Ayame stared at the massive alien dragon in what could only be described as pure fear. She stood still as a statue, unable to move. She didn't even notice Garnak shouting at her to wake up from her terror-induced trance. She could only stare fearfully into Ridley's hate-filled eyes.
"You seem familiar, girl," Ridley hissed menacingly. "Where have we met before? Are you one of the few that I've allowed to live in the many invasions that I've been a part of?" Ayame didn't answer. She merely trembled at the sound of the beast's voice. Ridley chuckled. "Well then, allow me to put you out of your misery." He reared back, the inside of his mouth slowly lighting up with flames.
"No!" Garnak shouted as he took a position in front of Ayame, his stolen assault rifle aimed at Ridley's head. "I will not allow you to harm any innocents, monster!"
Ridley just laughed as his head went forward, sending a stream of hungry fire flying towards them. Time seemed to slow down. Ayame reacted on pure instinct. She pulled Garnak with all the strength she could muster and forced him down to the ground. They both landed belly-down on the ground as the flames roared just above them. Ayame looked up at Ridley when the heat of searing flame disappeared. The alien dragon narrowed his eyes at the human girl and the Gorast warrior.
"I guess my aim is getting a bit rusty," he admitted with a frustrated growl. He then chuckled lightly. "Oh well. I prefer rending the flesh from my victims anyway!" He pounced at them.
Ayame and Garnak rolled in opposite directions as Ridley's claws tore through the earth where they had been not even three seconds ago. The dragon then unleashed another screeching roar as he lunged at Garnak, who stood up quickly and actually jumped clear over the pirate leader. The Gorast then fired off a volley shots from his rifle, each bolt splashing ineffectively on Ridley's iron-like hide. When he landed, Garnak charged at the dragon, who quickly spun around and backhanded the insectoid. Garnak crashed into a tree, causing the hard plant to fall under the sudden pressure. He didn't get up.
"Worthless," Ridley commented with his own twisted version of a grin. "You can't even put up a worthy fight, you glorified cockroach." He turned his evil eyes to Ayame. "Try to make this interesting for me, will you? I've had worthy battles from human females before. You had best not disappoint me, child." He approached her, his impossibly long tail swishing back and forth behind him, almost tauntingly.
Ayame gulped and held up the pirate assault rifle on her trembling arm. "D-don't you come any closer! I-I'll shoot!" Ridley cocked his head a little to the right. He then began laughing. "What's so funny?"
"You, girl. You say that you'll shoot me, but look at yourself. You're trembling like a newborn. To make things worse for yourself, you lack the eyes needed to kill."
"Eyes?"
"Yes. Look into my eyes, human. Do you see the lack of relenting in them? These are the eyes of someone who is ready to kill at a moment's notice. You don't have the eyes of a killer. And judging by the way you're trembling at the mere sight me, I doubt you ever will. You may as well let me put you out of your misery right here and now."
Ayame's eyes widened in fear. Was he right? She wanted to pull the trigger, but she just couldn't. Not even to save herself. She could feel her eyes growing wet. Was she going to die here? Sixteen seemed way too young an age to die at. She muttered, "Go away. Please. Just go away."
Ridley's answer was a quick brutal strike into her abdomen with side of his tail. The impact forced her to cough up blood as Ridley caught her with his large hand. He held her tight, his grip practically crushing her. She let out a pained cry as she felt several ribs break. She could here Ridley laughing, clearly enjoying her suffering.
"AYAME!" screamed woman's anger-laden voice. Both Ayame and Ridley turned their heads to Samus Aran aiming her Arm Cannon at Ridley's head. "Put her down, Ridley! If you hurt her anymore, I swear I will kill you!"
Ridley sneered at Samus, then looked at Ayame. He then looked back at Samus, but with an evil grin. "Well, well, Aran. You seem rather attached to this girl. What's the relation? Childhood friend? Distant relative? Secret lover?"
"Shut up and just let her go!" Samus demanded. Ridley only laughed.
"You and I both know that in or current position, I could easily snap her puny neck before you can pull the trigger." Ayame's eyes widened. She couldn't do anything to defend herself, or free herself from Ridley's crushing grasp. Ridley continued, saying, "Tell me, Aran. What is this girl to you?"
Samus narrowed her eyes behind her visor. She clenched her teeth as she resisted the urge to charge up a Super Missile. "She's my daughter. I adopted her ten years ago when I found her on the mining world Krawna."
"Krawna, eh?" Ridley chuckled. "Well, that explains the déjà vu. I believe I may be the one who orphaned her. Then again, ten years was a long time ago." If at all possible, Ayame's eyes widened even further. This monster was the one who killed her real parents? And she had hesitated to shoot him. This revelation made her feel even more worthless. Ridley snickered silently to himself, his attention still on Samus. "I think I may have a proposal for you, Aran."
"I make it a rule not to make deals with bastards who orphan innocent children," Samus replied angrily.
"Oh, I think you'll like this deal, Aran," Ridley hissed with a grin. "If you refuse, I'll crush the life out of this girl." To prove his point, he tightened his grip on Ayame's body, forcing more screams of pain out of the girl. Samus gasped and was about to fire at Ridley when the dragon continued. "Surrender yourself, Aran, and I'll let the girl go."
Samus's eyes widened at this. "You want me to surrender? Fat chance, you oversized iguana."
"You'd best reconsider. Unless of course you don't care what happens to your precious daughter." Ayame couldn't say anything right now. The pain was far too disorienting. "Surrender, or she dies."
Samus hesitated. She never hesitated. Her only option were to surrender to the monster who killed her mother, or watch her own daughter be crushed to death. Reluctantly, she lowered her Arm Cannon and deactivated her Power Suit. "Fine. I surrender. Now let her go."
"Not yet," Ridley said with dark glee. He motioned for one of his nearby underlings to approach Samus. "Give up all of your weapons first." Samus gave the alien dragon a hateful look, but willed the nanotechnology of her suit to mold itself into its dormant, coin-like form, which the nearby Space Pirate took a hold of. She was then forced to hand in her Paralyzer, her personal self-defense pistol. Another Space Pirate then placed energy cuffs on her wrists. Ridley grinned. "Good."
"Let Ayame go," Samus demanded. "You have me as your prisoner now. Surely I'm a far bigger prize to you pirates than some nomad ship and one girl."
Ridley nodded and simply dropped Ayame, who fell to the ground with a soft thud. She was barely conscious. "Take the Hunter to the nearest pod. Keep her weapons and gear in a separate pod. Keep your weapons trained on her."
The surrounding pirates nodded as one pushed Samus forward. She didn't spare the pirate a glare as she walked forward. Ridley leaped up into the air and flew back to the pirates' warship. Samus looked down at Ayame's semi-conscious prone form. The girl looked up weakly. Her eyes were waterfalls. Samus looked away, desperately trying to fight her own tears.
Ayame watched painfully as Samus stepped aboard the nearest pirate landing pod. The bounty hunter only looked back, her eyes glinting tearfully. She mouthed three words: "I'm sorry. Goodbye." The pod's door slowly closed. The small ship then lifted from the ground and headed for the warship.
"No…" Ayame muttered weakly, reaching hopelessly for the pod carrying her mother further and further away. "Mom…" Mere seconds later, darkness enveloped her vision.