Ridley inspected a wound on his right wing. It had scabbed over and was just now healing. That cursed human had given it to him. Well, he had the last laugh. He killed the human and all of its chozo friends.
"Good riddance.", he thought to himself. The chozo acted all mystical and crzazy. They shouldn't have meddled with the pirates. They even had the nerve to laugh and prophecy about some avenging hunter who would kill the pirates while Ridley was executing them. What a bunch of loons. Ridley smiled, showing his sharp teeth. Seeing his teeth scared the pirates into working faster. All of this was all thanks to the mother brain. It had communicated with him in his dreams and told him how to defeat the chozo. It told him the weaknesses of their ships, where there fortresses were located, everything necessary for taking Zebes.
Ridley watched as the pirates and captured slaves of various races dug onward. They were in a dark cavern several miles below the chozo temple. He looked at the green glowing fungus which served as their source of light. He could tell that they were nearing the glorious mother brain. It's psychic presence in his mind continued to grow stronger. Finally a slave made a grunting noise and one last swing of a pickaxe and the cavern wall collapsed.
This revealed a giant brain with a single eye located in front and tentacles spreading into the rock. The brain pulsated and an electrical current ran through it. It communicated telepathically with Ridley and the others present. All of them heard the clear voice in their minds simultaneously.
"I am Chr-Tagol-magnorif but the passing of time calls for a new name. All of you will call me mother -brain. It is by my guidance you have triumphed and you shall pay me by making me your new leader. I will lead you into the new age and together we will bring wonderful control and peace to the universe." Ridley bowed and closed his eyes. Speaking telepathically through the mother brain all the others heard his message. "Bow now and accept the new leader."
One by one the pirates and slaves bowed before the beast. Except one.
One pirate stood up and declared, "Can't any of you feel it, this isn't right." Most of those present knew that he was right. They could feel something wrong about the mother brain but because of fear or greed or whatever motivated them none spoke. They just continued bowing.
Ridley agreed with the brain telepathically. There could be no mercy for such people. They would merely hinder the coming peace.
Ridley announced for all to hear, "Lord mother brain, I present to you, your first meal in a long time." The other pirates rose from bowing and chased after the unfaithful one. He ran but they soon caught up with him. Ridley watched with glee as they dragged him, screaming before the mother brain. The others let him go but he could not move. The mother brain sent horrible messages into his mind, depicting ways he could die. He froze and this gave the mother brain its opportunity. It pulled one of its tentacles loose from the floor sending rocks flying through the air. It then wrapped its slimy tentacle around the pirate and then his head.
His mouth hanged open trying to scream but he couldn't. The air was being squeezed out of him. The end of the tentacle covered his entire head and then glowed. He felt excruciating pain and then died as his mind was absorbed. The mother brain withdrew its tentacle revealing that the pirate's head had been melted off. The other pirates, slaves, and even Ridley shook and the brain could feel their fear but they did not express their fear in words.
"Good", the brain thought to itself, "Fear is very effective against such beings."
Samus strolled down the dusty road, looking about. Several people stared at her but didn't say anything. They probably didn't get very many people wearing armor in these parts or something like that. She saw man and woman holding hands. She supposed that she should be interested in boys at her age. At any rate, the way her life was currently going a romantic relationship would not fit in with her lifestyle. She stopped at the door of a dilapidated shack. The paint was peeling and there were several cracked windows. She had been looking for a job and several people had said the man here was seeking the services of someone skilled in combat which Samus happened to be. She really needed this job. The escape pod was not meant to last and had broken down. Piece of junk. Without a ship and a job Samus was stuck on this planet without a way off. She had been there for two weeks and had managed to kill some small animals for food. She wasn't sure if the animals belonged to anyone however.
Samus knocked several times and there was no answer. She knocked again.
"Hey, anyone in there?", yelled Samus, peeking in a window. Finally the door opened. Surprisingly, a troglodan wearing a suit and tie stepped out.
"Yes?", replied the troglodan man.
"I heard you need someone who can fight."
"Aren't you a tad short to be a bounty hunter?", asked the troglodan, scratching his head.
"Taller than you, and I'm not here for games. I want a job.", replied Samus, slightly agitated.
"Okay then. Come inside."
Samus followed him inside, mumbling when her right foot collapsed part of the man's wooden porch.
"Sit down, sit down.", said the troglodan taking a seat at a small table. Samus sat down across from him.
"I must warn you, this is a dangerous job. The police wont even do anything about it.", explained the troglodan with a mouthful of bread.
"I'm still listening."
"Okay, there's this new gang been going around. The Toru Gaborun. You heard of them?"
"No, I'm still somewhat new here."
"Oh, I see, well, some rogue pirates landed outside town a few weeks ago."
"Did you say pirates?"
"Yes, I did, let me finish, please. They joined up with this other gang and busted some guys out of prison. Suddenly there's this huge gang going around terrorizing the town. They even burned down my house. Bas..."
Samus cut him off, "So, what do you want me to do?"
"I want them gone. I don't care how you do it, kill them, rough them up, persuade them to leave, whatever. I just don't want to see their ugly faces anymore."
"I can manage that.", replied Samus, "Where are they?"
"Yeah, they'd probably be in the tavern or in their ship this time of day. Or they could be about, causing problems. So you can do it?"
"Yes, but first about my pay."
"Oh, that's all been arranged. 300 federation credits sound good?
"Hm, a thousand, I need to buy a ship."
"Five hundred, I'm sure some of the gang members got money on them."
Samus thought for a moment and said, "Deal."
"Yes!", exclaimed the troglodan.
"I'll be back after I'm done."
"Wow, you're sure of yourself."
Samus didn't reply. She just stood up and left.
Samus calmly entered the tavern. She quickly surveyed the room. She could smell the beer and stale food through her visor. Most of the tavern was empty save several booths in one corner. The people seated there didn't look so nice. They were all armed, the humans had unkempt facial hair, and they all had strange scars on their left arms. There were five pirates, three human men, a trogladan, and several beings whose species Samus couldn't identify.
A human waitress finished filling their mugs. One of the humans grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her back.
"Hey girl, how bout you head back to our place after we leave? We can have some fun."
"No, I'd rather not.", said the waitress trying to pull herself away.
"Yo, no one says no to the Doug!", hollered one pirate.
"Yeah, no one says no to me.", said Doug, trying to pull the waitress into a kiss. Samus was disgusted. She couldn't remember any humans acting this way when she lived with them as a child. She walked over and stood over the table, glaring at the gang. All of the gangsters stopped what they were doing when they noticed Samus. Doug let go of the waitress who promptly ran away and ducked behind a counter.
"What do you want to start something?", asked Doug, eyeing Samus's arm cannon.
"I will give you a chance. Leave this planet and don't come back."
"Ooh, and what you going to do? That funky helmet must be choking off your brain." The other gangsters snickered."
"If you do not leave your ashes will.", said Samus in an apparently calm voice.
"You will regret your bad jokes." Doug stood up followed by the other gangsters. They all readied their weapons. Samus let them act first. As soon as Doug pulled the trigger Samus ducked into a morphball, and dozens of lasers and bullets whizzed over her. She laid several morphalls. They saw this and scattered away from it. She unrolled and shot at two pirates first. She wanted to make sure the pirates died. As far as she was concerned the pirates deserved whatever they got. She laughed maniacally as her power beam shots ripped through them. However, she made the mistake of not paying attention to the humans. Multiple shots hit her and she was knocked over.
"Perhaps I'm in over my head.", she thought to herself as she rolled into a morphball and hid behind an overturned table. She heard them running toward her. She quickly uncurled, jumped up, and shot several missiles into them. One human and one troglodan were all that were left. They exchanged glances and ran for the exit.
"Pft", said Samus as she shot at the heads of the pirate bodies. Before she left she saw the waitress and the bartender come up from behind the counter. They were obviously traumatized.
"It's done.", said Samus to the troglodan.
"Really. Do you have any proof though?"
Samus opened a paper bag and dumped out boots, necklaces, and other various clothing articles from the gangsters.
"Is that proof."
"Awesome, I'll be right back."
The troglodan rummaged through a termite-infested desk for several seconds, throwing out the occasional piece of junk and spraying the termites with some poison. Termites had been accidentally transported by humans throughout the galaxy and were now the most widespread insects in the known universe. He finally pulled out a wad of purple paper.
"There you go, 500 credits, pleasure doing business with you.", said the troglodan, handing Samus the money. Samus stared at the money in her hand for a while. It was different from chozo money which was all digital.
"Thanks."
"Oh, and if I ever need another job done, I'll get a hold of you. Anyone who can get rid of those guys has to be good." Samus waved and exited through the creaking screen door while counting her new money.
A few hours later.
Samus looked up at the huge, glowing sign.
It read, "Crazy Burt's used Starships" Below that it read in smaller letters, "lowest prices of any other place near here. She walked on in through the gate, considering the spaceships she saw before her. There were hundreds of them in all sizes parked throughout the dusty clearing. She passed a family of small crustaceans looking at one and making clicking noises. Samus almost tripped over a short creature wearing a cloak.
"See anything your interested in?", asked the creature in a high-pitched voice.
"Are you Crazy Burt?"
"No, but I run the place while he's away. Say, you're the guy who nabbed those nasty toru whatsem gangsters, you might like to buy a..."
"I need a cheap ship that still works."
"Oh-ho, they all work, I assure you.", said the creature, bouncing up and down.
"I doubt that for some reason." This made the creature make a sound Samus interpreted as a laugh. This was going to take a while.
Several hours later.
The ship touched down and Samus climbed out of the hatch.
She hopped down and said, "I'll buy it."
"Ooh yes, very well.", replied the same creature. It whipped out some paper work from under it's cloak and handed it to Samus. After a few more minutes the ship officially belonged to Samus. She was nearly broke again though. She got in the ship and flew off into the sunset. The ship shook a bit and the flames propelling sputtered occasionally but the creature told her that it had at least another five thousand light years in it.
"Another satisfied customer!", shouted the creature. It did a dance, watching Samus's ship disappear into the distance.