AN: I've been struggling writing updates for my other stories and I figured I needed more time. So in the meantime, I decided to post this instead since its been in the works for a while. It's a little different from what I usually write but I hope you readers find it interesting.

Anyway, this is supposed take place after Super and before Fusion but ignoring Other M. There will be references from the Manga as well as the other games including the Prime trilogy and Dread.

Batman and all related characters and elements are trademarks of DC Comics. Batman is created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane.

Metroid and all related characters are owned by Nintendo.


CHAPTER 01: The Word is Vengeance

A sense of stillness pervaded the dark craggy realm.

Aside from the cyclical whooshing whispers of gusts and the rustle of drying scattered vegetation, there wasn't a soul to be seen. Even the roars of the machinery from the industrial complex seemed so far away. It was like a world frozen in time, isolated, lonely.

At least it seemed that way from a macro perspective. If one were to really look, there were some activity in the form of the parse wildlife.

Such as the skittering hops of a large grasshopper-like creature that had the proportions of a medium sized frog. It finally stopped at one of the drying bushes where it plucked and rapidly nibbled on a wrinkled dark berry. So lost in its relief of satiating its hunger that it didn't notice that something was stalking it a distance away.

It appeared reptilian, with a long stout body and legs that were thick and splayed out like a monitor lizard. Its head was that of Chameleon, crested and with conical turrets housing its eyes. It smacked it lips as it neared its prey, readying itself to shoot out its tongue.

But then suddenly, both predator and prey swerved their sights towards the sky as their hearing picked up an approaching sound. Breaking through the thick clouds, was a huge fire ball on a collision course with the planet's surface.

Fear prioritized over hunger as the two creatures scurried away; wondering if this was at last the end of days.

But as the fiery object got closer, the flames caused from atmospheric entry began to shed away to reveal a red/orange hull, green tinted cockpit windows and the overall shape of a Hunter-class Gunship.

The vessel slowed its velocity and its descent before cruising over the man-made complex; made up of tall towers which rose from a base of Jenga structures and intestinal pipes adjacent to deep valleys that looked like someone scarred the earth with a razor-blade.

Inside the ship, a computerized transmission sounded out.

"UNIDENTIFIED VESSEL, YOU ARE IN A RESTRICTED FEDERATION ZONE. STATE YOUR NAME AND PURPOSE."

A finger from an orange metallic hand tapped a few buttons on a touch screen interface.

"AUTHORIZATION CODE ACKNOWLEDGED. WELCOME BACK, SAMUS. YOU ARE CLEARED FOR LANDING IN BAY 2."

When the Gunship approached four large chute structures, one of them beckoned with its doors sliding open. The ship then engaged its hover thrusters before steadily descending inside.

Everything was dark until the vessel touched down on the landing bay. When it did, a set of white fluorescent-like lamps around the hangar lit up with a loud pop. There was a one second delay before another set lit up, expanding the circular area of visibility. And after another delay, was another and another until it eerily illuminated the entire hangar bay with a Pop! Pop! POP! POP!

The hatch below the ship slid open and an elevating platform was lowered. Standing on it was a humanoid figure wearing an orange and red body armor with spherical shoulder guards. Where the right forearm should have been was instead a large chrome cannon and the helmet was red with a glowing green T-shaped visor.

This person was Samus Aran, bounty hunter and the savior of the galaxy.

With hand on her arm cannon and her guard already up, Samus slowly walked over the narrow metal bridge. The echos from the clanging of her footsteps made it all too clear that everything was just too quiet.

There was no personnel around, not a single soul. That seemed to be a given considering that her attempts at contacting the facility since entering the planet's orbit went unanswered. However, the Aurora unit AI appeared to remain operational, as well as all the machinery.

She continued on through the hangar's exit into what appeared to be a large lobby area. Before her, at the middle of the room, was a computer station shaped in a nest-like structure that displayed a holographic projection from its center.

It was graphical map of the entire FS-176 star system with one particular celestial body highlighted, Samus's current location: Xyrus Alpha.

Designated a Class XVI planet, Xyrus Alpha was located in the outer reaches of the FS-176 star system; at the fringe of Federation Space. It is the furthest habitable planet from the star's orbit; Having a stable gravity, atmosphere and capable of sustaining life.

At least for the time being. From what Samus had seen, the heavy mining of the planet's natural resources has pushed it to the brink of death.

It wouldn't be the first world to die in FS-176.

Samus would realize that the map was in fact out of date when her gaze drifted to another celestial body that shouldn't be there anymore, Planet Zebes.

Even though she was glad she destroyed Mother Brain and her plans for conquest, she still felt pangs of sadness over what she had once considered her second home was now gone forever. And from there, her thoughts went to her first home...Colony K-2L.

Behind the green visor, her brow furrowed.

"How long has it been? How many lives have I seen lost?"

Although she was well respected within the Federation, she also had a reputation of being a lone wolf with no interest in companionship. But that's not really true; There were many, from family to friends to comrades, that Samus still thinks about even today.

She thought about her parents, Rodney and Virginia Aran, and the people of Colony K-2L. She thought about the Chozos who raised her, particularly Old Bird whom she referred as "grandpa". She thought about Rundas, Ghor and Gandrayda before their corruption. And most recently, she began thinking about the infant Metroid; a creature she never thought she would bond with...a creature that gave its life for her's.

Samus forcibly reigned her thoughts in and focused back on the mission at hand. After tapping a few keys on the keyboard console, the map data of the facility had been uploaded into her suit. She then brought the mapping system up on her visor display and noted the last known coordinates of the GF Search and Rescue team before contact was lost.

There also seemed seemed to be a huge energy reading not far from that location but for now, she decides to prioritize on the Search and Rescue team.

Just as she was about to set forth, a loud static noise caused her to quickly turn and point her cannon in that direction in full alert. It came from a monitor at the corner of the lobby by another console, displaying nothing but a typical snow of white noise.

It struck her odd that it would suddenly turn on like that and would've brushed it off had it's glow not illuminated something which caught her attention.

Tentatively she approached the console, arm cannon at the ready, and peered behind it.

Sure enough, there was a human man on the floor with his back propped up. Blood had already seeped from the gaping wound on his forehead and pooled below him.

The scan visor already confirmed that he was dead before she took a knee to examine him. If there was any doubts that something had gone horribly wrong on Xyrus Alpha, this pretty much put them to rest.

However, the corpse raised some new and unexpected mysteries. One of which were the few shell casings scattered around him and the handgun that he was still clutching. Gently, the bounty hunter pried it from his hand and examined it: It looked old fashioned like a model from 20th to 21st century Earth, thousands of years from the past.

And then there was his uniform: It didn't look anything standard issue from the Galactic Federation or from anyone in this facility. Samus particularly took notice of the logo embroidered on the uniform's shoulder sleeve, written in plain English.

"Arkham Asylum…" she read.


"Oracle, I'm in."

With a rumble of thunder following after, a momentary flash of lightning shone through the glass windows and cast deadly shadows upon the brightened walls. Among the silhouettes was one that every criminal in Gotham dreaded to see by the corner of their eye; a tell tale feature being the two long sharp ears that pointed up like spikes.

"That was quick. I'm guessing security wasn't problem then?" came Oracle's voice through the earpiece in his cowl.

"More like nonexistent. I've been walking down these halls without a guard or orderly in sight."

Batman responded as he strolled silently, with his cape curtaining over his body, through the corridor that almost looked endless. The walls were lined with see-through padded cells where the fronts walls were thick acrylic glass with air holes. They were all monotonously the same, the only thing identifier being a black name plaque fixed on the adjacent brick wall.

"What about the inmates?"

Just as Barbara finished that question, He found himself standing next to a particular cell that he was painfully familiar with. It felt like the vacant padded room mocked him. Hell, it even felt like the name plaque which plainly read 'JOKER' mocked him.

He told himself that he should be glad that the Clown Prince of Crime was dead despite his attempts to save him. It wasn't by his hand but by the Joker's own doing, a prefect retribution for all the suffering he had caused. So why does he still feel his presence, like his spectre was hanging over him? Leering and laughing. Why was it so difficult to believe he was finally gone?

"Gone." he said before his bitter tone changed. "All of them."

"That can't be good. But there's no way they'd be able to relocate all of them without being noticed."

"Unless they've stationed them somewhere else in Arkham. Somewhere we don't know about."

Batman said this as he returned back to the elevator that brought him to the lower levels.

"You're thinking Cameron Fortune did more than just renovate after he purchased Arkham?"

"Much more." Batman rasped. "I've been keeping a close eye on this place and found that for the past few weeks its been consuming about 53 terawatt-hours of electricity."

"That's more than an entire country like Singapore!" Oracle exclaimed in disbelief.

Throughout the conversation, Batman remained still outside the elevator door with his expression unchanged until he palmed his hand against the concrete wall adjacent to the doors; scrutinizing its structure but continuing to speak as he did so.

"Exactly. All that power must be going towards something."

"Well whatever it is, it's probably generating a lot of radiation. You can't just hide something like that unless..."

Batman paused from his action and his eyes slowly drifted back towards the elevator doors, particularly the at the bottom.

"Unless it's below ground." he murmured in realization.

After pulling the doors open, Batman stepped into the elevator and switched his cowl's vision to detect a point of interest on the floor. He then pulled out a device that resembled a handheld blowtorch from his utility belt and crouched down. The device fired a small powerful jet of plasma which he used to steadily cut a large enough circle before then standing up to stomp a foot hard against the circle.

As expected, the circular portion broke away and tumbled. It's molten edges were the last thing to be visible before it disappeared into the deep dark shaft below.

"Bingo." he said, putting his cutter away.

"I don't like this, Bruce. Something about this whole thing doesn't feel right."

Her voice gave him pause, it wasn't like Barbara to sound worried like this. Then again, he'd be lying if he said he didn't feel a bit unease.

"Please just be careful, alright?"

Without a response, he took out his grappling gun and fired a claw into the elevator's ceiling before rappelling himself through the hole.

Down the rabbit hole he went. Into the abyss.


Thick safety railings slid and surrounded her, then red beams spun from the twin warning lights before the floor finally shifted under her and the inclined elevator platform descended.

As Samus was being lowered from the dark confines of the building into the natural daylight, lines of text typed and scrolled over the HUD display of her visor.

ATMOSPHERIC ANALYSIS:

67.71% NITROGEN

22.10% OXYGEN

0.04% CARBON DIOXIDE

1.04% ARGON

9.08% XENON

0.03% FLUROMINE

106.7 KPA PRESSURE AT SEA LEVEL

BREATHABLE LEVELS CAN BE CONSIDERED SAFE FOR HUMANS

"Almost Earth-like." Samus mused to herself.

Even if it wasn't, it wouldn't matter to her. Thanks to the Chozo DNA infused in her, her body was capable of adapting to foreign alien environments.

It was through her exploration of the building when she came across this elevator platform that lead into the deep canyon-like mining site. From the elevator's control screen, she could see a stylized logo proudly displayed: 'Exelion Star Corporation'.

Samus recognized this group. They were the ones who provided the equipment for the facility and the mining operation.

She also knew the purpose of this elevator: it was for transporting prisoners, mostly for labor.

The truth was that Samus was pretty much aware of how much the Xyrus Alpha Penal Colony had changed. In the past, when she first started out as a Bounty Hunter, she had delivered many criminals and enemies of the Federation into their custody; actual bounty hunting missions.

She supposed that the combination of free labor and the untapped rich resources of this planet gave rise to "enterprising opportunities".

It remained to be seen if the situation was the result of some kind of revolt or attempted mass break out but it was the total communication black-out that prompted the Galactic Federation to deploy their Search and Rescue team.

On that thought, she once again brought up the mapping system on her visor display to check the location. She could only hope that those soldiers didn't meet the same fate as the deceased man she found.

She frowned, honestly still not knowing what to make of that. There was no record of any organization called 'Arkham Asylum' in the Federation database. It was puzzling how the unknown corpse looked like someone who just didn't belong anywhere.

But she didn't have time for puzzles as the elevator had at last stopped and the railings lowered. She stepped down and found herself within a deep valley, surrounded by high step-cut cliff walls.

The sudden gale of heated wind and wail of powerful engines almost startled her as something massive flew by and landed with a loud thump at the far end of the rocky walls.

Standing at least twenty feet, the excavator robot unit was painted yellow that had turned grimy as typical of construction equipment. Its posture was almost hunched with a bulky upper torso supported by a more narrow abdominal spine that was held up by a pair of digitigrade-style legs. It had four arms, its primary pair were large that ended with four flat claw-like digits. Its other two arms from the top of its shoulders were different; one sported a powerful drill, the other was like a huge buzz-saw with 'buckets' for teeth, clearly designed for digging.

Its head was sloping and box-like that had a large glowing red lens that Samus could've sworn was glancing at her.

Despite that, it didn't seem to pay her much mind as it proceeded to dig against the cliff face with its drill and saw. Frankly, Samus felt unnerved by the thing. She remembered having an unpleasant experience with a similar machine during her mission on SR388.

But since it didn't appear to be hostile, she opted to leave it alone and continue on ahead.

She didn't have to trek for long to reach the location and to her dismay, it was a scene of a crash.


The only source of light within the rocky tunnel were the overhead industrial lamps, dotting along the roof like a trail of breadcrumbs with thick wires haphazardly strung in-between them. It didn't take long for Batman to come upon the steel wall with double doors which he simply pushed open and walked in.

It was quite dim, spacious and the steel walls and floor gave a cold oppressive feeling. There were another door ahead at the end of the hall and to the right was a small staircase that extended up to an elevated observation room with wide window panes. This made him wonder: what could they be observing?

Just as Batman took a step to approach the stairs, his senses picked up the sounds and feel of slushiness at his feet, prompting him to look down. On the floor where he stood was a thick viscous fluid like slime that slowly dripped from the soles of his boot as he lifted it up.

He took out his flashlight and shone its beam on the ground for a clearer look. He first assumed it was isolated to where he stood but now he was able to see that the gelatinous substance was spread everywhere, all over the floor of the room.

Crouching down, he took out a small rod from out of his belt pockets before using it to scoop up as much of the goop as possible and hold it up; watching it thickly flow down in stands. When he directed the flashlight over it, he realized then that its color wasn't darkish as he first thought. The color actually changed depending on the angle of light.

"Hm. Iridescent...like a bird's feather." Batman noted.

As for what it actually is, he had no idea but he made a mental note to analyze it later and deposited some of the slime into a small vial he took out from his belt.

With that out of the way, he returned his focus back to entering the observation room. When he opened the door, he couldn't find himself too surprised.

There were always cases like this where he had an inkling, a suspicion for the worst, and he'd always wish he was wrong. Lying behind the console, out of sight from the outside, were three dead bodies. Each with a gaping hole on their forehead. One of them was a man with brown spiky beard and hair: someone who Batman recognized immediately.

"Oracle, I found Fortune. I need you get the GCPD over here right now." he requested, finger pressed against the side of his cowl.

There was a long, loud garble of static and interference with only faint clips Barbara's voice that he could make out.

"Oracle, do you read?"

Again, the same. From the fragments of Barbara's voice, he could tell that she was raising her voice, trying desperately in vain to communicate with him.

"Great." Batman sardonically grunted.

He figured that he was either too deep underground for the signal to reach or there was some kind of interference. Either way he decided to try again after he was done here. Sweeping his sights over the deceased, the first thing that caught his attention was the thing he had clutched tightly in his hand.

Wresting it out of the dead man's grip, Batman found it to be an old leather bound pocket book. He opened and steadily skimmed through it, taking care not to let the stiff pages fall from their crusty bindings. Almost immediately, a name and date jumped out at him.

Alistair Fortune, 1928.

The pages were mostly of sketches and notes of ancient carvings, mentions of an Antarctic expedition and symbols of a language he had never seen before. But the thing that really struck him odd were the sketches themselves. They depicted humanoids with beaked heads like birds.

Pocketing the book in his belt, he decided that he would study it more thoroughly along with the unknown fluid when he was back in the cave.

It seemed that was all the clues he could gather from this area but there was still the matter of the last remaining door in the room, the one at end of the hall. After he made his way towards it, he paused.

He wasn't sure if he imagined it, but there was a faint rhythmic droning vibration coming from the other side of the door. He could even feel it though his boots.

Batman eyes sharpened. He didn't know what he'd expect to find beyond this door...or whom. Three people were already killed so whatever was going on, he couldn't trust it to be anything other than nefarious and was determined to put a stop to it.

And so he entered, not noticing that the portion of the viscous fluid that was behind him began to move.


It was a Taurus-class Federation Dropship, emphasis on WAS. The remaining fragments of the wreck were scattered around it, some of which were still on fire and made Samus wonder why she didn't notice the smoke.

At first she thought she was too late but after searching and analyzing the wreckage, she found no bodies. Even the cockpit, what remained of it, appeared empty. But of course, this didn't necessarily mean that they were still alive.

Judging from the trail of plowed earth and the obvious point of impact at the cliff edge, Samus figured that it was probably shot down from the air but whether it was when they entered the planet or when there were trying to leave, she didn't know.

'No one escapes Xyrus Alpha'. That was the saying often uttered here, from what she remembered.

Regardless, this begged another question: what exactly shot them down?

On that thought, Samus was quickly alerted to the marching sounds of heavy thumps and hydraulics that was coming towards her. She turned behind to make out a colossal shadowed shape with a glowing red eye behind a veil of sand and dust, approaching closer and closer until she could see that it was the excavator robot from before.

She stayed on her guard, watching as it lumbered forward with its eye growing steadily brighter until it finally unleashed a powerful red beam towards her.

Samus quickly rolled out of the way, the beam obliterating the portion of the downed vessel behind her. If it wasn't before, the machine was definitely hostile now.

To retaliate, Samus brought her arm cannon up and fired a few beam shots but the energy projectiles seem to just dissipate upon contact with the robot's body. She then began to charge her shot, evident from the shining orb of energy being stored at the barrel of the cannon, before letting it loose after avoiding being stomped by the robot's foot.

Like the beam shots before it, the charged beam didn't even seem to fase it. The massive robot attacked again, this time rotating its right shoulder to switch its primary arm with the one with the drill. The motors in its forearm roared to life, turning red with heat and steam jetting from the radial vents as the drill bit spun with fury which it then used to slash at her.

The bounty hunter narrowly dodged the drill which deeply gashed the ground she stood on and sprayed chunks upheaved earth. Samus then switched up her attack by firing missiles at the crazed machine. They met their mark and exploded upon impact but when the smoke cleared, it left barely a scratch on it.

"What is this thing even made of!?" Samus internally balked.

She tried attacking it again with different beams: the Wave Beam, Spazer, Plasma Beam, none of them seemed to work. Whatever materials the robot was made of, it was tough.

Samus also briefly wondered about the sudden shift in the machine's behavior, its current aggressiveness was nonexistent earlier. Now it came after her wildly, like it was enraged.

It lunged, tearing at the earth after her using its drill and saw. As it did, the shoulder rotated again to switch back to its primary hand which it used to try and slam down on to her.

But Samus managed to jump back and use the large arm's position to her advantage by running up its length, jumping off and launching a Super-missile right at its eye.

As she landed in a crouch position, the robot staggered back from the explosion. When the smoke around its face cleared, she expected to see some kind of damage. But again, nothing. Instead the eye glowed with intensity, drawing particles of energy from the air like a vacuum, until it unleashed another powerful red beam.

After swerving out of its path, Samus looked back to see it destroy the canyon wall behind her. With hand on her raised arm cannon, she slowly took a few steps back. She realized that she didn't have a choice but to retreat for now. She had to escape.


"I don't know if you can hear me, Oracle..."

The Dark Knight stood with his finger pressed against the side of his cowl as brilliant white light cast over him. The tone of his voice deadpan yet his expression was uncharacteristically that of awe.

"But I think I found what they were using all that power for."

He could scarcely believe it. From all the possibilities he expected to find beneath Arkham, none came close to this. Before him was a huge ring structure flanked by statues of those bird-like humanoids that were depicted holding the ring up. The hole of the ring was filled with a shimmering and rippling white field of energy.

It looked like a some kind of dimensional portal.

Though despite his initial surprise, Batman recalled that he had seen this before. There were detailed sketches of it from Fortune's notebook, everything from the statues themselves to the symbols etched within the grooved segments of the ring. There was no telling how old this thing was.

The writings from the notes were ramblings of astonishment and wonder, evident glee about discovering a possible ancient alien civilization older than mankind. Other than that, it didn't say much but there was a passage saying that Alistair had his men haul the entire thing from the Antarctic ice to his ship so it could be brought back to Gotham. It wasn't hard to imagine that it was locked away somewhere collecting dust until his supposed ancestor, Cameron, discovered it.

But what did this all have to do with Arkham? Why would Cameron use all his family wealth to buy the newly reconstructed Asylum? Was it to just bring this alien device here?

Batman then recalled the previous room he was in and how spacious it was. The observation room that overlooked the entire area, the tunnel before that and the elevator before that; It all seemed to indicate that the staff and occupants of Arkham were brought here to be led through...wherever the other side was.

He kept his gaze towards the brightness ahead of him, deliberating over what to do next.

Naturally the most pragmatic course of action would be to return topside, contact Oracle again and get the League involved. Surely Green Lantern or Hawkman would be better suited to handle this situation.

On the other hand,...he had already gone down the rabbit hole, would he dare venture through the looking glass as well?

His internal debate was put on hold when his hearing picking up a barely audible wet sloppy noise behind him and when he looked back, he saw a jelly-like form emerge from the floor.

This of course caused him fully turn in alarm as the gelatinous thing erected itself taller and larger as it morphed into a bipedal shape. Its colors kept shifting, waving through the spectrum like the surface of a soap bubble, until it settled on indigo with some portions being red.

The shape had solidified and what stood was a tall humanoid creature that had insect/crustacean features. Its armor was like an exoskeleton or carapace but with some exposed red musculature. The head was sleek, pointed with large unfeeling yellow eyes and its forearms appeared to be large dangerous looking pincers.

With a fierce hiss, the creature sprang at him. Batman repressed a yell as he was knocked on his back, quickly pivoting his body to avoid being snipped by one of the pincers and thought fast enough to lock it under his arm when it snapped shut. His other hand grabbed at the creature's elbow, stopping it from attacking with other arm.

The masked vigilante grit his teeth as he struggled and wrestled with the alien until he finally brought his knees up and rabbit-kicked it off him.

He flipped himself up in time to see the creature recover and point one of its pincers towards him. When it opened its claws, a blaster nozzle shot out from within.

Batman's eyes widened before he dodged the energy bolt fired his way. He avoided a few more bolts before flinging a Batarang at it. This one was specialized; when the spinning projectile neared the creature's face, it exploded and released a sticky glob that bonded to it eyes.

As the alien let out a raspy snarl while it tried to claw at the adhesive, Batman took advantage of this opening by equipping himself with his Shock Gloves and then rushing in.

By the time it cleared its eyes, it noticed him and tried swiping at him. Batman ducked and attacked with a flurry of electrifying punches before before delivering a roundhouse kick for good measure. But although the creature reeled from the attacks, it did not fall. In fact, it it look like it wasn't even tickled.

It slowly turned its fierce gaze back at him and then struck him hard backhandedly with one of its claws, sending him flying and crashing through a bunch of wooden crates.

Batman groaned as he painfully raised himself off the floor, pushing a fist against the blood trickling from the side of his mouth. He knew he should've known better than to underestimate the thing's strength and durability but any further chiding would have to be set aside because right then, the arthropod-esque figure leaped up to slam its large pincers down on him.

He quickly rolled away while fishing out a pair of bolas from his belt and then flinging them. They successfully entangled themselves around the creature's arms, restraining it.

As the thing struggled to get free, Batman backed away as he weighed his options. As much as he hated to admit it, he might be way in over his head. He considered using the signal beacon that Superman had provided him but he doubted that even Clark's hearing could reach all the way down here through the electromagnetic interference.

Glancing upwards, Batman spotted an array of piping that spread under from the above ceiling and he decided then that he needed to get to higher ground. He aimed his grappling gun, fired a line and reeled himself up. But by then, the creature tore free from its bonds and leaped up at him.

It tackled him in mid-air, sending them tumbling down, through the ring structure. Batman could only struggle helplessly as he found himself passing through the bright shimmering veil.


The chasm snaked like a river and left Samus with little ways to maneuver other than to swerve sharply while still running from the excavator robot that barreled after her, its drill and sawing disc tearing the sides of the walls and raining chunks of rock and sand below.

Gradually, the chasm walls began to widen and transition into another man-made valley. However the path ahead appeared blocked by a hodgepodge of transportation and storage equipment. Samus continued to run, frantically flitting her gaze around until she noticed that among the loading machinery was a large overhanging crane and she particularly focused on the hook portion.

Knowing that it was the only chance she had, Samus aimed and fired her Grapple beam. It successfully tethered to its anchor point and allowed Samus to swing herself over the obstacle. When she landed, the said obstacle behind her was no more; for right then, the colossal robot easily broke through it and sent debris flying without a care.

Samus picked up the pace to escape her pursuer. As she ran, the Varia suit began to glow slightly with a blue field covering it while the thrusters at her back blasted hot exhaust before in a burst of energy, her Speed Boost activated.

Slowly she began to put more distance behind her but robot was maddeningly relentless and activated its own unique function. Its digitigrade legs folded back to land on its 'femurs' which had opened up to reveal tank threads, allowing smoother mobility. The flaps on its back parted further and four cylindrical exhaust nozzles fired and accelerated it to catch up to its prey. As it did, it rotated its left shoulder to bring down the digging disc down; ripping against the hard ground like a buzz-saw and spraying dirt.

The bounty hunter could feel the rotary digger at the verge of literally biting at her heels and so she transformed in a flash of light into her trademark Morph Ball. Still using the momentum of the Speed Boost, she swerved side to side and deployed a few bombs. But like her other weapons, they too exploded harmlessly against the mechanoid's frame.

Samus could feel herself slowing down and she was aware that she was running out of options. There was one desperate move she had left and the time to use it was now or never.

As she gradually began losing speed, her Morph Ball form began to glow and draw yellow energy like it was charging. The robot switched back to its regular arms and legs, waited until she was within reach and then grabbed on to her. By then, Samus finished charging and deployed a device larger than her regular bombs.

A powerful explosion engulfed the entire area, breaking away some rocky structures and causing some small creatures within the vicinity to skitter away.

The thick smoke soon cleared from the blast area, revealing wisps of smoke trailing with the sounds of sizzle. And to Samus's shock, the robot still stood unaffected despite it's metal frame being super-heated by the explosion. Even the Power Bomb proved ineffective.

With its grip still on the Morph Ball, the large machine picked it up and then threw against the nearby cliff face. Samus transformed back to her original form just before her back impacted against the hard surface, nearly knocking the wind out of her. And before she could even fall, the robot immediately fired its eye laser at her.

Samus screamed as she was struck by the red beam, the force driving against her until she felt herself being blasting though the rock wall. Her armor-clad body tumbled and rolled against the floor, which surprisingly felt flat and hard like marble, until she came to a stop with a layer of sand particles being wafted in the air.

Already the sounds of a warning alert droned into her hearing as the visor HUD informed her that the suit's energy levels were critically low.

With a grunt, she fought against the pain and propped herself up with her arm cannon and then pushed shakily up to a stand. Releasing a few pants and gasps while trying to ignore the incessant alarm, she looked side to side to see where she was.

It looked like she was inside some kind of ancient ruins, a temple perhaps. The walls were etched in hieroglyphics and writings in a script that looked familiar to her.

"Chozo...?" she wondered.

There was no time inspect the area, she was severely weakened and she doubted that she could survive another hit. To make matters worse, the wall where she had been basted through had crumbled away to reveal that the robot that broken through thanks to its digging tools.

Defiantly, Samus gritted her teeth and raised arm cannon one more time. She charged everything she had into her beam, creating a huge ball of energy at the end of the barrel while her suit sparked.

At that moment, through her suit's blaring alarm sound, Samus heard a sound behind at her right. She looked back to see a ring-like construction nearby where, from the shimmering bright veil within, two figures tumbled from it.

Batman oriented his back to the ground as he landed and then flipped his attacker off him with a tomoe nage style throw. Samus immediately noticed the creature with pincer arms and her eyes widened in disbelief.

"A Space Pirate!? Here?"

More accurately, it was a Zebesian Space Pirate. But she didn't understand what was it doing here on this planet.

After the Zebesian landed away from Batman, it took notice of Samus like she did to it and almost immediately its aggression was diverted to her. It was like the sight of her had awakened a long forgotten instinct.

The Zebesian let out a grating snarl before lunging at her but Samus quickly reacted and fired her charged shot at it which obliterated its head. Its body fell to the floor and then lost all solid form, reverting back to a multicolored goop which quickly slithered away.

Unable to make sense of what she saw, Samus turned attention to Batman who seemed disoriented for some reason and from there, she noticed the excavator robot still standing by the large opening. Its eye appeared to be getting ready to fire...at Batman!

Samus cursed under her breath. Everything was going too fast for her to process and what she did next was out of pure irrational impulse than anything: she jumped before him, intercepting the red beam. Its force consequently plowed her against him and slammed them both against the far wall.

Batman slumped down against the wall unconscious while Samus fell forward, her Varia suit coming apart and dissipating as she landed unconscious as well.

Despite that its targets had lain fallen before it, the robot made no further movement. It simply stood there with its red light glowing in an innocent fashion, waiting. From behind the large figure hovered a metal spherical object that floated up to Excavator's shoulder level where the larger machine looked at it obediently.

The sphere had circular opening that had horizontal lids narrowed over blackness which housed a red eye like its larger underling. It rotated to look back at robot, as if giving it further commands.

Moments later, as daylight faded, the excavator robot flew to higher ground and then walked towards the prison complex while carrying Batman and Samus in each of its hands.


"Mmrgh."

She stirred with a grimace and a throbbing headache, unsteadily propping up her torso with one arm while her other hand went to massage her head. It was only when she felt the silken softness of her own hair did she realize that she was now in her human form and hovered her blue covered fingers before her vision to confirm this.

When she tried recalling her memories of the past several minutes, she remembered her one-sided battle with that robot and ending up in that temple but everything afterwards was a blur to her. The migraine only got worse the more she tried to think back.

Lost in her own perplexity she didn't notice the obsidian shape rise behind her until she caught it from the corner of her eye, slowly and fluidly emerging with two distinctive sharp points.

In a quick motion, Samus spun around while drawing her Paralyzer pistol and fired. Similarly, Batman rolled to the side and avoided the shot before retaliating by launching a Batarang which Samus easily sidestepped thanks to her superhuman reflexes.

Both individuals were now fully alert and in a stand-off, facing each other: One keeping her pistol trained on him while the other with another Batarang primed in his hand.

Samus was initially set off by his appearance but she found herself surprised upon having a clear view of his exposed lower face. Because it was only then when she realized that he was actually human.

On his guard, Batman looked at the unknown woman with scrutiny and suspicion despite silently admitting to himself that she was quite attractive.

She wore full body suit, colored light blue with darker sections, that hugged her curvaceous form. Her long blonde hair was tied in a high ponytail with two locks framing the sides of her face that was complimented by intense blue greenish eyes and a beauty mark by the side of her lush full lips.

"Who are you?" Samus asked guardedly. "Are you a prisoner here?"

The Caped Crusader stayed silent with his expression as stony and menacing as ever. Samus honestly found the attitude irritating and figured that he'd be more forthcoming if she showed that she meant business. And so, she focused in a mental-physical action that had become second nature to her.

But then her eyes popped wide open in shock.

"What? My Power Suit...I can't activate it!"

She glanced towards the pink Chozo mark on her hand to find that it was no longer glowing and appeared inert, the same was apparent with the marks on her left breast and her back.

It was uncannily similar to time during her so-called 'Zero Mission', when she had crash landed back on Zebes. But back then she was green, inexperienced. Now, she felt something was impeding her abilities.

Glaring at the masked man in suspicion, she pointed the gun even more firmly towards him.

"What did you do to me!? Start talking!" she demanded.

Batman hadn't the faintest idea what she going on about but nevertheless remained in his guarded stance.

"Sorry, I'm not in chatty mood when there's a gun pointed at me." he rasped in response.

Samus was a little taken aback that he actually spoke this time and her grip on the gun softened. She internally admitted that perhaps she attacked him a little too hastily and now that she thought it, she felt that she seen him before. But within her pain laden mind, she was having a hard time recollecting.

Then again, he gave little reason for her to trust him.

"It's designed to only stun." she said. "If that's you're worried about."

"Who said I was worried?" he responded, in challenging manner.

The stand-off between them lingered on in tense silence, both waiting for the other to make a move first. It lasted until Samus finally released a weary sigh.

"This is getting us nowhere. What do you say we both put our weapons away and identify ourselves to each other?" Samus suggested.

"You first."

She supposed that was fair and so after a little apprehension, she drew back her pistol.

"My name is Samus Aran. I'm a Bounty Hunter on a mission from the Galactic Federation."

A brow of his cowl was raised as he regarded her weirdly like she was a crazy person. But since she was true to her word, he relaxed and put the Batarang away.

"Batman."

Samus waited but he said nothing further than that.

"Alright then, Batman. Mind explaining what you're doing here?"

The white eyes of his cowl narrowed without compromise.

"I'll be the one asking the questions: First off, Where are we? What is this..." he trailed off as he took a glance behind him. "Place."

It was only after Samus followed his gaze did she become aware of where they both were. They appeared to be inside some kind of observation deck with one half of the large room's walls being concave windows that provided the view from outside.

And it was this view that seemed to grab Batman's attention.

From the height they were at, the prison complex splayed out below them as well as the industrial complex at the horizon. Among the dark orange evening sky was the faint glow of three large moons that shone through the haze and the undulating of many strange looking insects that looked like a combination of dragonflies and centipedes.

"I'm not on Earth anymore, am I?" Batman stated more than asked.

A new voice suddenly spoke up, startling the two heroes. It reverberated through the entire room like it was through a loudspeaker.

"How interesting. It would seem you ancient humans possess some modicum of intelligence."

On the other side of the deck, opposite the windows, several hovering holographic rectangles stretched open out of thin air and functioned like video monitors; intended for Samus and Batman to see who was speaking to them.

Samus's jaw dropped and her eyes slowly widened.

The central monitor showed a close-up of a singular organic eye with a blood-red iris.

Another monitor was more zoomed-out, showing the eye at the center of a large brain with metal cones protruding from the top. And another showed it being submerged in a liquid with metal wires and tubes extending from its base.

"Mother Brain!" Samus exclaimed.

"So you remember me after all, Samus."

Immediately, the Bounty Hunter raised her gun at the holographic monitors with a tightened grip. She knew that it was a pointless action but at the time, she didn't care. The rage she felt pushed away all reason.

"How did you survive!? I destroyed you!"

"Once again you underestimate me. Did you think I wouldn't calculate and take measures after our first encounter? That I wouldn't upload my consciousness into a backup module?"

The images of the monitors changed and depicted a rocket escaping a planet on the verge of exploding. The rocket separated into pieces and left behind a metal spheroid object.

"Moments before Zebes's destruction, I had launched myself into its exosphere where I then put myself in a state of hibernation sleep. My original intention was that I would be retrieved by the Space Pirates still under my thrall. However, I miscalculated the sheer force caused by the planet's explosion."

The monitors switched back to Mother Brain.

"For many cycles I was sent hurtling through the vastness of space, left to the fate of the cosmos...until I was picked up a Scavenging fleet en route to this backwater prison."

"You took over the colony's Aurora Unit." Samus realized. "You're the one responsible for all this!"

Batman, who had been silently observing the whole exchange between them, spoke up at this point.

"And I'm assuming you also had something to do with abducting everyone at Arkham Asylum."

This drew Samus's attention towards him since she recalled that name from the deceased man she had found earlier.

"That was an unforeseen circumstance." Mother Brain said. "You primitive humans are insignificant specks, mere dusts in winds of time, but you may be of some use to me."

"Not going to happen." Batman growled.

"An ignorant response only capable by feeble lowly minds. None of you could even comprehend the secrets uncovered on this very planet. But despite it all, I had hoped the cowards of the Federation would send you here, Samus."

Samus lowered her weapon with her eyes still narrowed.

"Why?"

"Once I offered you the chance to join me in ushering a new age for the galaxy. I could make that same offer to you today."

The blonde Bounty Hunter only glared hatefully at the A.I.

"Such a baneful expression. Is it because you still cling to those withering birds and their outdated values? Can't you see that it is I who have inherited the entire history of the Chozo? Their knowledge and culture, their awe and mystery are encoded within me."

Mother Brain allowed those words to hang in the air before punctuating her point with one bold statement.

"I AM the Chozo."

"You're nothing but a perversion." Samus spat.

"Then your stance remains unchanged?"

"Read my lips: Go to hell!"

"Unfortunate. But irrelevant."

It was that this point when the pupil of Mother Brain's eye began to dilate, something which didn't go unnoticed by Batman.

"The truth is that I could have killed you any time I wished and yet I feel this illogical compulsion to delay your demise. Dispatching you as soon as possible would be efficient to my goals but for some reason,..."

Samus found it uncanny but she could hear a hint of agitation in that voice, usually known for its cold unfeeling logic. There were strange pauses between the words as if the organic supercomputer was struggling with them, like she was trying to express an unknown concept.

"It wouldn't feel...adequate. It wouldn't feel...satisfactory. It is like...a need. I...can't quite decide on the appropriate label for it."

"The word you're looking for is 'vengeance'." Batman stated.

The was a moment of silence from the A.I before she spoke again.

"Yes. I believe you are correct."

In a flash, the red eye's pupil contracted into a slit and veins at the edges of the sclera seemed redder. Although the brain-like entity lacked any facial features or even a brow, Samus could just feel that eye boring into her with furious intensity.

"The only reason you are still alive is because I despise you, Samus Aran. And I want you to suffer."

Suddenly, something large jetted by the windows from outside, scaring off the insect creatures and momentary sweeping a long shadow over the two surprised heroes. Samus in particular felt a chill up her spine, as the shadow's shape had eerily somehow felt familiar to her.

"It would seem our discussion is at an end." Mother Brain said. "For now, I urge you both to survive as humanly possible. It would provide me valuable data...as well as much amusement."

And with that, the holographic screens contracted and blinked out. Now that the screens were absent, Batman and Samus noticed a pair of steel double-doors that were behind it. Clearly a way out.

BAM!

The doors shook violently like something from the outside rammed into it hard.

BAM!

Again but even harder, the heavy metal slightly swelled from the impact.

BAM!

Both heroes backed away slowly, preparing themselves for whatever was on the other side; Batman running a mental inventory of his utility belt while Samus kept her Paralyzer at the ready.

BAM!

With one final impact, the doors had bulged to the point where it had parted. A set of large gangly claws slid through the leaf shaped slit, griped at the deformed metal before finally ripping away at the exit's barrier and allowed the owner of those claws to crawl in.

The sight of the thing left Samus aghast and surprisingly, Batman had the same expression; they both recognized the beast.

It was Ridley. But at the same time, it was not Ridley.

It had the same general shape as him, a bipedal gaunt dragon with the head crest and beak resembling a Pteranodon. But aside from his wings, back and tail, what should have been purple skin was instead sickly white.

The head and face was what had the biggest change. There was pronounced hooked nose at the end of his beak and his sharp teeth were wider and interlocked in a tight visible grin that stretched under the edges of his beak which were painted red like lipstick. Growing and flowing from along the middle of his head crest was a mess of green hair. And finally, there was his eyes: no longer blank, glowing and unfeeling. But was now yellow with black pinprick pupils, wild and full of madness.

"Bastsy,...Sammy,..." he crooned at them with his ever present grin. "So nice to see us all come together."

Joker-Ridley chuckled before he reared himself back with his wings spread and claws raised as he bellowed in maniacal laughter that ended in a monstrous screech.

"Hehehehe-HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!HA!-SKRREEEEEEEEEEAAAAWRR!"

TBC