So? Last chapter was pretty intense, yes? Well to all of my fantastic reviewers, The Fate of the Galaxy is not over yet!! We continue the story, but not from Rundas's perspective... By the way, this chapter is a little heartbreaking.... Those of you who don't like yelling might want to ask what happened if you don't wish to read it. Ha ha! Maybe some of you will break free of your depression? Maybe this story will be freakin' published someday?! *snicker snicker*

Here goes nothing---

"Oh my gosh... We have a pulse! Unbelievable!"

"Hurry! Get her awake!"

"Fetch the others!"

I moaned and stirred, keeping my eyes closed. I felt like I was burning on the inside, but only in a single place. My chest was an inferno.

Cold air washed over my face. "Samus? Can you hear me?"

I opened my eyes slowly, finding I was not on the corrupted Pirate Homeworld anymore. I recognized the metal ceilings, the medicine cluttered shelves, and the friendly face of the doctor Clark above me. I nodded in response to his question, knowing instantly I was on Olympus.

Groan. How many times would I wake up in here?

"Thank heaven. We found you, Gandrayda, Ghor, and Rundas on Phaaze II, all together at a landing sight. Gandrayda and Ghor were fine, but they said you were dead, and Rundas had knocked himself out." He was smiling in relief, even as he said the word 'dead'.

"Dead? Well I remember getting cut..." I smoothed a thick bandage over my chest absentmindedly, and realized I wasn't in my Varia Suit anymore. I sat up and glanced down at my blue, Zero Suited body, confused.

Clark chuckled. "Stabbed is more like it," he pulled up an x-ray sheet, where a white diagram of my upper chest was pictured. "we found your heart impaled."

"Then how in this world am I still alive?" I asked, extremely bemused.

"Well, based on what we know from your childhood, you were fused with Chozo blood, correct?"

"Yes."

"And our scans from your entrance to Galactic Federation grounds say that your body was somewhat transformed after that. You have super human strength, can endure more than anybody else, and are insanely fast. Right?"

I nodded. "Sounds precise."

"I have been studying your anatomy, and came to the realization that your heart was mutated from a regular human's. Now, you must pulse the Chozo blood to your body, and in order to do that, you need to have a Chozo heart, since the plasma is so thick. The part of your heart that was hurt was your human half. Once it got stabbed- boom, gone. But the Chozo remains of the organ are still beating. The only reason Rundas thought you were dead was because your half-human heart stopped."

I shook my head, eyes widening. "That's a little weird."

He laughed. "Only slightly."

The door blew open, Gandrayda and Ghor skidding inside, puffing. "Samus! You're alive!!" The Wotan came over, embracing me like a long-lost puppy come back. "You scared us so bad!" He pulled away, beaming.

"I did?" Gandrayda was smiling, her eyes relaxed and joyous as I said that. "Wasn't I still breathing?"

"Hardly. We didn't see your chest rise and fall or nothing," the Jovian explained. "Maybe it was because your Suit shut itself off."

I waved my hand. "It was just emergency protocols. Nothing to worry about." I paused, eye brows furrowing. "Where's Rundas?"

"He's safe! Out there waiting!" Clark indicated the exit, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple. "I suggest you get to him fast!"

"Why?" I wondered, getting to my feet and standing next to Ghor and Gandrayda.

"His family wants to take him back to Phrygis." the human said slowly, drumming is fingers on a tabletop.

I tightened my jaw. "Not while I'm still awake. Come on, guys, let's go round Rundas up." I said motivationally, dashing out the door with the pair of bounty hunters following behind me.

"Where exactly did Clark say he was?" I asked as we ran.

"On level two. The docks," Ghor quickly responded, a slight edge of glumness in his tone.

"How did you know that?" I flipped my head around to look at him, my blonde bangs whipping with the movement.

Ghor's red lighting on his body dimmed to bluish. "I saw him earlier..."

Gandrayda's face was grave. "We both did."

"Well why didn't you bring him to the hospital wing?" I was suspicious. What were these two hiding?

"Uh-" Ghor mumbled after we traveled the hall distance.

I stopped them, placing both hands on my hips. "Well?"

"There he is!" Gandrayda cried, jabbing her pointer finger across the corridor further. I saw my close friend sitting on a bench in the wall, cradling his head in his hands. His elbows were propped up on his knees, and a light blue tinted Phrygisian woman stood next to him, her six-fingered hand on his shoulder. Several other technicolored Phrygisians waited around.

Happiness welled up inside me, and I forgot about Gandrayda and Ghor's secrecy, approaching my companion with a broad smile on my face. "Rundas!"

He didn't respond, but merely grunted and swatted the gentle hand away from him. The powder blue lady stared at me when I said his name, her white eyes hateful as she carefully studied my face. "Daygon?" She turned away, walking towards another version of Rundas, except he was more aged than the Phrygisian I knew well.

I looked towards my ally, curious as to why he neglected me calling his title. "Rundas? Are you all right?"

He looked up, offering me an uncomfortable smile. After a moment of staring, he held his head again, rubbing the nape of his neck with another hand. "Ow..." he muttered.

I waited for him to reply to my question. He sensed me watching him, and looked up again. "What?"

"I asked if you were all right." I repeated.

He shrugged, sighing. "I feel a little sick. But, other than that... Wait... why would you care?"

"What are you talking about, Rundas?" Something wasn't right...


"That too," he stood up, towering above me and looking down with a perplexed expression. "Why do you keep saying that name? Have you lost somebody?"

I was starting to get uneasy. Was he joking? "N-no, I-"

"Roan!!" a voice interrupted my flabbergasted sentence, and Rundas twisted his head to the side. I looked too, seeing Daygon watching us. The light cyan woman was standing close to him, with her hands on his ragged shoulder plating. "Step away from Samus Aran immediately!" His voice was cross and commanding.

Rundas remained planted to his spot. "But father, I was just-"

The Phrygisian man stomped over in three strides, raising his hand and violently slapping his son across the face. The sound reverberated around the passage, and Rundas's eyes went wide as he touched the red mark. "NO!!" Daygon bellowed so loud that it made everyone jump, and I swore I heard the windows rattle. Rundas went stiff, staring at the Phrygisian with a glance of horror. "She ruined your life!! I won't allow her to take you away from us anymore!!"

Daygon, realizing what he just did, covered his mouth in shock, stepping back with a worried expression. He reached outward, fingers almost caressing Rundas's bruised cheek. "Roan, I didn't mean to hit you so hard-"

"That's not his name!" I interrupted, clamoring, my anger towards him spilling over the top. "Stop calling him that!"

"We shall call him what we please, you little wretch!" the baby blue woman shouted, fists clenched. "Keep your claws off my son!"

"Claws?!" I echoed. If only I had my Varia Suit equipped... Then her head would be completely gone. "Look who's talking with claws, crone!" I stared at the miniature talons that each Phrygisian in the hallway had on the ends of their fingertips. They all grew angry, the females joining with the males, whom had the ability to manipulate ice. Growls were shot in my direction.

The woman was shaking from the insult, her white eyes afire as she trudged towards me. "Why you-"

"Breena, calm yourself!" Daygon cautioned, though chilled fog was hovering dangerously around his hand. "Leave this verey to me..." Breena giggled at the Phrygisian jibe.

"Now, now, everyone, I don't think you should be fighting! Arguments don't bring families together!" Ghor said loudly in the fury-tense atmosphere, Gandrayda clinging to his arm.

"That's what I've been trying to do!" Everyone flinched. "Rundas forgot everything, even his own name! I had to change it so this thief-" Daygon stabbed a finger at my face, and I snarled internally. "-wouldn't steal my only son! My pride and joy!" he blurted to the Wotan, breathing heavily. "When he was taken as a child... I went insane..." his voice sad and quieter as he hung his head, shoulders dropping. "My... boy... was gone..."

Silence followed.

Rundas had been standing mutely throughout all that bickering. He stared at Daygon with slitted eyes, and I watched as his hands curled into fists. "Don't give me the mournful father treatment. You filled my head with lies!" his voice was biting, and I couldn't help but shiver. "How could you? I- I trusted you! The moment I woke up you were there, telling me about my so called 'life'. I believed everything you said!" He laughed cruelly, throwing his head back for a moment. "In fact, I was eager- hear that dad?- eager! to go back to Phrygis and rejoin my family. But, seeing this," Rundas motioned around the Phrygisians in the hall with his arms widely, a cold scowl forming on his face. "I'm disgusted. Utterly and totally ashamed of being related to you! Gosh, I feel ill at the thought of the three of us living on some distant planet, together! I could collapse and throw up after seeing those images!"

Wow. That was the harshest thing I'd ever heard. I never imagined Rundas saying something like that. What a blow to the gut for Daygon. I stared in transfixed wonder at the ice hunter as he continued his harmful lecture to his parents. Everyone in the corridor listened.

"I'm leaving. These three make me feel something I haven't since I've woken up in that stupid hospital room. I'm glad I won't ever see you two again. And I wouldn't recommend coming after me," Rundas's arms went shiny with ice, which soon razored and glinted threateningly. Daygon and Breena went rigid. "It's not gonna end pretty." He turned his head towards Gandrayda, Ghor, and I. "Let's go, Samus... you and... um... you."

Slowly at first, the four of us left the crowded hallway, with the defeated Phrygisians speechless. Once away from the group, I immediately heard Breena begin to cry. I decided to not get bugged about it. Her own son had literally said he hated them, right in front of their faces. Though, since apparently Rundas couldn't remember anything, he didn't know why felt such strong feelings towards them. I smirked to myself, knowing I had won the tug-of-war between his parents and our little quartet. I thought vaguely if it was good to think of it as a victory, but shook it off and smiled as I walked next to him.

"So..." Rundas muttered, rubbing his neck. "I don't remember your names. Mind refreshing me a bit?"

The female Jovian laughed, and I was intrigued as to why. "I'm Gandrayda. But, if you find that hard then you can call me Dray."

"Dray... I like the ring it has..." a smile was on the brink of upturning the corner of his mouth. He looked to the Wotan.

"I'm Ghor," the cyborg said cheerfully, and he was grinning. "It's good to know you're not dead."

Rundas chuckled uncertainly. "Right..."

"Gandrayda's nicknamed me Sammy," I reminded him, his gaze flicking in my direction. "But you can call me Samus." I flashed my most dazzling simper.

Rundas's cheeks turned red as he stared at me. He noticed he was blushing, and he flipped his head away as fast as he could. "Uh, yeah! I'll just remember Samus..." he flustered.

I glanced around the corridor, reminiscing of when the four of us ran through these halls, warning Admiral Dane of Jake Larsen. I frowned. Would Rundas remember that? Would he recall anything whatsoever? I felt sad inside, making myself believe that he was just an hollow, amnesiac shell of his once upbeat, loving, self.

I was staring out the window, squinting as something began to glow bright in the distance. "What is that?" I asked to nobody in particular, watching as the light expanded, transforming into a huge wormhole that tore its way through the fabric of space. The twisting pit was flashing blue as ships emerged from it, and into Kalandor region. I recognized the vessels of many alien races I had encountered, including the ones of the bounty hunters I had fought with.

"The army from Phaaze II!!" Ghor shrieked, viewing the invasion as the rest of us were too.

"Phaaze what?" Rundas questioned in confusion, turning his head towards the opposite end of the hall.

Admiral Dane was running to our location. "What is it Dane?" I interrogated swiftly.

"We've got trouble."