She was life.
The raised structures of the chamber folded and melded around themselves, creating a continuously contorting series of walls that served only to protect her, for she was the most important being in the galaxy, and perhaps even the universe. And what sort of guardian would be so careless as to allow herself to remain exposed, free for the ever-corrupt galaxy to barge in and possess her like she was a mere object?
The silver material of the lair gleamed around Mother Brain, illuminating the dark creature encased in the nutrient vat. Fixed turrets swiveled upon their emplacements, tracking every single microscopic speck that lay in the air, focused only on protecting the only alive thing in the room. Electricity created a low thrum in the chamber, power searing through the cables that stretched for miles around and into the planet itself; the arteries of Zebes.
Mother had entirely rearranged Tourian in the past few years, finding fault with the Chozo's love for stone and naturally occurring substances to adorn their halls. How primitive of them, metal was the future, steel was strength, and she surrounded herself in it to emphasize her toppling of the ancient ways, to bolster her form and wreathe her in safety. Her entire housing had been replaced, her sensitive electronics firmly sealed away so that no one could uncover them. She was indestructible now, supremely perfect.
Her mind wrapped around each and every lifeform on Zebes. She could touch their thoughts, experience their memories. She could feel their heartbeat, pulsating to the ever-present rhythm of the planet itself. It was hypnotic, intoxicating. Mother could feel the swirl of emotions flooding her like a torrent, surging within the liquid of her tank to reverberate on her true form. She let her mind wander further, calling upon her abilities to look upon the furthest edges of the galaxy, to witness the events of the plan that she had in motion.
She could see ships of all shapes and sizes throw themselves upon one another in the shadow of a ringed planet. She could watch the winged outlines of Pirate vessels dive-bomb blocky Federation warships, creating ripples of orange and black along their hulls. Mother could see sights like this all over, finding each and every encounter remarkable in its similarity. She focused her mind outward even more, so that she could see the rim of destruction that she had set upon the galaxy, slowly creeping inward towards the center of the spiral, where the Federation called home.
In the end, it would not matter what resources the Federation could throw at her now. Nothing could stop the cycle of war she had unleashed, and nothing could touch her. This was her fortress, her vault, utterly impenetrable. Only fools with no foresight would be daft to approach her, especially when she had all of the power in the galaxy at her disposal.
Now, Mother cradled her mind's eye more locally, peering down the halls where she watched life bloom before her eyes. Metroids, about a dozen of them, floated through the chamber, gorging themselves on the beta radiation that had flooded the place intentionally by her, creating the perfect environment for them to divide. Mother was immensely proud of her work, watching in a side hall as the one who made it all possible, the Metroid One she now called it, floated in a tank, helpless as radiation poured into it, creating an unstable anomaly as the organism became more and more saturated with the deadly particles.
The Metroid One had multiplied in size since its arrival here, but that was most likely a reflex response to the immense amount of stress being placed on it from the irradiated room. Mother hummed in anticipation; if the Metroids could withstand such harsh environments and find them conducive, then the possibilities for flash cloning her unstoppable army would present themselves in short order. The Chozo had ultimately failed in keeping her away from them and now she would use their failure against the galaxy, to show their dead spirits that she was capable of saving everyone, that she was the one to rule everything. This was her purpose and she would not be denied!
Who could withstand her anymore? The Federation was weak, a tired body barely held together by strings. An amalgamation of weak races that tried to justify power through unity. Foolish, the strong were the only rightful inheritors. What advantages did these species have that she didn't? No claws, fangs, or anything to create nightmares with. That was where the Space Pirates had the advantage, for they were truly the creatures she had envisioned all along as her enforcers.
No, the more she thought about it, Mother began to reconsider her initial thoughts. The Space Pirates were the most useful species to carry out her will, yes, but they were still imperfect by leagues. Their appetite for destruction was like a black hole, never satiated, always wanting more. Even if peace were to break out with the destruction of the Federation, would the Pirates simply lay down their arms and accept the lull in the conflict? Or…would they resume their warring, possibly turning against the other for the purposes of creating enemies to fight, ensuring that their everlasting fighting would be infinite?
The answer was obvious to Mother, but she forced herself to think about current events instead of seeing that far into the future. Conflict was inevitable, yes, but conflict was here now. This was the time when she could prove to the galaxy that she was indeed the true master of the universe. The Space Pirates were only tools, but the Metroids…they were her weapon. With her fully realized vision, Mother fantasized on the moment she would unleash her creation among the Federation and Space Pirates alike, purging this galaxy of all life so that she could shape it in her image, to create the ultimate paradise that she had always envisioned. With this final exodus, she could finally be the master of true intelligent beings.
The thought was so tantalizing to Mother that her apparatus squirmed in delight, relishing the opportunity. She had waited years for this moment, and being infinite, she could wait for as long as it took.
Until a presence touched a corner of her mind, a feeling that she had not experienced in years, suddenly impacted on her like a splinter burrowing itself deep. It came from this planet, like the ground had opened up with a cry, signaling the arrival of one who had been so lost and had finally returned after being worlds apart. The sensation was so strong that it anguished Mother painfully, causing her true eye to decrease to a slit as she comprehended the implications of this person's presence. It could only be this one person, for no one else could impact Mother as greatly as this one could right now.
It was her.
"So, Samus," Mother said, her voice unnaturally booming in the emptiness of her chamber. "You have come at last. You have come to bear witness to your future…and your failure!"
Cackling, the room reverberated for a long time with Mother's laughs, so loud they almost extended to the planet's surface itself.
The awning that the cave provided dripped water collected from the surface while the sleek red craft blew the moist silt away as it landed in the shadow portion of Crateria. Stalactites, shining spears of limestone, glistened as the dying light of the day reflected off of the smooth surface, and of the figure that clambered out of the hatch, surrounded by the orange light.
Samus hopped down, splashing acid-saturated mud everywhere as her boots sank into the muck. She wasted no time in dawdling and made for the hatch at the end of the cave, already spotting the familiar blue glow. Moss crusted around the metal, signifying the level of disrepair that had fallen upon this place.
She felt a pang as she looked into the deserted halls, seeing the level of destruction caused by the crumbling rock and decaying walls. What had her home become? Was this what Mother intended? To let the old Zebes fall to ruin while she raised the new one out of blood and iron?
Samus was so engrossed in her hatred that she barely heard a shriek from above. Operating on her lightning-fast reflexes, Samus bent her knees and shot away just as a Skree plummeted down from where it had been hanging on the ceiling. Burrowing its two mandibles in the ground, the flying creature yowled in frustration before the sac of explosive gases in its gut erupted, creating a shockwave of purple blood.
That caused Samus to immediately look up in time to see the rest of the Skree roost twitch their wings in preparation to burrow themselves in the bounty hunter's skull. No, you don't, Samus thought to herself as she lifted her arm cannon and leveled several bursts that shredded the Skrees on impact. Shredded flesh rained down and Samus checked her six, an old combat habit.
"Tricky," Samus panted, mainly to herself. "But you should know that a few stray animals will not stop me so easily, Mother."
"Oh, I'm well aware of that," a tinny voice seemed to blast from around her, causing Samus to turn in all directions. "Or were you expecting me to show you the way to me right at the outset, Samus?"
Samus could not see Mother's spherical monitor, only the shafts of light from the surface as she walked deeper into Brinstar, the next sector from Crateria. Cavernous ferns reached for these beams, pale leaves trembling as they longed for that glimpse of the sky. Samus kept her cannon ready, her teeth already beginning to grind together.
"You had to know this was coming, Mother," she called. "I'm not about to be deterred by whatever traps you throw at me."
"Have a little faith," Mother's voice bounced gleefully around the cave. "You see, I have perfected my influence upon the simple beasts that inhabit Zebes' ecosystem. To simply let the weak ones upon you would be a waste of potential. Let us see what you make of this!"
A column of sand and dirt erupted a few meters to Samus' left. A blur shot out of the sinkhole that had just appeared and a huge worm arced in the air overhead, a few dozen meters in length. The King Worm's segmented body possessed spikes on its sides, complete with a pair of menacing looking mandibles that surrounded its large eye which made up the entirety of its head. The giant worm waved its body and quickly plunged down towards Samus below, making a high-pitched scream as it did so.
Samus barely moved away in time before the King Worm hit the earth, immediately burrowing its large body in the sand, sending out plumes of dirt that impacted on Samus' body. She grunted as she rolled on the ground, watching the worm disappear down the hole it had just created. Samus shot to her feet but looked down as the ground began rumbling again, causing nearby pebbles to clatter off nearby boulders. The King Worm was burrowing at an astonishing speed that it was almost too fantastical to believe.
This time, Samus was too slow. The King Worm burst its body out again from underneath the bounty hunter, and its long mandibles gouged a long scratch on the Power Armor as the sheer force of its exit into the air propelled Samus against the side of the cave. She impacted hard, shattering the stone and creating a Samus-sized indent on the wall. Grunting in pain, Samus noted that the attack had cost her a quarter of a unit tank. Her right arm ached and her fingers felt sluggish. She could taste copper in her mouth and coughed, splattering the interior of her visor with blood.
"Was this the challenge you wanted, Samus?" Mother taunted, still unseen. "It's amazing what just the slightest amount of genetic tampering will do to something with a lesser mind. Now, the entire planet is protecting me. The Zebes you knew is gone, Samus. It's gone…and it's all mine!"
Samus dropped to the ground just in time to hear a loud buzzing noise in the air. She craned her head frantically, looking for the source, until she felt a spike ram painfully in her back and quickly found herself flying. Her feet dangled as something hoisted her high, a loud buzzing rattling her skull. With a gasp of agony, Samus looked up to witness her carrier, a multi-eyed, quad-winged monstrosity that looked like a larger version of the stinging insects she had to deal with as a child. This one, however, was five times larger than her and way uglier: an Imago.
Her Power Suit was lodged in between the spikes on the Imago's stinger and Samus twisted in place, trying to free herself, noting that the insect was gaining altitude as she struggled. She groped for the stinger herself but movement from the ground caught her eye. As before, the King Worm shot from the sand and sped straight towards her. But Samus was still caught in the grip of the Imago and she suddenly realized that it was keeping her in place in time for the worm to make a successful strike.
With a painful lurch, Samus yelled as the worm's pincers clamped around her torso and squeezed. There was a crack and Samus felt the plates on the side of her armor shift as they were suddenly breached. A sliver of the mandible entered her side and Samus grunted as she could already feel herself start to bleed. The king worm roared triumphantly but let go very quickly as its initial grip was not as strong as it had hoped, and it fell heavily to the ground with a thump.
Her hand clutched at her side and when Samus pulled it away, she could see a dark red liquid stain the smooth surface. She coughed, a choking rasp, and watched helplessly as the King Worm slithered on the ground, preparing to make another strike. The Imago still held its grip on her and refused to let go, buzzing anxiously as victory rapidly approached.
Samus cried out as she wrenched her gun arm free, but she did not aim it at the Imago who held her captive. Rather, she aimed it downward at the snaking worm below her, waiting for it to make its move.
"You hit me one time," she gritted through her pain. "I will not give you a second chance."
Oblivious to the danger, the King Worm tensed and finally pounced, extending its pincers wide as it prepared to close on her body once more. Samus, however, waited for the moment that the creature's eye was open wide before she held down her secondary trigger and simultaneously yanked on her primary. The missile burst out of the muzzle with a puff of vaporized accelerant and propelled itself straight into the King Worm's eye at point-blank range.
The effects were spellbinding. The missile tore the head of the worm practically in half, sending armor plating and dark blood everywhere. Vitreous humour splashed from the remnants of the ruined eye, the liquefied components hanging in tatters around the destroyed stump of a head.
The main body of the worm was still in flight from its leap, and there was still one remaining mandible dangling by a thread as it rose into the air. The Imago was too slow to react to the death of its combative partner and the off-course body of the King Worm just missed Samus, aiming a tad high of her body. On the other hand, the last mandible was still razor sharp and since the dead worm had already failed to hit its intended target, fate managed for it to hit another throughout its trajectory. The headless, but not quite mandible-less, body sliced through the stinger of the Imago, cutting it, and sent Samus plummeting to the ground. She righted herself in mid-air and landed heavily on her feet, causing her side to flare uncomfortably. Blood was now bubbling out of the cracks in her armor, but she could ill-afford to care about that at the moment.
As the Imago shrieked, its severed stump trailing green gore, Samus made an animalistic noise as she now set the spiraling insect in her sights. With a furious flurry of missiles, the Imago's face disintegrated in a cloud of green smoke, a horrendous splattering noise accompanying the detonation as the remainder of the creature's brains painted the walls, followed by the sickening thud of what remained of its body.
"An impressive display, Samus," Mother clucked from her invisible perch. "A bit sloppier than I envisioned, but you still handled yourself admirably. Old Bird would be proud of you."
"You don't get to say his name!" Samus bellowed, fighting though her wound as she walked past the smoking corpses. "You don't get to say any of their names! Not after you betrayed them!"
"Betrayed them? Why, Samus, I was doing them a favor. They had been a part of this galaxy for so long and they realized at the end that their efforts for peace were fruitless; at least in the direction they were originally headed. They relied on me to put them out of their misery. But…you took that away from me."
"Shut up!" Samus screamed. "They were not yours to do with as you pleased. They did not want anything you had to offer! All you can give me now is a horde of mindless beasts crafted in your labs! Show yourself, Mother! Tell me where you are so that I can face you myself!"
Samus tromped through an acid pool, ignoring the sizzling noises it made as the orange beads momentarily clung to her calf guards. She shouldered aside webbing blocking the corridor ahead but stopped after blasting a family of Geemers out of the way as she found out that a landslide was blocking her path. Judging by the buildup of vegetation sprouting from between the cracks the boulders made, Samus judged that the hallway collapse had occurred some time ago. That was not going to help her in any case, as she had no weaponry that could clear that debris in a timely manner.
"Oh dear," Mother's sarcastic voice projected. "Is the path to Tourian blocked, Samus? I do apologize for the mess, I was planning to clear it eventually but I had so many other things to do-"
"Spare me," Samus spat as she wheeled in place, running back towards the main access shaft. "There are other ways to get to you."
"True, very true. I don't suppose you're going to take the Norfair route in an effort to bypass the blockage? That's your only remaining avenue anyway so I would watch yourself. No telling what you'll find down there."
Samus kept her mouth shut for the duration of Mother's taunts and summarily shut her external audio feeds off to help her with that feat. Thankfully, Samus did not need audio to indicate the presence of any enemies as her motion sensor did that for her. The quick elevator trip down to Norfair was uneventful, as was the trek through the magma facilities, comprising nothing but glass tubes suspended over the conduits that pumped molten rock through the interior.
Zebes was mainly a volcanic planet but many of its volcanoes remained dormant, and thus the majority of the activity lay buried beneath the surface. The Chozo had tunneled through these caverns and used it for geothermal power, making the entirety of Norfair one big power plant. It was completely infested with creatures that liked the boiling hot temperatures, but they were deterred easily with a few blasts from Samus' beam. Many of the spidery creatures simply hung onto the machinery after learning not to cross the bounty hunter, preferring to feast on the sulphur deposits instead of the human for the time being.
Another elevator trip to the processing plant revealed more of the same abandoned corridors littered with debris as a result of the Chozo's impromptu evacuation. Samus was starting to sweat in her Power Suit and her breath was beginning to fog the interior of her visor. The air conditioners in her armor whined in protest, overtaxing themselves to keep the human encased within cool.
Pushing through the last flooded conduit, Samus stumbled into a large storage room, noting how high the lights were positioned as if large objects were expected to be shuttled here. Samus had disengaged her mute receptors and let the quiet expanse soothe her. Unfortunately, the peaceful moment did not last long as Mother's monitor unexpectedly dropped down from the rafters, floating high above where even Samus could not reach.
"You have proved your tenacity, Samus," Mother congratulated. "It is commendable that you have deduced where to go so quickly and to have made it this far."
"Offer the complements right before I kill you," Samus growled. "I haven't reached my objective just yet."
"Ah," the monitor dipped, "Undoubtedly so. But, you see, I'm fully intending for you not to leave this room alive so there really won't be another time for me to extend my ovations. Everything will become clear momentarily."
With an ear-splitting CRACK, the ground splintered right in front of Samus. Sheets of sandstone slid away as something rose from the depths, a green-scaled monstrosity that quickly filled the room with its enormous size. Samus stood in shock as the reptilian creature towered five stories above her, its head matching the height Mother's monitor was currently floating at.
At first glance, the forest green being resembled a Space Pirate that had been enlarged significantly. Its cream colored belly had three slits that looked like belly buttons. Its two hands only contained two fingers each but these were punctuated by curved ivory claws that looked like they could finely shred steel. Horns rose from its head, crowning its three red eyes, and its serpentine tongue snaked out of its prehistoric mouth, slithering in anticipation of snacking on Samus.
"Samus, I hereby introduce to you…Kraid," Mother announced dramatically. "Unfortunately, the poor sap does not have the capacity to speak so I have to do all of his dictation for him. He used to be a regular Space Pirate, you see, until I 'volunteered' him for an experiment. As you can see, the results were impressive."
"God…" Samus gasped at the creature that thoroughly dwarfed her. "You have gone insane."
"Well, I do confess that it was my fault that his vocal cords devolved to such a primitive state due to the mixture of the teratogenic compounds required to boost him to his current form. But, to be brutally honest, if Kraid did have the capacity to talk, I probably couldn't be bothered to listen to what he would have to say. After all, he was not the most intelligent being on the planet to begin with. Hee hee hee."
Samus was caught off guard by the intelligence's laughter, fearfully aware that she was in the presence of a mad AI and a snarling animal. Not exactly the best combination of people to be trapped inside a room with.
The shaking of the ground from Kraid's footsteps brought Samus back to reality and she raised her arm cannon to ward the beast off, firing a few bursts at his head in panic. However, Kraid did not even seem discomforted by the discharge of energy upon him, simply blinking as the energy bolts bounced off his body.
Astonished, Samus could only gape as Kraid lurched forward, not deterred from the meager assault on the tiny human below. Mother gave a chuckle as Samus backed up against the wall, finding delight as she watched the woman weigh her rapidly disappearing options.
"Shooting him with that pathetic beam is not going to help you," Mother called. "I'm afraid I engineered his skin to be on par with an oscillating quantum weave. You won't be able to so much as scratch Kraid, but him, on the other hand…"
Movement on Kraid's torso drew Samus' gaze and she could only stare in horror as the three slits on his stomach opened, revealing three twin-pronged spikes that pushed themselves out of the creature's gut. Samus tilted her head, apprehensive at their purpose when they suddenly shot out, propelled by an unseen force and zoomed through the air. Samus tried to jump out of the way at the last moment, but suddenly felt three impacts violently slam against her body and she was thrown backwards against the wall, one leg and both arms pinned from the organic projectiles.
The pain was excruciating. Samus screamed in anguish as it felt like several of her bones had broken at once. Her back arched in response, limited to its range of movement as she tried to thrash. Her right arm was pinned and still felt movable, but her left forearm was clearly broken as was her right ankle, both shattered when Kraid's stomach projectiles slammed into them, nailing them to the wall. A snapping sound came from the ruined plates of the Power Suit, the material shedding as it gradually cracked off its wearer.
"Give up, Samus," Mother said calmly as she watched the human struggle to free herself. Kraid, now seeing that his prey was trapped, lurched forward eagerly. Mother's metal orb rotated menacingly, its expression blank. "What is the point of resisting? You won't achieve anything today. You might as well cease your fighting and submit."
"N-Never!" Samus cried through her haze, her limbs quaking as she forced them as high as she could allow, almost passing out from the pressure being placed on her wounded limbs.
"You are only adding to the cycle of destruction, repression, and murder," Mother pressed. "You aren't helping anyone by trying to fight me. All you're doing is repeating the mistakes others made before you! The Chozo did not see it, and neither do you! You've both been blinded by your ambitions, by your foolish dreams. Allow me to wake you up."
A shadow fell over Samus and she looked up just in time to see the clawed foot of Kraid violently smash down upon her. There was a muffled cry and then silence. Kraid ground his foot on the rough floor to further rid itself of the annoying pest. Cracks spiraled out from the impact site and Samus was nowhere to be seen, still hidden beneath Kraid's large foot.
Mother's monitor dropped down, the lens clacking in thought as she appraised the area Samus had just occupied before the gigantic monster had squished her with its foot. "A pity. But you are not the savior of the galaxy, Samus. Only I get to reset everything to zero, not you."
No sooner had Mother uttered these words did a sharp explosion suddenly clap around the room, shaking a few stalactites loose. Kraid howled in pain and lifted his foot off where a flower of flame and noise had bloomed underneath his sole. Greenish blood splashed the rocks and Mother saw that one of Kraid's toes had been severed, twirling in the air as it was propelled away. The lummox hopped on its good foot, obviously angered, and it stared, dumbfounded, at its now two-toed foot bled all over the ground.
A reddish blur shot across the ground, far too small to be the human. Mother swiveled in place, confused at what was transpiring in front of her. In seconds, a bright red ball, just slightly bigger than her own monitor, suddenly rolled across the ground, trailing light from its plates down the middle. The new sphere's surface suddenly rippled and collapsed, now rearranging itself around a humanoid form. The armored figure clumsily rolled as it exited the Morph Ball, hindered by a bad leg, but they managed a perfect crouching formation nonetheless.
"It isn't possible…" Mother could only say.
"What's not possible, Mother?" Samus growled, her arm cannon already aimed at Kraid. "That I'm still alive? Or that you're unable to see past your foolish dreams?"
With several quick ka-THUNKS, explosions from Samus' missiles rippled across Kraid's hide. The creature yowled in response to the uncomfortable sensations and spotted Samus on the opposite side of the room. His scales blackened, Kraid lumbered toward her, his maw unleashing a hefty roar.
"I am the true successor of the Chozo," Samus continued. "You are unfit to carry their will, Mother. I am only here to make sure that you do not keep making the same mistakes that you've always made. Today, I will finally rid the galaxy of the Chozo's defective product once and for all!"
"I…" Mother spouted at the same time Samus launched her next missile. "Am not…"
The missile sailed on through, straight at the fleshy opening that Kraid revealed, saliva glistening off of his teeth as his three eyes squinted.
"…a defective…"
Samus kept her breathing shallow, trying hard to stay steady on her wobbly knees, even in her crouch. She could feel her blood streaming down her side, her leg and wrist aching as the slightest movement grated on her bones.
"…PRODUCT!"
The missile, aimed straight and true, darted through the barrier Kraid's teeth presented. The direction of the airflow streamlined its entry, angling it downward somewhat. With a boom, the back of Kraid's neck exploded outward, creating a large hole that pushed aside skin, blood, and bone to create a perfect line of sight completely through the mutated Space Pirate. Immediately, Kraid became listless, his mouth already starting to gush blood. It streamed down his front, staining his cream-colored belly. It trickled from his eyes, the weeping cascading in a downpour. As all activity in Kraid's tiny brain spat one final flare before the neuron synapses were extinguished, he tilted dangerously and toppled to the ground, making a resounding crash that shook all of the limestone off of the metal walls, partially burying the creature.
"Mark my words, Samus…" Mother uttered, her attention slowly coming around to Samus after staring in horror at the fallen Kraid. "Such a statement has been uttered before. I did not offer forgiveness then, and when they died, I gave them no-"
Samus spun around and fired another missile, headed straight on course for Mother's monitor. With a shriek of tearing metal, the sphere blasted apart in a puff of flame and a shower of sparks. The cursed voice quickly quieted with a squawk and the clattering of the shattered components replaced it.
"That ought to shut you up," Samus spat before a stab of pain from her side caused her to hunch down. She grunted, clapping a hand to the bloody side of her armor on reflex, further wincing as she smacked her broken arm against her armor.
Samus limped towards the exit, dragging her useless foot behind her. Blood dripped off of her in several places, staining her once pristine armor. Several of the Power Suit's protective plates had cracked off, revealing a mass of wiring and mechanical components underneath. It felt weird to walk, every breath created a new and uncomfortable sensation, every heave a rake across her lungs. Samus' vision began to blur as she stumbled through the hallway, the distance in front of her rapidly multiplying and lengthening.
She knew she had to keep going, that she could not stop, but how could she possibly continue in this state? Her body was ruined, as was her suit. Even now, several of the diagnostic panels were flickering and dying due to a lack of power, her energy levels dangerously low. Samus' mind waned, her concentration gradually slipping away. She tried to focus on simply taking the next step in front of her, to go the extra inch and fight past the agony.
It was too much. She couldn't do it. Samus' good leg finally buckled, sending her crashing to the ground. The hallway suddenly felt huge all around her, making her seem so small. Her accumulated injuries all spiked at once and Samus coughed, now feeling extraordinarily tired. She reached her hand out, trying to claw at something to drag her forward, but her fingers felt nothing. With a weak moan, Samus flopped her body down on the ground, finding the hard floor surprisingly comfortable. Her duty evaporating in her mind, the need to just sleep came overwhelmingly upon her. Samus' eyelids drooped and she gently rested her head on the floor, trying not to move her damaged limbs all that much.
As her eyes finally closed with a sigh, Samus could have sworn that a figure was walking down the hall towards her, a dark outline flickering in and out as it started to enlarge in her vision. Unable to make out their features from the glare of the lights overhead, Samus expelled one final breath in frustration and proceeded to lose consciousness all at once, the mystery still engrained in her head.
A/N: One main boss down, two more to go. We're nearing the end of the story now, folks. It's very exciting for me to know that this is going to be seen through to the very end.
The next chapter might take a little longer to write so any delays in its development should be expected - just a heads up for you all.
Link The Hero Of Light: The entirety of the Samus and Joey comics is a bit too comedic for my personal tastes. I never really got into reading them the same way I did with this manga as the dramatic nature of this material was way more enticing to novelize. Besides, I'm not too sold on the idea of Samus having a kid sidekick - it just doesn't seem to align with the character all that much. Also, in most media, people find kids annoying - especially me. A quote from Harry Plinkett said it best: "No one likes little kids."