not only wants you gone, but of course the space pirates. I'm just ridding each others of the other and collecting my fees as due to me."

"You're a filthy, heartless being", Lana said, "and we're going to do everything we can to stop you." Houston let out a hearty laugh and then dropped the act and stood at a battle stance, ready for the oncoming bounty hunter.

"Why are you helping her anyway", he added, directed the question toward the SA-X. Samus just slightly shook her head, ignoring the question and preparing for the battle herself. Lana began charging her arm cannon and a small sphere of energy began growing at the end of her cannon. It stopped at about the size of a basketball and shined brightly about the cave, lighting up darkened corners as the light from the charge bounced from stalactite to stalactite. "Well then lasses, lets begin", Houston said charging the two-bounty huntress'. Lana feinted right, Samus left, and as Lana tumbled to the ground, she came up on one knee and fired her charged shot at the ceiling of the ice cave. The light from the charged beam left a trace trail behind its path momentarily before smashing into the ceiling. The ice-covered ceiling immediately began to hail chunks of ice and water down on the group; a huge mist enveloped the cave making sight close to impossible. Lana activated her X-Ray visor to see what was going on around her. She could make out Samus rolling along the ground as the Houston X shot at her without intention of aiming. All of his shots seemed to miss the SA-X but just barely. Potholes from the blasts caused Samus' morph ball to get stuck here and there for a moment before she was able to bomb herself out.

It was a frenzy of chaos in the corridor of the ice cave with bombs going off and beams flying around aimlessly. The ancient cave seemed to handle the stress of the constant bombardment easily; though a slight moaning from the walls indicated that it would not be able to handle too much more. The mist had begun to settle back down and when visibility had returned to the cave, the fighting was stopped. Houston had managed to roll up to Lana and grab her by the throat. He now held her up as she struggled to breath; warning lights flashing all inside of Lana's helmet. The SA-X was grasping her arm about three feet to the side of Houston, a huge gap missing out of Samus' arm cannon arm's armor, her flesh barely visible beneath her free hand which covered the wound in pain. "No more playing around lasses. This is where you die", Houston said clenching Lana's throat and causing the lighter armor around her neck to start collapsing. The SA-X let out a scream; inhuman to anything Lana had ever heard. Samus rushed Houston, smashing into him hard enough to drop Lana and hit a nearby stalactite. Lana came up to her knees coughing up blood and grasping desperately at her throat. She could see Houston and Samus exchanging blows in hand to hand combat, but the Houston impersonator seems quicker and eventually he was able to put the SA-X in a full-nelson hold. Lana tried rushing at Houston, but he saw this coming and dropped the SA-X. In a blur, Houston's leg came full body and placed his foot across Lana's head, sending her spiraling into the rushing waters of the river.

Lana could hear Houston laughing evilly and saw him walk over to the wounded SA-X before the waters covered her, throwing her about in the waters like a rag doll. No matter how hard she tried, Lana could not find anything to grasp on to and was left to the mercy of the raging waters. Water began flooding into the suit, sending her body into a shivering frenzy as the freezing waters began filling around her. During her torrential ride, she was thrown against boulders of all sizes, riding below the waters as well as being thrown into the air as the river dropped into small waterfalls. The rapids showed her no mercy and she could feel the armor slowly crushing her as more rocks pummeled the suit. Upon hitting one of the rocks, her eyes began to blur and between the pain of the crushing armor and freezing waters, Lana could take no more and gave in to the sleep that called to her. As her eyes shut, she could feel the water slowing down a little and the sound of the water slowly drowned away into nothing.