Chapter 2

Ceres Space Colony

The yellow disc of energy came to a stop as it finished its descent into the space station. The elevator tube stopped just above the ceiling before floating down to its energized base. Samus first noticed that the stairwell had been completely destroyed and the stairwell landing platforms that jutted were the only way down the twisted maze of steel and concrete. Some type of explosive had completely obliterated this room; though there was no sign of actual struggle; it was as if whomever had detonated the explosive was merely attempting to cut off access to escape points. Samus dropped from one landing to another, making her way through the tangle to reach the door at the bottom; her arm cannon was armed and ready for action. Electricity still ran through the station, Samus noted, as the door opened itself as she approached it; the cargo hold lay within the door. Though the electricity was still on, the overhead lighting had been dimmed down to where only silhouettes of the cargo boxes could be seen lying around, undisturbed since her visit.

With nothing of interest in the cargo hold, Samus continued to make her way to the lab; this is where she was really in a hurry to get. The Metroid hatchling was a big threat and she wanted to make sure it hadn't gone anywhere. The lab doors slid open as Samus approached them and she peeked in expecting to find the Metroid floating in its containment cell. As Samus expected though, no such luck; the Metroid's containment cell was missing, the glass cell that held the container had been breached, and shards of glass littered the floor. As Samus followed the trail of destruction, she came across a stream of blood and traced it to one of the lab workers. The researcher's lab coat was drenched in fresh blood; a hole was torn through the scientist's chest, leaving a gaping void where his lungs should have been. The skin hung in torn chunks as the blood dripped into the thick syrupy pool his body lay in.

Samus took note of another scientist laying dead in the corner, his demise much the same as the scientist in front of her, his mouth open in twisted agony with his eyes rolled toward the top of his head; his white beard dyed slightly red as a small trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. She remembered talking to the researcher in regards to properly containing the Metroid while they were researching it, as well as ways to immobilize it if it were to escape from its containment unit. Looking back at the bodies and the broken glass cell, Samus knew that this was no Metroid attack; someone or something had ravaged this lab. A nearby flashing monitor caught Samus' attention and she walked over to the console; the screen was flashing vitals of its experiment and according to its real-time data, the Metroid was still alive and nearby. The scientists had planted a vital signs monitor in the hatchlings container and it was still reading its life signs. "It must be close by", Samus mumbled to her, pulling away from the screen and taking one more look at the bodies before leaving the lab.

Samus exited the far side of the lab and followed a trail of dripped blood down the hallway and into one of the lab's storage rooms. The doors slid open and the blood trail stopped abruptly, the cold air in the room caused steam to rise lazily off of Samus' power suit. The room was lit by a single spotlight bulb hanging from the middle of the roof, creating a circle of light; Samus sighed in relief as she noticed the glass containment holding the Metroid hatchling. As Samus approached it the Metroid sensed her presence and began chirping excitedly; but before Samus could reach it, the bulb busted and a cold wind swept by Samus and for a second, the suit became extremely cold before adjusting to the temperature again. Samus flipped back and armed her cannon, aiming into the dark blindly but not firing at anything. The only thing she could see was the Metroid floating in its capsule; it's chirping was now accompanied by the sound of something tapping on glass.

"Show yourself!" Samus said, searching blindly in the dark. As if complying with her demands, a pair of yellow eyes appeared above the hatchling, a yellow blaze of fury seemed to dance within their deep sockets. Whoever it was, they were not happy to see Samus and let her know by spitting a blast of fire at her. She quickly dodged the shot causing a storage container behind her to blow up; it lit up the room and Samus confronted her attacker.

Fire reflected in the attackers eyes, and a small flame licked deep within his throat, clearly visible between the creature's nearly perfect aligned yet jagged teeth that lined his scaly reddish-purple snout. He was lightly perched atop the Metroid's container, his sharp talons wrapped around the glass prison, tapping the glass impatiently; his wings were folded along his back, almost fading into his body. Samus' suit registered the dragon's hot breath as it steamed from his mouth, "Samus Aran", the dragon hissed, barely audible to the bounty hunter.

"Ridley? How the…" Samus stuttered trying to comprehend her situation. "I thought I killed you…again?"

"Again, you can clearly see your assumption was wrong my little pawn", Ridley said, straightening his back as if he was about to stretch, but instead came back into his previous slouching position.

"So how did you weasel your way out of hell this time?" Samus asked curiously.

"Weaseling had nothing to do with my return this time; however, the out cropping of rock I was able to grab as I fell from the temple's ledge managed to save my life. Enough about me though; you on the other hand amaze me. Everywhere I turn, I seem to be running into you and it's for all the same reasons. You are as much obsessed with the Metroid species as the Space Pirates are."

"My only concern with the Metroids is keeping them from the pirates. Now if you will be so kind to slither away from that container, I might think about letting you live", Samus said bringing her arm cannon up toward Ridley's chest.

"Always in such a rush", Ridley said shaking his head. "You always tend to make that mistake; rushing a move could cause you the game", he continued.

"How many times do I have to tell you? This isn't a game. Now move it", Samus said firing a warning shot; it hit the wall directly behind him, just shy of his head.

"Very well then", Ridley said spreading his wings and taking to the air, "We will do this the hard way…again." Ridley rose toward the ceiling, dodging Samus' power beam as he gained altitude.

"Damn it", Samus mumbled as she began firing at the dragon. Ridley swooped down from the ceiling and using his tail as a projectile, shot it at Samus. Samus easily dodged the tail but was slow in recovering and was hit by a fire blast. The suit began heating up and Samus somersaulted out of the flames. "By the by? What happened to the nice metallic trimmings you had?" Samus asked crouching to one knee.

"Thanks to you, they were damaged beyond repair. That was perfectly fine though as I found out that they were actually holding me back from my true potential", Ridley said, a small scowl forming across his face. He continued attacking the bounty hunter with a combination of fire blasts and tail whips, successfully wearing down Samus.

"I have to get that container", Samus thought to herself, stealing a glance at the container holding the Metroid. Samus made a lunge for the containment unit, but Ridley had read her mind and swooped down to counter her attempt to retrieve the Metroid. The capsule slipped out of Samus' hand as Ridley's talon knocked her arm away; the glass container rolled away toward the wall, lightly clanging as it stopped. Samus rolled backwards and jumped toward the wall, planted an arm against the wall and launched herself again. While air born, Samus brought her knee down across Ridley's bony spine; he shrieked in surprise and fell to the ground. The two looked at each other hatefully from the floor and then at the Metroid's capsule sitting only a few feet away. Samus fired her cannon at Ridley, hitting him point blank in the wing; she quickly scrambled to her feet and made a mad dash for the glass container. The Metroid hatchling squealed excitedly as Samus came closer, urging her along faster. From behind her, Samus felt the scratch of a nail against the back of her armor and was then blinded as a wing covered her visor. The red dragon proceeded to hit her with his tail and when she recovered, she found Ridley flying near the ceiling, his claws tightly wrapped around the glass container.

"Nice try pawn but not good enough", Ridley scowled down at the bounty hunter.

"Give it up Ridley. You know you can't beat me", Samus said in frustration, as the truth was, she couldn't beat him right now; she didn't have the necessary weaponry to kick his scaly ass.

"I think not", Ridley said, blasting a hole in the wall. "I have no more time to play with you; Mother Brain is eagerly awaiting my arrival", Ridley said flying for the newly created hole. Samus tried stopping the dragon but he just continued to dodge the attacks. He looked behind him one more time, "Oh and enjoy my going away present…checkmate."

As Ridley disappeared into the maze of massacred metal, a computerize female voice came on over the intercom, "The space station will self-destruct in three minutes."

Samus sighed to herself; she was tired of trying to beat the clock to survive yet another day. Red emergency lights began to strobe as the computer continued counting down the time until the station would explode. Samus ran from the room as fast as she could, dodging objects as they began to fall from the ceiling. Once in the elevator shaft, the entire colony began swaying from side to side as the gravity generator's conditions began to deteriorate, making Samus' trek up the mangled mass of metal much harder as steam from busted lines fogged her visor.

……

Ridley watched from a distance asteroid as the small space station began erupting in flames. An evil smile crossed his face and then he covered his eyes as the entire space station was enveloped in a bright explosion. What he didn't see in that small amount of time was a small yellow ship fly out from the epic center of the explosion and made its way to safety. Ridley uncovered his eyes as the blinding light dimmed down and looked at the Metroid hatchling within the glass container. "Well my little friend, it seems the bounty hunter is no more and now its time for you to meet a good friend of mine." Ridley spread his wings and made his way to the Space Pirate base.