FINALE - PART 3
"…p! Damn it, Samus, WAKE UP!"
Samus' eyes shot open, and immediately she realized that something was wrong. Her Power Suit was gone.
"What happened?" she demanded. Adam, who was now on the shipboard computer rather than in her helmet, responded. "Wesley happened. He stole your Power Suit, put me in here, and went off to fight Ridley."
"Is he insane?" Samus wondered. "If he thinks that I won't be able to handle Ridley along with all his soldiers, what makes him think…"
"That's just it, Samus," Adam said grimly. "He knows he can't beat Ridley. He intends to even the playing field for you…"
"…He told you this?"
Samus took Adam's silence to mean a "yes."
She closed her eyes. "How long of a walk is it from here to the High Command building?"
"Two hours," Adam replied.
"And how long has it been since Wesley left?"
"…Three hours."
"…I see."
She walked over to the cargo hold, where her old Power Suit was sitting. She suited herself up, beginning with her helmet and continuing down. At last, she was ready.
"Let's go," Samus said. "We won't let Wesley's sacrifice be in vain."
-=-=-
Odius, Ashen Feather, and White Voice reentered the main cloning chamber, all of their senses focused on finding the final member of High Command. Auros was the only one remaining; they were so close, now. If they could find him…
They hurried into the room with the mysterious spinning machine, and, miraculously, there he was; the final High Commander, their final battle, the only thing standing in the way of their victory. But…
Auros turned around, and they saw it; the blank, emotionless eyes, the faint discoloration, the way he moved…he had fallen victim to the X.
It stared at them, as if waiting for them to make the first move.
"What do we do?" asked Odius, hesitant to fight an X Parasite.
"Maybe we should just try to escape…" Ashen Feather said doubtfully. "We can wait for Samus…maybe she's come up with a way to defeat the Metroid-resistant X."
They started moving in the direction of the next door, but White Voice remained still.
"Come on," urged Odius. "It's not attacking us. We can still escape…"
White Voice shook his head.
"You're…going to try to fight it…?"
He nodded in response.
"We'll stay and fight too, then."
Another shake of his head. Ashen Feather was about to protest when White Voice held out his hand, and an unseen force pushed them through the door. It locked as soon as they were through, and White Voice turned back to the X-infected High Commander.
They locked eyes, and leapt into action.
Slimy tentacles burst out of Auros' back, a product of the X's ability to mix and match the assets of the hosts it had infected. One of the tentacles grabbed White Voice around the midsection and threw him against the wall, bits and pieces of it crumbling off with the force of the impact. White Voice's hands began to glow blue, and suddenly the tentacle unraveled before being yanked in the mute Chozo's direction.
Watching through a window in the door, Ashen Feather's eyes widened. "I don't believe it," he whispered. "He's mastered the magic of the Chozo…"
"Magic?" repeated Odius, understandably skeptical.
"Well, it's not really magic…but it's an ability that most Chozo have but aren't able to harness."
They went back to watching the fight with rapt attention.
A blade now shot out of Auros-X's wrist, and the infected pirate raced toward White Voice. The mute Chozo, in response, raised the bayonette of the gun he had taken. The two exchanged a few blows before the bayonette was knocked out of White Voice's hands. Auros-X now swung its blade at the undefended Chozo, but White Voice simply disappeared before reappearing atop the rotating machine a moment later. His hands glowed blue once more, and suddenly the blue glow extended from his hands to form the shape of a sword.
Auros-X leapt up on top of the machine, and the two continued to parry one another's slashes, each attempting to deal a fatal blow to the other. The infected pirate suddenly lashed out with one of its tentacles, wrapping it around the other's sword arm. It used this opportunity to slash White Voice's throat.
Ashen Feather gasped, believing it to be over…but White Voice ran his free hand across the wound, leaving behind the familiar blue glow. The blood seemed to be frozen in place.
Then, he pushed out with his hand, and Auros-X flew back, landing at the edge of the machine. White Voice regained his composure, and the blue glow around his hands pulsed slightly, becoming white before turning to a slightly duller shade of blue.
"He can't keep this up," Ashen Feather murmured. "This type of magic uses up his life force. If he uses too much of it, then…"
He didn't have to finish his sentence to explain to Odius what the result would be.
Auros-X scrambled to its feet, lunging at White Voice once more. The Chozo was prepared, though. The blue surrounding his hands intensified, and as the pirate came within reach, he plunged one of his hands right into the High Commander's chest.
There was no gore, though, and the infected pirate didn't seem to be in pain; its eyes were wide, but out of shock more than anything else.
When White Voice removed his hands from the pirate's chest, he was holding an X Parasite.
Auros stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, bewildered but still alive.
White Voice glared at the writhing mass in his hands, and the blue turned to white again. He was focused on pouring this energy into the X, trying to kill it. The X, in turn, stretched, reaching out in White Voice's direction, trying to infect him.
But the white light began to fade, turning to a bright blue, then dulling more and more until it was black. White Voice's eyes were half-closed at that point, and the X escaped from his grasp and entered his body.
Then, the white light returned, surrounding the Chozo's entire body now. Somehow overcoming his mute condition, he let out a bloodcurdling scream. The floor beneath him shattered, and as he took his own life, he fell into the abyss.
The door somehow unlocked itself, and Odius and Ashen Feather burst through.
"He did it," Ashen Feather murmured with wonder. "He…he removed an X from someone while keeping them alive…"
"He kept me alive," Auros whimpered, somehow knowing their purpose there. "Won't you honor his decision?"
Ashen Feather shook his head. "No…we came here with the intention of ridding the universe of High Command. Besides…your life is already over. Nothing can undo what's been done here today."
Even as the High Commander groveled at his feet, begging for mercy, Ashen Feather fired at him, finishing the job that White Voice had not. Auros fell to the ground, moving no longer.
"…And that's that…" murmured Odius. "We've done all that we came here to do. All we can do now is wait for Samus to arrive and take care of Ridley…"
-=-=-
As Samus entered the lobby, she didn't fail to notice the numerous Space Pirate bodies spread all across the ground. She felt a twinge of both pride and pain, proud of what Wesley had done…yet knowing all too well what the cost of that had been.
Ridley was facing the wall, but turned around as he heard Samus approach.
"There you are," he growled. "Care to confirm to me that you are who I think you are?"
Samus removed her helmet, letting Ridley know without a shadow of a doubt that it was the real Samus Aran he was facing, then put it back on.
"Where is he?" she demanded. "What did you do with him?"
Ridley gestured off to one side, where Wesley's broken body was propped up against the wall. He was still in the Protector's Suit. Samus walked over to him, praying for the impossible yet knowing what she would find. She checked his pulse, and her suspicions were confirmed.
"You didn't plan this, did you?" Ridley asked coldly, his eyes on Samus. "No…you didn't. I can tell. He did this of his own accord."
Samus stood up, shaking with both despair and rage.
"He cheated me of my victory," Ridley continued. "You would have come here and fought all my troops, and triumphed. But then you would be worn out, and I would kill you. But instead, all those troops were wasted on this worthless little pest."
Samus turned around. "You are," she snarled, "the most disgusting rat in the universe."
Ridley smirked, taking this opportunity to toy with Samus. "What, still angry about Mommy?"
"SHUT UP!" she roared, launching a Super Missile Ridley's way. Predicting this, the space dragon easily stepped aside.
"And what about poor old Daddy? The old fool thought he could end us by blowing himself up…you know, one of my surviving soldiers managed to hear his last words. Would you like to hear them?"
Another Super Missile was Samus' response, but Ridley once again dodged with ease.
"Well, here they are: 'Samus, I love you!' Isn't that just adorable?" he asked mockingly, laughing.
While he had been busy taunting Samus, though, the bounty huntress had rushed up to him. An arm cannon to the face was enough to shut him up.
"Fine, then," he hissed. "Enough play."
He whipped his tail around, slamming it into Samus and knocking her away from him. Then, he went up into the air, flames licking at his teeth. Samus followed him with her arm cannon, waiting for the right moment to fire.
Then, Ridley made a u-turn and swooped downwards, flying directly at Samus now. Even as she began to fire her missiles, he let loose four large fireballs. Ridley dodged two of the Super Missiles, but the others were homing, and three more impacted on his skin, leaving burn marks there. Samus, meanwhile, leapt out of the way of the fireballs, but was singed on her right side.
Ridley, not pausing for even an instant, flew at Samus and attempted to snatch her up with his claw. The bounty huntress turned to her morph ball form, rolling out of the way and leaving the space dragon grabbing at empty air. He wasn't done yet, though; he righted himself in midair and grabbed Samus with one of his talons. He spun around and launched her at the wall.
Samus returned to her normal form as she flew through the air, and righted herself to leap directly off the wall. She checked her missile reserves and swore inwardly. Only 1 Super Missile and 24 normal missiles left…
She fired off her last Super Missile, catching Ridley off-guard and sending him spiraling to the ground. Just before he collided with it, though, he spread his wings and glided for a short time before swooping upward again.
Ridley now flew up above the broken ceiling, raining down fireballs from above. Samus tapped into her Metroid DNA and followed him, levitating to his height. The two circled each other, firing off missiles and fireballs in succession. The bounty huntress kept a close eye on her missile reserves, and finally, they dropped to zero. At that point, she resorted to charged shots.
Ridley, sensing that he was gaining the upper hand over Samus, made an attempt to grab at her again. She flew back, firing off another charged shot at his face.
The sun was beginning to rise, shining a brilliant gold over the landscape, and somehow, Samus felt that this was a sign that the battle was over.
She flew above him and changed to morph ball form. There, she left behind a Power Bomb. She flew out of the way, and it exploded, sending Ridley spiraling down to the ground.
With a large crash, he hit the floor and was still. Samus knew that he would never get up again.
-=-=-
Ashen Feather and Odius reentered the lobby just in time to see Samus disappearing through a door. Odius glanced down at the body of Ridley, laying face-up on the floor. "You follow her," he told the Chozo, who nodded.
Odius walked down to the space dragon's body and knelt down beside it. Just then, he noticed the wing twitching.
"Still alive, aren't you?" Odius chuckled. The space dragon opened one eye.
"Please," he croaked, staring at Odius. "Kill her. Kill Aran…"
Odius shook his head sadly. "I'm not going to do that for you, Ridley. I don't answer to anyone. High Command is no more, and your time is almost up."
"This isn't fair…" Ridley choked out.
Odius laughed at that. "You brought this on yourself, you know. Arvo warned you not to attack K-2L. You refused to listen and had him almost killed. Then you went and attacked it…and made your own worst enemy."
"Please," Ridley whimpered. "Won't you help? The backup of my mind is still intact…my replacement body can…"
"I already killed your replacement body," Odius replied curtly before continuing. "Not only did you make your own worst enemy, but you also set the Space Pirate rebellion in action. Those of us who agreed with Arvo saw that you were wrong…but we also saw that yours was the direction that the Space Pirate Empire would be moving in. We didn't want that. Your attack on Arvo gave birth to our cause."
"I can't die," Ridley whispered. "I can't. This isn't right. This isn't fair. You have to help me. You have to."
Odius gave the space dragon one last, sad glance before following after Ashen Feather and leaving Ridley to die.
-=-=-
"These stairs are rigged with explosives," Adam warned Samus before she set foot on them. Silently, she levitated into the air and descended them without touching the steps.
"There must be something important down here, then," she replied finally. She had locked the door behind her, not wanting anybody to follow her. Before that, though, she had retaken the Protector's Suit. Out of respect for Wesley, she had put her old Power Suit on him.
At last, after five minutes of descent, they reached the bottom. Five large computer consoles stood stationed around the room, and Samus realized what they were. "These contain the minds of the High Command members," she muttered.
She punched her arm cannon through each of them, destroying them once and for all.
"There," she said, satisfied. "Let's see them come back now."
She turned to leave when she heard a strange noise.
Turning around, she saw none other than White Voice.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Kill it," he whispered, somehow speaking. "I can't control it for long…I'm using it to stay alive, but soon…"
"What?" asked Samus.
"The X!" he hissed. "It has me!"
Samus nodded in understanding and fired a beam shot at him. He sighed contentedly and fell to the ground, and the X floated out of him. Samus tried to escape, but the Metroid-resistant parasite flew into her.
Gasping, she fell to her knees, believing this to be the end.
But then…
The strange script filled her visor again, and the influence of the X seemed to just disappear.
"What the…what just happened?" wondered Samus aloud.
"It's the last resort," murmured White Voice. His life force was beginning to wane, but he was still alive for now. "When all other methods fail…Zebes is no mere planet. It is the method by which we intended to destroy all the X Parasites once and for all. The program within your suit…when it, the Protector's Suit, and the Protector of the Galaxy herself return to the core of Zebes, all the X Parasites in the universe will be drawn to that location…and be destroyed. As soon as the Chozo discovered that the X Parasites had made a recovery, they returned Zebes to the realm of the living."
"Why did the X-Brain have it, though?" Samus asked.
"The X Parasites must have discovered it and realized its purpose. Intending to prevent you from obtaining it, they entrusted it to the most powerful of them all."
Samus nodded her understanding.
"There is one more thing, though…" White Voice continued, his voice beginning to fade. "When the program is activated and the X Parasites destroyed…Zebes will disappear, along with the Protector of the Galaxy. You will cease to exist in this realm."
With those final words, White Voice died.
Samus stood there silently, absorbing all the information that the Chozo had told her. She then went back up to the lobby.
-=-=-
Odius and Ashen Feather were there to greet her.
"Samus!" Ashen Feather cried, hugging her. "You did it!"
Samus hugged her friend back, the words of White Voice still weighing heavily on her conscience. She resolved not to tell them about it.
"I destroyed the minds of all the High Command members, too," she said.
"That's good," Odius replied, nodding. "We killed the three senior members, along with Ridley's replacement body. High Command is no more."
Samus nodded her satisfaction.
"What happened to Wesley, though?" asked Ashen Feather, frowning. Samus sighed. "…He's dead," she said grimly. "He…sacrificed himself so that I could defeat Ridley."
Silence.
"He was a good man," Odius said finally. "He'll rest peacefully knowing that he helped you succeed."
Samus nodded. "Yes. I suppose so."
They sat down and told each other what they had gone through. Samus, of course, neglected to mention her conversation with White Voice. When Odius and Ashen Feather mentioned the cloning vats, Samus' brow furrowed in thought.
"Adam," she said later.
"What is it, lady?"
"The Galactic Federation…it'll need a new leader, won't it?"
"I suppose so."
"…And they don't know that Rodriguez is dead yet…and we have his body…"
"Stop it," commanded Adam. "I can see where you're going with this, and I don't want any part in it."
"If someone competent doesn't take charge, the Federation could remain just as corrupt as it is now," Samus countered.
"I died, lady. I died an honorable death. I'm satisfied with it. Don't force me back into life like this. It's just not right."
"Sometimes, Adam," Samus said, "we have to sacrifice our peace of mind for the greater good. I'm certainly not pleased with having to lead a life of killing…but I did it because it was the right thing to do."
Adam finally relented. "Fine. But it's only because I must. Once the Federation is on the right track, though, I intend to step down immediately."
Samus nodded her satisfaction. "I'm not asking you to do anything else."
They took a sample of Rodriguez's uncorrupted DNA from the ship, and put it into the central pod. They disconnected all the other pods from it except one, and entered Adam's mind into it.
Before long, they had a perfect copy of Rodriguez as he had been before being infected with the Metroid DNA, with Adam's mind.
"It's going to take some time getting used to this again…" Adam commented, moving unsteadily with Rodriguez's body. "I forgot that it was so cumbersome having to breathe…"
"What will you do, Odius?" Samus asked, turning to the Space Pirate. He shrugged. "Same thing as Adam, I suppose. I'll put the Space Pirates on the right track, then step down…it'll be difficult, more difficult than Adam's duty, but I'm confident I can win over the main population."
Samus turned to Ashen Feather. "And you?"
"I've done my duty already," the Chozo said simply. "My job was to guide the Hatchling, to assist her in saving the universe. And, not to sound arrogant here, but I think I've done a pretty good job of it." He frowned. "But…we still haven't gotten rid of the X yet…"
"Don't worry about that," Samus said. "I have a feeling that the X won't stay a problem for long."
-=-=-
"We're here live at the Federation capital, where President Martin Rodriguez has an announcement to make. Ex-convict Samus Aran is at his side, after having been pardoned as soon as the president returned."
The clamor in the crowd died down at the president took the stand.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he declared. "Over the past three and a half decades, the Galactic Federation and the Space Pirate Empire have been perpetually at war. I am pleased to announce that this war is over."
There was much shouting for clarification and explanation until the president signaled for the audience to be silent.
"Just a few weeks ago, a treaty was signed, calling for cooperation between the pirates and the Federation. We waited to see how this treaty would turn out before announcing it to the general public, and it is clear now that we have established a lasting peace. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Space Pirate High Commander Odius."
There was some hesitant clapping among the audience as the pirate took the stand.
"Over the past thirty-five years, the Space Pirates have come to stand for murder, destruction, and evil," Odius began. "It is my intention to make that perception nothing but a faded memory…"
-=-=-
Two weeks had passed since the truce had been announced. Samus had become a familiar face at the Federation capital, always at the president's side, yet never speaking. Rumors flared that she was in an affair with the president, but she didn't let it bother her.
Odius, too, made periodic visits to the capital, bringing news on the state of the Space Pirate reconstruction. There had been some rebellion, particularly among Ridley's former troops, but most of the population seemed pleased with the changes he was instigating. They had considered changing their name to rid themselves of the image people had of them, but decided against it; that would be too pretentious.
Several days earlier, an unfamiliar vessel arrived at the Federation capital. Samus was surprised – and relieved – to learn that it contained the Etecoons and Dachoras. How they had obtained that vessel, she was unsure of…they were creatures of mystery, that was certain.
Adam had shut down all of Rodriguez's former experiments. After the Valhalla had been evacuated, it was rigged with explosives and detonated. The facility on Lycas shared a similar fate. Much of Rodriguez's staff was fired, as well, especially after Adam looked into their backgrounds.
Ashen Feather had not been seen since they had left Earth. They assumed that he had joined the rest of the Chozo in the next realm.
At last, Samus decided that she had waited long enough. She found her old ship within one of the Federation's hangars, and, without saying good-bye to anybody, departed for Zebes.
-=-=-
The rain trickled down her visor as she stepped out onto Crateria. She glanced up at the sky. The stars were bright tonight, despite the heavy downpour.
She walked into the caves, prepared for X Parasite attacks. They didn't come…perhaps they were resting. Perhaps they sensed that their time had come. She toyed with this idea before discarding it.
Before long, she came across the mangled bodies of ten Metroids. She felt a pang of regret…but also a feeling of pride as she saw the dried out husks of each SA-X.
Tourian…that was her destination. The elevator was still broken; she hopped down the shaft, not caring. She wouldn't be hurt now, anyway.
She landed gracefully on her feet, and continued walking. Soon, she reached Mother Brain's chamber. It was strange…when she had revisited it after destroying Mother Brain in the past, it was always in poor condition. This time, it was as if nobody had ever set foot in there.
There was a large, gaping hole where Mother Brain used to be, and Samus knew that she had to go down it.
As she fell, she began to feel cold. Not unpleasantly cold, though…this felt nice. Like a spring breeze…
The familiar script ran across her visor once again, and she was surprised to find that this time she could read it.
She read the script over several times, and understood what she had to do.
She called to mind all the people who had been lost to her: her parents…Tarus Wesley…White Voice…even Adam's original body. As she did so, the cold turned to warmth.
The script began to glow blue.
And, one by one, Samus let each of them go, her sorrow departing like the wind. She didn't forget them; she merely let their memory rest.
Her sorrow scoured the four corners of the universe, gathering up all the X Parasites in existence and bringing them back to the place where Samus waited, her eyes closed, her limbs spread serenely. And then, without reentering Samus, her sorrow disappeared. The blue glow of the script became stronger.
And then, Samus remembered her anger; anger at Ridley, anger at the Space Pirates, anger at Rodriguez and the Federation. She let that go as well, and it bound the X Parasites to her before it disappeared.
Finally, she remembered her joy; joy at having found a family with the Chozo, joy at having reunited with Adam, joy at meeting Ashen Feather and White Voice. These memories, she kept, and their influence radiated outwards.
The script turned a bright white, and one by one, the X Parasites turned this bright white as well and disappeared.
"The end of the X will be by emotion rather than violence."
And as the final X disappeared, the warmth within Samus spread through her whole body.
And then, she found herself in the next realm, where Old Bird, Ashen Feather, White Voice, and even Tarus Wesley awaited.
//////\THE END/\\\\\\