"If you think I'll play your game, you're mistaken." Samus gripped her cannon. "Two choices. You tell me where it is, or I blast it out of you."

"Think again, Hunter," said the usurper, its abyssal voice booming everywhere at once. "Things are set in motion you cannot undo. The hatchling belongs to me. My word keeps it hidden, and my word alone will release it."

The walls rippled, and eyes of blue fire appeared in the midst, mirage-like as they crossed over. Samus figured its true form was shrouded somewhere in this room, but how to discover it? With its ability to make her see ghosts, perhaps it was one itself. And without the X-ray Visor, seeing it would be near-impossible.

"I am not a ghost, Hunter," the voice answered her thoughts. "I am not of the dead. Thousands of years in this rotting husk have only sharpened my power. Eons of waiting have not dulled my desire."

Something clicked in Samus's mind. "You. You caused this starship to crash on Zebes."

"Correct. When I stowed away, I was but a small parasite. Invisible under their beaks. I had only enough strength to cause an engine malfunction. When I watched them crawl out of the wreckage, I knew I must wait. I could have taken this planet over eons before you were born, if they hadn't taken so long to die."

As she listened, Samus studied the walls, trying to figure out where the gravitational waves originated. "A thriving civilization threw a wrench in your plans, did it?"

"Quite the opposite. Although I was at first too weak to seize power, I knew if I watched and waited, they would give me everything I wanted. Power." The walls rippled again. "Energy." The eyes pulsed with light. "And your unwitting ancestors, in all their intellectual prowess, gave me all I asked for and more. Their greatest technological achievement was the key to their downfall and my ascension."

A terrible chill ran through Samus. "Mother Brain," she said, aghast. "But you couldn't control her. If you were as weak as you said, you had no chance of stealing even an ounce of her power." She was not speaking highly of the deranged computer, only the truth. Only her Chozo creators had the intelligence to access her.

"Correct again. Mother Brain made the mistake of letting me live. She saw me as puny, insignificant, and I would have remained in that state if she allowed. But my long-awaited rise to power was not brought by her hand." It laughed again, boring Samus's insides like a drill. "It was yours!"

The walls kaleidoscoped, folding in on themselves over and over infinitely. They pressed in around her, simultaneously pulling further and further away. The pit in her stomach told her she was falling, but her eyes saw the ceiling grow inexorably closer. She threw herself back to avoid being crushed and felt a solid thump behind her. But when she reached back, the wall became a dark veil. A ring of blue fireballs burst through, scorching her armor and threatening to burn even deeper.

"When you destroyed Mother Brain, the psychic backlash was catastrophic, as you likely remember well. The enormous shockwaves reached even this lake. I absorbed it all. It was all that I needed and more to finally awaken!"

Samus caught herself on one knee. "What have you done with the hatchling?"

The ceiling darkened. Blue fire rained down from above. She dove, morphed, and rolled, avoiding the supernatural barrage.

"Already, my forces have harnessed its power. And with the many out of one, I will escape this rotting planet once and for all. I will set my sights on the cosmos— the light of this very galaxy." And for the first time, a huge, skull-shaped apparition flickered into view.

It was crossing over. From where it conjured its fire, from where it had watched her all this time. The center of the room darkened, and from the midnight blue swirls of the portal, the apparition solidified. A huge, bulbous head —and only a head— with two trailing tentacles encircled with spines, and a fanged mouth where the face should have been. What should have been its neck also ended in a gaping, tooth-filled maw. Samus steeled herself as she beheld the usurper, foe of Mother Brain and the Hunter alike.

"This planet is dying, Samus Aran. Can't you feel it?" It sounded like it was speaking out of both mouths at once, but neither one moved. The very air shook in its presence, pressing down on her as the atmospheric pressure doubled. It was all Samus could do to stay crouched, to not give in and fall. And still, as the crack in her visor doubled in length, she managed to raise her head in defiance.

"Mehen mir kuni ata eshdor,Hunter. Yes, even your energy has been a great source of strength since you arrived. And rest assured, you can add Zebes and the hatchling to your list of failures. You failed to save them, your allies, and your beloved Chozo."

Its deadly voice swelled, plunging into her bones, threatening to reach her heart. She glared up at it with equal ferocity.

"How they must look down upon you. Struggling to become what even they could never be: the galaxy's true protector! Perish now, knowing they have failed once and for all to prevent this universe's destruction. And that I, Phantoon, Master of Ghosts, will wipe their existence from memory!"

"No." Trembling as she fought gravity's crushing weight, Samus rose to her feet. Her cannon shone, doubled in brilliance. "My ancestors shall not become nameless. Not here. Not now. Ulu ashka ana man sarin."

The room shuddered and swayed. Despite the absence of energy, the air crackled like the raging storm outside. The ceiling turned black again as Samus's Power Beam charged up like a beacon. She thought she imagined the distant scree of the hatchling.

Hold on, little guy. I'm coming for you.

As the silence rang in her ears, the Hunter faced her foe.

Gray Voice, guide my hand.

Blue fire surged from above like falling stones. Samus deftly wove between them and closed the distance, firing clean up its neck-mouth. But it phased right through. Without a face, Phantoon made no expression, but she could hear it laughing. No matter how many times she heard its voice, it never hurt any less.

Fireballs dripped from its front mouth. They took a life of their own, hovering and bouncing around the room. They were easy to dispel with her Power Beam, but more kept coming. Despite this, the temperature dropped further and further.

Then the mouth opened, revealing not a throat or tongue, but a sickly yellow eye. A ring of fire swirled from it, blasting the chill from the room, but it returned just as quickly. Phantoon was absorbing even what little warmth remained in the air. Then the teeth closed over the eye, and Phantoon vanished.

Samus quickly reconfigured her cannon. When its eye opened, she saw its ghostly form solidify. There lay her opening.

Phantoon reappeared, fire streaming from its teeth. It was trying to corner her, but Samus's Beam cut through every flame. Again, the walls stretched and folded over themselves. The ghost's head rippled, and slowly, its eye began to open. It glowed like molten rock, and a massive shadow spread over the floor. Samus backflipped away, trying to take aim at its face, when an enormous black object rose like a city spire in front of her, followed by three more of roughly equal size.

Horror seized her. They were long, pointed fingers, and embedded in the palm was another hideous eye. Piece by piece, Phantoon was pulling its gigantic body from its world— wherever that was— into hers. She pressed her back into the wall to avoid its transparent grasp. She was running out of time— and space— to defeat this creature.

But the hand wasn't solid yet. Through one of the claws, Samus could see Phantoon's main eye stretched wide as it focused all its energy into pulling its hand through. She did not hesitate. The Super Missile sailed through the black tower and sunk deep into its mark. For how long it had observed her family, Samus guessed it had never gotten an up-close look at their weaponry.

Phantoon roared, an unearthly note so deep her ears bled. Its hand flickered and started sinking into the floor. Spirals of fire erupted from the eye, which, despite dripping pitch blue, still summoned them in droves. Samus charged another shot and somersaulted through the gaps. Again, and again. But Phantoon's eye remained squeezed shut, and she could not close the distance.

It roared again, and gravity tripled, sending Samus crashing to the ground. Phantoon's tentacle snaked around her waist and flung her against the walls and ceiling. Over and again until her weakened visor shattered completely. With one last bellow, it threw her down so hard the floor dented.

She landed on her side. Bracing her fractured cannon on the floor, she struggled to rise. The pressure was too much. She couldn't speak, let alone gasp for air. Phantoon hovered over her, its dark blood spattering her armor as her own dripped into her eyes.

"Foolish. Weak! Did you truly believe a single strike would kill me?" It leaned closer, baring its teeth to reveal the bloody, slimy socket. "Did you think I needed this eye to summon my body?"

The steel floor dissolved into darkness beneath her, and the huge black claws wrapped around her body. The Power Suit's lights blinked and died as their energy, too, went to Phantoon.

"Farewell, Samus Aran."

With the very last of her strength, Samus activated the Morph Ball. A sphere could withstand high pressure better than any other shape. Right now, it was her only hope. She could feel the cold black hand gripping her, the Power Suit and her own body breaking under the weight. As the hand dragged her down, complete darkness enveloped her. The vessel that brought her family to their home would send her to her grave.

Gray Voice. Old Bird. Little one.

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

…

No. This can't…

…This can't be the end.

…

Light.

Indescribable, dazzling light broke the shadows cloaking her.

Two hands grasped her. An immense power tugged her free of Phantoon. A silver figure moved, wraith-like, carrying her up out of the darkness on invisible wings. The Morph Ball fit perfectly in its palms.

As they rose, it turned its burning gaze down on her, one of brilliant gold. The light of twin suns. All this time, a Chozo statue had lain in wait, enduring darkness and decay until the day it was called. Now, in its steadfast hands, a new light enveloped Samus. She instinctively unmorphed. Her bones mended; her wounds closed. The Power Suit was draped in violet light, not merely restoring it, but transforming it.

Her back thrusters kicked on. The statue released her, letting her ascend on her own as it fell behind. Their eyes met, and with a blink, its light died, and it crumbled to dust in the void.

But Samus kept rising. The violet light overflowed through her, through the void. Gravity's weight meant nothing to her now. The image of Phantoon looming overhead rushed at her, and she reentered the Wrecked Ship. She hovered in the air, her thrusters giving one last boost, and then landed, one knee and one fist pounding the ground.

GRAVITY SUIT OBTAINED.

Gravity was no less intense. The steel walls had bent like rubber; the whole room teetered on the brink of collapse. Yet, like the statue's eyes, Samus's renewed green visor shone as she stood tall, unbroken in the face of her enemy.

"Impossible." Phantoon swelled up in rage. The entire room blackened as if under an eclipse. "Impossible!"

"The Chozo's legacy won't end by my hand," she said, voice magnified by echoes that weren't her own. "Yours will."

Geysers of blue flame exploded from every surface. Phantoon roared, pummeling her with every ounce of hatred and malice it possessed. As the floor twisted and turned inside out, Samus ran unimpeded, jumping and ducking past every pillar. One spouted right in front of her. Heart pounding, cannon overflowing with unrestrained energy, she somersaulted straight through it, the flames breaking harmlessly over the Charge Shot.

Phantoon refused to back down. With a dozen brilliant flashes, a horde of skull amalgamations flooded toward her, each one taking the shape of a deformed Chozo. Her Power Beam ripped them apart, and their remains disintegrated into mist when she dashed through them. Samus did not spare them a glance, for her eyes were solely on their master. Several magnified Charge Shots tore holes through his shell.

Phantoon began to close his mouth, trying to protect what remained of his eye. Samus reached him first. Seizing a tentacle, she swung up and jammed her cannon between his teeth in the nick of time. No ghosts remained. The fire geysers sputtered and went out. "The hatchling," she said.

"You are too late. My project is complete." It convulsed, trying to dislodge her "And when you kill me, they will regain their senses. They will deliver it to Mother Brain, and you won't reach it in time. You, Hunter, will still fail."

She paused to consider this, weighing the situation carefully. Finally, she nodded slowly. The mouth of her cannon opened wide. "I'll take that chance."

The Super Missile ripped clean through. Instead of scattering over the ground, Phantoon's remains stretched into increasingly distorted wavelengths, until it vanished entirely. The only physical evidence of its presence left behind was the room, warped beyond recognition. Samus did not look back.

As she reentered the main hall, the Wrecked Ship shuddered; in the distance, ancient circuits creaked and groaned as all but the most damaged hatches revived. As she climbed several flights of stairs in search of the exit, lights that had been denied power for centuries returned to life as though it had only been a day. Exposed wires and cables sparked with thousands of volts of electricity. And, amazingly, several spherical Atomics emerged from their circuit domes, floating freely through the air.

The energy Phantoon spent thousands of years gathering had not perished with it. No Chozo spirits emerged from hiding, putting to rest the idea they were ever there in the first place. The cradle of her ancestors' civilization was finally restored.

But the scales were still out of balance. She had one last wrong under Phantoon to put right. Now, more than ever, she needed to find the Baby before Mother Brain could tip things too far in her favor. And if she were to heed Phantoon's final words, time was already running out.

Lightning flashed as Samus opened the hatch. As she prepared to step out into the downpour once again, she glanced back. No ghosts, but she could almost imagine a warm hand on her shoulder. Just as quickly, it drifted away like vapor.

I've laid you to rest. I've done all I can to make you proud.

Two red dots blipped on the edge of her radar, bound west and moving out of range fast. Looking ahead once again, she charged into the storm.

I hope it's been enough.

I'm so happy to have finished writing this part. I don't know when I'll have the next chapter out, but as I said, I fully intend to continue- and, someday, finish! Thank you so much for reading, and please look forward to future updates!

Merry Christmas, and cheers to 2024!