CHAPTER 15: APOCALYPSE

Hunter Log 3851
Now it's time for me to get serious. I have nothing standing in my way of completing my objective. The rogue hunters are on the fragment I left behind, so there will be no immediate support coming from there should Tourian call for it. I'm assuming that the Chozo can handle themselves in the meantime.

This looks like it might be the end of the journey. Luckily, my comm link to my ship hasn't been damaged since I've been here. The channel is still open and waiting for a command. If this is anything like last time, I'll definitely need it.

Samus out...
Samus noticed a slowing of the chamber as it neared the center.

Out the window, she saw a circular panel beginning to retract and open to welcome the vessel.

Before long, the chamber came to a halt and gas could be heard escaping from various locking mechanisms. The large pinball structure shuddered and moved forward, taking the glass with it.

The entire structure stopped and then sunk into a prefitted slot in the floor. The way was clear.

Samus proceeded down the rather expansive hallway. It was dark, eerily dark. The only light projected was from small conduits on the walls, but the mixed blue and red colors were not strong enough to permeate the dominant black.

Suddenly a bright burst of light filled the corridor, causing Samus to shield her eyes with her forearm. She waited as her eyes adjusted and then looked at the source. A high wattage flood light was mounted above a door nearly three feet in front of her. It must have had a motion sensor.

Fighting off the multicolored flashes that remained in her eyes, Samus opened the door. Not to her surprise, the next room was pitch black. Nothing could be seen inside...which is nothing she hadn't encountered before.

When she entered the room, the door sealed quickly behind her. Wearily, she walked forward.

After a few steps she tripped over something that must have been a massive cord or cable. She caught herself and kept from falling, then turned around. Two large orange shapes stared her down...familiar shapes...

Samus began charging her Chozo beam, but as she did, she noticed that it illuminated the room. Nearly stumbling to the ground, Samus recoiled. A giant likeness of Ridley stood in the middle of the room. The gems used for eyes were ablaze with radiance. There was no sign of any other statue in the room...unlike last time.

Using the light from her beam, she scanned the room. Another door stood to her left.

Seemingly in response to her look, the door flung itself open.

"Ah, what the heck. I guess chivalry isn't totally dead...unless you count the ghost that opened that door..." Samus thought as she resigned to go through.

She tried to be lighthearted at times, mostly in denial of the true depression that so often dominated her thoughts. It was about as effective this time as any other time. In other words, she was still depressed.

Regardless, she proceeded through the door and entered a chamber that had glowing conduits running along the floors and up the walls to the ceiling. All of them branched off of a hemispherical structure in the middle of the room. A figure stood next to the hemisphere.

"I suppose you expected to find the Mother Brain back from the dead?" said the figure.

"Well, no, I really expected to find a rave with all of the glowing lights, honestly, I'm disappointed." remarked Samus pithily.

"Still a sense of humor, I see. That's usually a cover-up for fear," the figure shot back.

"Hardly...do I know you?" Samus inquired.

"At one time...but you might not recognize me now," replied the figure.

"Malachi?"

"I'm impressed, you're quite good. Everything I trained you to be," said Malachi.

"How...why...Are you behind all this?" Samus could hardly get the words past her lips.

"All of this? Do you mean the reconstruction of Zebes? Do you mean the re-engineering of the space pirates? Or do you mean the experimentation between the Chozo and humans? You couldn't possibly mean the 'rebellion' of the hunters, could you?" Malachi responded.

"How could you...why, Malachi?" Samus uttered.

"I guess I owe you the entire story. It all started during your training at the military academy. You were much more adept at fighting than the other trainees. You were undisciplined, yet your skills still exceeded those of the most decorated solider. Your strength and speed grew exponentially with each training session. I never told you, but your talent exceeded even my normal potential after our tenth session. Even when I introduced a new skill to you, you did it better than I could on your first try. I was jealous of you. Then when the academy refused to place you into the military, you left to become a bounty hunter. That made me even more jealous. You not only were better than I was at my best skill, you now enjoyed freedom that I had never been allowed to have. Hearing of all of your successes made me sick. I had to have a taste of the freedom you enjoyed. I was dishonorably discharged from my post as a military trainer after I put one of my trainees into a coma. I left the Academy and pursued my own interests. Unbeknownst to the Confederation, I was enlisted in the services of the space pirates. I trained under them, learning their technology and fighting styles, and in turn, I trained them in our way of fighting and shared our technology. I knew I'd be treated as a traitor if the Academy became aware of my status, so I entered the Delta Hunter Combine. I was a good bounty hunter, in the upper echelon of the Delta Combine, but my small accomplishments still paled in comparison to yours. There wasn't a single hunter that hadn't already learned of your actions on SR-388 and all of the other missions you had completed. I used my earnings from the Combine to help the pirates reinforce their base on Zebes. This...is the result." explained Malachi.

"This was all about me? Your jealousy? You would put all of the planets, all of the stations, all of the people in the Confederation in danger, just to get at me?" Samus probed.

"You must admit, I did quite a good job. You tried to blow up the planet, but I still managed to keep things together, you might say. It's time to reform Zebes, Samus. I'm glad you could join me," said Malachi glibly.

"Over my dead body..." Samus said as she began to approach the man.

"Spoken like a true fighter. I suppose I've prepared well enough for this fight. It'll be your last, Samus. Say goodbye," replied Malachi, with an almost childlike glee in his voice.

He removed a vest he was wearing and tossed it on the floor. In the middle of his chest was a glowing purple orb...a micropulse orb...Chozo energy. Malachi had embedded the energy source into his sternum with some harness device that snaked around his neck and torso. He extended his arms outward as energy pulsed from the orb. Small bolts of lighting shot out as Malachi began to yell. Piece by piece, armor flew from the walls and melded to his body. First and arm guard, then leg armor and shoulder guards, then the rest, including a chest plate that had an opening for the micropulse orb.

Malachi then placed his hand on the hemispherical console. A display flickered to life on the wall showing three large objects moving toward a smaller object in the center. It was like the display in the first chamber. He was reassembling the planet.

He smiled briefly, then charged toward Samus. Samus did likewise.

Malachi swung downward with one arm in a clubbing motion. Samus raised an arm to block. The sheer force of the blow knocked her down to one knee. He was insanely powerful. Samus swung forward with her other arm and connected with his midsection. He flinched, but showed no sign of pain. In response, he threw a leg forward, kicking Samus in the chest plate.

She flew over in a back flip and landed on her feet. This new Chozo armor was incredible. She didn't feel any pain, but she did feel pressure from the impact. This would be a difficult battle.

Malachi extended his hand toward Samus as energy began to pulse and gather around his forearm. Suddenly, a bolt shot from his hand and connected with Samus. She writhed in pain as the energy lifted her off the ground. He thrusted his hand forward and Samus flew into the wall.

"You can't expect to beat me now, Samus. I have more power than you can dream of. I'm invincible!" exclaimed Malachi.

"Invincible this..." Samus replied as she raised her arm cannon with the Chozo beam engaged.

She unleashed the blast and it connected with Malachi. She heard him screaming over the sound of the beam. She felt intense resistance, but she maintained her shot. His yell, first, grew louder, then faded as the resistance lessened. Then the beam blasted free as it picked his body up and carried it to the opposite end of the room. She released the blast when she heard his body smash against the wall.

Samus got up and began to walk toward Malachi. On her way, she picked up one of his spiked forearm guards.

As she approached him, he was still lying against the wall.

"You always seem to have the upper hand..." muttered Malachi.

"Take it how you will. I think you left this back there," said Samus.

"Help me up, will you?" asked Malachi.

He grabbed her arm cannon as he struck with his other arm, charged with energy. Quickly, Samus swung downward with the spiked arm guard, slamming it into the micropulse orb and stopping his strike in mid-swing.

"N-no! NO! NOOOOOOOO!" shrieked Malachi.

He began to convulse as the room filled with purple light. Energy began escaping from the marble-size orb. All of the sudden, there was a loud pop as the arm guard flew out of the object. Things that looked like spirits began escaping one by one, filling the air with a chill.

One of the apparitions slowed by Samus' face.

"The Chozo...you're free..." Samus said.

The spirit remained by Samus. She looked down and noticed that it had its hands near her arm cannon.

"You want these free, too. You've loaned me your strength for long enough. Thank you," said Samus, solemnly.

She removed her micropulse orb from her cannon and dropped it on the floor. The spirit changed colors to red and seemingly entered the marble. It shook for a second, then shattered in a marvelous pyrotechnic flash. More of the ghosts filled the room. They swirled around the top of the room above Samus, then one by one, dove and passed through her.

The sensations were not painful, but they were invigorating. With each spirit that passed through her, she coursed with more energy, more power. She also could hear the Chozo speaking to her. They would join her for one final battle, one that would dwarf the others...the Apocalypse.

Before long, the ghosts swirled faster and finally dissipated through the ceiling.

Samus looked at her arm cannon. It now pulsed with green energy. She looked on her LCD and it showed a new selection: Spirit Blast.

She turned as she heard thick coughs from behind her.

"Well I guess it was meant to be this way...you winning and me losing..." Malachi stated.

"You're on the wrong side, Malachi. You did things for the wrong reasons," explained Samus.

"Heh...cough...and to think I told that to so many in the past...I guess that makes me a hypocrite..." forced Malachi.

"Everyone makes mistakes. It's never too late to change." Samus said, almost with hope.

"It...cough...it is this time...cough...go, Samus...cough...be what I couldn't be..." Malachi muttered as his eyes rolled back and his last breath escaped his lips.

A massive tremor shook the entire room.

Samus shot a look at the display...all of the remaining fragments had connected, save the one she released. The planet was nearly complete.

The stage had been set. It was time.