Author's Note: I apologize for the extended amount of time before this installment. I was in a slight writer's block in both my stories "Regeneration" and "Paper Mario Corrupted". Hopefully, the next chapter will be up sooner.


Metroid: Regeneration

Chapter 8: Into the Depths

The Chozo Ruins were not as Samus had remembered them. It used to be barren and desolate, but now, it was a hive of activity. Chozos were everywhere. Not just adult chozo, but also children were running around and playing. Before, the Chozo Ruins was a very hostile place where Samus faced many hardships as she tried to rid the ruins of the poison contaminating the waters -- the source being a monster known as the Flaaghra; a monster that lived in a giant plant; a monster that gained its energy from the sun.

"What are all these chozo doing here, Goldensteen?" asked Samus.

"They come here to escape the hustle and bustle of New Chozodia," Goldensteen replied. "It is actually a very popular place for families. The children run through the caverns and the parents follow mainly to be sure the little ones don't get into trouble. Only certain areas of the Ruins have been cleared for public access."

"Why are only certain area cleared for access?"

"Well, there have been numerous sightings of chozo ghosts but they have all been in the areas beyond the Arboretum on the one side and beyond the Magmoor Transport on the other."

"So the spirits of the last chozo inhabitants are still here."

"I'm sorry for interrupting your little history lesson Goldensteen, but where exactly are we going?" Mada said.

"We are heading for the hidden access to the Phazon Mines through the Sun Chamber." Goldensteen noticed Samus searching her logbook as they exited the Main Compound. "This access point is new to you Samus so you have no record of it in your data banks. The only chozo absolutely sure of its location is Ordenstantz."

"Then how are we supposed to find it?" There was a hint of urgency in Mada's voice.

"Don't worry Mada, Ordenstantz gave me the coordinates before we left the City Core."

The three made their way past the mecha-hive and the Magmoor Transport, just where Goldensteen that no one was to travel.

"Goldensteen, I thought you said access to the caverns beyond the Magmoor Transport was restricted?" Mada pointed out.

"I did say so. But some still do travel beyond. Mostly adolescent chozo looking for an adventure. Trust me, the chozo ghosts keep them on their feet." Goldensteen glanced over to Samus who was just wandering alongside minding her business. "We are an exception, Mada. We are on special, secret business."

"Yes, and a chozo general passing through the ruins with two bounty hunters isn't suspicious," Mada mocked. Goldensteen just ignored the comment.

They arrived at the entrance to the Sun Chamber where the Flaaghra once flourished and poisoned the waters of the ruins. Samus remembered the ciricular room all too well. She could see everything as it happened some many years earlier. The giant worm-like creature growing out the center of a flower and her rolling around in morph ball to dodge the fiend's attacks; it was a fearsome fight. But now, the room lay empty, with only a large gaping hole where the Flaaghra once rested.

"That is where we are going," Goldensteen pointed at the giant hole, "into the Flaaghra Caverns."

"When did this happen?" Samus referred to the area that was unexplored to her.

"We excavated what was left of the Flaaghra, the giant flower, and found that its roots created a network of tunnels that lead to the true source of the poison."

Samus felt a chill up her spine.

"Did you feel that?" Mada asked.

"I'm glad to see I'm not the only one," replied Samus.

"It's the silent pass of a chozo ghost," Goldensteen explained. "They remember you, Samus, as an enemy. And you, Mada, are not chozo. They will undoubtedly attack you as well."

Samus switched to her x-ray visor. The room's grayscale came into view, and Samus saw the ghosts. Three of them. All charging their attacks.

"JUMP!" Samus shouted as she jumped of the ledge they were standing on. Mada could not see what was going on for he did not have an x-ray visor, but did as Samus told.

"How do I fight something I cannot see?" Mada was running around the hole, trying to make himself a hard target. The moans of the dead chozo were everywhere.

"They will show themselves eventually! Believe me; they can be beaten without an x-ray visor!" Samus said shooting continuous power blasts at what appeared to be nothing to Mada. But something was definitely there. The blasts would just stop and explode in mid-flight as it hit a chozo ghost.

Samus continued to fight the chozo ghosts and could not help but let a smile come to her face as she saw Mada running around in circles.

"Hey, Mada! There's a ghost on your tail!"

Mada turned around and started firing. Surely enough, his blasts were hitting something that became visible with each concussive hit. Out of a mixture of bravery and pure fear, he continued shooting until his blasts hit the wall. A piercing shriek echoed through the halls of the ruins.

"Is it dead?" Mada yelled over to Samus.

Samus glanced in Mada's direction and saw the spirit burn.

"Yeah." Samus rolled up into her morph ball and rolled towards Mada, thinking they could accomplish more by sticking together. When she reached Mada, she came out of her morph ball. The sight she then saw was amazing, but terrible. Chozo ghosts were floating through the chamber's walls, continuously multiplying. What once was three, was now a hundred, and growing.

"Mada! The ghosts are multiplying! We must get Goldensteen and head into the Flaaghra Caverns!" Samus yelled amongst the moans and groans of the floating specters. Mada acknowledged that he heard and he dashed around the pit to Goldensteen, who was still standing on the ledge.

"Goldensteen! There are too many!" The ghosts made themselves visible for a split second. Goldensteen's eyes grew in sheer horror. "We need to get through the Flaagrha Caverns, now!"

Goldensteen jumped down form his perch and ran for the pit, closely followed by Samus and Mada. They just ran as fast as they could, with Samus glancing back to see if they were followed. The entrance of the tunnel was completely blocked by the racing chozo ghosts.

"Goldensteen, they are still following us! I suggest we find this transport of yours quickly!" Samus said.

"Don't worry Samus, the transport should be just down this tunnel." Goldensteen made a quick turn to the left and continued the targetless charge through the Flaaghra Tunnels. Samus and Mada narrowly made the turn.

They ran through the caverns with the eerie groaning of the hundred ghosts behind them. The tunnel twisted and turned and ended.

"Why did we stop?" Mada asked.

"It's a dead end," Goldensteen pointed out. The three turned and listened to the shrieks getting louder and louder.

"They're here." Samus stated. She still had her x-ray visor engaged and staring at the wall of ghosts before them. "Goldensteen, isn't there something we can do?"

"I'm trying to remember!" Goldensteen closed his eyes, seemingly falling asleep.

"Goldensteen! This is no time to sleep!" yelled Mada.

"I wasn't sleeping, I was meditating."

"Oh, I'm sure we have time for that!" Mada said, sarcastically.

"We do if it has to do with how we will get out of this situation!" Goldensteen moved to beside Samus. "If I remember correctly, they are particularly susceptible to a concentrated sonic blast."

"I think I could help there." Samus pointed her arm cannon at the ghost wall and engaged her annihilator beam. As she fired, the shrieks became more devastating as one by one, the ghosts disintegrated into nothingness. When a hole big enough for the three to run through was formed, Samus stopped firing and ran through the ghosts. Mada and Goldensteen were close behind. The cold dead fingers of the chozo ghosts reached out and tried to grab them as they passed, but failed.

"Which way?" Samus asked once they reached the main corridor again.

"Go left then take the first right!" They knew the ghosts would quickly regroup, so they had to be quick. The first right came up quickly and once again, Samus nearly missed it. This tunnel was not as long, but there was a strange machine at the end.

"I trust you know how to operate the device, Goldensteen?" asked Mada when they approached the apparatus.

"Yes. This is it. The transport to the Phazon Mines." Goldensteen stepped forward and placed his hand on a panel just off the right side of the tunnel. A small hologram formed on the transport. "Now, just stand in the hologram and you shall be on your way."

"Aren't you coming?" asked Samus.

"No, I am afraid I cannot," Goldensteen denied. "I don't have any means of protecting myself from the space pirates. The ghosts will leave me alone since I am chozo. Trust me. I am more use to you at New Chozodia than at your side."

Samus Aran stepped forth onto the transport soon to be followed by Mada Edoc, who stepped into the hologram. Goldensteen watched as they sank into the ground.