Wow, I have not updated this story in a while. To anyone who actually reads this, sorry it took so long. I don't know what to think of this chapter. I hope it is good. I noticed that by default anonymous reviews aren't allowed. I changed this so if anyone who isn't logged in is reading this you can leave a review. Anonymous reviews don't bother me. Any review is a good review at this point.

Samus calmly walked down the corridor as if she wasn't up to anything. She was dressed as a normal human woman with a black t-shirt and jeans. The guards paid her no attention. There was no way she would have been let in wearing her power suit. This was the underground city of Bomuz. It happened to be the center for resistance against the Galactic Federation on the planet. The people just wanted to be left alone in peace but about a decade ago the federation arrived and started demanding uranium and had since conquered most of the surface.

Samus felt a pang of guilt that she had to kill the mayor. He had done nothing wrong unless not supporting the invading federation was a crime. Samus didn't want to spend the rest of her life running again however. She told herself it was for her own good.

As she strolled along she looked at the cave walls. They were beautiful. The walls were a shiny black color with pink crystals jutting out in spots. Before she knew it she had made it to the mayor's office cave without noticing. She rapped three times on the steel bolted door and it slid open. Two guards with shiny badges greeted her.

The one on the left spoke, "You the Sam human?"

"Yes I am. I'm here for an interview.", replied Samus showing the guard a notebook."

"Hrm, well, you don't look so deadly but we be keepin' eyes on you."

"If you'll come wit' us."

Samus nodded. One guard on each side they escorted her into the office. The mayor a thin white-haired man in his seventies sat at his desk absorbed in a pile of papers.

"Sir the Sam is here.", stated the guard on her left.

The mayor looked up and blinked once or twice.

"You're early, well, not that it matters. Any excuse to get away from this paperwork."

Samus smiled and took a seat in a rotating chair.

"It's nice to meet you.", greeted Samus extending her hand. The mayor shook it firmly. Was this the right time to kill him? Those guards seemed to be paying pretty close attention. She would have to move fast.

"Now!", she told herself in her mind. She couldn't bring herself to kill the man. It just seemed wrong.

She didn't want to blow her cover so she began asking the interview questions and pulled out an electronic recorder.

"So, what do you think of the federation using your captured people in the uranium mines?" This was a touchy subect.

The mayor shook his head, "I don't like..." He looked down to see her Samu's pen sticking out of his chest. It had somehow been transformed into a dagger. Samus had pressed the medallion on her necklace and her skin and clothing began to glow as her power armor formed around her. It took a while for the guards to figure out what had just happened and then they shot at her. She dodged both lasers and by the time she rose back up she had fully donned the power armor. The soldiers both turned and bolted out the door. So much for bravery. Samus really didn't fee like it but being witnesses she had to kill the guards. They didn't get far when two shots travelled down the hallway leaving trails of steam and obliterating them.

Samus closed her eyes and waited for her comrades to come and pick her up. It was then that she heard an almost silent crying. She looked around and saw the source of the sound. Looking down she saw a little girl with tears streaming down her face. She had just stepped into the room and was startled to see the mayor dead.

"Grandpa, what's wrong? Wake up!" Samus couldn't bear to look. The little girl reminded her of herself. Just like her she had lost the ones she loved. It then struck Samus and she sank to the floor and cried in anguish, her scream distorted by her helmet. She was no better than the pirates! Just like them she had become an evil murderer. Samus looked up and saw the little girl scurry to the other side of the room and crouch under a wooden table. What had she done?

Samus thought to herself. "I can't let myself continue to live this way. It has to end." She aimed her arm cannon at her head and fired. Nothing happened. She then remembered how advanced the suit was. Chozo suits did not allow their users to commit suicide in such a manner. Samus regained her composure and stood up. It was then that she noticed a hand resting on her shoulder.

It was James, standing there with a grim look on his face.

"You know what you have to do.", he stated in a clear voice. Samus was confused at first but then she realized what he meant. He wanted her to kill the girl! Samus looked and saw the little girl staring at them in fear and rubbing her eyes.

"No, she's innocent.", stuttered Samus, still shaking.

"She's seen us both. Our identities are to remain secret so we can't be tied to the federation. Must I remind you that the federation has the power to kill us all if we don't satisfy the commanders."

"No one will know. She's just a little girl. Enough innocent people have already died."

"I see.", said James, pulling out his own gun. In a blur, Samus acted by leaping in front of James as he squeezed off three bullets intended for the girl. Two of the bullets glanced off of her armor. The third however, hit its mark, silencing the young girl. Samus regained her balance and cursed.

"I don't believe I didn't see it before. You speak of serving the federation commanders so you can survive. You are in bed with them", accused Samus charging her arm cannon. To her surprise, James laughed.

"Ooh, you got me, nope. I've always been with the federation. I understand that they bring peace and stability wherever they go. I was made the commander of your little group for the sole purpose of making sure runts like you don't get to uppity." As he was talking, Samus shot her charged beam into his stomache and knocked the man over. She closed her eyes to take in all that had just happened. She reopened them when she heard a shuffling noise.

To her astonishment James was standing back up. How was it possible? He should have been disentigrated. There was a hole going into his stomach yet he stood tall and proud as if nothing had happened. The hole in his stomach revealed a strange assortment of machinery built into his body.

"Wha... What are you some kind of freak monster?"

"Heh, heh, you haven't seen anything. I'll show you how much of a monster I truly am." Samus took a step backward as the man's eyes glowed red. It was a strange sight. His limbs stretched, increasing his height until he had to stoop down to fit in the room. His muscles swelled to ten times there size while wires and other mechanical bits pushed out of his skin. All the while he was laughing as Samus shot missile after missile at him, removing bits of flesh and metal. It was like he couldn't feel the pain.

To complete his horrible transformation his hands suddenly exploded, showering Samus in blood and revealing two wicked, robotic claws. The James monster grinned and then charged at Samus. She leaped to the side and over a table as he ran past and into a wall, knocking a hole through it and into another room. He looked around and gurgled a scream. He had plowed right through into the city's marketplace. So much for secrecy. There was a ruckus as the people around him screamed and fled.

Samus chased after him into the market, rapidly emptying her missiles into him. The impact sent him backward but he quickly recovered. He ran away to the right, startling merchants trying to sell their wares. Samus smiled as she actually had him on the run. She had to stop though. James swept his arms through a crowd he had charged into. Breathing heavily, he held a woman and a scaled alien out in front of him in his claws. Wherever Samus aimed her cannon, he quickly matched her movement by changing the position of his hostages. Samus didn't want to spill any more innocent blood and he knew it.

She knew she couldn't shoot so she rolled into her morphball and moved speedily toward the monstrosity's feet. Growling in frustration he threw both of his hostages at the approaching Samus. The alien missed and flew right into a brick wall. The woman however, flew head on into Samus, causing her to skid backward and forcing her to unroll back into her human form. Before she had a chance to move, James had his right claw under Samus's helmet and was pushing her along the floor. She went dizzy and almost lost consciousness when her head collided with a wall. James towered over her and reached forward again with his claws. He was stopped in his tracks as one of her charged beams made it into his stomach making some spinning mechanism inside him explode. He clutched his gut and stumbled backward.

He was instantly greeted in his back by energy shots. He spun around and saw a group of guards clad in black firing at him. He bowled into them with his massive form and sent them spinning and screaming through the air in all directions. He turned back around to finish Samus but she wasn't there. He then felt a tug on his back. She was behind him! Samus grunted as she yanked on an electrical cord running in and out of his back. Her hands were going numb from the electricity but she continued because she saw how much pain it caused to James. He reached back with his claws but couldn't reach her.

There was a metallic screech and the wire came out of his back as Samus fell backward. She stared in amazement at the horrible wound in his back. The floor was flooded with his lost blood but he still stood. Samus prepared to continue the battle but she was caught off guard by an intense barrage of lasers hitting her from behind. She toppled over as most of her suit's systems shut down. She realized that her suit could barely move at all. There were just little twitches in the arms and fingers. She didn't really stand a chance like this. She looked out of the corner of her visor and saw James running for the soldiers. "What, he's actually helping me?" She watched in curiosity as he tore through the soldiers. He then turned around and grinned at Samus. "Oh, no, he wants to kill me himself. He slowly walked toward her with his thundering steps. Samus barely managed to lift her arm and get off a shot before it fell back down beside her.

The shot's aim was true though. The yellow orb tore into his wounded arm and finished it off. His arm actually fell off below the elbow, leaving a stump. James cradled his arm and then gave a sour look at Samus. She would pay for this! He stomped over and stooped over Samus. She tried to exit her suit. If she could get out of the suit she might be able to run away. She wept as she realized the suit wouldn't respond.

James placed his face inches from her helmet and spoke.

"Ha, little Samus, so funny. You are like the others with their ideals, and plans. So pathetic and naive. You actually thought you could win. When I have killed hundreds just like you." He lifted her by the neck using his remaining claw and moved her about in the air inspecting her armor. Samus shook her arms back and forth frantically but the armor wouldn't budge. James laughed at this and stuck his claw under her helmet, pulling.

There was a horrific sound as the metal strained and twisted before the helmet popped off. This revealed Samus's face with her eyes closed and wincing from the pain in her ears. James then clanked his remaining claw open and shut in front of Samus's face.

"Heh, I will peel your face off!" He reached the claw for her nose but Samus spat at him.

"Insolence! You will die slowly." He pounded on her chest, knocking the wind out of her despite the thick armor. He held her cannon arm and began to twist when three bullets sped deep into his back. He spun on one foot which was strange to see for something so big.

"Who's there?", he demanded of the seemingly empty market. A figure wearing a black cloak emerged from behind a pile of toppled boxes containing everything from exotic fish to womens' clothing. Samus smiled. It was Tamluk.

"None other than your humble servant.", responded Tamluk sarcastically.

James screamed, "What is wrong with you? Now you have to die too." He charged at Tamluk but lost his balance when Adam ran in through the entrance and emptied many blue balls of energy into him. He flipped and skidded into a box which then broke and covered him in a pile of salt. He leapt up and began running around blindly, while shaking and and screaming obscenities. The salt had gotten into his wounds. Samus stifled a laugh and then noticed something very important.

Her suit was making a faint whirring noise. She moved her right arm and sure enough the suit was back online. She stretched her sore limbs and then calmly walked over to the frantic James. He was paying so much attention to his pain he didn't notice Samus until her arm cannon was stuck deep into the wound in his back. It was too late for him to do anything. Samus let go of her charged beam and it wreaked its havoc. What followed would be best described as a very disgusting explosion. Samus looked away from the smoking remains that used to be James and closed her eyes. He had seemed like such a nice man. Samus shuffled her feet toward Tamluk and Adam while looking at the ground. They seemed to be as shocked as she was when she explained what had happened.

"The others might have a hard time believing this. We should tell them that James died, helping you complete the mission.", suggested Adam. Samus nodded in agreement. She wanted everyone to know what James had done but she decided that Adam was right. Without a word they all began walking away from the scene of destruction. Tamluk and Adam both let Samus rest her arms on their shoulders for balance as they walked.

Samus heard a faint sound and realized that it was crying. She withdrew her arms from their resting positions and looked about.

"What's wrong?", questioned Adam, sounding concerned.

"I hear crying." Samus followed the noise. She neared the hole in the cavern wall and smiled. She had just realized it was the little girl. She was still alive! Samus climbed over some rubble and stopped in her tracks. The girl was curled into a ball next to her dead grandfather. Her leg was horribly bloodied. The sight flooded Samus with emotions. She was relieved to see her alive but at the same time was ashamed of all that had happened. She knew it was all her fault. There were so many alternatives to killing the man. She could purposely lost the mission. Things could have gone so differently. The mayor would still be alive and the girl would still have her grandfather. Samus just stood unmoving.

Samus thought silently. "How could I be so cruel to take this man's life. He had a life and a family. He actually knew his purpose. More than can be said about me. I'm supposed to be the chosen one, a protector of what is right. I'm so horrible. I've betrayed all that I am. It should have been me who died." She noticed that she had said the last sentence out loud. Looking behind her she saw Adam staring at her but he looked away when she turned around.

"Oh, well, I don't care what he thinks of me anyway." Samus returned to her sad thoughts of worthlessness. While she mumbled to herself Tamluk lifted the girl and comforted her. The girl knew he meant for her well being and didn't scream despite his fierce appearance. He glanced at Samus and then walked away to take the girl to the hospital. After thinking for a few seconds Adam followed.

He caught up with Tamluk and was greeted by his mechanically distorted voice.

"I can handle the trip to the hospital. You go back to Samus. She may need comfort and someone has to make sure she doesn't try... uh, anything." Adam slowed to a stop and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I understand."

"Oh, and Adam, if she doesn't want to talk about it, don't press the matter."

"Okay." Adam then walked back to where Samus was, distracting his mind from the recent events by thinking about anything else at all.