Samus sped away from ZDR in her gunship, watching in the rear-facing camera as it exploded silently behind her. Another mission, well done. Though it came with a cost, she realized as she looked down at herself. She had full Metroid powers now, though controlled by the extra Thoha DNA, given by the X-infested Quiet Robe. Metroids were all but extinct from the galaxy, slain by her hand. Yet now she had become the thing she was once tasked to destroy, and likely the most powerful one too. Her suit had even become Metroidish, until the Thoha DNA reverted it back.
How much of me is still human? She thought, as she spun up her gunship's FTL drive. And it was a question that weighed on her. Sure, she knew she still LOOKED human. She still had the outward appearance of one. But she knew her body had been through a lot, over the years, and her adventures. Multiple sets of Chozo DNA shared space in her body, alongside the Metroid DNA, and countless X parasites. Not to mention the time when she abosrbed all that Phazon, which she wasn't sure was fully gone from her body. To think, I once rescued the Baby, yet now to a degree, I'm it's child. It gave her plenty to think about.
But she put all those thoughts aside for the time being, watching the screens as her ship got ready to jump. She had completed a mission, which meant it was time to celebrate. And there was only one place to do so, a restaurant and bar popular with bounty hunters, its coordinates saved in her ship's computer, so she could make the jump. As the ship went to FTL, she deactivated the Varia suit, and stretched. It would be a few hours, so she yawned, leaned back in the pilot's seat, and was soon asleep.
A few hours later, and Samus woke up, dropped out of FTL near the planet GBV, and began reentry. Air traffic wasn't that bad, as she found a landing pad to park on. As she disembarked the ship, she verified that the Federation had dropped the creds into her account, as well as taking a nice deep breath of air, enjoying the first taste of natural air that didn't pass through her suit's air scrubbers, nor was recycled. As she went inside, she got a few looks, mainly because of how form fitting the Zero Suit was. Though for others, the suit grabbed attention not for sexual appeal, but because of who it meant. After all, only she wore the light blue suit, and her fellow experienced bounty hunters knew not to mess with her. Even bouncers gave her respectful nods as she walked inside.
Inside resembled almost any bar, though her arrival grabbed attention, as well as silence, as she sat on her favorite stool, while everyone resumed drinking, smoking, poker or pool. Or sometimes a mix of all of the above.
"I know that look Sammy," the bartender says. "You just came from a mission, didn't you? What happened?" He asked as he filled up a glass with Samus's favorite beer, placing it in front of her.
"More X parasites, all over the planet ZDR," she responds as she takes a drink.
"Ok, now I have to ask. Does ZDR still exist?" The bartender asks with a raised eyebrow. Samus's shake was all he needed to know. "You know you might be the only bounty hunter that can claim actual PLANETS among your kills. Tack it on the list with Phaaze, Zebes, and SR388. And if it counts...Dark Aether."
"Hey, at least there I didn't have to get offworld ASAP," Samus responds as she drinks. "And Dark Aether was more akin to a pocket dimension world."
"So, what happened? That you can talk about, that is," the bartender asks, and Samus fills him in, omitting parts about her Metroid powers, the bartender's eyebrows raising.
"Wow...so there's actually still living breathing Chozo? I thought they were all gone. Didn't you find that one bit on Tallon IV about 'bodies we no longer need'?" He asks. "We all thought that the Chozo were extinct from the galaxy, that only their ruins remained."
"And Raven Beak claimed I was his daughter," Samus says as she nibbles on the chicken wings placed in front of her. "Which might be true, alongside Old Bird. And now Quiet Robe."
"You have a lot of parents now," the bartender says. Samus answers with a glare, so he responds with "Hey, I'm trying not to open old wounds. Just stating facts."
Samus finishes her chicken wings, now moving to the fish tacos placed in front of her. "You know, it's ironic that the big bad nigh-invulnerable robots have a cute sounding name like E.M.M.I.," the bartender comments as Samus eats.
"Oh...they were dreadful," Samus replies between bites.
"And now you're the one to be dreaded," the bartender says, eyes going wide. "The Dread Hunter. That's what you are," he continues with a chuckle. "That should be your title," he finishes, to which Samus responds with an evil grin. Yes, the Dread Hunter. Space Pirates the galaxy over already fear me, and call me the Hunter. So why not?
She finishes her fish tacos, has a cheesecake slice for dessert, pays, tips, and leaves. Now she was back in her ship, ready to head home. Or the closest thing she had to it. Bounty hunting didn't afford her much time to spend in an official "home" of sorts, so instead she had a hotel room she rented, and had been allowed to customize. It would be another few hours there, but it'd give her time to digest her dinner. And besides, it wasn't far from the hangar where her gunships were. I've acquired quite the collection, haven't I? She thought as she was making the FTL jump. After all, she had used 3 different ones, during the Phazon Hunt alone.
A few hours later, and after parking the gunship, and taking a skycab to the hotel she lived in, and she was finally "home." Though to a degree, nowhere was home for her. She lived on the go. Her gunships were more home than this place. It also meant she could continue her post-mission celebration. First off by desummoning the Zero Suit, and then heading into the shower. While in there, she also checked herself, to see if there were any new changes to her body. From what she could see, there was nothing, no marks, just a scar here and there from old missions long ago. And a mark left by the Phazon, under her left breast. Her abs also sported a fresh scar, which she touched tenderly. Bounty hunting sure is a hard life.
She got lonely, she would admit. Not often, and she could cope when on a mission. But it still happened. And while she had had boyfriends in the past, none of them lasted. Most wanted her to obey their every whim, to make Samus go from bounty hunter to housewife. Or worse yet, just wanted the bragging rights to say they were sleeping with the great Samus Aran, if they got that far. Some men even were repulsed by her battle scars, believing women shouldn't have any. So far, nobody had wanted HER, as she was, mind, body, and soul. But she had alternatives, and it was part of her post-mission celebration to use one of those alternatives.
She pulled the detachable showerhead down, running the water all over her body, even between her legs, as well as one of her own hands, which got quite busy. Moans escaped her lips as the heat and pleasure began to build inside of her. She may be able to contain it on missions, but when her libido struck, it could strike HARD. Some of her ex's even had problems with that, finding her a little too aggressive in bed for their liking. But that was one advantage to solitude, was she could always satisfy herself. And the showerhead wasn't her only option.
It wasn't long before the wetness between her legs was due to more than just the showerhead, as she orgasmed all over herself. But she knew she wasn't done. Not by a LONG shot. But she was however done in the shower. That was another good thing about being her, she thought as she got out of the shower, standing near the flash dryer. She could have a good orgasm and still remain standing. She then made her way to her naughty drawer, pulling out a few goodies, all for her to play with, once she sat down in bed. She spent many hours, masturbating with her various sex toys, before finally passing out with a smile.
She was able to enjoy herself for a few months. Samus spent most of her time browsing various technology stores for parts, or among nature. But it wasn't all fun. She had decided to see if she could upgrade herself and ships, with ADAM's help. It was always annoying, starting a mission and losing everything. So she attempted to remedy that, by creating a database of blueprints for all her abilities. She even had an inspiration to improve the scan visor to help with that, so she could even scan others for information, in hopes of copying, or at least being inspired by, their abilities. She also improved the communication equipment between her suit and ship, so ADAM could give her information anytime, as opposed to only at terminals. It had a side effect of making her armor once again look like how it classically looked, with all its yellows, fins on the massive pauldrons, and more. All to help prepare her for her next mission, whatever it was.
And after a few months, it did come. Some kind of dimensional anomaly, and the Federation wanted her to investigate, seeing as she had experience with those, thanks to Aether. She was now ready, in her ship and on the way there. ADAM was reviewing to her the details of the mission, how strange energy was detected from it, while her MMG was playing the music she had labled as "Mission Begins."
It was probably her favorite part of her suit, her Mood Music Generator. It was the one thing that made solitude bearable, on all her missions. She didn't understand how it worked, only that it was strange Chozo tech, but it helped greatly, even if the music it played wasn't always...happy. Oftentimes it was creepy. But it had its moments. Some of her favorite pieces from it were the mission start music, that played during such events as her second Zebes mission, all 3 of her Phazon missions, or even on her latest mission on ZDR. The Brinstar region of Zebes was one of her favorites, along with the first Tallon IV theme. Sanctuary Fortress's theme on Aether was also a nice one. But it had some notable creepy tunes too. There was a beeping that often came with secret areas. But one of the worse in the creep factor was the tune that warned her of the SA-X on the BSL station. Combined with its footsteps, and it made her blood run cold, every time.
Soon, she dropped out of FTL, making an approach towards what looked like a giant hole in space. But upon investigation, she was pulled in, violently.
Alarms blared inside her ship as she tried to maintain control, but it was no use. The ship was out of control, as it passed through a strange red dimensional anomaly, though things didn't get much better once she was out. She saw she was headed for a planet, but the strange part was its surface was covered with red pentagrams. What the fuck is going on here?
She WAS able to make the ship slow down though, as she reentered the atmosphere. From the brief glimpses she could see outside, it looked like hell. Clearly this place was inhabited, with very Earth-like buildings. But nearly all were in ruins, the sky was red, and...were those tentacles everywhere? Though she barely had time to think, as her ship crashed into one of those buildings. The seatbelts and airbags did deploy, but she still hit her head hard, hard enough to pass out.
When she came to, she could taste blood, and sat up, trying to make sense of what happened. Fuck, what happened? She thought as she tapped controls in her ship, as well as running diagnostics on her suit..
ADAM soon started speaking, which already allayed some of Samus's fears. "There is significant structural damage to the ship, but my core systems remain intact," he states in his robotic tone. "Likewise, your suit has suffered damage as well." Of course. It fucking happened again, she thought as she read through the list. What was surprising was what she kept. Space Jump Boots, Morph Ball and bombs, as well as the Varia functions were all intact. Scan visor, targeting, and more were also intact as well. But the biggest surprise was what had taken damage. The MMG. Fuck, this mission will be a lonely, quiet one. Other than that, it was the usual SNAFU that came with every mission start.
ADAM also informed her that the database was corrupted, but he could repair it, and thus give her upgrades in time. But it was the next bit that was surprising. "According to sensor logs, we are in a parallel universe. Our current location appears to be Earth." Earth? This is Earth? I've always wanted to come here! But she knew something had to have gone wrong. "However, scans also indicate strange changes across much of the surface. The human population appears to be mostly gone, and strange creatures roam the surface, some of which I doubt your ability to battle at this time. Ruins are littered everywhere. I cannot obtain more information at this time. You should investigate the area for more information. Is your objective clear, lady?" He asked, and she gave only the briefest of nods, asn she climbed out of the escape hatch.
What in the world? She thought as she looked around. She was used to destruction but this...was on another level. Large tentacles were everywhere, as well as great horned...humanoid beasts the size of skyscrapers, that luckily didn't seem to notice her. She climbed up, away from her crashed gunship, eyes peeled for danger, which she soon found. They looked like people, but with green hair, dressed in decayed armor with a blaster on one arm, like a shorter, bulkier arm cannon. But their flesh was another story. It looked old and decayed, as if they were zombies. And next to them were some brown creatures that threw fireballs.
What the fuck? She thought as she readied her arm cannon. Her scan visor gave these creatures labels, the zombie looking dudes were called "zombiemen" appropriately, while the brown fireball throwers were called "imps." And they were TOUGH to kill. But Samus was ready for them. An oddity was how with every kill, an energy flowed out of their bodies as they disintegrated, and into her. ADAM was doing scans as it came in. "It seems your Metroid DNA is feeding off of the energy that seems to flow in all of these creatures," he told her as she fought off imps and zombiemen in her immediate area.
Meanwhile, the Doom Slayer was making his way through the first area of demons, when VEGA gave him an update. "There has been an anomaly. A strange ship has crashed, just outside. Its signature conforms to no known Earth vessel. My sensors have only picked up one occupant," VEGA continued as the Slayer was now busy ripping the head off the first Hell Priest, Deag Nilox, who had at first boasted about how his soul remained guarded, at least until he saw the Sentinel Coin. After putting Nilox's head away, he ran out to the balcony and jumped down, but noticed what VEGA was talking about. A curvy ship, crashed near the nearby building, and someone fighting off the hordes, holding their right arm, which instead of a humanoid hand, was a weapon.
"Alert. Someone approaches," ADAM warned, to which Samus gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. But she HEARD it too. A heavy metal that was getting louder. She came face to face with the last zombieman, who was getting ready to fire at her, and it was too late to dodge. But she didn't have to.
An armored hand grabbed the zombieman's shoulder, twisting the corrupted human around, while another hand, with a blade attached to the side, stabbed the thing in its eye, before it disintegrated like its fellows, revealing its killer, and the source of the heavy metal, all in one, which Samus eyed warily, her arm cannon ready.
Standing before her was a man, but nothing like any man Samus had ever known. She herself had been called Amazonian before, towering at 6' 3", (which in turn, had been ANOTHER turnoff for some of her ex's,) but this man made even her feel short, appearing to be around 6' 8" by her estimate. Green armor covered his body, except for some expose areas near his arms, revealing massive biceps. On his left hand was the blade he had used to kill the zombieman, which he then retracted, making the blade take its place alongside his large hand. What he carried also grabbed her attention, looking like a pump-action shotgun, which as far as she knew, should've been old tech in the Federation. His helmet had vents near the bottom, and at the top was a strange red symbol that was painted on. But the most captivating part was what she could see through the man's visor. His eyes were assessing her, full of malice and anger, shotgun ready to fire if the need arose.
"State your designation," ADAM asked out loud through Samus's suit.
"You are standing before the Doom Slayer," the man responds. Or rather, a voice from him responded, but it sounded NOTHING like a human voice. "I am VEGA, his personal assistant AI. He's not much of a talker." Wow. Quiet type, with his own AI? She smiled to herself in that moment, though her visor opacity was all the way up, so this "Slayer" couldn't see her face. "I now ask you the same question. Though I have a hunch that you are also a quiet human with an AI talking for you." You're DEFINITELY earning that I in AI, aren't you VEGA?
"I am ADAM, commanding officer to the Dread Hunter," ADAM responded, and Samus raised an eyebrow. Though upon thinking, she understood. Answer one title, with another title. I'm willing to bet Slayer here suspects nothing. Keeping her identity a secret may be for the best, as was usual for her. "We were sent by the Galactic Federation to investigate a dimensional anomaly."
"Galactic Federation?" VEGA asks, but Samus could see the Slayer tapping his foot, seeming angry. Or rather, angrier, as she got the feeling he was always angry. "Perhaps later. Right now Hell's invasion of Earth must be stopped."
"Explain. Do you mean the supernatural realm where bad people go when they die? Are these life forms demons, as humans describe in their old lore?" ADAM asks as the Slayer walks away, Samus following closely behind him, arm cannon at the ready. Hell? Wait...pentagrams. Tentacles. And I think even rivers of lava? That all does sound very hellish. So hell, HELL, is REAL?
"That would be correct," VEGA answers. "But the demonic corruption of Earth has already been reduced, with the death of the first Hell Priest. We are on our way to where the other 2 are meeting, alongside the Khan Maykr."
"Further explanation is required," ADAM responds, and the 2 AI's converse back and forth, Samus tuning them out as she followed the Slayer, who upon coming to a crack in a wall, one that Samus would've used a missile on, the Slayer simply punches his way through. Now THAT's a strong guy.
She wondered how this mission would go. It was certainly a change from the norm, being in the company of someone else. And to think she was fighting Hell! But moreover, she was in the company of someone who also looked like he could handle himself, as much as she could. And, guy's got tunes. Does he also have an MMG? The heavy metal his suit played was quite different to the usual things her own suit played, often giving her creepy vibes. But HIS music was aggressive. His music seemed to say "I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me." Here was a man that sought nothing but demon slaughter. And she had to admit...she liked that.
