Dark Samus counterattacked, blowing us all away with a sweep of her arms. I and the others skidded on our feet, balanced for battle. She held her gun to each one of us, circling around and making sure she could see all of her murderous company. "I'm the kind of girl that doesn't give up. And neither your minor words nor your actions can change it."
I cracked my knuckles. "I beg to differ!" I launched myself at the dark hunter, oblivious as to what had possessed me to do it. We were sent rolling, and Dray hopped out of our way. I was cutting into her body with the ice shards I held, and she was roughly kicking me and punching wildly. She bled more Phazon that burned my skin.
"Getting a little bold, are we Rundas?" she crooned, her sharp teeth sawed to a grin. "You weren't this brave when you faced Ridley!!" Her foot crushed into my stomach, and sent me shooting off of her and landing roughly into a corroded desk. Vials and syringes showered me, then rolled to the floor in shatters of glass. I glared as she stood and smirked, Phazon building up brightly inside her gun. She raised the barrel toward me-
-and got a fist to the face from Samus. There was a snap, and Dark Samus's jaw was dislocated. She turned to her attacker, only to freeze and find her mirror's weapon resting on her collarbone. "Don't touch him, scumbag. Or it'll be the last thing you do."
Dark Samus pouted her gracile lip. "Aww, getting infatuated by your Phrygisian boyfriend? You remind me of Ridley when he first saw me," her voice was dripping with ridicule.
The huntress roared, lashing out with her clenched hand and firing her arm cannon at insane velocity. Her foe dodged and aimed a few shots of her own at the shining Varia Suit. Samus merely grunted, and kneed the doppleganger with her razored knee cap. "How could that vermin be in love with you? You're both sickening!"
"Ha! Don't quip, Hatchling, you're just jealous of my stunning looks-" at that jeer, Samus froze Dark Samus's head solid with her ice missiles, cutting off her speech. She reached for her blocky, freezing cranium, and I noticed one of her fingers was missing. Her shouts were muffled, thank goodness- they sounded like cusses.
"Kiss this, slut." Samus growled, snatching Ghor's plasma cannon and firing at the ice coating. It melted the stuff instantly, and once through with that, the acid also ate away at Dark Samus's thin face. Her screams were bubbled as her Phazon bones liquefied grossly, dribbling down her neck with steam rising.
"Grab her," Samus commanded to Ghor, who agreed and seized the pitiful monster's feet. We all stepped back as he swung her around, hurling her across the room and through a wall. It went quiet, and the yells of pain stopped. Only the inky hole that was lit dimly by sparks made any movement.
A thundering boom sounded from the pit, and an enormous beam of Phazon was blasted at us. Caught by surprise, the five of us were hit. Dray fell, but Ghor supported her and held her up, whilst sparking. U-Mos winced, though I knew that beneath his untouched expression he was in major pain. Samus and I were strong, standing fast against the shot, although that frickin' hurt.
Dark Samus was standing in the wall gap, her Phazon beam fading. She frowned, shrugging. "Darn it, I thought that would work. Maybe this will?"
Then she extended her arms and disappeared, her cruel laughter died away. I turned my head around in confusion and panic. Where did she go?
While the rest of us were bemused, Samus flicked to her X-Ray Visor, twisting around the room to track Dark Samus, wherever she was. She found her in some random direction, and started to fire rapidly. The others turned and started to attack the wall corner as well, but I hesitated. Why would Dark Samus be lingering over a pipe?
I dismissed my superstitions, and flung a keen dagger of ice to the target. It sunk into the wall, then came a short squeal. Blue seeped from the cut, and then Dark Samus reappeared, pinned to the wall through her chest. She was trying to pry herself off the skewer of frozen water, grunting as her hand slipped. I internally hooted in triumph at giving her a taste of her own medicine.
She stopped fumbling with her minor impalement, and remarkably started laughing. A low rumble shook the walls, and Dark Samus dug her honed fingers into the pipe. "Maybe you can fight, but can you swim?" Liquid spurted from the gash, and it chain-reacted, causing the walls to break apart and more of the fluid to flow in with a mighty roar and splash. We were all swept off our feet in the wild current as the flood lights above flashed.
I was tossed around, bubbles escaping my mouth as I searched for the surface. "Water breach detected, draining chamber now," a mono-toned machine spoke from the air, and then a great disc hooked to the floor lifted. The smelling solution that was filling the medical bay started to swirl into a whirlpool, and all but Dark Samus were sucked down into a massive conduit.
My sight changed from light and watery, to dim and still watery. My lungs were burning and I thrashed around, trying to breathe. I glimpsed a streak of purple, and then something smacked into the side of my head. I ignored the throbbing and peeked at Dray, who was swimming and had accidentally hit me while stroking. She pointed forward, and I saw through the stream U-Mos and Samus. I couldn't see Ghor anywhere, and I worried. She gave me a, "Let's follow them!" glance, and I obeyed, forcing my legs to kick against the tide, propelling me forward through the water.
Dray and I caught up to the two, treading behind them. Samus looked over her shoulder, and through the glow of her visor she smiled, glad to know I was okay. U-Mos glanced too, the feathers on his head drifting in the slipstream. He gestured ahead, where there was a series of openings going in different directions. As we neared, I realized that the undertow was pouring into the various routes, yearning on separating us.
U-Mos had planned ahead, and was gripping Samus's hand. She reached out to me, and I took her little fingers and held them in my palm. I thought I saw her blush. Dray clenched the Luminoth's hand tightly, and then, with a quick jerk, the four of us were swept off through the farthest tunnel, water streaming past us and attempting to tear us apart.
Fatefully, they succeeded, and Dray was whipped away from U-Mos, Samus, and I. I looked back as she opened her mouth in fear, seeing a dark figure dragging the girl away from us with a clawed hand over her throat. A trio of yellow eyes glinted, and Dray vanished from my line of sight in an instant.
I twisted my head to the other two, finding U-Mos covering his mouth, and Samus forcing him to swim faster. Bubbles were breaking through his fingers, and his chest was heaving. I bluntly heard his coughs through the heavy water pressure, and then saw the gold that came from his unhealed wound. Samus wrenched him forward, and I followed as they stroked quickly with the current.
A sudden surge of water threw us onward, and the three of us surfaced upward, catapulted through the clean air. We each landed with a thud on solid ground, gasping for breath.
Samus yanked off her helmet, dumping the water from it and sucking in as much oxygen as she could till she choked. Kneeling, she let the liquid run off her suit, and shook her wet blonde hair from side to side, spraying the floor. "Stupid leak... I need to get that fixed..."
I was also breathing heavily too, trying to steady the tingling in my throat so I didn't cough. The water left my body warm, not cold like normal fluid should have. I brandished my arms and head, ridding myself of the drops that confused me.
U-Mos was spitting up water in mouthfuls, hacking and covering his bleeding stomach once more. Through his wet barking, he mumbled, "I hate water. Reminds me too much of wretched Torvus bog."
"Is that why you started drowning?" Samus sighed, wringing out her ponytail.
He shook his head. "No. Dark Samus did something to me when she took Gandrayda..." He pulled his hand away, utterly covered with runny Phazon. "How much Phazon is this?"
Samus placed her helmet back on, fastening it in place and scanning his blood. "It's about 79.6%. What did she do exactly?" Concern patched her voice.
His feathers fell drenched over his eyes, which were closed. "I don't know. I blacked out for a few moments. All I remember is her reaching for me, and then... inhaling that dreaded water."
"That's not water, U-Mos," Samus corrected, getting to her feet. "It's diluted Phazon."
"From what?" I joined him as he stood. "Why is Phazon present on a Pirate Ship that had been abandoned?"
"Well for one thing," Samus sighed. "This place used to be a weapons outpost, but, once the Pirates discovered Phazon, they were more interested in its mutagenic properties. Once harvested, the stuff was taken here to be purified and studied. Tyhorn had been converted into a science vessel.
"See those crates over there?" she gestured to a few cylindrical, spiked containers, which oozed dim Phazon. "That's only a small amount of the poison they gathered. I'll bet you quite a bit is on the other side of that wall." An adventurous grin spread across her face. "You boys up for a little exploring?"
I nodded eagerly, my 'bounty hunter' instincts kicking in for thrill. U-Mos gave a slight smile, and walked past her. He stopped, turning back. "What is on the other side of that wall?"
She strolled cooly by him, sliding the door away from the opening and swinging her arms for him to go inside. "Well? Why don't you be more robust and find out?" She twisted her head to the side, gasping with horror at what lied within the next room.
U-Mos and I were curious as to what could scare the famous Samus Aran. We both crowded to the doorway, getting a glance of what she was looking at.
I gasped too, and U-Mos went stiff.
The chamber was extremely large, based on its duties as a siphoning room. There was a small flight of stairs that trailed down on either wall, disappearing into a deep pool of the Phazon water. The ceiling tubes above had fallen. Floating eerily in the fluid were hundreds of dead Space Pirates, of varying size, shape, rank, and type. We stepped inside and held the handrail, which was overlooking the awe-striking sight. A sparking and clearly stuck pump in the far north corner was overflowing the place gradually, and the musty combinative stench of rot and Phazon hung in the air.
I gawked, glancing around and avoiding the stares of the many eyes that were lifeless. It was a graveyard, with Phazon burns across the walls and the memories of a massacre dying to be remembered. I shivered, but it wasn't cold in here.
"Oh my gosh..." Samus whispered, slowly padding down the walkway and to the edge of the murky water. It was radiating blue, but was darkened by the black blood of the Pirates. "I wonder what happened..."
U-Mos was fumbling with a cracked computer screen, making pondering noises as he studied the glass. "Maybe we can find out..."
Intrigued, Samus joined me at the Luminoth's side, watching the blank monitor with eagerness. He was clicking random things, trying to see if something would work. Finally his toying paid off, and the computer glowed to life.
We peered at it, and U-Mos touched a button in the bottom right corner. The screen was labeled with strange markings I didn't understand. "Can you read Space Pirate text?" Samus asked.
He nodded. "My knowledge is great enough... Here! Found a log from a Phazon Elite, which was one of the Pirates in this room. He rests at the bottom of the pool." U-Mos cleared his throat, then read the passage for us.
"The rest of the Phazon load from Aether was taken into Tyhorn, ready for inspection. We were eager to begin, and Luri was already removing her tools for cleansing. The Berserker finally lugged the last tank to the pump room, which was an exceptionally large case. It grunted and dropped the canister with a thud next to the siphon, and I dismissed him.
"'Let's get started,' I said, rubbing my claws together. It would be pleasing to the Commandos that we got so many cans done in a day, and I was hoping for a promotion. Maybe they would finally see my potential? 'Luri,' I demanded, folding my arms.
"The scientist Aerotrooper agreed, ordering the lower soldiers to get the first pod ready. 'Make it fast, Garut wants it done as soon as possible. Oh! Get the biggest one, I wanna see how much candy it's got in it.'
"Candy was a slang term for Phazon that the Space Pirates used, and almost all of them did. The lackeys obeyed, heaving the hulking repository over to her. Using her propeller pack, she glided up smoothly, unhinging the lid with a cloud of warm bringing blue. I smiled as she reached down with a bottle in hand, scooping a full canteen of it.
"'Ah... the sweetness of-" Luri cut off, her eyes widening as something dark wrapped around her wrist. She shrieked and was pulled into the magnum, squirts and miniature explosions coming from the inside. After I realized what had happened, her screaming stopped.
"'Get security! There's something in the Phazon!' I bellowed to the other Pirates, sneering. They all scurried off up the stairs and through the door, their shouts being heard even after the hatch closed. I unsheathed my wrist bayonets, holding them up to the lip of the canister.
"Something black and heavily armored emerged, the fresh Phazon dripping off of the sleek body like rain. I recognized the large shoulder pads, the helmet, the breast plate, and the claws and arm cannon. I lowered my knives, eyes widening.
"Dark Hunter lifted Luri's decapitated head from the depths of the Phazon, and a cruel smile cracked across her face. My friends' dying expression was pure fear and terror. With ruthless force, she crushed the scientist's skull, blood spouting and her bones dropping gorily. I couldn't breathe.
"The backup I had called stormed into the room, where I stood motionless and heartbroken. Without admission, the hundred-or-so platoon fired at Dark Hunter, yelling curses and words such as, 'Return to whence you came!' She wasn't bothered.
"Finally they all saw the true being, and stopped their assault at once. They took back their callings by hanging their heads, and looking sorrowful.
"With a merciless giggle, Dark Hunter waved her black armored arms, a wave of blue Phazon energy knocking into the multitude below her. We all fell, still dazed by her reaction to our apologies.
"Again, Dark Hunter chortled, drifting into the air and destroying the pump with a snap of her fingers. The pure water that was our drinking supply flooded into the chamber, sweeping the Pirates and I off of our feet and tumbling with the mighty force. I was twisting to find some stability, and that's when the ceiling cylinders that kept fuel gel collapsed, the raw substance touching the Phazon and exploding. The flash was so bright, and so hot that it evaporated some of the water, throwing the groups of Pirates to the side like nothing but mere Phazon Pillbugs.
"I was violently hurtled below the staircase, crashing into a computer that denied the links to other consoles on Tyhorn. With my collision, the lights died, and the pooling room went quiet and dark.
"...Well, all except for Dark Hunter's laughter."
U-Mos finished, a grave look on his face as he shut down the system. He looked back to Samus and I, who were considering the story we had heard. "So that's how Dark Samus came back, huh? By killing all of these Pirates?" she mumbled.
The Luminoth nodded. "It seems so."
I turned and looked at the carnage, feeling a chill come over me. I shuddered, imagining the whole slaughter again in my mind. "Could we go, now?" I asked eagerly, wanting to be free of this creepy place. "I don't like it."
The others agreed, and we turned to exit.
"Now, you wouldn't want to leave yet, would you? This party's just getting started!" I heard the smoothly malevolent voice from behind us, and we all turned to see Dark Samus sitting atop the broken pump, legs crossed. "After all..." she flicked her wrist, and the Phazon pool glowed brighter. "...who wants to ruin a perfectly good celebration?"
At that moment, the water churned, with bubbles breaking the surface. A deep moan came from the lake, and something escaped the depths, something big. U-Mos, Samus, and I watched as a dark silhouette rose, then piercing silver eyes glint with malice. The lights flickered on for a second, and the thing was revealed to be a heap of Pirates that were morphed together into a giant one. "Did I mention that the affair is for you? Don't get too excited, it isn't for your benefit."
Dark Samus patted the combined shoulder of the rotting monster softly. "Have a roaring time, sweetheart." Then she disappeared again, leaving us to face the sick mixture of bodies that had its own mind.
"Oh, crap."