Chapter 3

From prisoner to hero?

            "How wonderful. A chozo alive on this planet?" Samus said in awe.

            "Samus! MOVE!" Quothos said, pushing her out of the way as the chozo fired a beam. Quothos suit took the hit, and pain shot through his body. Though without the suit he would have been vaporized. He returned fire at the chozo's core. It roared in fury and fired again. This time Quothos dodged. Samus got up but couldn't find it in herself to fire on the bird creature.

            "Samus listen to me. This is a chozo but just like the metroids, he's been corrupted. Not just turned to stone I mean completely under her control. You have to destroy it!" Quothos said, returning fire once more. Since his was just a basic suit his shots we're having less than monumental effect on the creature. He took another hit to his mid-section and he felt the suit start to tremor. He was losing power to the suit, and fast. He figured two more direct hits and the suit would overload. Growing impatient with Samus, he went over and grabbed the loaded missile in her cannon. He ran forward, dodging shots on the way and drove it into the creatures' core. Then stood back and fired a shot. It hit the missile and the creature exploded. Samus still hadn't gotten off the floor, but after a brief moment, she shook her head and stood. Quothos had grabbed some energy balls and his suit had stopped shaking.

            "You okay Samus?" He asked. She looked at him.

            "Thank you Quothos. I... I don't know what happened. I just couldn't fire on it." She said. She leaned against the wall, catching her breath.

            "It's okay. But hopefully you'll get over it. We'll find another, more powerful one, deeper in Norfair. However that's quite a ways away. For now we should make for Brinstar to knock out the spore." Quothos blasted the door opened and started to make his way through when he stopped. "You coming Samus?" The hunter hesitated a moment, then stood, walking through the door.

            "Tell me Quothos, you're obviously not a scientist. You fight too well. Did you try out to be a bounty hunter?" She asked as they walked along. Quothos shook his head.

            "Well to be honest, I come from Earth. There was a lightning storm and next thing I know I'm on the Space Colony. Though I can't understand it. I mean I was just playing a game."

            "A game?" she asked. Quothos shook his head.

            "Never mind." Quothos said, trying to cover his tracks. She wouldn't understand, not to mention believe, his story. They came to an E-tank lying on the ground.

            "You should take it Quothos. You're inexperienced. You'll need it in the future." Samus offered, picking it up and giving it to him. Quothos shook his head.

            "I'll be fine for now. I know this terrain and where there are others. You take it." Quothos said. She nodded and attached the tank to her suit. It dissolved and became a little box of light on her right arm pad. They entered a door and went down the elevator.

            "Can this suit use weapons like missiles and such Samus?" Quothos asked. She looked at him oddly, then half-nodded.

            "It can if I modify it. Though there is something you should know. I'll have to add a cybernetic implant into your arm if you wish to use them. Not to mention that's just for weapons. If you want to use other special items, you'll have to get cybernetic implants all over your body." She stated.

            "Samus can I ask you something? Just how much human are you? I mean I've seen your schematics and all, so I know you're not complete robot." Samus stopped walking, and looked at him.

            "Roughly 87% of me is still natural. Does that bother you?" She asked. Quothos shook his head.

            "No. Forget I asked. It's just that I… Heads up!" He was cut short as a few of Brinstar's inhabitants attacked. They quickly ended that battle, and continued down the path that Quothos pointed out. "Now we have two choices. We can either skip straight to the spore, or make a side trip and pick up the charge cannon first. The spore will fall easily either way, but with the charge cannon you won't have to worry about running low on missiles." She decided to get the charge cannon first, so they made their way down there, fending off enemies when need be, collecting power ups and life along the way. They arrived at the base of the room.

            "I'll have to wait here since the passageway is too narrow for me. You can just morph into your ball and collect it."

            "You'll be okay here?" She asked. He nodded and sat on a natural ledge as she disappeared into a hidden passage. Quothos looked around and sighed.

            "I can't believe it. Fighting side by side with Samus. This is amazing. But how do I tell her that she's one of the most beautiful women in the galaxy? I mean I can't just tell her straight up. I'll look like a fool. Though I've fantasized about her for so long. Maybe I should tell her straight up." Quothos said to the open space.

            "Not meaning to make you feel silly, but you just did." The voice came from a speaker inside his helmet. Quothos jumped up.

            "Samus?" he said, feeling his face turn red,

            "Did you forget about the communications system in the helmet? I can still hear you even if we're miles away." Samus said, a slight giggle to her voice.

            "Well I um… you see… oh damn." Quothos stammered, realizing what just happened. He heard her laughter echo through his helmet.

            "Don't think too much of it. I get it a lot. I'm on my way back now. You're right. The charge beam was down here. This'll help out a lot." She said as she appeared back from the passage. "Now which way to the spore?" Quothos stood and pointed upwards. With Samus' help they made their way up the passage and into a dark room. There were three large preying mantis like creatures flying around. Samus quickly dispatched them, and moved over to the flashing door.

            "Be ready. The spore is in the next room. He's pretty easy to beat, so you shouldn't have a problem." Quothos told her. She nodded and jumped through the door. Quothos followed her and immediately went to the left wall and crouched. Samus did the same on the right wall.

            "He won't be able to hit us if we stay like this, but at the same time, we won't be able to hit him. His core is his only weak spot so nail him when he opens." He said. She once again nodded, and switched to missile mode. A large pod lowered and started swinging around the room. Just as Quothos had said, though it came within inches, it couldn't reach them. After a short while, the pod opened as if to look around and Samus launched a duo of missiles into the core. It roared with fury, and resumed swinging, faster than before. After a few repeats, the creature died. Quothos stood up.

            "Now I won't be able to follow since you'll have to morph into a ball in a bit. But I'll meet you where you'll exit. If you continue up and around, you'll obtain a few super missiles. They have the strength of five regular missiles, but they're also pretty rare too." He shot out the door below him and exited. He didn't fear the weak enemies of Brinstar, but he also knew that Norfair, the Haunted Ship, and Meridia were far more dangerous. He traveled to a wall a few sections down and waited. He heard missile fire and knew she was on her way. He saw the remnants of a wall get blown away and Samus stepped out. They continued into deep Brinstar, getting closer to Norfair.