Chapter 3

Samus slowly got off the ground and went over to Pikachu, who was now unconscious from the fall. She carefully picked up the mouse and felt her forehead; the fever was getting worse. Just then, a rustling was heard from the bushes. Samus sprang to her feet and pulled out her laser gun just as two Primids ran towards them. Samus immediately gunned them down and ran; she couldn't fight now, not with Pikachu in this condition! She kept running until she came to another clearing and Pikachu began to stir.

Pikachu felt awful, but her mind felt a tad clearer than before. She slowly opened her eyes to see Samus carrying her, "Samus?" she whispered. Samus sighed in relief, "Thank goodness you're awake; are you alright?" she asked. Pikachu put a paw on her head, "I've been better; what happened?" she asked. "I'll explain later; right now we have to get back to the Halberd somehow. You have electrical backup and we have to find an outlet for your energy!" Samus answered.

Pikachu's memory began to clear as she remembered the fiasco on the Halberd, "The generator!" she gasped. At that moment, three more Primids emerged from the woods and walked towards them. Samus shot her blaster at them to keep them distracted before running with Pikachu still in her arms. "Samus, I'm so sorry," Pikachu said softly as she ran, "I didn't mean to cause this much trouble." "It's not your fault Pikachu; I'll find a way to help you, I promise." Samus responded as she focused on the path ahead.

They continued on for a few more miles until Samus skidded to a stop; they were on the edge of a canyon, "Hold on," she whispered to Pikachu and jumped off the edge. Samus slid down the side of the canyon, managing to keep her balance and keeping a firm grip on Pikachu until they safely reached the bottom. Samus smirked thinking they were safe, but it slowly faded as she looked back at the top of the canyon.

Tons of Primids were looking down at them from the edge and beginning their descent after them. Samus shot about two of them down with her pistol before taking off through the canyon. She looked down at Pikachu who seemed to have passed out again, as she looked for a place to hide. While she ran, she noticed that the canyon looked very odd. Everything was grey and shiny, almost metallic, and many thunderclouds were in the air; odd, it was sunny when they were in the forest.

But Samus didn't have time to question it as the Primids got closer. Samus continued to run as fast as she could; she felt like her lungs were about to burst when she skidded to a halt as another slight drop was in front of them. Samus turned to face the Primids and took a step back, which she quickly realized was a mistake. The edge of the drop crumbled under her feet as she and Pikachu fell about ten feet to the ground. The bounty hunter felt her ankle twist awkwardly as they landed and felt Pikachu fall from her arms as she laid face first on the ground.

She looked up, feeling a bit light headed from the fall and saw Pikachu lying a few inches away from her and took in their surroundings. "No…" Samus whispered as she gazed at the large wall in front of them; they had reached the end of the canyon, they were at a dead end! Samus turned her head to see the Primids jumping down after them and quickly cornering them.

Pikachu began to stir again and opened her eyes, "What's going on…?" she whispered, catching Samus' attention, "Where am I? What's happening?!" she asked getting more and more scared as the Primids surrounded them. "No, not now," Samus whispered; Pikachu's mind was clouded again, the poor thing couldn't tell right from wrong.

Samus got to her feet, ignoring the pain in her ankle and opened her pistol revealing her power whip; she couldn't let anything slow her down now if it meant protecting Pikachu. Pikachu backed away from the towering wall of figures surrounding her in absolute fear, "W-What do you want? Leave me alone!" she cried. Samus slightly turned to look at Pikachu which gave the Primids the opening they needed.

They attacked all at once, attacking Samus and Pikachu together. Pikachu jumped this way and that, her small size and fear driven instincts allowing her to avoid the attacks, but Samus wasn't so lucky. In a matter of minutes, she was covered in cuts and bruises from the Primids hard punches and attacks; there was no way she could take out this many by herself! Finally, a Primid landed a super charged punch and sent her flying against the wall of the canyon near Pikachu who cried out in alarm from the figure crashing next to her.

Pikachu looked up in horror as the figures slowly advanced on her causing her to back into the wall. Samus slowly attempted to get to her feet, breathing heavily from the punch earlier. Sparks flew randomly from Pikachu's cheeks as she curled against the wall, "S-Stop! Go away!" she cried, but the Primids continued towards them. Pikachu felt tears of fright come to her eyes as they all reached towards her, "N-No! Leave me alone!" Samus looked into the sky as lightning flashed above them and the thunderclouds got thicker.

The clouds seemed to be swirling around only them as the sparks from Pikachu got stronger, like they were being pulled from her body. Pikachu felt this as well and held her head in pain, "It hurts! Stop it! Go away!" she yelled. More and more sparks came from her cheeks as Samus realized what was going on; the canyon was the magnetic field they were flying over before! The canyon was attracting all of Pikachu's excess electricity; that explained the thunderclouds and why everything looked metallic!

Pikachu let out a cry of pain; she couldn't take it anymore, she had to let it out! "LEAVE. ME. ALOOOOOOOONE!" She screamed as she let loose an enormous bolt of electricity. Samus covered her face as the Primids were blown away by the sheer force of electrical energy she was releasing from within her.

The entire canyon flashed yellow and white as electricity flew everywhere, being absorbed into almost every part of the canyon as well as the clouds in the sky. After what seemed like hours, Pikachu's electricity had run out. The lightning faded away and the exhausted mouse collapsed to the ground. Samus, still injured from the fight, attempted to get to the mouse, but the pain was too much and she collapsed as well, right next to Pikachu.