*A slight warning: this chapter rates a little higher than PG-13. Read with
discretion.
The faint glow of phazon was distracting, even though I should have been long used to it by now. Here in the phazon mines, the light permeates every room, even closed chambers far from the actual substance. Maybe it was the mutated creatures all over Tallon IV, or the horror stories of the Chozo that made me nervous around this bio-chemical energy source. The relentless pulsing light of the phazon seemed to be attributable to a living organism rather than an inanimate element.
Surrounded by abandoned Space Pirate computer terminals, a particular one caught my eye. The screen was left open on a blurb of script which I was unable to read. No problem, I simply scanned the words with my visor and let my power suit translate using a database of a few thousand languages. Before long, words appeared on my visor in writing more familiar to myself.
"Hunter Weapons." Was the title of this entry. I raised an eyebrow. From what I had previously read from Pirate log entries, they referred to me as 'The Hunter'. I found it rather flattering, actually.
"Science Team is attempting to reverse-engineer Samus Aran's arsenal, based off of data acquired from her assaults on our forces." I read aloud, as I had a habit of doing while reading. I might as well, since I lived and traveled alone.
"Progress is slow, but steady." The Pirate log continued. "We believe we can implement Beam weapon prototypes in three cycles."
"Aran's Power Suit technology remains a mystery, especially the curious Morph Ball function. All attempts at duplicating it have ended in disaster: four test subjects were horribly broken and twisted when they engaged our Morph Ball prototypes. Science Team wisely decided to move on afterward."
The corner of my mouth twitched as I read the last two sentences. I chuckled. Unable to contain myself any longer, I burst into a fit of laughter.
************
Thin, velvet clouds materialized from once-dormant vapours in the air, creating a wispy fog which muted footsteps, breath and vision. It was cold. The fog seemed to eat people; the streets suddenly lost all its occupants as soon as the mist set in. One lone figure still prowled the city streets, hugging her shoulders in a futile attempt to fight back the cold.
Samus sourly wondered what kind of city planner was hired for this planet; the moron had neglected to put up any street signs or maps for the direction-challenged visitor. The bounty hunter knew she was lost when she passed a distinctive neon display for the third time. Maybe some dimensional flux was at work here; she rarely loses her way.
She sat on a street curb, hugging her knees. Her energy was at its limits again and the biting cold made her even more sluggish. Samus never used to be so vulnerable to cold, but she's rarely been exposed to it outside her power suit. Clouds of vapour formed as she exhaled. She was seriously considering sleeping right here, right now, and finding her way back to her ship once the moon lights up the city again.
The chink of metal startled Samus out of her light nap. A man had thrown a few coins in front of her out of pity for the poor woman on the street. She picked up the change and stared at the man as he walked away, disappearing into the fog. Struggling to her feet, she dropped the money in the hat of the nearest panhandler she came across.
It was very late now. No doubt the Etecoons and Dachoras were beginning to worry about Samus's whereabouts. There weren't many people on the streets anymore. The only sounds were muted, coming from inside the buildings.
The bounty hunter walked down a street with a strong sense of deja vu following her. Yes, this place was definitely familiar. She made it halfway when she noticed a previously overlooked opening between two buildings. This narrow alley was one of the few paths Samus had not tried yet. With a shrug, she entered the alley; it's as good a path as any.
The alley had no lights, doors or windows on either sides, just an unbroken wall of metal lining. Unable to see where she was going, Samus simply followed the light at the other end. She stepped in something that squelched audibly, and she irately imagined what kind of slime she'd have to scrape off her boot later. She was so distracted by her stained shoes that she failed to notice the real danger when it came.
Samus took two steps and heard something splash into the puddle she had just escaped. She whirled around, posed for battle, but something immediately struck the side of her head, throwing her face-first into the wall. She gasped, trying to reclaim the breath knocked out of her. The cold was dulling her mind and she had trouble using her normally lightning-fast reflexes in her weakened state. What she would give for her fusion suit right now!
The bounty hunter clenched her fingers, nails making marks on the walls, and pushed off with the palms of her hands. She was about a foot from the wall when she was slammed violently into it again. This time, a heavy weight backed by violent strength pinned her against the metal surface.
"Hey, bitch." A husky voice purred from behind Samus. Her eyes widened as she realized that the weight pushing against her was the man who had spoken to her earlier. She couldn't scream with the hand he had over her mouth, and any noise she tried to make came out as panicked moans. This excited her assailant even further. His other hand groped her bare midsection with bruising fingers. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead despite the cold as she struggled desperately to free herself.
"Hey baby, relax." The man said as he tightened his grip on his captive. He breathed in the scent of her hair and his lips brushed her ear as he spoke. Samus shuddered at the touch. "Not very smart. You could have come with me before, but now I'll have to get...rough." He emphasized the last word by pressing his hips harder against her pelvis. With frightening clarity, Samus began to realize exactly what this man wanted of her.
Having faced Space Pirates, metroids, the X, and countless other dangerous species under impossible odds, Samus figured that nothing could pose much of a threat to her anymore. But now, to her anger and humiliation, she was subdued by some drunken bastard of a man on this tame, cultivated planet. She used to be able to kill a man by simply contracting her fingers around his neck. Her Chozo heritage lent her strength unheard of among her own species. But now her body was rendered nearly useless by this energy consuming ailment of hers. She felt her fear and panic growing.
The man could sense this as well. He could feel it in the pounding of her heart and it gave him a sick sense of pleasure. He smiled. "C'mon, girl. You know you're gonna enjoy this." He held his captive's chin and angled her face closer to his lips. This gave Samus just enough freedom to move her mouth. She could have screamed for help and if she was lucky, someone would come to her aid.
Instead, as the man's face drew closer, so close that Samus could feel his shallow breath on her cheek and see the pulse of the blood in his veins, she was overcome by a strange feeling. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before, like a powerful instinct that suddenly took hold of her body, barring out all conscious thought. And before she could question the feeling, she acted upon it, lunging at the man, and sinking her teeth into his shoulder.
"AAAGH!!" The man instantly backed away, releasing Samus from her cramped position. But she did not release him. With newfound strength and urgency, she tried to pin the man in a similar position he had her in only a moment ago. Instead, he tripped, falling backwards with Samus on top of him, her teeth still attached to his shoulder. He flailed his limbs in panic, splashing water and mud all over himself.
"Please! Oh God, stop!!" The man screamed desperately, eyes wide in terror and pain. Samus did not let go, but a part of her mind vaguely wondered why this man was reacting this way. As far as she could tell, the man's collarbone was preventing her from damaging any muscles or important arteries. It would have hurt, but not as much as this. Why was he in so much pain? Why wasn't he fighting back?
Then again, in all logic, Samus should have been running away by now, or trying to inflict more damage than simply chewing on his shoulder. But this drive, this instinct that was suddenly unleashed, demanded that she not let go of her prey. Every cell in her body screamed for her to continue, continue to sink her fangs ever deeper into this soft creature's flesh and not let go until he died. His life energy rightfully belonged to her! Samus pushed her teeth in deeper, hungrily.
The man screamed again. He clawed at Samus's neck and back, leaving behind bloody gashes which she paid no attention to. His thrashing grew weaker by the second. And as he grew weaker, Samus felt the energy return to her after being denied it for weeks. It was the most unusual, yet most fulfilling sensation she had ever experienced. She could feel, rather than see, an ethereal force leaving the man and being sucked up by her own body. It revived her. It made her shudder with pleasure and she would have laughed if it didn't mean letting go of her victim. She had never felt so alive!
Before long, the man stopped moving. Samus was still attached to him, her eyes blissfully closed, a trickle of crimson escaping the corner of her lips. She remained like this until her breathing evened out, the instinctive rush fading. And when it did, her eyes snapped open, abruptly throwing her back to reality.
"Oh my God!" Samus gasped. She quickly scrambled to her feet and backed into the wall. The man was dead, lying in a puddle of filth with his face frozen in an expression of terror. But how?! All she did was bite him, and human teeth were not lethal at all. She did not poison him, she did not suck his blood. Regardless, there was still some blood on her face, which she quickly wiped off with the back of her hand and transferred to the side of her pants.
The bounty hunter had seen hundreds of creatures die by her own hand, many in more gruesome ways than this. But never before had she felt such primitive...satisfaction...in the death of her victim. Samus kneeled over and vomited, adding to the slime of the alley. She took another glance at the man and noticed how his shoulder sported a ring of teeth marks, red with blood. The surrounding skin looked paler and looser compared to the rest of the body, as if that region of flesh had been dead for days.
Samus felt nauseous again, but her insides were already empty. She turned and ran.
The faint glow of phazon was distracting, even though I should have been long used to it by now. Here in the phazon mines, the light permeates every room, even closed chambers far from the actual substance. Maybe it was the mutated creatures all over Tallon IV, or the horror stories of the Chozo that made me nervous around this bio-chemical energy source. The relentless pulsing light of the phazon seemed to be attributable to a living organism rather than an inanimate element.
Surrounded by abandoned Space Pirate computer terminals, a particular one caught my eye. The screen was left open on a blurb of script which I was unable to read. No problem, I simply scanned the words with my visor and let my power suit translate using a database of a few thousand languages. Before long, words appeared on my visor in writing more familiar to myself.
"Hunter Weapons." Was the title of this entry. I raised an eyebrow. From what I had previously read from Pirate log entries, they referred to me as 'The Hunter'. I found it rather flattering, actually.
"Science Team is attempting to reverse-engineer Samus Aran's arsenal, based off of data acquired from her assaults on our forces." I read aloud, as I had a habit of doing while reading. I might as well, since I lived and traveled alone.
"Progress is slow, but steady." The Pirate log continued. "We believe we can implement Beam weapon prototypes in three cycles."
"Aran's Power Suit technology remains a mystery, especially the curious Morph Ball function. All attempts at duplicating it have ended in disaster: four test subjects were horribly broken and twisted when they engaged our Morph Ball prototypes. Science Team wisely decided to move on afterward."
The corner of my mouth twitched as I read the last two sentences. I chuckled. Unable to contain myself any longer, I burst into a fit of laughter.
************
Thin, velvet clouds materialized from once-dormant vapours in the air, creating a wispy fog which muted footsteps, breath and vision. It was cold. The fog seemed to eat people; the streets suddenly lost all its occupants as soon as the mist set in. One lone figure still prowled the city streets, hugging her shoulders in a futile attempt to fight back the cold.
Samus sourly wondered what kind of city planner was hired for this planet; the moron had neglected to put up any street signs or maps for the direction-challenged visitor. The bounty hunter knew she was lost when she passed a distinctive neon display for the third time. Maybe some dimensional flux was at work here; she rarely loses her way.
She sat on a street curb, hugging her knees. Her energy was at its limits again and the biting cold made her even more sluggish. Samus never used to be so vulnerable to cold, but she's rarely been exposed to it outside her power suit. Clouds of vapour formed as she exhaled. She was seriously considering sleeping right here, right now, and finding her way back to her ship once the moon lights up the city again.
The chink of metal startled Samus out of her light nap. A man had thrown a few coins in front of her out of pity for the poor woman on the street. She picked up the change and stared at the man as he walked away, disappearing into the fog. Struggling to her feet, she dropped the money in the hat of the nearest panhandler she came across.
It was very late now. No doubt the Etecoons and Dachoras were beginning to worry about Samus's whereabouts. There weren't many people on the streets anymore. The only sounds were muted, coming from inside the buildings.
The bounty hunter walked down a street with a strong sense of deja vu following her. Yes, this place was definitely familiar. She made it halfway when she noticed a previously overlooked opening between two buildings. This narrow alley was one of the few paths Samus had not tried yet. With a shrug, she entered the alley; it's as good a path as any.
The alley had no lights, doors or windows on either sides, just an unbroken wall of metal lining. Unable to see where she was going, Samus simply followed the light at the other end. She stepped in something that squelched audibly, and she irately imagined what kind of slime she'd have to scrape off her boot later. She was so distracted by her stained shoes that she failed to notice the real danger when it came.
Samus took two steps and heard something splash into the puddle she had just escaped. She whirled around, posed for battle, but something immediately struck the side of her head, throwing her face-first into the wall. She gasped, trying to reclaim the breath knocked out of her. The cold was dulling her mind and she had trouble using her normally lightning-fast reflexes in her weakened state. What she would give for her fusion suit right now!
The bounty hunter clenched her fingers, nails making marks on the walls, and pushed off with the palms of her hands. She was about a foot from the wall when she was slammed violently into it again. This time, a heavy weight backed by violent strength pinned her against the metal surface.
"Hey, bitch." A husky voice purred from behind Samus. Her eyes widened as she realized that the weight pushing against her was the man who had spoken to her earlier. She couldn't scream with the hand he had over her mouth, and any noise she tried to make came out as panicked moans. This excited her assailant even further. His other hand groped her bare midsection with bruising fingers. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead despite the cold as she struggled desperately to free herself.
"Hey baby, relax." The man said as he tightened his grip on his captive. He breathed in the scent of her hair and his lips brushed her ear as he spoke. Samus shuddered at the touch. "Not very smart. You could have come with me before, but now I'll have to get...rough." He emphasized the last word by pressing his hips harder against her pelvis. With frightening clarity, Samus began to realize exactly what this man wanted of her.
Having faced Space Pirates, metroids, the X, and countless other dangerous species under impossible odds, Samus figured that nothing could pose much of a threat to her anymore. But now, to her anger and humiliation, she was subdued by some drunken bastard of a man on this tame, cultivated planet. She used to be able to kill a man by simply contracting her fingers around his neck. Her Chozo heritage lent her strength unheard of among her own species. But now her body was rendered nearly useless by this energy consuming ailment of hers. She felt her fear and panic growing.
The man could sense this as well. He could feel it in the pounding of her heart and it gave him a sick sense of pleasure. He smiled. "C'mon, girl. You know you're gonna enjoy this." He held his captive's chin and angled her face closer to his lips. This gave Samus just enough freedom to move her mouth. She could have screamed for help and if she was lucky, someone would come to her aid.
Instead, as the man's face drew closer, so close that Samus could feel his shallow breath on her cheek and see the pulse of the blood in his veins, she was overcome by a strange feeling. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before, like a powerful instinct that suddenly took hold of her body, barring out all conscious thought. And before she could question the feeling, she acted upon it, lunging at the man, and sinking her teeth into his shoulder.
"AAAGH!!" The man instantly backed away, releasing Samus from her cramped position. But she did not release him. With newfound strength and urgency, she tried to pin the man in a similar position he had her in only a moment ago. Instead, he tripped, falling backwards with Samus on top of him, her teeth still attached to his shoulder. He flailed his limbs in panic, splashing water and mud all over himself.
"Please! Oh God, stop!!" The man screamed desperately, eyes wide in terror and pain. Samus did not let go, but a part of her mind vaguely wondered why this man was reacting this way. As far as she could tell, the man's collarbone was preventing her from damaging any muscles or important arteries. It would have hurt, but not as much as this. Why was he in so much pain? Why wasn't he fighting back?
Then again, in all logic, Samus should have been running away by now, or trying to inflict more damage than simply chewing on his shoulder. But this drive, this instinct that was suddenly unleashed, demanded that she not let go of her prey. Every cell in her body screamed for her to continue, continue to sink her fangs ever deeper into this soft creature's flesh and not let go until he died. His life energy rightfully belonged to her! Samus pushed her teeth in deeper, hungrily.
The man screamed again. He clawed at Samus's neck and back, leaving behind bloody gashes which she paid no attention to. His thrashing grew weaker by the second. And as he grew weaker, Samus felt the energy return to her after being denied it for weeks. It was the most unusual, yet most fulfilling sensation she had ever experienced. She could feel, rather than see, an ethereal force leaving the man and being sucked up by her own body. It revived her. It made her shudder with pleasure and she would have laughed if it didn't mean letting go of her victim. She had never felt so alive!
Before long, the man stopped moving. Samus was still attached to him, her eyes blissfully closed, a trickle of crimson escaping the corner of her lips. She remained like this until her breathing evened out, the instinctive rush fading. And when it did, her eyes snapped open, abruptly throwing her back to reality.
"Oh my God!" Samus gasped. She quickly scrambled to her feet and backed into the wall. The man was dead, lying in a puddle of filth with his face frozen in an expression of terror. But how?! All she did was bite him, and human teeth were not lethal at all. She did not poison him, she did not suck his blood. Regardless, there was still some blood on her face, which she quickly wiped off with the back of her hand and transferred to the side of her pants.
The bounty hunter had seen hundreds of creatures die by her own hand, many in more gruesome ways than this. But never before had she felt such primitive...satisfaction...in the death of her victim. Samus kneeled over and vomited, adding to the slime of the alley. She took another glance at the man and noticed how his shoulder sported a ring of teeth marks, red with blood. The surrounding skin looked paler and looser compared to the rest of the body, as if that region of flesh had been dead for days.
Samus felt nauseous again, but her insides were already empty. She turned and ran.