Chapter 29: The City of My Nightmares
It was a heart-stopping leap of faith, and would've been complete suicide if normal people were to try it, but we weren't ordinary beings. We were all part-Metroid, the Ultimate Warriors. And we had already proven ourselves worthy of the title. So of course we did it.
I spread out my pink, glowing Ylla wings and dive-bombed straight for the ground below, like a peregrine falcon. I carried Samus by the shoulders, who in turn supported Grovyle, Chikorita, Big Amy, and Kirby. The six of us formed a living ladder plunging straight through the chill of the clouds, going down, down, down, down, down. We would plunge past all 100 floors of the Sky Temple, each about 30 feet tall, and then plunge one more mile before hopefully landing on soft ground, where Adam and my friends' Air Ride Machines were. It kicked up an odd sensation in my stomach, like a mess of butterflies, and I remembered how I could never ever feel comfortable with diving off anywhere into a swimming pool. That's why I never joined any swim teams; I found out that such diving was a prerequisite.
I sighed as I then recalled Kel-Zich training me in how to fly like this. He really trained me well, and it was kind of sad that I'd never actually be able to test out how well I'd do in a pool now that I felt so comfortable sailing though the air like this. But first thing's first. We couldn't let Queen X carry out her dastardly plan that would surely lead to galactic genocide.
For about a minute or so, we were free falling in terminal velocity, and in the next few seconds, the ground rushed up way faster than I thought it would. I just barely pulled up in time, slowing our descent to the ground to a safe level. Good. My friends' vehicles were exactly where they were supposed to be, still hidden in the bushes of the forest outside of Quartzite Cave. It was too bad I'd never get a chance to explore it, but we didn't have time anymore. Sky Temple was my first mystery dungeon ever, and would probably be my last and only. It just had to have 100 floors. Fitting.
Samus somersaulted right into her ship, and my friends leapt onto their Air Ride Machines. I led the way, curving sharply back up into the sky, with them all behind me. I heard Samus explain to Adam everything that happened.
"Dang…That Queen X really is a sadist. You think this was part of her plan all along?" he asked.
"I know so. This is what we feared, remember? The Chozo feared it, too."
Adam thought for a bit before replying. "Those little gelatinous blobs can cause all of this galaxy-wide suffering? Man. They make those Metroids seem like harmless toothpicks! Ah, the memories…" he sighed.
I commented, "That's what's I've been thinking too…" but not for the reasons he thought I was. If it was actually true that I—or at least someone—had to be sacrificed in order to bring the Metroids back, I really hope it'd be worth it. I hoped the Galactic Federation didn't throw away any plans they might've developed for using Metroids for the power of good. But then another thought came to my mind.
"Hey, Samus? The six of us together can absorb the true Queen X, assuming we can all defeat her, right?" I asked.
"Certainly. Unless…" she trailed off.
"Unless what?"
"Nothing. Forget I said anything. Anyway, I'm setting the course for Capital Planet now. Hang on, everyone."
As I gripped onto the front again, I couldn't help but wonder why she hesitated in her answer. I mean, if we could somehow absorb Queen X, who controlled all of the X Parasites, we might not need to bring back the Metroids after all, therefore sparing my—or anyone else's—life. But I racked my brains for any reason as to what possible complications there might've been. Couldn't think of any. I decided to let the matter go…but my storytelling instincts wouldn't stop nagging about it in the back of my mind.
We held on for about an hour, worrying sick to our stomachs that there could be hundreds of Queen X's at all different places in the galaxy at once, smiting everyone at this very moment. To pass the time, Big Amy and Chikorita told us hilarious stories about their lives on Planet Portania in the past, and I reciprocated with similar events from my life. Even Kirby explained everything, from the day the original pink Kirby made seven different-colored copies of himself so that he could better protect peace in the galaxy and live with Tiff and Tuff on Planet Popstar at the same time…to the day he arrived at Planet Chozodia and passed the test to become a Star Warrior. We figured it was the last time we'd ever get to know each other, so we enjoyed it while we could, in the event that…one of us ended up biting the dust.
Finally, we materialized out of hyperspace and saw the entirety of Capital Planet Earth below us. "Woooow…Anotha big pwanet! Yaaaay!" exclaimed Kirby.
"Here we go again," whispered Grovyle. We charged ahead to Gaijin City where it was, on North America, United States, and finally, Virginia. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to find that it was so close to Washington D.C.
"I wonder why your planet has so many continents, Little Amy," commented Chikorita.
I explained to her, "Earth used to have one giant continent called Pangaea, just like your planet. Except that it was like 600 million years ago. Pangaea sort of broke apart over the years. Even now, the continents are moving at a rate of 1 inch per 10 years. I think." I probably got the exact numbers wrong. I would really have to look it up to get it right.
"Queen X said she'd be in the Galactic Federation, right?" asked Big Amy. "Where is it, Samus?"
"This way," she replied. "Follow me."
As we did, I took at good look at surrounding forests, the place where the Wuudites lived, and finally, the city with its tall buildings that seemed to form a maze in the air. Nothing seemed to have changed since the last time we were here. Still the same shiny tall buildings, flying cars/buses, sections for various species, and even the same tree for our Secret Base our first and only night here was still there. But something in the air seemed to have…changed. I couldn't put my finger on it, though.
We arrived at the biggest building in the center of the city, on the very top floor, and managed to get clearance to land. As soon as Samus landed and exited the ship, I flew us all up to the very top of the building she pointed us to. There was a window on the roof that we were able to look down into.
I gasped. The blue-tinted chamber looked exactly like the Galactic Federation that was from Lilo and Stitch. Alien diplomats of all shapes and sizes sat on seats that filled both the left and right walls, leaving a gaping pit in the center in which hover pods would float over. And right below us against the front wall was the walkway for the High Council. In the center stood the Grand Councilwoman, a tall, blue, authoritative-looking alien that somehow reminded me of Kel-Zich, only she didn't float or have super-bright wings or anything like that. Everyone in there looked like they were in the middle of heated debate about some issue or another. I wasn't interested. Politics was never one of my strong suits, especially interplanetary politics, and navigating them would be an absolute nightmare.
What we were more interested in was where Queen X was hiding. We looked all around, but could never seem to find her. Grovyle then told us, "Hang on. Let me try something." He then closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could.
"Grovyle? What are you doing?" asked Chikorita.
"Shh! I'm trying to detect the presence of X Parasites. Los-Nom and Voices in the Stars told me that by concentrating like this, I can detect auras, and whether it's a fake aura or not. Now pipe down for a few seconds already!"
So we waited for a few tense seconds. Finally, he opened his eyes and concluded, "…No. She's not in there. No X Parasites in there, anyway. Wait…hang on…" He closed his eyes again, and a second later, opened them, standing up in shock. "She's behind us!"
We turned around, alarmed. We didn't see anyone. Suddenly, a Bob-omb flew up in front of our faces, up above us, and down behind us…into the glass ceiling. Uh-oh…
KA-BLOOIE! I protected my friends with an energy shield just in time. When the dust started to clear, we looked behind ourselves, and saw an athletic 22-year-old—THAT WAS QUEEN X! She smiled nastily, and I instantly realized what her horrible, horrible plan was. She just made us look like a bunch of terrorists! I ferociously launched an energy ball at her. She dodged it by somersaulting over our heads and landing right into the chamber, folding in her wings in the process. She pointed at us and shouted, "There they are! Get 'em!"
The Grand Councilwoman smacked a hidden red button on her official stand. Suddenly, the whole city changed. Red lights lit up in almost every window of every building. Alarms blared throughout the city. And every single hologram advertisement changed to show "WANTED" posters featuring Grovyle, Chikorita, Big Amy, Samus…and me. Not only that, but the list of everything we were wanted for was long. Really long. Thanks to my annoying near-sightedness I couldn't read it from afar, but right then one of the posters popped conveniently in front of me.
Wanted for: Theft, Assault, Breaking and entering, Entering and breaking, Larceny, Smuggling, Illegal use of funds…
"What? What does it say?" asked Grovyle urgently.
"Wanted?" I shouted in dismay. "Queen X? What…did…you…do?"
She flew far away from us into the air and sneered from afar, "Oh, you know. While you and your little Metroid friends were running around Planet Portania, my subjects and I were preeeeetty busy here. Did you really think I'd fight a final battle here, against your Metroid DNA? I don't think so. I'm here to make you suffer! I'm here to punish you as much as I want!"
"I can't go to prison! What are you, insane?" I shrieked.
"You put her on a Wanted Poster?" bellowed Grovyle, completely outraged. "NO! You will NOT drag them down with me!" he growled and spat a round of Bullet Seeds at Queen X. I was momentarily confused, until I remembered that he was considered a criminal in the past. Since he was a Grass type instead of a Ghost or Poison or Dark-type, those Wanted Posters of him didn't fool my brother at all (especially since he was one of my brother's favorite Pokémon in the first place), but…they ended up fooling lots of people…including Amy and Chikorita…and me.
She dodged them all and sneered, "HEL-lo? Since when did you get so overprotective of Miss Omniscient here, Grovyle? I thought you hated her guts."
"That's only because you MADE me hate her guts, you scumbag!"
"Oh. Right. How silly of me. Then you all were supposed to die! Who are you kidding?" She looked into the distance and calmed down instantly, remarking, "Too bad for you, goody-little-two-shoes Metroid children. Have a nice life! Muahahahahaha!" she cackled as she flew away into the sunset.
We could see all of the Welcome Robots in the distance switch on to Battle Mode, flying straight towards us. "Run for it!" I ordered, pushing my friends off the roof down to their vehicles below.
My mind was in full panic mode. I've stayed well within the law all of my life. Never stolen, never carried weapons/drugs/alcohol/whatever, never hurt anyone. And now Queen X was framing us for loads of nasty crimes that she committed that we never did! The fiend! She really knew how to pick at my greatest weaknesses and worst fears. Identity Theft? She took it to a whole new level. My storytelling instincts should've warned me about this all along. She really did make things worse! And the worst part would be that there would be no way to prove our innocence. No way at all. We wanted to save galactic civilization…but how could we if galactic civilization was after us? The city of my dreams just became the city of my nightmares.
They all hopped on their Air Ride Machines (Samus piloted her ship, of course) and followed me as I ordered, "Let's get out of here!" We flew up, up, and away from the swarm of not-so-friendly Welcome Robots shooting lasers (!) at us, performing barrel rolls (if this ever gets turned into a video game, fanfiction, or whatever, this better be good, Mr. Tae Kwon Do camp counselor whose-name-I-can't-quite-remember-right-now!) and doing whatever else we could to dodge them.
WHAM!
We ran right smack into something in the air that emitted red sparks, but we tried again. WHAM! My head hurt. I then realized what it was. "A shield?" I exclaimed.
We then turned in the other direction, dodging the army of Welcome Robots repeating "Halt!" over and over again. Samus explained to us, "They've set up an energy field around the city to stop our escape! We have to find where they're emitting it from and disable it!"
"So where is it?" shouted Chikorita.
"Right on the bottom floor of the building next to the Galactic Federation! Be careful—they know people will try that strategy, and there's lots of police in there!"
I asked, "Can't my Ylla energy blasts break through it?" I launched an energy beam to answer my own question. The invisible dome shield simply absorbed the blast, and if I wasn't mistaken, it actually ate—well, absorbed—my attack.
"Apparently not. It's designed to absorb energy attacks to strengthen itself, and no physical attack can break through it."
Right then, I barely dodged a Flamethrower in time, and saw that it came from a Charizard with a 17-year-old boy riding on his back. Wait a second…that was that Alex guy! He shouted, "Amy! How could you? How COULD YOU?"
I replied, "No, wait, you don't understand! I'm being framed here!"
"Yeah, right!" huffed Charizard. He blew another Flamethrower at us, and we had to dodge it.
"Alex! Charizard! I swear I haven't been here the past four weeks!"
"Yeah! We're innocent!" added Big Amy.
They didn't listen. Charizard shot another Flamethrower at us that almost fried us. Yeesh. If any fire attack hit us, we'd be done for. It saddened me even more that my former opponents from the Pokéathlon Contest were after me now. I was sure I gained their respect by now…but I guess that was part of the full pain that Queen X wanted me to feel.
So we had no choice but to follow Samus down through the maze of buildings and walkways, dodging laser blasts and running from the Welcome Robots behind us, as well as the ones that kept materializing in front of us. We also had to dodge more Security Robots like the ones from the movie Wall-E, and as if that weren't enough, we had to deal with Cassie and Peter's Pokémon friends shooting Water, Ice, and Electric-type attacks at us from random buildings. I would've thought about riding the railways for Air Ride Machines, but I quickly saw that all of those ways were under lockdown. We flew down, down, down, threading our way through the very bottom of the city where it was really dark...and a bit dirty, too. And the whole time, I swore I could hear a war tune coming from those security robots like the one that the mob sang in Beauty and the Beast when they were marching to kill the Beast. Nah, I must've been hallucinating or something. But it really would've been an appropriate tune if this were a musical...seeing how FREAKED OUT I was!
Finally, we found the place she mentioned. It was a tiny garage entranceway that Samus' ship barely fit in. We followed in after her, barely dodging the Welcome Robots and Security Robots rushing in. Suddenly, her ship crashed into an invisible obstacle, and we followed suit. "OW! Owwww..." we groaned. Now my head really was aching. It felt like another invisible shield.
"What the heck WAS that?" gasped Chikorita.
Grovyle hammerfisted the ground in frustration. "Blast it! We fell in their trap!"
"What do we do now?" whispered Big Amy in desperation.
"Follow my lead," I replied, hoping that was a good idea.
"Freeze!" shouted the Security Robots. "Put your hands up. And you—come out of the spaceship. Now."
Samus didn't have any choice. She leapt out, landed next to us, and whispered to me, "I'm sorry! I didn't know that they made a second shield right here!"
The lead Security Robot barked, "You have a right to remain silent. Anything you say could and would be used against you in court."
I responded, "I plead the Fifth," and my friends did the same. Hopefully, the Fifth Amendment still had some bearing in the early 26th century.
"Very well. Right to remain silent—granted." It then pulled out a new gun barrel of some sort, making us tense up. But it didn't shoot out a bullet. It shot out an odd type of gas that reached our faces in less than .2 seconds. It stopped up my throat. Though it wasn't nearly as painful as that Dark World gas that Queen X used on us, it still made us collapse and faint.
No…Not again…Why does every chapter have to end like this?
To be continued…
Coming up next: We're in prison! P-R-I-S-O-N! NOOOOO! I don't belong here! I don't! Wait…what's Jumba Jookiba doing here? Does he know something really important about the X Parasites, such as…how to beat the real Queen X? And though we're guaranteed a right to a fair trial…why do I get the feeling we don't have any hope of winning at all?