CHAPTER 14
Samus and Cade quietly approached the main door to the bridge. They nodded to each other as Cade ripped the door from its frame and tossed it aside. As they stepped inside, Samus froze.
"It…can't be…" Samus stuttered.
"Yes, my child, I'm afraid it can," replied a tall, lanky figure.
"Heh, heh, heh, yes. You know, I'm rather adept at making the impossible possible," said a more humanoid figure to the side.
"You're the…creator," Cade stammered.
"Very good, I see you remember me, Renegade…" the wiry figure acknowledged.
"Barely," Cade sighed.
Lita jumped through the doorway and pointed her gun directly at the humanoid figure, totally ignoring the other.
"Stay where you are, Marcusson! So help me God, I'm going to watch you die this time!" Lita yelled.
"Lita, stand down," Samus said.
"NO WAY! I've got to get rid of this beast before he screws up anything else!" Lita defied Samus as she kept her eyes on her target.
"Lita, I said stand down. Look over there," Samus pointed.
"What else could I possibly…I…what…a Chozo?" Lita lowered her weapon.
"Ichthi lith ilji laifth athlti," murmured the birdlike creature as it stepped into better light.
"Chlati flilit ihith iti," Cade, Samus, and Lita all replied in unison.
"Wait, what…what was that?" Lita shook her head.
"Ah, my One, the one I lost, it is your native tongue," the Chozo answered.
"I don't know what you're taking about," Lita huffed.
"I believe you do. I think my Vessel explained it all to you. Your Carrier escaped her confines before you came to term. She caused you to be lost to me, and because of that, she suffered a terrible death, the same one that you were likely to face if it were not for the Defect," the ancient explained.
"How do you know about that…" Lita breathed.
"Know about what?" Samus asked, "What is he talking about, Lita?"
"Why did you say that? If you know how I came to be, then why did you tell her! She doesn't know!" Lita screamed as tears began streaming down her cheeks.
"Lita! Tell me, what is he talking about?" Samus removed her helmet, fighting back her own tears.
"I can't tell you again! I've already gone through that once, and I just can't!" Lita bawled.
"Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm….ha…ha…hahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I love this! I haven't had to lift a finger and you're already in pain! This is too good," Marcusson bellowed.
"You bastard! You're enjoying this? I'm going to kill you NOW!" Lita shouted as she lunged toward him.
The Chozo's long arm intercepted her in mid-flight.
As she contacted his limb, she flashed a glance at him.
In her eyes, he saw her yearning, her pain, her rage, her all-consuming bloodlust…everything he had bestowed upon her during her creation…then he saw it in action.
Lita swirled around the arm and then seemingly disappeared. Nearly instantly, the arm was severed from the Chozo's body. It screeched in pain.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING! I CREATED YOU!" it said.
She reappared next to Samus and Cade, dropping the gushing arm to the floor.
"You tried to play God, now you're going to suffer the deaths of all those for which you are responsible," Lita replied in a chilling tone.
At this, the Chozo charged at Lita. A loud scraping left gashes in the metal walls, but Lita was nowhere to be found once again.
Suddenly, piece by piece, the Chozo's rigid carapace-like armor began flying off. The sound of ripping flesh encompassed the room. After all of the armor had been removed, the creature was split in two at the torso, sending the upper body into the air. As it reached its apex of flight, it splintered into hundreds of miniscule bits of flesh. The legs simply stood where they last held life.
Lita finally reappeared, dripping in Chozo blood.
"Lita…" Samus forced.
"Quite impressive. I can honestly say that I've never seen anything like it. A very good show, to say the least," Marcusson laughed.
"Before I kill you, I want to know one thing…" Lita started.
"Spare me, Anjellis. I know what it is you want to know. How did I survive? It's simple, really. We all know that Metroids prey on the X. When you blasted me on that platform, you paralyzed my Metroid transformation. When the X engulfed me, it began to consume me, but at the same time, it thawed your ice and allowed my Metroid aspect feed and consume the X. I laid there in that ruin, my brain exposed to the air, and partially destroyed, along with my arms and legs. My Metroid aspect, charged by absorbing the X, began to reconstruct my body, not with human tissue, but with Metroid tissue. When I finally recovered, I found that I had complete control of the X. A mutation had occurred during my reconstruction…and now, you behold me here today, the master of an X flagship, the first of what will be my unstoppable fleet, manned by my X infested army. Consider yourselves my first recruits," Marcusson lectured.
Lita phased out again and appeared behind Marcusson. She jabbed the injection into his neck and released it. He grabbed her and flung her across the room. Before she hit the wall, Cade managed to catch her.
"You sneaky little wench!" Marcusson yelled as he began to shiver, "You think that is going to do it?"
"But you…" Lita raised an eyebrow.
"But I destroyed it? Not quite. It catalyzes the reaction between the X and the hull of the ship. It makes me stronger!" Marcusson said as he reached out to the hull of the ship. The metal seemingly melted and ran down onto his arm, forming a shiny coat over his body.
He dashed at Samus, who fired a shot at him. The blast deflected as he pummeled her into a massive console. He rebounded and jumped straight at Lita, but Cade clotheslined him into the floor.
"I'll hold this punk off! You figure out how to get rid of him!" Cade shouted as he took a punch to the jaw.
Lita's internal dialogue went nuts.
"What do I do? What do I do? That was supposed to kill him! What do I do? The engines…Abby said she could help…"
Lita rushed out of the room and down the corridors as quickly as she could. She dashed past their ship and reached the back end of the cargo bay, where the engines lay silent.
"If I could only find some Vilonium…where would Vilonium be on a ship like this…would it even be on this ship? Wait…"
She began fiddling with the drive system and noticed that the emergency generator ran off of a purified Vilonium core.
Her only chance was to open an engine and place it inside. It was risky because of the explosion, but at that point, it was the only hope.
Lita tossed the entire battery into the main thruster and secured the maintenance hatch.
She could already hear the rumbling from inside the massive cylinder as she dashed back to engineering.
"Abby! Abby!" she screamed.
"Can I go now? Can I start the engines?" Abby asked.
"Yes, hurry up! Do what you need to do!" Lita replied.
"But wait, before I do, you might want to take that time travel unit. It's a one time thing, so make sure you use it in time," Abby warned.
"What? What do you mean? What are you planning to do?" Lita inquired.
"The only way to destroy the X is to return it to its prison."
"Prison?" Lita scrunched up her face.
"X comes from Vilonium. It lives inside pure Vilonium ore. The Chozo first found the way to refine Vilonium, and the X was the byproduct. They then created the metroids to keep the X in check because they didn't want to corrupt their source of newfound energy. Since we have no metroids, I have to crash the ship into the Vilonium Purification Grounds on Planet Vhazon. It's the only logical thing to do," Abby explained.
"But what about Cade and Samus?" Lita choked.
"You shouldn't worry about them. As a time traveler, you are aware of your duties. You shouldn't be connected to anyone in any time. You travel to protect what is right and to keep the galaxy the way it should be," Abby quoted the Chrono Unit Creed verbatim.
"But who is to say that the galaxy should be a certain way, that things have to turn out a certain way? Who has the authority to decide such a thing?" Lita let a tear escape her eye.
"A logical question that can only have an illogical answer. I can't really tell you. All I know is that I'll give you two minutes before I reach my destination. Exactly two minutes from now, you must engage the device. If you do not, you will die. Daddy wouldn't want you to die," Abby said as she flickered and faded.
"But…" Lita hesitated before she ran back toward the bridge.
As she reached the room once again, she nearly fell as the engines engaged, throwing the ship forward toward the planet. She could see out of the windows that the surface was growing closer and closer by the second.
Samus looked up at her, blood running down her face and one eye engulfed in red from trauma.
"This is it, isn't it?" She sighed.
Lita developed a knot in her throat, but managed a head nod.
Cade was still struggling with Macrusson, and was seemingly having a good time.
"I just wanted to let you know…that I would have named my first child Lita…after you…" Samus said.
"If you could have done things over…would you?" Lita strained.
"I can't, so there's no point…" Samus coughed.
"That's what's not fair…" Lita winced.
"What isn't fair?" Samus looked up.
"That I can……Goodbye, Samus," Lita frowned.
"Goodbye Lita," Samus sobbed as she finally beheld her fate.
A flash lit up the bridge, then everything went silent.
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From his turret, Adam stood to see the ship plunge into the surface of the planet. The initial explosions from the bridge erupted as the engines continued to drive the ship into the crust of Vhazon. There was a strobe of purple, then a colossal rumble as the star cruiser struck the Vilonium reserve.
Soldiers cheered, but Adam looked on with a stern visage.
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i"Lady, you must live to seize that chance. This is my last order, no, my last request."
"All right," She breathed at last, "But that doesn't mean you have to stay here."
The floor shook beneath their feet, a nearby grate was torn off by a sudden burst of pressurized steam, and it clattered loudly across the ground. The ship was already coming apart, if the escape pod was to have any chance it'd have to be jettisoned soon. Time had run far shorter than either of them had expected.
"Get in the pod!" He demanded, gesturing fiercely with his good arm. "Now!"
"Adam! I…"
"I gave you an order lieutenant." Adam shouted harshly. Then his features softened. He remembered through the haze, the old sign of trust between them. That's what she needed - to trust him.
"Any objections lady?"
Samus opened her mouth in protest, but sighed, much of the tension leaving her body. Adam gave his best attempt at a gentle smile. He wasn't sure how effective it was, but it seemed to be put her a little more at ease.
"All right." She conceded slowly, the words coming to her mouth with great difficulty. She started for the pod and then hesitated. Adam was just about to urge her on when she suddenly turned around and, before he could stop her, threw her arms around him. Taken completely by surprise, Adam stood there gaping. She gripped him tighter and Adam could feel his own cold heart softening next to the warm beating of hers. He awkwardly raised his own arms (what was left of them) and returned the hug. He felt a strange new emotion welling up inside of him and wondered vaguely if this was what it would've been like to have a daughter.
"I won't forget you." She whispered over his shoulder.
"You'd better not." He said wryly, patting her back reassuringly. "Now go."
Reluctantly she slid off him, relinquishing their embrace. She looked sorrowfully up at him, and backed away. He placed his good hand on her shoulder and nodded towards the pod. She withdrew further and with a last lingering look, turned and climbed into the escape capsule. Adam hurriedly walked to the controls and slapped a panel.
With a loud snap-hiss the door of the pod began to slide between them.
"Sir!" She almost choked, second thoughts tearing at her heart. "I can't let you do this!"
"Some must live and some must die... In time you'll know what I mean. Understand that someday, Samus."
"Adam!" She cried, her mind racing for words.
"Goodbye." He said quietly and shut his eyes.
The door snapped shut with a finalizing clang. The protective blast field manifested around it, the light humming of the energy field could barely be heard over the sudden warning of sirens - signifying that less than a minute remained before total collapse.
Adam sighed and got to work on the console. Funny that he'd forgotten to ask her about the Metroid incident, not that it mattered now. Oh well, he hoped it would all be over soon…
The pod shuddered violently as steam and pressure escalated into a tumultuous cloud beneath it. With a thunderous detonation, the pod burst forward and was quickly expelled from the massive hole in the pirate's ship. The rear thrusters engaged upon leaving the confines of the escape shaft, and the pod rocketed away towards safety./i
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"Push! Push! It's almost there, push!" a doctor yelled. cough…can't….breathe…" the woman responded.
"Doctor, she's flatlined!" a nurse shouted.
"I know that, but she signed a release to save the baby, so get it out!" the doctor ordered.
"Doctor, the baby is blue! She's trying to breathe, but she can't!"
"Well hook it up to a respirator until we can find something to help her!"
"We've received word from another patient! Her daughter died at birth and she wants to donate the organs to this child!"
"But what if they aren't a match?"
"We don't have time for that! This child is dying before our eyes! Let's do what we can to save her!"
END
