A lost ally?
Tears were welling up in her eyes as she reached for a power bomb. A few enemies noticed her, but promptly ignored her and returned to their meal. She held off the use of the power bomb. It would irradicate the body as well, and she needed to be sure. Her cannon started blazing as she rushed the creatures. Many cries of anger came from the group as they were disturbed from their meal. Many of them rushed Samus, their appendages, jaws and other forms of attack came her way. She loaded a Super Missile and took out a large group, but still they came at her. She backed off a bit, realizing she was seriously outnumbered, when a shot screamed from a different direction and vaporized one of the creatures. The creatures became confused, being attacked from an invisible source, and the hesitation was all Samus needed. A blur of shots and speed cut through the enemies like a hot knife through butter. The Speed Booster sliced through all in her path. Once the enemies were gone, she turned to where the shot had come. Her scanner picked up the glint of metal as she noticed a cannon aimed directly at her.
"Freeze! I am Samus Aran, intergalactic bounty hunter, and I demand to know who you are!" She cried out. Who was this fool, and why was he here on Metroid? She had just lost Quothos to a group of this planets inhabitants. She couldn't stand to lose another innocent life. The only response she got was a shot whizzing over her shoulder. She dodged and returned fire. She heard a cry from both directions. From behind her as well as the target she was aiming at. She whirled at the new commotion and saw a very disgruntled Ridley with a clawed hand covering his left eye.
"Damn you hunters! You'll regret this!" he said as he dove through terrain and disappeared into the darkness.
"Jesus Christ Samus! That hurts!" She heard the voice echo in her helmet. The only one tuned into her frequency was Quothos.
"Quothos? Is that you?" She asked.
"No, it's the other nut who's helped you through this damn planet. If it isn't giant flying mantises trying to do me in, it's my own team!" He complained, climbing out from behind a rock out-cropping. He had been half-buried by a mild wall collapse.
"But… if you're alive… then who's…" She asked turning to the corpse. It was nothing more than one of the larger inhabitants. The creatures were simply looking for a meal and the dead mantis was a prime meal.
"Allow me to explain. I had been trying to speak with you when Ridley came through one of those doors. He must have been on a patrol route or something. He threw me into the wall, and thankfully it somewhat gave out. Gave me a natural earth shield. He came at me, but he couldn't get to me through the rocks. I managed to get off enough shots to get him to retreat. I guess I also smoked that mantis in my blitz. Then I saw what must have been thirty creatures descending on it. I'm just fortunate they didn't notice me." He said, brushing himself off. She looked at the burn mark on his armor that was caused by her shot.
"Quothos, I'm sorry. I just…" she started. Quothos put up his hand.
"It's okay Samus. I know why you did it. I had to remain silent. I couldn't let Ridley know I was targeting him. That eye wound will probably only slow him down for a short while. He'll probably be healed by the time you have you're final fight." He said. She nodded, but there was a slight bit of hesitation. They headed towards the surface, collecting items and energy that were previously unreachable. At times Samus had to leave Quothos behind since he still had only the most basic of abilities. She'd try to keep in constant contact with him, though he would keep reassuring her he was just fine. He had become even fonder of Samus throughout the mission so far. It was more than just a crush now. It had blossomed into respect, admiration and even love. They made their way back to the surface and Quothos led her to the area where the old ship had crashed. With the aid of her grappling beam, Samus got both Quothos and herself across the broken platforms to the ship entrance. As soon as they entered, Samus had her cannon ready.
"I sense a lot of evil in this place. Are you sure you want to come along?" She asked Quothos. He nodded and took point, leading her into the main shaft of the ship. He readied his gun as he led her down the shaft to the bottom of the ship.
"I've seen rookies before and I can tell that you're preparing yourself for something. What is it?" She asked. Quothos turned to answer her, but had to leap backwards as a gruesome, floating form appeared in front of him. He opened fire and the thing seemed to moan before fading out of existence.
"What the hell was that!?" She cried out. Quothos' heart finally sank back to its original position.
"It's the dead spirits of the scientists who landed here. They've mutated somehow and now are doomed to prevent intruders from entering the ship. They aren't a serious threat, but they can sneak up on you and get a quick hit on you." He stated, blasting out a weakened portion of the floor beneath him and jumping down. They made their way to a room where a bunch of machinery lay in a mess on the floor. A robot drone stood unmoving, it's power long gone. Quothos pointed out the point where Samus would need to plant a bomb. While she easily crawled into her ball and rolled through, Quothos was forced to crawl on his stomach to fit through. She blasted the door open and jumped in, Quothos close behind. The door slammed shut with the common gray door that was obviously a one-way door. The room was deathly quiet.
"Be ready Samus, this is the Phantom and he can only be damaged when his eye is open. Other then that, he'll just throw plasma fire at us, and fly around the room." He stated, moving into a corner and readying his cannon. She did the same, as a low moan seemed to fill the room. A transparent figure faded into view in the middle of the room, and looked at the two warriors. Then it closed its eye and started to waver back and forth, dropping blue balls of plasma flame. When the fire hit the ground, it began to bounce around towards one of the two hunters. A single shot would quickly vaporize the creatures though, so they weren't the greatest concern. They also dropped energy on occasion, which helped keep Quothos at top health from the occasional flame that got too close. Finally the creature stopped and opened its eye to look around. Quothos saw the green missile too late as it screamed into the waiting pupil of the creature.
"SAMUS! NO!" Quothos cried. The beast vanished and appeared at the top-middle of the room. It let off wave after wave of plasma fire, doing serious damage. If it hadn't been for the two energy tanks Quothos had received on their journey, his suit would have long ago been destroyed. Finally the attack stopped, and both warriors were left to check the damage they had received.
"Samus are you okay?" Quothos called across the room. A weak nod was his only response. "I should have warned you about that. A charged beam is the only real way to attack him. For some reason, he's able to absorb some of the energy from a super missile and release that plasma. Another attack like that and we're done for." He said. Again she nodded, and climbed to her feet. The normal plasma fires gave them back some of the lost energy, but not even a quarter of what they lost. Another opportunity came up and Samus released a charged wave/spazer/ice combo beam into the eye. It roared and flew off into oblivion. Quothos had been correct about this attack. It had nearly the same power as a super missile, but with less dangerous side effects. After what seemed like a battle that just wouldn't end, the creature started to fade back and forth, before disappearing all together. All around them, machines started to hum, and status screens flickered on as power was restored to the ship. Another mega boss had been beaten.