Chapter 23: The Transfusion
It was the 7th day of training when I found out.
I was staggering back to the house with Big Amy when I overheard Master Kel-Zich talking to Old Bird and Gray Voice. "Did you realize? Samus Aran's birthday is coming up fast."
"July 11, correct?" asked Old Bird.
"That is correct. Poor girl. I have heard that the humans hold a kind of ritual to celebrate such an event. She never had even one."
I sped away before I could hear any more and dashed into the house. I grabbed my watch and checked the date. Only seven days away? Finally, Big Amy rolled in, out of breath. "Wha…why did you leave me behind, Little Amy?" she gasped.
I stood rooted to the spot. "Samus' birthday is seven days from now."
She stared at me in confusion. "Her what?"
"Her birthday. I just heard Master Kel-Zich, Old Bird, and Gray Voice talk about it. See, for humans, the day we were born is really special. Whenever that day comes up, we celebrate it with a ritual called a birthday party. But according to them...if I heard them right…Samus never had a birthday party in her life. Ever."
"Do you have one?"
"Yeah. November 13. That's uh…" I counted on my fingers. "One, two, three…about four months away. Wow. I'll be 19." I shivered at the thought.
"Do I have one?"
"Actually…you do. The records say that yours was April 25, remember?"
"No. I couldn't read it. Is this April 25 close by?"
"Sorry. That was, uh…one, two…about three months ago. Today is July 3."
"So what are you going to do now?"
I flomped on the bed and stared up at the stars in the sky for a while before responding. "…Maybe I should throw her a surprise party. I mean, I still have to thank her for saving our lives from the X Parasites. If it weren't for her help, we'd all be dead right now."
She flomped down on the pillow next to my head. "…Yeah. You're right. What do we need?"
"Lots of stuff. Cake, balloons, presents, candles…but I'm not sure if this village even has all that stuff. True, they had that hair-lengthening thingy and that instant-sewing machine, but I'm not sure if they have stuff for actual birthday parties."
"We could check tomorrow. What do you say, Little Amy?"
"…I think that's a great idea. But this has to be a surprise. So don't tell anyone else, okay?"
"Okay!"
The next morning, when I got a chance (which was between training sessions) I knocked on Shining Flame's door and asked her if she had any party items. To my surprise, she did.
"Does someone have a birthday coming up?" she politely asked.
I leaned in close and whispered, "Yeah. Samus Aran's. I want it to be a surprise, so don't tell anyone, okay?"
She smiled. "That is acceptable. What flavor of cake does she like?"
I paused. "I was going to ask you that. I honestly don't know."
"Then perhaps your favorite flavor should do."
I thought a bit before shrugging my shoulders. "…Okay. Hope she likes strawberry cake with vanilla icing."
In addition to an entire cake-making set, she also had banners, plastic utensils, cups and trays, number candles, party hats, Party Balls, and plastic balloons. Yes! I was so impressed. The plastic kind of balloons were the ones that didn't pop if you stuck a fork through one, unlike the normal rubber ones. I hated it whenever a balloon popped—it would blast my eardrums so hard, it wasn't even funny.
"Thank you SO…SO, much! Jeez, what should I do to pay you back—?"
She laughed. "Do not worry about it. Just an invitation will do."
I stuffed all of the necessary items in my backpack and carted them off to my room in Master Kel-Zich's house before hurrying to my next training session. At lunch, I decided to let Grovyle and Chikorita in on the secret, as I wanted them to be involved in the grand unveiling. I whispered as quietly as I could.
After I collected all of the necessary banners and items, I decorated the doorway of Old Bird and Gray Voice's house, where Samus would surely come through, making sure to hide them properly anywhere I could. I made sure not to forget to tie the Party Ball on the ceiling. Right when I was about to leave, something pounced on me. It was an Ing from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes!
"AAAH!" I shouted. I quickly got a hold of myself and kicked it off of me. I opened the door—and ran right smack into Celebi.
"Ooow…" they both groaned. The Ing morphed into…Gandrayda. "I gotta admit, kid," she remarked, "Your reflexes are getting better."
"Wha—wha—what are you guys doing here?" I sputtered.
Celebi flew in my face and retorted, "I think a better question would be, what the heck are you doing here, skipping out on your training?"
"But—but it's not gonna start for another two min—"
Gandrayda looked up at the Party Ball and pointed at it, asking, "Hey, what's that?"
My heart raced. I didn't want them to find out and spoil the surprise. "Ah…nothing—!"
"It's not a BOMB for Sammy, is it, you naughty little girl?"
Celebi sang, "Bad girl! Bad girl! La la la la laaa, la!" like those hyenas from The Lion King.
I couldn't take it anymore. It was like 4th grade bully torture all over again. "N—no, wait! It's supposed to be a surprise!"
Gandrayda morphed into a Kinecelleran (an insanely fast blue Velociraptor-alien from Ben 10) and skated all over the room in half a second, quickly finding everything I'd stashed. She spoke really quickly. "Oooh, birthday stuff! Why didn't you say so?"
"Uh—"
"That reminds me! Sammy's birthday is only six days away! So why are you—no, no, don't tell me! Today must be her unbirthday!"
I stared. "…What?"
"What's an unbirthday?" asked Celebi.
"Today's your unbirthday too! And your's, and mine, and everyone else's here! Why don't I explain later? Okay? See ya!" She sped out of there within 0.1 seconds. Celebi flew after her, shouting "Wait for me!" Then she turned my way and taunted, "Hey, no skipping, bad girl! Last one there is a—"
"GET BACK HERE!" I shouted, chasing after them. I got a sinking feeling about "later".
Turned out that "later" was at the song-and-dance ritual that evening. Everyone was there as usual. Samus, Big Amy, Chikorita, Grovyle, Kirby, Los-Nom, Plu-Thrim, Old Bird, Gray Voice, Master Kel-Zich…even Adam landed nearby to supervise. But Gandrayda and Celebi weren't. The usual Chozo started the ceremony with their drumming, when Gandrayda cartwheeled over everyone's heads and landed in the center. Celebi flew in after her. They sang:
Gandrayda: A…very merry unbirthday, to me!
Celebi: To who?
Gandrayda: To me!
Celebi: Oh, you.
Gandrayda: A very merry unbirthday, to you!
Celebi: Who me?
Gandrayda: Yes you!
Celebi: Oh me.
Gandrayda: Let's all congratulate us with another cup of tea, a very merry unbirthday to WHOOOOOO? YOOOOU!
We all stood there in shock and confusion. I wondered where the heck they got the teacups from. Maybe they ran to the Alice in Wonderland world and swiped them from the Mad Hatter. Hey, this was my universe, right? Finally, Big Amy asked, "What the heck is an unbirthday?"
"Yeah, what is it?" added Grovyle and Chikorita.
Gandrayda explained, "Now you know how you only have one birthday every year, right?"
"Yeeeeeaaaaah?" I affirmed, purposely drawing out the sound to emphasize my chagrin. I couldn't believe it. At this rate, Samus was going to know what was coming, and that would spoil my surprise. But I couldn't stop them at this point. The Pokémon wanted to know, and all the Chozo were having too much fun.
"Shut it, bad girl. Not everyone's a know-it-all like you," poked Celebi.
"But there are 364 unbirthdays, because there are 365 days in a year! See? You have an unbirthday for each and every day you don't have a birthday!" explained Gandrayda triumphantly.
Everyone started remarking on how today was their unbirthday too. But I had to interrupt. "Wait. That's 365 Earth days, right? What about here?"
Old Bird explained, "Do not worry, child. Planet Chozodia has the exact same revolution as Earth—or should I say, Capital Planet. We use the same temporal measurements as you."
"Oooooooh. I get it." I really did.
They whipped out several pieces of cake with candles on them and handed them out to us, while singing:
Gandrayda: A…very merry unbirthday,
Everyone: To me?
Celebi: To you!
Gandrayda: A very merry unbirthday,
Everyone: For me?
Gandrayda: For you!
Celebi: Now blow the candles out right here and make your wish come true!
So we did. Predictably, every single piece of cake turned into fireworks and launched into the sky. Gandrayda and Celebi concluded their song. "A happy Independence Day…to YOOOOU!"
Huh?
"Independence Day? You know about that?" I asked, incredulously.
"No duh. Everyone around here knows all of your Earth holidays," replied Gandrayda in a snotty know-it-all tone of voice. What a hypocrite.
I checked my watch. It was the 4th of July. There were no dormice coming from the fireworks, but they all formed such words as "Independence Day" and "Happy 4th of July!" I thought back to my old life back on Earth…and a wave of longing swept over me. This was around the time that my family would be going to Ocean City for a vacation, from July 1 to July 5, 2010, if I remembered correctly. If only I didn't stow away on Samus' ship, I'd be with my family right now, watching the fireworks from the beachfront house. My mom, dad, and brother…I wondered if I'd ever see them again.
The days passed. I did my best with my Pokémon friends to rehearse the surprise party for Samus. But it seemed that one night wasn't enough for those mean girls. They sang the Unbirthday Song every single night! (The only difference, obviously, was that they'd end with "A very merry unbirthday…to YOOOOU!") Every time, I'd get more discouraged. I was sure that Samus would figure out before long.
Even so, on the night of July 10, the eve of her birthday, I managed to bake the round double-layered strawberry cake without burning it. It was in Shining Flame's house, and Big Amy watched me in awe, helping draw pictures on some of the streamers and napkins. After the cake cooled, I added the vanilla-flavored icing, and ten strawberries around the border, evenly spaced. (It was a cake big enough for ten people to have one big slice!) Finally, I stuck two big number candles in the center, 2 and 6. Twenty-six. I gazed at my handiwork and sighed.
"What's wrong, Little Amy?"
"Oh, nothing. Just thinking."
"About what?"
"Back at home, I found that most people stop celebrating their birthdays around the ages 14 to 18. And Samus is turning 26! I hope this goes well…"
"How about you?"
"Oh, me? I'm 18. That party didn't go so well. I'm actually thinking about never having another party ever again. They used to be fun, but I can't seem to make them fun anymore."
"…You know what? I've never had a birthday party, either."
"Really? Oh yeah, I knew that. But…" I shuddered. "Your birthday already passed. What do we do?"
"Celebrate it the same time as Samus'?"
"…That could work. But…I'm not really sure if you'd be 10 or 12, since you kinda don't age when you're a Jigglypuff."
"Doesn't matter! I want a party too, with cake and presents and stuff!"
We slid the cake into the heat-trapping machine in order to keep it warm for tomorrow. We then walked back home and flomped down on the bed. Before we fell asleep, though, Big Amy had one more question to ask.
"If you can celebrate my birthday too, maybe you could celebrate Chikorita's and Grovyle's, too. I wonder how old they'd be…"
"If you're 10, I always guessed that Chikorita would be 11, and Grovyle would be 17. But that's just judging by the way they act. I have no idea what their real ages are."
We thought over things like that before we fell asleep. I was so excited and nervous at the same time. I hoped the surprise would go well.
The next morning, we put the plan into action. We woke up at 5:15 am, snuck out of Master Kel-Zich's house, snuck into Shining Flame's house, and slid the cake out. I carried the cake to Old Bird, Gray Voice, and Samus' house, where we met with Chikorita and Grovyle. It looked like everything was ready. As soon as Samus came downstairs, we would turn on the lights and deploy the surprise.
That was when Master Kel-Zich ruined it all.
"Children? What are you doing here?"
We turned around. He opened the doorway and was standing in it. "What are you doing here?" I whispered frightfully, worried that he was actually Gandrayda in disguise. Nothing was beneath her now.
"Do not worry. I am not Gandrayda. I have merely been looking for the four of you."
"What for?" asked Grovyle.
"I need to run a growth analysis scan on you all. It shall only take a moment."
"Can't you wait for a few seconds?" pleaded Chikorita in desperation.
"NO. Now follow me."
"But—but—Master Kel-Zich, why is this so important?" I asked.
He shook his head in aggravation and huffed, "Amy [you know who]…" Uh-oh. This couldn't be good if he was using my full name like that. "Do you want to have a chance to survive Queen X's wrath?"
"Well—yeah—but—"
"Do you want to survive against Queen X or not?"
"I do! I do! I just don't get why—"
"Then follow me!" Sheesh. What was wrong with him this morning?
What choice did we have? We followed him back to his house. Our house. Specifically, into the whitewashed laboratory basement loaded with scientific equipment. We stepped into the scanning booths and waited there for several minutes. I groaned. At this rate, we'd miss our chance to surprise Samus.
Finally, he finished. But he only turned to me. "Amy [you know who]? You are making excellent progress. After only two weeks, you have gained the necessary 50% growth increase for muscle mass, mental acuity, reflex timing, and endurance."
"Uh…thank you, sir."
"Therefore, I have a proposition. I firmly believe that you are now capable of handling a transfusion…" He paused. I held my breath. "…of Ylla warrior DNA."
I stared at him, dumbfounded. "Huh? You serious? Ylla warrior DNA? You mean like how Samus received Chozo warrior—okay, Gray Voice's—DNA?"
"What is it? What's that supposed to mean?" whispered Big Amy.
"Battle power-wise; you are the weakest link among your friends. This DNA shall grant you the necessary abilities to hold your own in a fight. But such power cannot be given lightly to any normal human. It takes a considerable level of strength, stamina, and will to survive the transfusion, and two more weeks to fully hone its powers after that. Because we only have two more weeks of training left, you must decide. Will you take it?"
I thought long and hard. There was Samus' surprise party that we were probably already too late for. But at least we had all day. Maybe when she comes back. Besides, it was just a really quick transfusion, wasn't it?
"…Will it really give me a chance of beating Queen X?"
"It shall be your only chance of defeating Queen X."
"…Then I'll do it," I asserted, in all seriousness.
"Very well. Come this way."
I followed him to the other end of the room and sat down on the operating table. He pulled out a syringe filled with glowing radiant white liquid. It was truly magical.
I rolled up the sleeve of my sailor school uniform I wore every day. "A needle, huh? Nothing I can't handle." It was true. I got a few vaccinations for random things like H1N1 virus, as well as a few blood tests back on Earth, and they were all needles. None of them actually hurt that much at all. And it was only for a few seconds at most. What could go wrong?
He injected the whole thing into my right shoulder for a few seconds before removing it. My Pokémon friends gasped, and Big Amy and Chikorita even covered their mouths in horror. "It's okay, guys. It was just a little prick." I reassured them. It was true. It really didn't hurt. But I was confused as to why Master Kel-Zich floated backwards to them…away from me. Almost as if he was waiting for something to happen. "Master Kel-Zich? What's wrong?"
It happened.
A sharp pain in the form of a brilliant white light ripped through my arm, across my chest, and through the other arm. I fell on the floor in total agony. "WHA…WHA…WHAT IS THIS?" I shouted.
"I told you! Ylla DNA is very different from human DNA! Not many can survive the transfusion!"
"Then WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?"
"Because I know you can survive! Just focus! FOCUS!"
Focus on what? On the pain? I haven't felt this much pain since Grovyle slashed me over and over again two weeks ago. Right then, Chikorita asked, "Master Kel-Zich! How long will this take?"
"About four hours, give or take a few! It is a slow and brutal process, but necessary!"
FOUR hours or more?
"AAAAAGH!" It wasn't just me; it was Big Amy too. "No! Not again!" wailed Chikorita.
"I don't understand! Why is she being hurt too?" asked Grovyle.
"It cannot be what I think it could be…" Master Kel-Zich pushed Big Amy over to me and whispered to her, "Perhaps you could help her?" She nodded vigorously and bounced into my arms.
Her fluffiness was enough to alleviate the pain, but only temporarily. The light of pain continued to sear through my whole body, and it was only getting stronger. In fact, it was getting the strongest around my back, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. One, then two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight of them. Were they Ylla wings? They must have been. They were way too small for me to see, but I was sure of it. They continued to grow, grow and grow. Grovyle, Chikorita, and Master Kel-Zich backed away to the stairs, shielding their eyes from the light. I squeezed my eyes shut. It felt like something was going to explode inside my stomach.
Master Kel-Zich ordered to Grovyle and Chikorita, "You two! RUN!"
An explosion of light emerged from my wings and my whole body, blowing up a huge hole in the house in the process. Amazingly enough, Big Amy wasn't hurt at all. But I felt like I had to move those wings, or the pain would only intensify. I had no choice. I flapped them once, twice, three times, until I finally came off the ground, carrying Big Amy with me.
"YEEEAARGH!" I exclaimed as I flew straight up from the village into the atmosphere. I couldn't control them at all. I could easily crash into something. To top it off, I had no experience with flying at all. The heights…the heights! The pain never went away. I could only fly, fly, fly, and wait it out. After all, it had only been five minutes at most. This was four hours or more. What else could I do?
The whole time, as we flew, we hung onto each other. Big Amy kept reassuring me, "Come on, Little Amy! Fight it, fight it! This is nothing! Grovyle hurt you way worse than this, remember? Just don't die! Please please please please PLEASE don't die! We've still got to throw that surprise party for Samus, remember? And—and—stop Queen X and Zoroark and those meanie-butts once and for all! And those song and dances, remember? I still haven't sung my favorite song for you yet! We'll go on adventures to other planets, and meet new aliens, and be friends forever! Remember? Friends FOREVER!" She wailed for the rest of the time from the pain at this point, but then always managed to gasp out a few more things. "I've never had a birthday party in my whole entire life! I want to celebrate your birthday too! Don't go, Amy! I know you never meant to hurt me! You're the best friend I've ever had! EVER!"
A pterodactyl-like creature with steely bones, dark armor, a long, segmented tail, and glowing red eyes is flying through the deep depths of space. He is Ridley-X, the same X-Parasite-infected Ridley from the BSL Research Station. Apparently, not only did some X Parasites of him survive the crash, they also re-formed him. Now he just flew into the Oort Nebula, where he smells something.
Ridley X: (Metroid DNA? Thisss far out? Guess they're not ssso extinct after all.)
He flies in for a closer look, using his long snout to guide him. Finally, he sees Planet Chozodia.
Ridley X: (What do you know? A hidden planet. Yeesh, that reeks. They really know how to conceal themssselves. Time for me to eradicate this menaccce…onccce…and for all!)
He tests out his Flamethrower, even though it doesn't get very far past his breathing apparatus.
Ridley X: (Long live the X Parasssite Empire!)
I didn't know how I would've gotten along without Big Amy's help. She helped me focus on all the little things that made life worth living. She told me stories…stories of everything she remembered since regaining all of her lost memories. She told me about all the little events that we never saw when we were trapped in her memories…the times the Porygon transported them to the other islands of the dark future…the times she and Grovyle found time to play…the times the Planetary Exploration Team, Master Wigglytuff the 7th, and all of those Jigglypuff's sang and danced and allowed them to have fun…the times when Grovyle told her to never give up. In the same way he pulled her through, she pulled me through too. Then she shouted, "Little Amy, look out! It's Ridley!"
"Ridley?" I exclaimed.
I dodged out of the way just in time, and looked up. Against the bright sun was a figure of a giant blackish-purple pterodactyl creature. She was right. That was Ridley. But what the heck was he doing here? And did Big Amy fight him before? She must have, probably back over at the Space Pirate Homeworld. How else would she know him already?
"Little Metroids…heheheh…okay, sssso maybe you're not really Metroids, but…sssad to sssay, ssssee ya! Heheheheh!" he hissed. What a deranged guy! Not only did he speak like a snake, he had to chuckle maniacally once every few words. And how the heck did he know we were part-Metroid? He shot a Flamethrower from his mouth at us, and we barely dodged it, but I could still feel the super-intense heat emitting from it. Oh yeah, I just remembered. Our Metroid DNA made us super-weak to extreme heat and cold now.
So there we were, flying through the clouds, high above the ground, through extremely cold air, with little oxygen, dodging a crazed Space Pirate general's Flamethrowers, all while wracked with constant pain. How was I supposed to fight him? I mean, I didn't have any Super Missiles or Diffusion Missiles or whatever Samus used to defeat him!
It quickly turned into a chase scene. I could barely see where I was going. I zoomed in every possible random direction and even looped around a few times, all the while hoping to lose him. Even Big Amy helped by shooting Hyper Voice attacks at the guy, but no matter what we did, he was never far behind. Soon, I couldn't see anything at all. We were blundering through a dark, thick cloud, with no visibility. Maybe we could lose him in here.
I quickly found out how wrong I was. As soon as we got out, he was waiting there just for us. "AAAH!" we exclaimed. I tried to turn back, but his clawed hand clamped around us, squeezing us in place.
He licked his lips, and remarked to no one in particular, "Metroid barbeque. Gotta love 'em. Heheheh." He clenched us even harder, squeezing out any air we had to respond. It was hard enough to breathe all the way up here; it was almost impossible with him squeezing us. He sucked in the rest of the air to charge up his Flamethrower. We coughed and wheezed, but it was like a vacuum. I felt like I was about to faint. What a sick situation. If he didn't suffocate us, he's fry us.
Even so, part of me began to fight back. I screamed inside about how unfair it all was. All I wanted was to give Samus the first birthday party she'd ever have. I didn't ask for this. I didn't want to die like this, where no one would know the truth. The pain built up to the point where I'd explode again. Ridley had one final word to deliver. "Now where have I sssseen thisss before, hmm? Oh yessss. That Samus Aran, when I almossst finished her off. Perhapsss she is sssstill part Metroid? If she is…well, then…heheheh…I'll finish her off next!"
That did it. There was no way I would let this maniac hurt my friends. Especially not Samus.
There was an explosion of light and heat. I slowly opened my eyes. I was still alive. Ridley screamed in pain as flames erupted all around him. Did my power just release an explosion again? Maybe it was actually stronger than the Flamethrower and sent both attacks right back at him. "Curssse you, little Metroids…CUUURSSSE YOOUUU!" His body completely disintegrated, releasing us, and became kind of a gelatin-like liquid. It shrunk to form…
"Oh, no…" I gasped. I then realized exactly why he was so obsessed with us being part-Metroid.
"What?" asked Big Amy.
It was a Core-X, a huge spiny floating ball teeming with orange gelatinous X Parasites…and it was floating away from us to the ground below. I dive-bombed after it.
"That wasn't Ridley—that was Ridley-X!" I explained.
"What's the difference?" she pressed.
"He's an X Parasite! Maybe Queen X already found where we were! Quick, Big Amy! Attack it! We can't let it reach the village!"
She shot Hyper Voice after Hyper Voice at it, but to no effect, as the sound waves merely bounced off. I told her to stop for a moment. Sure enough, a single nasty eye opened up on that thing, charging up another Flamethrower. "It's the eye! Shoot it!" I ordered.
She did. Direct hit! We barely dodged the Flamethrower in time. Sneaky Core-X. Even after being released from its host, it could still use some of Ridley's powers. We plunged after it, keeping up with the attacks whenever its eye would open. Finally, after one more blast, the spiny outer shell broke! I chased after it and grabbed at the huge blob inside, absorbing its energy. A wave of relief washed over my body. I didn't care that I couldn't gain the Screw Attack power that Samus regained after she fought this guy in Metroid Fusion, because finally, the pain was beginning to die down!
Then I looked down and gasped.
We were floating right above Yamamori Village. And unfortunately for us, there were still several X Parasites that escaped from the Core-X flying around, zooming their way right into the streets. "AAAH!" I panicked. "They're going to infect everyone!"
I zoomed in front of the farthest ones I could find, barely absorbing them in time. Sometimes I would absorb them, and sometimes I had to throw Big Amy to absorb others. I saved several Chozo lives, from elders to little kids. But there were some that were just too far away. I could only watch in horror as some headed straight for Old Bird and Gray Voice's house…
…and Samus somersaulted right in front of them, absorbing them for me. She ordered to Chikorita and Grovyle, "See what I did? Now go and save everyone! NOW!" They ran throughout the village, saving several other Chozo villagers from infection. But I couldn't sigh in relief just yet. A whole swarm of them made a beeline straight for… "Master Kel-Zich! LOOK OUT!" I shouted.
It was like a slow motion movie. He barely turned his head when they were right on top of him. In sheer desperation, even though I knew I'd never make it in time, I launched myself right in between them anyway…
And I made it.
They were inches away from his face, and I absorbed every single one of them. I wasn't sure how I launched myself 50 meters or so in only half a second, but I didn't care. With this final energy absorption, the pain completely went away. I looked around the village and sighed in relief. Samus, Grovyle, and Chikorita absorbed the rest of the X Parasites, and no one was infected. Awesome. As I descended to the ground in front of an incredulous Master Kel-Zich who was still at a loss for words, Big Amy pointed out to me, "Hey…you're wings are pink now, Little Amy. And…it doesn't hurt anymore!"
I collapsed on the ground, my eyes heavy from sheer exhaustion. I managed to glance at my wings and found that they were indeed pink instead of white before conking out.
"Amy [you know who]? Are you okay?"
"Uuugh…" I rubbed my eyes and blinked them open. I was lying back in bed along with Big Amy. I saw Master Kel-Zich against the sky, which by now was evening. "Y—yeah…" I responded. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Ten hours." I quickly checked my watch. He was right. It was 7:52 pm. He explained for me, "Those that survive the transfusion typically need that long to allow time for complete tissue integration."
Then Big Amy woke up too. "Wha…what happened?" she asked.
He explained, "We have all been fixing the houses that were broken. But what we would like to know is, how did X Parasites get here?"
So we told him about how Ridley-X came from nowhere and started attacking us. By the end, he nodded and reassured us, "I see. But since you absorbed every single X Parasite, Queen X will probably not be alerted."
"That's good…" I sighed. I then remembered something really important and leapt out of bed, rushing down the stairs, making sure to drag Big Amy along with me.
"Wait! Where are you going?" he asked.
"Samus' surprise party!" I shouted back, and was out the door.
I couldn't believe I'd slept in that long. Samus usually came back to Old Bird and Gray Voice's house around 8:00, and it was already 7:55 pm. There was only five more minutes before I lost my chance to still make my plan work.
Right then, we ran right past Chikorita and Grovyle. They started to pester me with questions about what happened, but I waved them off with, "Hurry up and get into position! The surprise party, remember?" They looked at me like I was crazy, but followed me anyway. Luckily, Big Amy was able to explain along the way. We burst into the house just in time. 7:59. After we hurried into our positions in the darkness of the house, we only had to wait a tense 10 seconds before Samus opened the door, sighing.
"SURPRISE!" we shouted, turning on the lights, activating party poppers and blowing on our noisemakers (like air horns). "Happy Birthday, Samus!"
"What the—?" she sputtered as she staggered back right into the door, smacking into the lever that would release the Party Ball. It was about to land on her head when from out of nowhere, we heard a voice shout, "Hi-YAH!" It was Gandrayda. She kicked the Party Ball, and it opened, Super Smash Bros. style, to reveal a horde of…
"AAAH! BOB-OMBS!" I exclaimed in shock. I dragged Samus out of the way just as the Bob-Ombs hit the ground and exploded to reveal…the real party favors, including food, confetti, and piñatas. "Okay…" I gasped. "Who rigged the Party Ball?" I mean, I already checked it, and it never had any Bob-Ombs to begin with!
"Bad girl, bad girl, la la la la la, la!" Celebi flew in, and we glared at her. "What?" she asked innocently. "I asked if it was a bomb, remember?"
Gandrayda leaned in close to her and whispered, "Run." They did, leaving us staring after them in confusion. Finally, Samus looked around the decorated living room, turned to us, and asked me, "So what the heck is all this about?"
I sighed in relief. It looked like Celebi and Gandrayda's unbirthday songs didn't make her suspect anything after all. I explained, "Today's your birthday, isn't it? See, we've heard that you've never had a birthday party in your life, and…since you saved our lives…we wanted to make it up to you somehow." My Pokémon friends nodded in agreement.
She was awestruck. "So this is what a real birthday is like…"
"Yeah. I even baked a cake for you. See?" I did my best to light a match without burning myself and lit the two candles which spelled 26. Then I sat at the table and requested, "Come on. You can sit over here." She sat at the head of the table in the biggest chair, still at a loss for words. My Pokémon friends sat down too. "Okay, everyone, ready? Three, two, one, go!" We then sang the ever-famous song that even I could get in perfect pitch.
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday dear Samus,
Happy birthday to you!
It was a welcome change of pace from the Unbirthday Song. To my surprise, Old Bird and Gray Voice came downstairs and sang it too, and not just them, but so did all of the other villagers, whom happened to gather around the house without my noticing them. Samus just stared at the candles and asked, "…So what am I supposed to do?"
"Make a wish—in your head, of course—and then try to blow both candles out at once!" I explained. She took a deep breath and blew the candles so hard, she almost blew them off the cake altogether. "YAAAY!" we all cheered and clapped, and so did everyone else.
"Wha—what's so great about that?" she wondered.
"If you blow out all the candles like you just did, it means your wish will come true!" I explained.
"I mean…This is insane! You just spent 4 hours in agonizing pain, fought Ridley-X of all people, barely saved everyone from the X Parasites, blacked out for 10 hours after that…and you still did all of this…for me?"
"Hey, I've been planning this for a week now. I'm not the kind of person who cancels plans because of little unexpected things like transfusions and Ridley-X's," I replied in the most modest way I could, though it was pretty clear to everyone else how much irony I was emitting.
Master Kel-Zich floated into the room. "A trait that you have proven exemplary in." We turned around.
Big Amy asked him, "Wait. How did you know about this…?"
Old Bird explained, "This was all a test, of course. We deliberately let you eavesdrop on our conversation so that you would plan a surprise party for Samus. We also deliberately made Samus' birthday the day of your transfusion, too. All to test the strength of your will. But though we did not anticipate the arrival of Ridley-X, you have still performed above and beyond. Well done, Amy [you know who]. You make Azelf proud."
Big Amy, Chikorita, and I turned to each other. "…Azelf!" We remembered the guy. It was amazing how all of these ancient, wise people knew each other. Grovyle cringed. I was sure how he remembered trying to *steal* a Time Gear from that guy and...yeah...
"Grandpa, Father…you knew when my birthday was? And you never gave me a party?" asked Samus in a crushed tone of voice.
"We are sorry, Samus," apologized Gray Voice in dismay. "Since we Chozo have lived so long, we have never celebrated such events anymore."
"Yes…I, too, can relate," Master Kel-Zich mused.
"Really? How old ARE you, anyway?" I asked.
"In Earth years?" He counted in his head for a few seconds before replying, "782 years old."
Our jaws dropped. I was flabbergasted, "782 years? You were around when I was born, then! Like, before I came to the future!"
"Us too!" chimed in Team Pecha.
"Oh, yes…you are all correct…hahaha…" he muttered sheepishly. Everyone laughed.
I then sliced the cake. Or at least I started to, but Grovyle quickly jumped in to help me out. Big Amy and Chikorita loved it, of course, but I was surprised to see that Samus liked it too! Apparently, all the Chozo outside made cakes of their own to share with everyone. We went outside to the crystal in the center of town to enjoy more music and dancing. Gandrayda and Celebi finally sang the real birthday song. We even played the Kick the Piñata Open and Catch the Candy game.
I sat down for a rest and vaguely whispered, "Huh. I wonder which Ylla warrior that DNA came from…"
Master Kel-Zich happened to overhear and casually mentioned, "Only the most powerful warrior there ever lived." He then whispered in the sneakiest voice he could, "That means me."
As he floated away, I scrambled to catch up to him, flabbergasted. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa WHOA, whoa! So you're telling me that, if Samus has Gray Voice's DNA…and she calls him 'Father'…does that mean…you're now my…sort-of…dad?"
"Do not worry, child." He ruffled my hair. "You have already made your old man proud." With that, he floated away and started up a chat with Old Bird and Gray Voice, leaving me there, stunned. This was huge. I had all of his powers now. I mean, my real dad was smart enough, but Master Kel-Zich? First Master, now Father? That was getting way too weird. I wanted to faint right then and there in shock and awe, but I couldn't, so I shook the thought out of my head and joined the circle of villagers around the crystal just in time for the next song.
Finally, there came the time to open the presents. Big Amy presented Samus with a basket of assorted berries, especially Pecha Berries. Chikorita gave her a Sky Gift box that apparently contained an IQ Booster ("Hmm…I wonder if I'll really need this…" she remarked.) Grovyle's present was a Macho Brace that Samus wondered if it really worked on humans as well as Pokémon. And the only gift I could give…well…were a few pictures of mine that I drew over the past few days.
Samus was still taking it all in. "26 years…and no one has ever done anything like this for me. Ever."
"You're the best bounty hunter in the galaxy. I've always wanted to do something like this for you." I reassured her. "I'm sorry I didn't have a better present for you…but…"
"Don't be silly, kid," she sniffed. "Seeing you here, alive, with us…and seeing how you did all of this for me, despite everything you went through…is the only present I need. I'm glad I saved your lives. I'm glad I could finally do…the right thing." I was pretty sure Grovyle's heart skipped a beat right then in recognition.
Then she hugged me. Even Grovyle couldn't take it anymore and hugged me too. "Yay! Group hug!" shouted Chikorita, and Team Pecha joined in too. Everyone else went, "Awww…!" I was overcome. This was among those rare, precious, magic moments I'd always been seeking…been fighting for. And in that moment, surrounded by the love I'd never known that was there the whole time…I knew that we'd be friends forever. And with my new Ylla warrior DNA, I would be sure to protect them no matter what.
To be continued…
Coming up next: Well, the party was a success…but those meanie-butts Celebi and Gandrayda just won't leave me alone. Not by a long shot. The Starfall Festival is coming really soon…and for whatever insane reason, they're trying to get Grovyle to like ME! WHAT? They are so Opening Up A Can of Worms that I'd really really really really REALLY rather not touch with a 10-foot pole!