Dust wasn't quite sure how he had managed to survive the last hour or so. The surrounding area was covered in smoldering ash, the dismembered bodies of imps, and enormous craters, but it only seemed to convey only a fraction of the chaos he and Samus had witnessed. Looking over at the huntress, he noticed her walking over to the corpse of the giant, its once blue color now a drab, dull gray.
"Did… did phazon do that to this thing?" he asked, breathing quite hard in between in each word.
Samus stood over the giant for a moment or two before hesitantly replying. "Yes…"
"You don't sound very sure of yourself," Dust pointed out. She responded with only a soft grunt. "If it's not phazon, then what is it?"
"It is phazon," Samus insisted, piling a small amount on a shard of glass. "Its chemical structure is identical to the phazon I've encountered in the past, but it doesn't act like phazon…"
"From what you've told me, it acts like it's supposed to," Dust said. "It spreads, corrupts…"
"Yes, but it does so differently…" Samus flipped a small panel on her arm cannon. "I'll need to run some tests back on my ship."
"Isn't your ship sort of... damaged, though?" Dust asked.
"Very." As if on cue, the metallic orange vessel suddenly appeared overhead, smoke trailing from behind it as it searched for a suitable landing space. After about a minute or so, the ship descended upon a (relatively) flat piece of land nearby, hovering as gently as a hummingbird over its target, then crashed violently into the earth as the engines exploded.
"That can't be good…" Dust commented.
"Definitely going to pile on a few more days of repairs," Samus said wearily. She walked over to the ship and jumped on top. "By the way, Dust," she added. "You may want to get that thing's blood off of you; it's highly radioactive, and cancerous tumors tend to interfere with combat and life in general."
She descended into the ship as a green glow came from beneath her, and Dust wasted no time finding a river to cleanse himself of the foul liquid that had covered him. "I don't have any idea what a 'cancerous-tumor' is, but I have a feeling I really don't want to…" he said to himself as he scrubbed his satgat.
"Perhaps it is something to inquire about once Samus has finished her business within her ship," Ahrah suggested. "Though once you've washed up I believe it would be a good idea to check up on the villagers; I'm doubtful they made it through that literally earth-shattering battle unscathed." Dust grunted in agreement, more preoccupied with getting the 'radioactive' substance out of his clothes and armor than the sword's advice.
Samus sighed in relief as she was lowered into her ship. It was the only safe haven she had on savage planets such as this one, and happened to be filled to the brim with tools and equipment she needed to perform scientific tests. As soon as she stepped off the lift, several mechanical arms reached out of the ceiling, each with small tools such as torches or drills attached.
Beginning Power Suit repair sequence.
In a matter of seconds the robotic arms had buffed out every scratch, dent, and tear in her armor, bringing back its lustrous orange shine. Samus couldn't help but love how her armor looked fully repaired. It reminded her of the murals on the walls of Chozodia.
Beginning energy and weapon recharging sequence.
A small panel with a circular slot in the center lowered itself from the ceiling. Samus inserted her arm cannon into the slot, and immediately felt the flow of energy within the suit, filling up her energy tanks and replenishing her missiles.
"Now that that's over with, let's do some proper tests." Samus said as she approached the ship's computer terminal and sat down in her pilot seat. She inserted the phazon-coated glass shard into a small slot within the terminal, and then called out, "Begin chemical testing of sample substance."
Testing… Error. Substance does not match any known compound or element in database.
"Strange…" Samus muttered. "Begin molecular analysis."
Scanning… Substance identified as liquid phazon.
Samus frowned. "That's not possible…" she breathed. "Scan for irregular isotopes."
Scanning… No irregular isotopes detected.
"Scan for ionization."
Scanning… No ions detected.
Samus sat wide-eyed as the computer spouted impossibility after impossibility. A chemical that changed properties without changing chemical structure in any way; it didn't make any sense. It defied centuries of scientific experimentation. Maybe her computer had been damaged in the crash? No, even her Power Suit found it hard to identify the substance.
She leaned back in her chair and bit her lip. Whatever it was she was up against, it was phazon, but yet it wasn't phazon. It was something new, but familiar all the same. Samus needed a plan, though she needed information before anything else. "Read chemical and physical properties of sample."
Kreuger displacement: 99.566
Atomic weight: 99.75
Vacuum potential: 98.996
Sample is a light blue substance that can exist as a solid, liquid, or gas, though its state seems to change independently of its internal thermal energy. Substance is highly radioactive and very rapidly mutates organic beings, though inorganic materials tend to be resistant to its corrupting properties. Further testing required.
"It targets life…" Samus said to herself. "That's why corrupted plants and animals appeared so early on…" Her eyes widened as she realized the potential danger behind having this element on such a life-filled planet.
Without further hesitation she dashed toward the lift and jumped out the top. Her heart skipped a beat when she came outside once more; phazon growths had spawned on nearby trees and shrubbery, turning the once green landscape blue, and spreading a poison unlike any the universe had ever seen before.
Dust rose out of the water, finally satisfied with the condition of his clothes. He didn't like the fact that he was dripping wet, but at least he didn't end up like that giant. As he stooped over to pick up Ahrah from the river bank, Samus burst out of the bushes, her arm cannon aimed at him.
She stared at him for a moment, then relaxed and put her arm cannon down. "Good, you're not corrupted yet," she said.
"Of course not!" Dust retorted, somewhat offended. "Why are you here? Is something wrong?"
"Where are the villagers?" Samus asked.
"In the storage cave, now please tell me why the hell you-"
"Get them out of here!" Samus snapped. "It isn't safe. Phazon corruption is spreading like wildfire, and they need to leave!"
"W-where do I take them?" Dusk asked submissively, somewhat frightened by Samus' ferocious shouting.
"Someplace where there is no life," she replied. "A mountain or desert or something."
"Well, we could go to the Blackmoor Mountains, but that's pretty far away from here," he said. "Archer's Pass is closer by, though there is a lot of surrounding forest."
"Take them wherever you feel they'll feel safest," Samus said impatiently. "This phazon spreads mainly through living things, so be sure to keep them away from all plant and animal life." She gave him a small salute. "I wish you luck, Dust; it won't be easy surviving all this." She began to walk away, much to Dust's confusion.
"Where are you going?" he demanded.
"To the Leviathan," she replied flatly.
"Without me?"
"Phazon spreads through living organisms. My Power Suit will protect me, but you're vulnerable to its effects," Samus pointed out. "I'd hate to see a stronger, insane version of you or any civilians, so I'm leaving you to find safety along with the rest of your kind."
"And if you came across another giant? What would you do then?"
"Run."
"What if it's attacking innocent people?"
"Unless I've found a way to easily dispatch it, their lives would be secondary to the safety of the universe as a whole."
Dust's jaw dropped. The utter coldness in Samus' voice when she said that she would simply let people die without lifting a hand… it was appalling. He grasped Ahrah tightly. "If that's the case, I'm coming with you to make sure that doesn't happen."
"No," Samus pressed her arm cannon into Dust's chest. "I cannot let you become corrupted and pose a risk to my mission. You can choose whether or not to lead the villagers away, but if I catch you following me I will kill you on sight, understood? I cannot waste any more time!"
"Dust, do not trifle with her," Ahrah advised. "If she doesn't want help then we have no right to burden her. The villagers need help anyhow, considering their lack of knowledge of the current situation and the number injured; they need an able body to defend them from the threats that have arisen following the Leviathan's impact."
"Thank you, Ahrah," Samus said politely. "Dust, I'm not going to pretend to like you, but I am saying this for your own good. Phazon will corrupt within minutes if you aren't protected. It's better that you remain alive to help others than to possibly kill them all. Goodbye, and good luck." Without another word she turned away from Dust, waded into the river, and then continued into the forest.
After standing around in silence for a minute or two, Ahrah sighed. "You're going to follow her regardless of the death threats, aren't you?"
"Uh-huh," Dust confirmed.
"At least tell the villagers to head up to Archer's Pass first…" the sword said, exasperated. "If you're going to defy the orders of a one-woman army, you might as well go ahead do something to help others survive as your last deed on this world."
Silence.
Solitude.
Two of Samus' eternal companions had finally returned to her. All branches of the Galactic Federation military would continuously offer high-ranking positions for her to work with their teams, and she would turn them down. Bounty hunters and mercenaries from across the universe would propose partnerships to her, and she would turn them down. Men and women of every species would want to 'get to know' her, but she would turn them down. Every time such an offer was made to her, Samus needed only to think of silence and solitude in order to firmly decline. Of course, there were some whose company she enjoyed, but they were long gone. Perhaps it was for the best; with this Power Suit, she could not afford any distractions, lest someone needlessly be harmed. Now that phazon was an issue once more, Samus needed to keep away from any non-hostiles. Corrupted creatures often demanded her full arsenal, meaning allies were more likely to get in the way and be harmed, and if she were to somehow be overcome by enemies… nothing would survive the aftermath.
Samus shook her head and ridded herself of the mental image. She needed to concentrate on finding the Leviathan. The village Dust had led her to in order to find a map had been thoroughly destroyed, leaving much doubt as to whether or not she would have found one had she bothered to look, and her suit's map-creation function only served useful in more enclosed areas. The only hope she had was pin-pointing the highest concentration of phazon energy on the planet using her ship's advanced scanning tools, but it would be a momentous task considering the current state of the vessel; flying for more than a minute or two in its condition would likely render it completely unsalvageable.
As she walked and pondered her predicament, Samus heard a loud rustling in the vegetation nearby and instinctively hid behind a tree, arm cannon poised to fire. From the forest emerged a small hovering robot with a single red eye and a pair of arm-like wings.
Please tell me that is not what I think it is, Samus begged mentally.
Scan complete.
Target identified as a Black Bellamy combat drone.
The Black Bellamy drone is a modified version of the Jolly Roger drone made to cope with the recent destruction of all phazon. It is equipped with more powerful propulsion systems, giving it more speed and agility at the cost of energy efficiency, as well as a concussive missile launcher to make up for its lack of phazon-powered beam weapons. As with the Jolly Roger drone, the Black Bellamy drone has little armor to speak of, and because of this the Space Pirates use it mainly as a scouting device.
Space Pirates. Of course. Could Samus have honestly expected to go on a Federation mission without them appearing at some point? Their persistence was admirable, if not infuriating.
Frustrated, Samus clenched her fist, snapping bark off of the tree. She immediately regretted doing so upon feeling a missile blow the tree she was standing behind to bits. Unharmed, but angry, Samus fired at her robotic assailant, only for it to swiftly dodge to the side and fire another missile, which she herself dodged. The drone fired yet again, but Samus jumped upwards and on top of it, the full weight of her Power Suit crushing the robot instantly.
Before Samus could react, yet another missile was fired from behind her, hitting its mark and taking a good portion of an energy tank. She quickly turned around to find two more Black Bellamy drones had appeared. Swiftly dodging a pair of incoming missiles, Samus switched to her Wave Beam and fired two shots. One drone was destroyed instantly, but the other merely had its wing blown off. To Samus' surprise, the damaged drone stopped firing and accelerated toward her at an alarming rate in an obvious suicide attack. Samus leapt into the air, letting the drone crash into the ground, where it produced a small but deafening explosion.
Samus quickly scanned the area around her. No other drones, nor had any Space Pirates arrived yet, but there was no doubt in her mind that she had little time before that changed.
She quickly dashed into a patch of thick forest and switched into Morph-Ball mode, praying that the vegetation and her reduced size combined would help conceal her. Despite having enough firepower to destroy entire armies, Samus preferred discretion when dealing with Space Pirates. No weapon would help her if they moved their ships and valuable data away before she could find it, after all.
Samus observed from her lowered height a small pathway of shredded bushes and grass. The Black Bellamy drones had appeared in the general area near it, so she figured that if she followed it, it would lead her right to the Space Pirates base of operations. She began traversing the path, rolling silently in the underbrush as she formulated a plan for disposing of any Pirates.
Whatever it was they were doing, Samus was prepared to put an end to it.
"Are you sure Samus came this way, Dust?" Ahrah asked. "Perhaps we should go back and help Mayor Bram with-"
"I'm positive. No one else could make footprints like this," Dust insisted, pushing a small branch to the side as he walked. "And as much as I would like to help the villagers, they'll make it up to Archer's Pass so long as they stay with Mayor Bram. Besides, I have a feeling Samus might need my help more."
"And what makes you think that?" Ahrah questioned. "She is very well capable of defending herself with all those weapons of hers, and has likely already formed a strategy for killing you if she sees that you've been hunting her down. It casts some doubt on whether or not she needs our help."
"What if she runs into another giant? What if it kills her? If she were to die then we would lose all experience and knowledge of phazon she had."
"I suppose I cannot argue with that, but I find it unwise to follow her so closely, considering her intention to kill you on sight."
Dust scoffed. "It was just a bluff."
"No, it wasn't," Ahrah said.
"How could you tell?"
"I lived for countless centuries, Dust." Ahrah said sagely."I have learned to tell falsehoods from truths without fail over my long existence, and I can promise you that Samus. Will. Kill. You. She is one who will complete a mission no matter the cost. As a potential carrier of phazon, she will see you as a threat to herself and her mission."
"So she's a workaholic with a license to kill? I was expecting some deep, dark sob-story to explain how she became such an anti-social bi-"
"That's enough, Dust," Ahrah scolded. "Perhaps if you had paid any attention to Samus' actions you might realize just how dark her past is."
"What do you mean?"
"I've seen how her posture relaxes a bit when you're nearby, only to become tense once more," Ahrah said solemnly. "She wants to see you as an ally and a friend, Dust. She wants to trust us. But she won't allow herself to. Just by watching and listening to her, I can tell she's seen friendships end on heartbreaking, if not tragic notes, and does not want to feel the pain of loss ever again. Whatever she's been through, it's left her with some significant emotional scars."
Dust was quite taken aback by the sadness in Ahrah's tone. Never had he heard the sword express that much emotion before. "What happened to her?" he asked.
"I do not know, but considering her current state of mind, I have a feeling that it would be best if we never knew…"
A morbid curiosity gripped Dust. What had Samus seen to render her so untrusting? He was a bit afraid to even think about it, considering Ahrah's reaction, but yet he just had to know.
"Dust!" Ahrah hissed. "Get down!"
Dust obeyed, swiftly ducking inside a nearby bush. "What's the matter?" he managed to ask before Ahrah shushed him. Suddenly he heard far off voices, but they were not like any he had ever heard before. They sounded deep and guttural at times, yet high-pitched and insectile at others.
Clear as the voices were, Dust couldn't make out what they were saying. "Is that some sort of foreign language?" he asked quietly. "Can you understand it?"
"I cannot," Ahrah replied. "Such a language has never been spoken by anything of the world, but I can tell that it is a language of war and hatred. Whatever is speaking that venomous tongue cannot be an ally."
Dust was about to open his mouth to reply when a loud snapping noise came from the direction of the voices. From the hole that remained, a pair of large figures, both covered in black chitin, walked out of the clearing behind them. They had large yellow eyes on the sides of arrow-shaped heads, and massive claws in place of hands. Malice seemed to radiate off of these creatures, as if they wanted every living thing they could find dead.
"What the hell are those things?!" Fear gripped Dust just looking at the monstrous things, and he instinctively backpedaled away.
Perhaps he made too much noise. Perhaps he stepped on a twig. Perhaps he was breathing too hard. No longer did it matter; no sooner had Dust made his first step back did the creatures emit an ear-grating screech, and leapt at him with murderous intent, claws open and ready to tear him apart.
"Dust! Get away!"
Dust rolled to the side, the creatures both missing him by mere inches. Before he could make another move, however, beams not unlike the ones Samus would fire shot out of the open claws of the creatures. Dust rolled away once more, but one of the beams grazed his leg, creating an agonizing burn in place of his flesh.
Quickly rising to his feet, Dust dashed toward the creature closest to him and slashed at its chest. The wound immediately began spurting a vile, dark-colored liquid, and the creature fell to the ground, unmoving.
Seizing the opportunity its fallen comrade gave it, the other creature grabbed Dust by the throat and lifted him into the air, causing him to drop Ahrah from the sudden, sharp pain. The spines inside the creature's claw dug themselves deep into Dust's flesh, and as he struggled to break free of its iron grip, blood began to run down his neck in steady streams as his wounds worsened. Dust's vision began to cloud. He swore he could hear the creature laughing as his strength began to leave him. Desperately he gasped for air, but it never came. Darkness overtook Dust's sight, ice gripped his spine, and he moved no more.
Happy New Year! Happy Valentines Day! Happy every other holiday I missed!
My apologies for being so terribly late with this chapter. I'm gonna man-up and say it: I was just being lazy. No deaths, medical complications, alien abductions, or anime binges. Just pure, unbridled laziness.
I really am sorry to those of you waiting for me to update, but rest assured, I am writing chapter 8 and planning 9 as I write this footnote. I promise 8 will be out in March, and while I'll try and get 9 out by then, I don't want to rush it. Am I the best writer in the world? HELL NO. Do I still care about putting effort into what I do write? HELL YES.
Now that that little tangent is over with, reviews are always appreciated. They might help prevent me from inadvertently writing 'My Immortal 2'. Believe me when I say that NOBODY wants that.
Unrelated Note #1 : Should I change the rating of this fic to 'M'? I don't think I use swear words to the point of necessitating it, but I did just let Dust get his neck get torn open as he was being strangled... Add your opinions in any reviews you post, or just PM me if you don't want to review.
Unrelated Note #2: This chapter was rewritten a bit to correct a few typos and hopefully clarify how Ahrah could read Samus' emotional traumas.
***Update 12/25/14: Rewrote a few part of this chapter as part of an attempt to clean up some of the earlier entries of this story. Nothing major, just adjusting a few details and spelling fixes. Bit more insight into Samus' emotional state. Fans should be able to put the pieces together.