Chapter 17:
U-Mos's ship emerged from subspace over the planet Aether almost one hour after it had departed from Earth. The trip up through the Earth's atmosphere and into orbit, where they had made their jump, had been free of incident. The Galactic Federation ships that had been in orbit had made no attempt to intercept them or shoot them down. In fact, the N'Kren ships had been in the process of withdrawing from the planet when U-Mos's ship had entered warp. There had not been any Ylla ships present, though, which U-Mos had thought strange at the time, since the N'Kren and the Ylla had kept in close contact with each other.
Upon emerging from subspace, U-Mos's scanners picked up a small Galactic Federation fleet orbiting Aether. A few seconds later, the assault shuttle that Kreatz and Mauk were piloting also emerged from warp. Upon spotting the Federation fleet and the fact that U-Mos was still headed towards said fleet, Kreatz opened channel to U-Mos's ship and blurted, "What are you doing? Those are Galactic Federation ships! They might be enemies!" Samus was unsure of what to think, though she quickly noticed that the Federation ships, and the fighters that were flying in holding patterns around the fleet were not making any hostile moves towards them.
"Don't worry Kreatz," U-Mos replied calmly. "They are allies."
As the transport flew past one of the larger ships in the fleet, Samus was reassured, since she clearly saw the name, G.F.S. Olympus pasted on the side of the ship. That was Castor Dane's ship. And she figured that this was his fleet as well. Looking out the view port, she clearly saw no less than two-dozen Federation capital ships orbiting the planet, with at least two Olympus-class battleships being part of the fleet. "What's going on?" Samus asked.
"You'll find out once we reach the ground," U-Mos answered. "Needless to say, things are changing, and not necessarily for the better."
U-Mos left Samus with that dark thought as he returned his attention to piloting the transport into the atmosphere. They were quickly followed by Kreatz and Mauk's shuttle, which provided cover for them, just on the off chance that there was a surprise attack in the works. So far, however, everything seemed to be fine and Samus settled in as U-Mos's ship made its way towards the atmosphere. She could already tell that the planet was recovering from the Ing War and the Phazon Crisis, with some assistance by the Galactic Federation. It had been under Chairman Keaton's tenure that the Federation had helped Aether and the Luminoth. This was not something that would have been done by Elric, and especially not by Cyrus. Samus had noticed that the Federation was changing, and it was not for the better. She hoped, though, that the presence of Admiral Dane's fleet was also indicative that the rest of the worlds in the Federation had seen this change and wanted it to return to a less corrupt and more benevolent society. Though many of the worlds in the Federation were more than willing to help out neighbors in need, regardless of whether or not the Council sent any ships to assist.
The ship then entered the atmosphere with barely a shudder. U-Mos piloted the ship through a large mass of clouds until he came close to the ground. Once he was within sight of the ground, he decelerated the transport and began to turn out of his dive. From there, he leveled the ship and proceeded towards the Great Temple, the capital of the Luminoth.
The trip to the Great Temple took merely a few minutes. As they approached the temple, Samus could already see a crowd assembled near the landing platform that they were told to land on. The ship soon made its way over to the platform and once it was above it, it stopped and hovered over the platform for a moment before slowly descended to the surface, extending its landing pads. After a few moments, the ship landed softly and U-Mos powered down its systems and opened its boarding ramp. U-Mos, Samus, and the rest of the crew of the transport walked down the ramp and onto the platform. On the platform were two other Luminoth, an elderly Chozo, and what looked to be an Ascended Chozo to the elderly Chozo's right. Samus immediately recognized the elderly Chozo as being Old Bird. Looking to the Chozo's right she saw another familiar face in the form of Gray Voice, who appeared to be a Chozo Ghost. "Old Bird! Gray Voice!" she called out as she ran down the ramp and to her adoptive parent, in the form of Gray Voice, and caretaker and trainer in the form of Old Bird. When she arrived, she gave each of them a fierce hug. "I can't believe it! You've come back!"
"Yes, Samus," Old Bird said, looking at her affectionately. "You've grown so much since you left Zebes. You have grown into a strong young woman."
Samus gave a smile but did not say anything. She still felt the loss of her Omega Fusion Suit, which had been built upon the remains of her Chozo Power Suit at its full power. While she was still formidable without her suit, with it, she was far more powerful. "You have done both the Chozo and humanity proud," Gray Voice added. "I am proud to be able to call you my child."
"Thank you, Gray," the bounty hunter answered.
Soon, the sound of Kreatz and Mauk's assault shuttle echoed over the platform as the shuttle descended and landed on the other end of the platform. As Kreatz and Mauk exited their shuttle and joined the party, Samus asked her Chozo mentors, "What brings you to Aether?"
"The same thing that brings the Galactic Federation Seventh Fleet," the familiar voice of Admiral Castor Dane answered from behind them as he stepped out onto the platform and saluted the Chozo, Luminoth, and Samus. "I'm sorry about coming out so soon, but I thought you all needed to hear this."
"What is the problem," U-Mos asked, stepping forward towards the admiral.
"We've just received word from the outskirts of Federation Space that Cyrus has been found alive and he has called Federation One to an frontier colony world, planet Z-2O."
"Cyrus? Alive?" Samus, Kreatz, and Mauk cried out in unison. "How?" Kreatz asked. "Even if he survived in that other realm, how did he manage to get out of there?"
"Was there anyone, or anything else, with him?" Samus asked quickly. She figured that the only way out of that realm for Cyrus would be Dark Arceus taking him back to the universe; and that would likely mean that he was able to defeat Mewtwo.
Admiral Dane shook his head. "No, there have been no reports of anyone else with him. He was just found in the room of the governor of the colony. He was said to have been found a few hours ago. He has since boarded Federation One and is giving a speech. I think you all should hear it."
With that, the others filed into the temple, and into a large hall towards a light at the end of the tunnel, which led to an assembly chamber. As they walked down the hall, the sound of Cyrus's voice was filling the hallway. They were able to hear bits and pieces of what he was saying, but not everything. As they arrived at the door to the next room, the door slid open and the large room opened up before them.
Inside the room was a large table where several Galactic Federation Marines, Luminoth, a couple Chozo, and an Ascended Chozo stood. The voice of Cyrus was blaring over the speakers as Samus recognized the background on the screen as being that of the assembly chamber of Federation One. They had joined Cyrus mid-speech as he was saying, "…and with everything that has happened in the last few days, I must call upon all members of the Galactic Federation to unify. The loss of Daiban was a tragedy, and one that must never be forgotten. And what Elric did to gain power is unforgivable. However, there are other enemies among us as well. An ancient enemy known as the Magic Lords has been revealed, and they are still powerful. They were quite willing to use their puppet, former Chairman Elric, to further their own agenda, and while the Magic Lords that were on Earth have since disappeared from the planet, their deaths have yet to be confirmed. Personally, I feel as if they are still alive and that they will return, soon. I had a plan that would have, if successful, destroyed them. But there was a complication: the bounty hunter Samus Aran and the people of Earth. She prevented the initial plan from being successful and the people of Earth drove me off the world after my initial plan had failed, and into another realm, which required a miracle for me to escape." Samus looked on with dread as she knew what he was going to say next. "Even better, is that I know what must be done to eliminate this threat to the Federation, the galaxy, and even the entire universe. However, I cannot do it without help. Now is the time for us to band together. I need your help to get to Earth, should it not agree to allow us on it to destroy this ancient enemy, and help us all accomplish this great dream! I intend to make Earth the seat of the new Galactic Federation. Together, we can make a better universe, one without pain, one without suffering, one without evil! Let us all strive to create a perfect universe!" And with that, Cyrus stepped down from the podium to the ovation of thunderous applause.
After he had stepped down, the screen went blank. The others glanced around at the table apprehensively. "Well, what do you think?" Admiral Dane asked.
"Cyrus's goal is what he said it is," Samus answered. "The issue is that in order to create this perfect universe, one without pain, suffering, or evil; this one will have to be sacrificed. That was what he, or rather, Dark Arceus, was in the process of doing when Dark Arceus was engaged by Mewtwo. I merely kept the two Magic Lords at bay. I have a feeling that Cyrus does not care about them and is only using their existence to further his own agenda."
"That much was obvious," Old Bird said. "I have seen that look in the eyes of sentients before. I saw that look in the eye of Mother Brain on Zebes before we abandoned the planet."
"This will be made worse by the fact that many races were originally created by the Magic Lords," Gray Voice added. "When the Magic Lords were pushed to the brink by the PSI Lords and fused into the Dark Dragon, the rest of the species that had been under their yoke were suddenly freed. They will jump at the opportunity to wipe out the Magic Lords, for they will never bow to their former masters again."
"We can both vouch for that," Kreatz and Mauk added.
"And it will be even worse since those that were not made by the Magic Lords won't know the history of the Enemy, and thus, can be misled by someone like Cyrus or his supporters," U-Mos said in a melancholy voice.
"But there is a silver lining," Samus told them. "Cyrus isn't at Earth yet. And Earth has its own group of allies who know of his past as the leader of Team Galactic. They will be very hesitant to give Earth to him. If it comes to a shooting conflict, Earth won't stand alone."
"No, they will not," both Old Bird and U-Mos stated in unison. "The Chozo Remnant will stand with the humans of Earth."
"As will the Ascended Chozo," Gray Voice added.
"Add the Luminoth to that as well," U-Mos declared.
"And the Federation Seventh Fleet," Admiral Dane added.
Samus then looked at Kreatz and Mauk, and then back at the others. Kreatz then spoke for the three of them, saying, "You all clearly know that we're with you."
Just then, a beep sounded in the room. "We're receiving another transmission," U-Mos said. "This one seems to be coming from Earth."
"Put it on," Admiral Dane requested.
The screen then flashed on once more. The image of Councilman Colin Williams, along with Earth President Jonathan Richardson, and several other members of the Federation Council, including Madeline Powell, appeared. After a few seconds, Councilman Colin Williams began his speech, "Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of Earth, Mars, the Solar Colonies, Aliehs III, Corella Five, and the rest of the Galactic Federation; as you all must have heard by now, Cyrus is still alive and well, and is now the Chairman of the Galactic Federation. In addition, you all heard that he wishes to come to Earth to finish what he started, ostensibly, the destruction of the Magic Lords. While that end would, indeed, be a great service to the galaxy, the price would have been too high: the potential destruction of the entire universe, and the almost certain destruction of Earth and its current population of six billion people. Cyrus has tried this before." An image of files on Cyrus, in addition of video footage of the appearance of two Pokémon that Samus suspected were Dialga and Palkia appeared on the screen. "Several months before the death of former Chairman Keaton, Cyrus, who was not involved in politics at the time, attempted to do what he tried to do on Earth mere hours ago. He attempted to summon two creatures, Pokémon called Dialga and Palkia, and have them create a new universe for him: a universe without pain, suffering, evil, emotion, and spirit. Back then, he used the same rhetoric to gather an army of followers to him and created a criminal organization known as Team Galactic. Fortunately, he was stopped by a group of Pokémon Trainers and Giratina before his plans could come to fruition, and trapped in the Distortion World for a time. But he escaped that world and returned to our universe, and now, it has been revealed that he has been trying to accomplish this goal ever since his return. To that end, neither I, nor President Richardson will allow him or his forces access to Earth. We will not sacrifice our world, galaxy, or universe for his schemes." The Councilman gave a pause and the images of Samus fighting the Magic Lords and Elric appeared on the screen. "He has already lied once about Samus, for she was vehemently fighting against the Magic Lords and Elric, not alongside them, and supported Mewtwo against Dark Arceus. The only reason we are all still alive today is because of the actions of Mewtwo and Samus. We the people of Earth have always been wary of Cyrus, and Elric, and now it is known to be for good reason. Since Cyrus has taken control of the Galactic Federation Council, the people of Earth, Mars, the Solar Colonies, Aliehs III, and Corella Five, have, with great reluctance, decided to secede from the current Galactic Federation and form a new government that, until Cyrus is either brought to justice, steps down, or is otherwise dealt with and we are able to safely and with no fear for losing our honor or who we are, reintegrate into the Federation, will be known as the Federation in Exile. It is with great sadness and trepidation that we have taken these steps, but until honor is restored to the Galactic Federation Council, and the Federation as a whole, we feel as if we can no longer be a part of this governmental entity that has falsely been calling itself the Galactic Federation ever since the death of former Chairman Elric almost two years ago." After a moment, the former Councilman, and now likely Chairman of the Federation in Exile, said, "I will now take questions."
The screen went blank once more and Admiral Dane turned to the others and said, "It's begun."
The others nodded solemnly. Indeed it had. The Galactic Federation was splintering. Samus could not help but wonder if this had been the Magic Lords' plan all along; or at least a contingency plan should their plan against Earth fail. This was almost certainly not the end of the secessions. She knew that the Luminoth, the Chozo Remnant, and the Ascended Chozo would be on the side of Earth and the Federation in Exile. She also had the bad feeling that the N'Kren would certainly side with Cyrus, and that the Ylla would likely side with Cyrus as well, due to the N'Kren siding with him. In addition, she believed that Admiral Dane's fleet would not be the only one to side with Earth, either. The Federation Army also had ships of its own. She suspected that there would be some Army regiments that would fight for Earth, rather than Cyrus. And there was the fact that Earth was so heavily defended. In fact, all of the seceding worlds, so far, had stronger than average defenses. Taking them would be highly difficult. Old Bird and Gray Voice soon cut into her reverie when they said, "Well, we've got some work ahead of us. But right now, the important thing is to stabilize your DNA."
"What will you do?" Samus asked.
"We will stabilize the Metroid DNA inside of you and properly reintegrate into your genetic code. It will be done so in a way, though, that allows you to merely retain your immunity to X-Parasites, while not suffering from a Metroid's crippling weakness to cold. However, you won't enjoy any of the other benefits of Metroid DNA, such as leeching life energy from others. However, you will be able to use weapons like the Ice Beam once more and you won't suffer hypothermia merely from standing in areas that are forty degrees Fahrenheit without your armor."
"That's fine with me," she told them. "When do we start?"
"Right now, if you're ready," Old Bird replied.
"I am."
Old Bird and Gray Voice both smiled. "Good," they said. As they went back to the medical ward along with U-Mos, they talked to Samus, beginning with, "By the way, once we're finished stabilizing your DNA, we'll have to design a new suit for you. And you'll almost certainly want to design a new gunship for yourself." Samus only smiled as they continued to talk at length about her plans and on what she would do during this crisis.
Meanwhile, in another part of the galaxy, onboard Federation One, Cyrus sat in the Presidential Suite onboard the ship. He took out the trophy of Arceus, still shrunk in its pocket-sized form, and sat it on his desk. He glanced over at computer and saw a message on the screen. He moved the mouse pointer onto the message and clicked on it. The message read:
To Chairman Cyrus,
Congratulations on your promotion to the Chairmanship of the Galactic Federation Council. We trust that you have received an adjustable size trophy of the Alpha Pokémon, Arceus. You will need two such Pokémon in order to accomplish your objective of being able to get a Dialga and Palkia, which will be necessary for your universe to be created. We have sent another trophy to Earth. It is currently in the possession of your associate, Charon. You must get to Earth, yourself. Between the Magic Lords reappearance, and the other people of Earth turning on you and us being unable to assist you directly, you will be on your own in your quest, save for your forces. This message was delivered in order to let you know that with the two Arceus trophies, your dreams can come true.
Cyrus saw no signature. Nevertheless, he decided to make a call to Charon to see if he had received a trophy. He input a command into his computer and soon, the face of Charon appeared on the screen.
"Chairman Cyrus!" Charon exclaimed, surprised at the sight of his leader. "Why have you called so soon?"
"Charon, did you receive a trophy of Arceus recently?" Cyrus asked curtly.
Charon's eyes flashed with surprise. "Why, yes," he answered, showing Cyrus the trophy. Cyrus gave a dark grin at the sight. "How did you know?"
"That's not important right now," the Chairman replied. "What is important now is that you research everything about Arceus and the Creation Trio. I will do my best to unite the Federation against Earth and its allies. Until I come, you are the Galactic Federation representative on Earth. You are in charge there, for now."
"Understood, Cyrus," Charon answered.
Cyrus then closed the channel and began to consider his options. He knew that taking Earth would be incredibly difficult. It was the birthworld of humanity and he knew that the rest of humanity would flock to defend it, especially since former Councilman Williams made his speech. Given Elric's criminal activities, and that he was associated with Elric, he knew that there was no guarantee that other Federation worlds would not secede, or become neutral, being willing to offer aid and supplies to either side. In addition, Earth was incredibly well defended, even more so than Daiban had been. Taking the planet would be exceedingly costly in terms of manpower and equipment. While he would not have issue with losing fleet after fleet of ships to take Earth if that was what it took to take the planet, he knew that the rest of the Council would. And if the Council did not approve of his actions, there could be trouble. He could always dissolve of the Council, but that would bring its own problems if he did so this soon. He would probably have to wait for that. Then he remembered the N'Kren and the Ylla: precursor races with technology on the level of the Chozo and the Luminoth. A grin then twisted his lips. He had options. And if he needed even more help, he could call upon the Cornerians and the Star Fox Team as well. And if worst came to worst, he could call upon the Space Pirates for help.
He proceeded to open a channel to the N'Kren homeworld, hoping that they would at least respond. Surprisingly, after a few seconds, the image of the N'Kren armed forces commander, Hi'Gor appeared on the screen. "Cyrus," Hi'Gor stated plainly, giving a bow. "I have actually been expecting your call. What is it that you need?"
"The Galactic Federation needs your help in getting Earth to rejoin the Federation," Cyrus answered.
"As we have already told your predecessor, we may not intervene in internal matters," the N'Kren commander responded.
"Yes, but Earth is no longer a part of the Galactic Federation," Cyrus told him. This news seemed to surprise Hi'Gor. "It and several other planets have seceded from the Federation and have formed their own little alliance."
"Are you sure?" Hi'Gor was uncertain as to whether or not Cyrus was correct.
"They declared their secession merely an hour or so ago," Cyrus told him.
He then saw Hi'Gor's lips twist into what passed for a grin among his people. "Then we will have no problem assisting you in battle against Earth. We are enemies of the Magic Lords and they must be destroyed, no matter the cost. Tell us what you need and when you need us."
"Right now, I'd rather keep the N'Kren out of the direct fighting. However, I am aware of the fact that you have several Federation citizens in your armed forces, with two of them being Techno Lords."
"That is correct," Hi'Gor replied, nodding.
"I request that they to be returned to Federation space if that is not too great of an inconvenience."
"It won't be," Hi'Gor answered. "They are Federation citizens, after all. I'm certain that they will have no problems with this arrangement."
"Thank you Hi'Gor. Your help will be remembered," Cyrus responded. He then closed the channel and sat back in the chair as the image of the N'Kren armed forces commander disappeared.
Once the transmission had been cut, he quickly input a new series of commands into the computer. He opened another comm channel and this time, the Space Pirate commander, Ridley, appeared on the screen. "You?" Ridley roared as he stared into the eyes of Cyrus. "Figures, with the death of Elric and all. What do you want?"
"I am well aware of my predecessor's contact and activities with the Space Pirates," Cyrus began. "I trust that we can maintain this relationship discretely."
"Sure," Ridley answered with a huge grin. "But it's going to cost you. I want eleven million Gold Credits and a cruiser-class warship as payment."
"The credits I can give you," Cyrus replied, almost growling. "However, I cannot give you the cruiser at this time. However, I will be getting a hold of some other weapons that you could use that will be well worth it."
"What weapons?" Ridley asked, eager to hear more of what Cyrus was offering.
"I might gain possession of armored soldiers that work for the N'Kren and will be loyal to the Galactic Federation. With some Space Pirate reprogramming, they could become Space Pirate armored soldiers. These soldiers use N'Kren technology, technology that is on a par with ancient Chozo technology," Cyrus responded with a grin. He knew he had Ridley. The Space Dragon would not be able to resist the prospect of gaining technology of a precursor race. "Oh, one more thing. The two Techno Lords that I will give you just happen to be human survivors of the attack on planet K-2L."
"K-2L?" Ridley gasped.
The Chairman nodded. "Apparently, some of the people were, as the N'Kren said, salvageable. They have since either been turned into Techno Knights or the more powerful versions, Techno Lords."
"You will give me those Techno Lords as soon as they are available," Ridley declared. "That will be my price."
"It shall be done," Cyrus answered. The transmission was then cut. Finally, Cyrus could sit back and begin making plans to conquer the Earth, and complete the orbital ring that was currently under construction over the planet.
Back in the vortex dimension, Dark Arceus was thrown back by an explosion that resulted from the collision of his attack with Mewtwo's Psystrike. Despite his attack's type advantage, Mewtwo's Calm Mind power ups had allowed the strength of his attack to equal Dark Arceus's Final Judgment. Dark Arceus used his power to stop his momentum and focused back on Mewtwo, who had just disappeared and reappeared directly in front of him and fired a point blank Aura Sphere. Dark Arceus gave a cry as he was forced back by the attack and took severe damage from it. "Damn you," he swore.
Mewtwo merely grinned as he launched another Aura Sphere at the evil Pokémon. This time, Dark Arceus was able to raise a shield over himself and limit the damage dealt by the Aura Sphere, but still, some of the damage was able to bleed through the shield. However, with both of them rejuvenated, yet with Mewtwo already having used Calm Mind and constantly attacking Dark Arceus in order to prevent him from being able to use Calm Mind in order to increase his own Special Attack and Special Defense, in addition to Mewtwo's Pressure ability, which forced him to use more energy with each technique than would normally be required, he knew that in a battle of attrition, that he would lose. He had to make it so that the winner of this battle would be decided right here, right now.
Dark Arceus then proceeded to power an extremely large purple ball of energy in front of his mouth. He pushed all of his energy into the attack that he could, practically daring Mewtwo to counter his attack. He knew that Mewtwo's Psystrike was not able to damage him due to him being a Dark type Pokémon. However, Mewtwo's Aura Sphere had the type advantage, and the Psychic type Pokémon did not have to worry about damaging the surrounding area. As he powered the attack, he cried, "It ends now, Mewtwo! Now die with Final Judgment!" Dark Arceus then launched the Final Judgment attack into the air. The purple ball rose into the sky and once it reached the apex of its climb, it split into a dozen meteors.
Mewtwo watched the attack coming towards him and he powered a Psystrike since only that would be able to repulse the attack, despite the fact that he would not be able to inflict any damage to the Dark type Pokémon. Blue waves of energy formed in front of him and he launched it them towards the oncoming meteors of Final Judgment. The waves collided with the meteors and the two attacks were suspended in midair. Mewtwo strained against the power and type advantage of the Final Judgment as Dark Arceus smiled. "What are you gonna do now, Mewtwo? You can't use any other attacks to defeat me, for your only other option is Aura Sphere, which won't block the other meteors. And you can't survive an assault from all of my meteors. It's over, I've…" but before he could finish, Mewtwo appeared directly in front of him, with an Aura Sphere already powered in his right hand.
"Oh, sh-…" Dark Arceus attempted to swear as Mewtwo shoved the Aura Sphere into his head, penetrating his shield and burrowing itself into his head. However, he was unable to get the final word out, for the Aura Sphere had already taken off his head. Once it had beheaded the evil Pokémon, it exploded in a massive display of energy, utterly destroying Dark Arceus. Behind Mewtwo, the rest of the Final Judgment attack finished its course and a massive explosion erupted from behind the psychic pokemon. He knew that the explosion of Dark Arceus's Final Judgment would likely kill him so he simply sighed as the blast wave approached. However, this would not be his time to die. Not yet. A green pipe appeared in midair in front of him and, seeing no better alternative, he entered the pipe, a strange sound echoing forth as he entered.
The interior of the pipe was a small tunnel that was no more than a few meters long. At the other end of the pipe was a shining light. When he stepped out of the other end of the pipe, the same strange sound echoing upon his exit, he found himself in what looked like a sewer system, not the shining field of light that he was expecting. He glanced behind him as the pipe retreated into the wall. He then looked forward and saw the seething figures of Aramon and Aglara standing before him. He grimaced at the sight of them. He was already weary from his battle with Dark Arceus, whose body fell through another pipe a dozen or so meters away. The adolescent Magic Lords, however, grinned at the sight of him.
"Finally," Aglara said menacingly. "Finally, you will die! The Warp Zone is a place outside of time and space. You will not age here, and you're trapped here with us as well. And here is where you will die."
"No, I won't," Mewtwo replied with a confident grin. He then assumed a fighter's stance and his eyes began to glow. These two were not Dark type Legendary Pokémon. And from what he gathered from his cursory scan, they were quite vulnerable to psychic power. He then prepared to launch a Psystrike on the Magic Lords. While he was tired from his battle, he still knew that he could defeat two adolescent Magic Lords. Before he attacked, though, the Magic Lords proceeded to charge him. He deftly dodged their attacks and smiled as he turned to face them again. The Magic Lords scowled. Suddenly, they were beginning to realize that Mewtwo was neither as tired, nor as weak, as they had initially believed.
Meanwhile, in a dimension outside of the Nintendo Universe, Master Hand, a large gloved white right hand, watched the happenings of the Nintendo Universe through a massive media center. Many view screens filled the large television set. Sitting at the television set was a tall, muscular humanoid with green skin, orange hair, and a long nose, wearing black armor and a cape, named Ganondorf. He looked back at Master Hand and noted, "It seems as if everything is going well, so far."
"So it would seem," Master Hand replied.
"I have one question, though," Ganondorf began. "Why did you send a Smash Ball to Samus over on planet Earth? She would have been defeated by the N'Kren soldiers before the others realized who she was."
"The death of Dark Arceus took priority and the only way that transport would have been shot down and given Mewtwo a chance against the Dark Omega Pokémon would have been to intervene directly."
"But surely the two of us together should be able to defeat a weakened Dark Arceus," Ganondorf commented. "We could have even taken care of the other heroes while we were at it."
"But that would have left little resistance to the Magic Lords, or Elvanheim as they were known before, in Milky Way," Master Hand countered sagely. "If the Magic Lords managed to create a new Dark Dragon, everything would suffer. Even us. Remember, the Triforce of Power in your hand is only a copy made with my power, and the technology of Smash World. The original was lost in your final battle against the Hero of Time. As it stands now, the only heroes that can go toe to toe with an adult Magic Lord in at least a one-on-one fight are Mewtwo and the psychic members of the Chosen Four. Other Chosen Heroes can utilize weapons designed to defeat them, but in the end, they are still quite vulnerable to the Magic Lords in the process of using said weapons. Without the powers of the Chosen and Mewtwo supporting them, they would be easy pickings for the Elvanheim. There are only so many, so-called gods and goddesses that have to power to give the Magic Lords a bloody nose should it come down to an all out war. These heroes are necessary for the future. Besides, the upcoming war against the Magic Lords alone will kill many of the heroes. We will still be able to accomplish our objectives."
That answer seemed to satisfy Ganondorf slightly. He still believed that the forces that he and Master Hand commanded would be sufficient to defeat the Magic Lords, especially with their access to the technology of Smash World. "So, Master Hand, what are your orders?" Ganondorf asked.
"Monitor the situations in Milky Way further, especially on Earth and near Lylat," the hand answered. "Also, make sure to keep an eye on the Mushroom Kingdom and the kingdom of Hyrule on the planet Hylia."
Ganondorf grinned. "Yes, Master," he answered with a sinister tone as he bowed before the hand. As he returned to his station, Master Hand wondered if Ganondorf could tell that the real reason he wanted Samus to survive was because she, and the other Chosen Heroes, were the best hope for freedom from his master.
Back on Aether, Samus was in the medical ward of the Great Temple, recovering from the operation to stabilize her Metroid DNA. She was dressed in a white hospital robe as she sat in recovery. Old Bird, Gray Voice, and a Luminoth medic were attending to her needs, and were going over various readings at the moment when Kreatz and Mauk entered the room. They almost instantly spotted Samus and rushed over to her bed. "Samus!" Kreatz blurted as he hugged her. "So, how did it go?"
She looked over his shoulder towards Gray Voice, who answered, "The operation was successful; more so than even we would have initially believed."
"So you aren't crippled by cold anymore?" Mauk asked.
Samus smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm back to my old self. I'm not crippled by a cool room anymore."
"Good!" they both blurted. "So, when will we get back into action?"
"Samus will be going back to work after we've built her next Power Suit and designed her next starship at the earliest," Old Bird answered.
Samus looked back at him questioningly. "I know what you're thinking, my child. You want to help Earth and the others, but you must remain here until you are ready. Cyrus won't make his move against Earth too quickly. He first needs to know who his allies and his enemies are. He'll want to assemble a massive fleet for the fight as well. He can't take Earth with only a few hundred warships. The minefield that Earth is likely to deploy will be enough to take care of a fleet of that size."
"I know," Samus replied quietly. "But we can't just sit around and do nothing. Cyrus came this close," she pinched her fingers to the point where they were almost touching, "to destroying the Earth at the very least, and possibly the universe."
"We won't," Old Bird assured her. "We just have to be careful about how we go about doing things."
Samus nodded in agreement. "So, let's get to work on designing and building that new Power Suit of yours," Old Bird offered jovially.
Samus gave a smile as she went to follow him and Gray Voice out of the ward when Admiral Dane came running into the ward. Once he arrived near Samus and the two Chozo, he stopped to catch his breath. "Samus," he heaved. "Come with me. There's something you have to see!" Samus raised her eyebrows as Admiral Dane began to lead them towards the main assembly chamber once more. Curious as to what he was talking about, Samus followed the admiral, with Old Bird and Gray Voice following behind.
Once they arrived in the assembly room, they looked at the image of various humans on the large view screen. Even more surprising was the fact that each of the humans was wearing clothing with the emblem of K-2L on their left sleeves. Standing around the screen were several Federation technicians, and a hologram of Adam Malkovich. "This is the data we have gained from the tracking devices placed on the Techno Lords," one of the male human Federation technicians explained. "The N'Kren are having a discussion with a group of human Techno Knights, and their Techno Lord commanders."
Samus and the others then listened closely to what everyone was saying. "You have been requested to go back to Federation space by Chairman Cyrus, himself."
"Cyrus? I'm not familiar with him," one of the humans, a male in his mid thirties said.
"He's the new Chairman of the Galactic Federation," a familiar voice called out from behind. Samus recognized it as being the voice of Blade.
The others turned and saluted Blade, and his partner, Blaster, as they walked among them. They were still in their armor. They then stood in front of the other Techno Knights and a golden sheen shone around their armor. The armor of the Techno Lords promptly disappeared and standing in their place were two humans, one male, the other female, both looked to be in their late thirties to early forties, but were actually in their mid fifties. The male had brown hair, gray eyes and wore a white shirt and pants with tag that read, K-2L on the upper left part of his chest. The woman wore almost identical clothing, along with the same emblem on her chest. She, however, had blond hair and blue eyes. Both of the Techno Lords wore gold rings on their ring fingers, indicating that they were married. Samus's eyes went wide as she saw the faces of the two Techno Lords she had fought, for she instantly recognized them as being her own parents. She simply stared at the screen, as did Old Bird and Gray Voice. "But how?" she heard Old Bird and Gray Voice ask in unison. "We detected no other sentient lifeforms on the planet."
"It is possible that they had been killed and their brain activity had either ceased or was so minimal that your sensors could not detect it," U-Mos offered. "We use stasis tubes to preserve people in such condition until we can get them to medical bays that have the technology to revive them."
They all then turned to Samus, who was still staring at her parents as they were talking to the N'Kren leader. She was not listening to what they were saying; she just stared. "Are those my parents?" she asked almost as if her voice were mere wisps of wind.
"It certainly seems like it," Adam Malkovich answered, moving towards Samus. "Their voices match and while they do look young, according to U-Mos, the N'Kren and the Ylla are close, with the Ylla having medical technology that is second to none. It is a very real possibility that those two people are, indeed, your real parents."
She did not know what to feel at the moment. A mixture of joy, apprehension, and even sadness entered her heart, and she did not know why. She then heard over the recording that they were going to be going back to Federation space and a sense of fear entered her heart. They did not know the truth about Cyrus, so they, and the others, would be easy to trick, at least at first. But she would worry about that later. "My parents are alive," she muttered to herself. At that moment, everything had changed.