I raced into the docking bay where I had previously parked my ship. The hanger showed little signs of war, except a few burn streaks across the steel and a pair of passed out soldiers. My Phrygisian class-fighter sat motionless in the dock, and I approached it. "Make it fast, got it?"

I obeyed, stepping on the rim, but froze.

The Chromia wriggled painfully, and I reached for it as the monster crawled. I could feel the bumps of its head and legs under my skin, following it with my fingers when it started to slither its way into my skull. "Hey!" I smacked it with my palm as hard as I could, and doubled over once I made that foolish decision. I heard the Chromia squeal shrilly in my ears, the sound echoing around my mind. "Agh, what's it doing?!" My voice was strained from the ache.

"It's just bored." Dark Samus sighed. "It's looking for something to do, and since you're not using it, the Chromia will simply explore your body."

"If it wasn't going to do anything why'd you stick it inside me in the first place?!" I hissed, covering the jagged cut in the nape of my neck, which had started to bleed. I was on my knees, partially in a standing position as I attempted to get up.

"I don't know. Just to keep you from going against me." She yawned, and I felt her stretch in the back of my head. "Get going! Now I'm getting bored."

I gritted my teeth, but got on the fighter with one foot. I bounded myself to the cockpit, creating an ice windshield and pumping more of it through the exhaust engines. I was soon slowly making an ascent out of the docking bay.

The right wing of my vessel suddenly liquified, the material dripping as it glowed orange. "Huh?" I watched as the left wing was melted too, and looked out the side window to see Samus, Gandrayda and Ghor in the dock. The huntress's weapon was aimed at my ship, the barrel smoking. Ghor's plasma cannon was flaring as well. Dark Samus made me lean and hurl ice at them, which was quickly obliterated once they each shot.

"Just keep moving. Don't bother with them," I was ordered, and reluctantly continued to exit the bay. "Maybe they'll finally give up fighting and follow us instead."

I shook my head. Samus never gives up. I thought. You have no idea who you're dealing with.

"As a matter of fact, I do know who I'm-" the dark hunter responded, but was cut off by a thunk coming from the rear of the fighter. We watched Samus crawl over the roof and onto the hull. She crouched over the windshield, and pulled her right gunned arm back, teeth bared. "Holy sh-"

Samus clouted the window aggressively, the ice shattering and showering me. I covered my face, the shards slicing into my armor. "Quit being so cowardly!" the adversary inside me roared, forcing me to pry my arms away.

"Shut up!!" I growled lowly to her, and my anger made me lash out at the dark hunter. It took me a few seconds to remember that she was inside me, and that I'd punched the real Samus in the helmet with a cracking sound.

Her head snapped back grossly, and I covered my mouth with my hand. "Samus!! I'm sorry!!" I reached for her.

She recovered incredibly fast, straightening her neck again and taking her curled fingers back. "Look out!!" I ducked, barely escaping Samus's fist as it sunk two inches into the back of the seat.

She pried her hand from it, and I turned my head to find the barrel of her gun locked on my face.

"Go back to the dock. Now." Her voice was sharp, and I finally sensed her true power. If I really focused on her tone, I realized I was afraid of the huntress. I didn't move, with Dark Samus and the Chromia quiet and waiting as well. "Didn't you hear me? I said go!" she forced.

I slowly hung my head, lowering my eyes. "I want to... but..."

"What are you talking about?"

I raised my gaze towards her, staring at the large split in her visor. Her wrath- fueled eyes were beginning to soften as she stared at me, and a cold feeling washed over my body from the neck out. "I... can't..." I forced myself to talk, even though Dark Samus was screaming inside me wildly-

"No!! No!! No!! No!!" Her voice was venomous and it got louder by the syllable. "No!! No!! No!! No!! No!!"

"Can't what? What's happened, Rundas?" the huntress asked, her voice more comforting than the demon I was possessed by.

"She..." I mumbled, pushing the word from my lips painfully. It hurt to talk, and hurt even more as the Chromia started to thrash in my back and neck. I grabbed my head with both hands, Dark Samus pounding against it and demanding I silence myself.

"Say nothing more!! Say nothing more!!" I grunted as she shrieked.

Samus placed her hands on either side of my face, shaking me to get my attention. "Rundas! Tell me what's going on! I can help you!"

I threw my arms around her, bearing the striking rage that the dark hunter inflicted. "S-save me, Samus!!" I pleaded, tears streaming from my eyes from the insufferable agony.

"From who?" she retorted, pulling back.

Dark Samus regained total control of my body, locking me in the back of my own head. She clamped my hand around Samus's throat, the Varia Suit buckling beneath my death-grip. She kicked her feet and raked at my fingers. "I'm baack," the dark hunter said in a tone that was a combination of hers and my own. "Did you miss me?" She held her off the fighter and stood, saying ruthlessly, "You can't help him. He's mine, now!" Samus growled and started to aim her kicks at my chest. "And soon, the other hunters, then the galaxy; the universe! Eventually, you!!!"

"Rundas! I know you're in there, fight back! Don't let her control you!" the huntress shouted, her eyes brooding of me. "You're stronger than she is! You can beat her!"

"Don't listen to this thick-helmeted imbecile. She can't win, and neither can you!" Dark Samus taunted, and I was shoved further into my mind. "You've already lost your body to me. What else do you have to give up?"

I shrunk deeper into my sorrow, realizing that she was right. What more could I lose...? My family had been destroyed, and I had killed numerous friends, in fact, the survivors were all probably mad with Phazon. What more could I lose...? My once loved 'sister' happened to be a monster that was craving rule. That very creature was controlling my movements as I pondered. What more could I lose...?

I was crushed. "You're right. I've... lost..." I fell through blackness, being devoured whole by Dark Samus and her thirst for command until I landed at the very bottom of the fathomless pit of misery. I didn't move, nothing had meaning anymore.

Dark Samus laughed malignantly, the chortle sinking into me deep. "Well it appears that Rundas accepted his defeat." The real Samus went stiff, I could feel it. "...As you should. Enjoy the rest of your day, hunter." She giggled again. "While it lasts."

The antagonist turned with the hero weak and unbelieving. She threw the human off the fighter powerfully, with the suited woman silent as she skidded back onto the dock, bowling over Gandrayda and Ghor. They were as shocked as she was, but didn't make any move to get up and laid in the hanger incredulously.

Dark Samus sat herself back in the ship, freezing her Phrygisian body to the cockpit, and gliding away from the docking bay, all in complete, triumphant silence.