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I had little time to think, by the time my brain finished processing the scene before me, she was on me. She whipped her tool through the air with enough force to shatter bones, and I dodged backwards, losing my balance as I far wall in the hallway behind me. She made another attempt, this one even faster, and I barely managed to twist out of the way as she dented the metal where I had recently been. There was no room for a counterattack as she relentlessly swung her weapon, every blow aimed to kill or maim.

I was carried backwards by her assault, and soon found myself in the kitchen again. Her attacks only intensified as we moved into the larger room, but that was when I noticed it. A pattern to her attack, one with a very slim opening that only a madman would attempt to break through. I dodged through a few more cycles of this pattern, to make absolutely certain, and when the time was exactly right, I made my move.

I leapt inside her swing as she brought the weapon up to prepare for her next strike, and grabbed her arm as she brought it down, stopping the blow before it could kill me. There was no chance to relax, however, as I suddenly felt a deep pain rip through my abdomen as the air in my lungs evacuated forcefully. She brought her knee up into my stomach again, and again, driving it harder and harder. I couldn't stop though, the instant I released her arm, the attack would ensue once again. I hooked my right leg behind her left leg, and as she brought her right knee up once again, I drove my free hand into her chin with all the force I could muster. She stumbled backwards, her weight carrying her over my leg as she collapsed on the ground, and I dove on top of her, my knee against her throat as she lay there, gathering herself.

I heard a voice from the lab where I had left Rood. "Are you okay?" I heard a crash as Rood stumbled into the kitchen, pressing his freshly removed shirt against his wound. I threw him a look that must have been a mixture of confusion, anger, and blame.

"What the hell happened?" I screamed at him, although I had a sinking feeling he knew about as much as I did.

He stood there, taking what felt like a lifetime to speak. When he finally did, his voice was barely above a whisper. "You already know, don't you?" I couldn't keep my gaze steady as he continued. "Its the OD."

I could hardly believe my ears. "You said she was safe! She wouldn't be affected by it!" Sal stirred beneath me, then settled back into a motionless state. "Was that a lie?"

My eyes traveled to her face, then back to Rood. "Yes," he answered with no inflection. "It was a lie. It was her lie. She made me promise her this, that I would never tell anyone, unless she were to be affected by it."

"So wait, you're telling me Samus just happened to pick now to turn on her evil little machine? What the hell kind of coincidence is that? Why would she even do that?"

"That's the thing. She didn't." He sighed, a look of absolute sorrow upon his face. "Do you remember how you found Sal? Well, let's just say this isn't the first time this has happened. Every time its happened so far, we've had to contain her and 'purge' her, if you will."

The evident confusion on my face made him continue.

"Did you ever ask yourself why, if Samus had a machine that could control all of her duplicates down to the last twitch, why she would ever turn that off? She doesn't. Ever. It's like billions of bees screaming in your ear, all of them saying the same thing, and if you don't do exactly what they want you to, they all let into you with enough pain to knock out a small animal. Sal has to live with that every second of every day. And you know what?" His tone changed, it was much colder now, with more force behind it. "She does it with a smile on her face. And when the pain gets to be too much to bear, she slips into this state once again, a vegetable with no purpose in its existence except to seek and destroy anyone who would dare cross your Mother." I didn't realize it, but as he had been speaking, he had moved closer until he was at her side. She looked at him with her lifeless eyes, and he looked at her, almost tenderly. Then he pulled down the shirt he had been using as a bandage to reveal something small and silver, and before I could stop him, he had placed it against her neck and clicked a small button on the side of it. It made a slight click, and her eyes rolled up into her head. I moved off of her, knowing there was no need to fear anything now.

"She should be out for a while now. I'll take her to her tube for another purge." He picked her up gingerly, and began to take her down the long, dark hall. "Oh yeah, maybe I should mention this," He called back over his shoulder. "It's been taking less and less time between each treatment. If this keeps up, she'll be unable to do much of anything. Keep that in mind as you train for the next few days."

I was left, sitting on the cold kitchen floor. I felt ill, and all thoughts of eating had long since fled my mind. Suddenly, I could take it no longer, and I began to cry. Sal and Rood had been suffering for so long, under so many hardships. My pitiful existence didn't even compare to theirs. But they still had something I could barely understand, even now. They had both chosen to be reborn from the shadow of their creators, two being who had been locked in eternal struggle ending in constant death and multitudinous despair. I could never compare to them.

Suddenly, a thought struck me. A single word, that sounded both warm and strong. I knew instantly that this was my definition, my destiny.

My name, is RE:SA.

And I would begin a new legacy, as soon as I removed the stains of my Mother's crimes.

I would be victorious.

I hope you like my subtle name. I was literally struck with it, like a bolt from the blue. I knew it was far too good to pass up. Ah, who am I kidding, I totally planned this name with the title. For sure. Yeah. Like really.

Sorry about the wait, if you waited. Hope you enjoy some more excitement next chapter.

CM out