*Stage Seven: Consummation
*Censored version
Sunlight streaked through the upper boughs of the great trees. Their leaves were splayed out like great fans, filtering the light so that it only partially illuminated the garden. The upper canopy was dominated by the greet trees, but beneath them grew a wide variety of colorful plants. Perhaps Samus recognized some of them from her various adventures, but at the moment she was too occupied by the beauty and serenity of the moment to notice.
The air was warm and pleasant and Samus spent many minutes simply breathing. She had not moved since she had walked out of the fire to find herself in the midst of a lavish garden. Her every ache and pain had subdued upon arriving here. Her hand drifted to her face and Samus felt smooth skin at the point that her cheek had been cut open by the ice. She slowly rotated her left shoulder and felt nothing but the strong sinews and muscles.
A part of Samus wanted to stand there idly forever. The garden seemed to infuse life into its beholder. Looking at the glistening fruits that hung from green vines was as nourishing as eating from them. Hearing the twinkle of the clear streams that fed the plants sated Samus' thirst as well as any drought of water had ever done.
However, Samus knew she could not remain there forever. She needed to escape this place, though she did not feel the urgency of that need anymore. Samus took a step forward and winced. The soft turf had not received her weight as she had expected. The little blades of grass were hard, almost nail-like against her skin. It was as if Samus did not weigh enough to bend the grass.
This pain broke the illusion of the garden. Its beauty remained, but Samus was suddenly back on the alert. The memory of the ice fields and all that had transpired before flooded over her. Samus looked down and realized with dismay that she was naked. The fire had destroyed her suit, and she had buried her last weapon into Kraid's eye.
Instinct led Samus to cover herself with her arms. She glanced nervously around the garden. There were many dark shadows that lingered between the trees. However, Samus still felt that she was alone.
She moved forward cautiously. The grass resisted her efforts to cross over it, but she fought through the pain. She wanted to cover herself with something so Samus tried to take down a few branches of a tree and use its leaves. However, the bark was stronger than iron and outright mocked Samus' attempts to tear it down.
She was forced to go on as she was. Momentarily, her path forward was blocked by a fast moving stream. Samus made to leap over it, but crouching down was almost impossible because of the grass. She looked around for some other means of progression.
Growing out of the bed of the stream was an apple tree. Its longest branch stuck out so that it was halfway across the stream. A glistening yellow apple hung conspicuously from the end. Samus' stomach rumbled. That feeling of contentment had left her. She suddenly remembered that she had not eaten since this misadventure had first started. Samus planted her feet firmly at the edge of the stream and reached out. She took hold of the apple and pulled. To her shock, the apple was as hard as steel. Her hands slipped off it and Samus nearly fell face first into the water.
Samus looked down at her hands. She did not understand. Was the world around her distorted, or had she become less substantial? Samus made a second effort at taking the apple, but it was fruitless. Even if she had managed to take it, she would not have been able to take a bite anyway. Instead, Samus took a few steps back and made what jump she could manage on that razor like grass.
Her jump was more of a hop, but she reached out and took hold of the tree branch. This allowed Samus to swing herself forward and cross the stream. The effort left her strangely breathless. The air she had so welcomed a moment before was now stuffy and heavy. Even moving through it was difficult, as if an invisible barrier were holding her back.
Samus pushed forward until she saw the outline of a great castle rise above the distant trees. Within a few minutes, she reached a point where the garden drew back. A heavy portcullis had been raised, lowering a huge draw bridge which crossed the expanse between the garden and the castle. From within the inner courtyard, Samus could see golden light.
She hurried ahead and sighed when she reached the bridge. The wood beneath her felt completely ordinary. Samus continued towards the opening into the inner courtyard, only pausing just as she was about to enter the golden light. Samus turned back suddenly. She gazed wistfully back at the garden. Though she had not been able to enjoy it there, she placed no blame on the garden itself. Perhaps one day, she would be solid enough to remain there, to drink from its streams and eat of its fruit.
For now however, she had to continue on so she plunged ahead and passed through the golden light. This brought her out into a crowded courtyard. Blood rushed to her cheeks and she made a half hearted attempt to cover herself. Only it was pointless, the thousands that were gathered there had already seen her. Samus lowered her arms and held her head up high. It didn't really matter either way, all that mattered was that she escaped. For the moment anyway, the people of that castle were not paying her any attention.
She mingled through the crowd, drawing only the occasional sideways glance. Amongst the throng, Samus saw humans, Chozo and space pirates. However, unlike the denizens of the gray city, these creatures were alive and fully animate. When Samus had made it halfway across the courtyard there was a sudden blare of trumpets. A gong sounded followed swiftly by ringing bells. All the various conversations ceased. At once, everyone drew back, leaving Samus all alone in the midst of the courtyard.
Again, she tried to cover herself up, but gave up on the effort. Another trumpet sounded. Samus was drawn to a high battlement. A Chozo had mounted a high seat. It wore a great golden cloak and was adorned in the finest armor of the species. It held aloft a huge spear and pointed it down at Samus.
She winced as she expected to be attacked, instead what followed was a sudden explosion of cheering. Samus stood rooted to the spot. The crows around her were clapping and screaming in jubilation. Human voices rose above the disordered screechs of alien speech. "SAMUS! SAMUS! SAMUS! Hero of the Galaxy! The Greatest Bounty Hunter of all time!"
The great Chozo leapt off his battlement and landed in front of Samus. It knelt in front of her, placing his spear down at her feet. Then it took the crown upon its head and placed it gently in front of Samus. "Samus Aran, bane of Metroids, champion of the Chozo. Come to your reward."
He waved his hands and the great doors behind him were opened. Beyond them was a huge arena packed with thousands of eager onlookers. Samus had been so occupied with the chozo leader, she had not noticed the dozens that had come up behind her. She was taken up by a host of chozo and lifted onto a floating platform. Samus wobbled uneasily on the device and watched with apprehension as it started to move towards the arena.
More music sounded. Suddenly, a band of aliens and humans were marching in front of her, playing their instruments. Those around her continued to scream her name. Light streaked into Samus' face as she was brought into the arena. The crescendo of cheers was deafening.
Samus covered her face with her hand and looked down. The arena was not empty. Hundreds of space pirates lay crouching in the dirt. Their limbs were tied down, and galactic federation soldiers stood behind them with swords in hand. A huge dais had been erected on the far end of the arena. Kraid's frozen head was gorged upon a spike in the center. Deorem's segmented carcass roasted above a fire. Flaahgra the great demon of the Chozo ruins had been crucified upon a giant stake.
The last of the dead trophies were metroids. A giant pile of dead metroid corpses dominated the center of the arena. Some kind of mutated creature lay atop the pile. It was a quadruped with an elongated snout and a huge bulging center. Samus was brought to the pile of the dead. Her platform took her to the center, and Samus was made to get off. She stood at the summit of her skill and daring and looked up at the cheering crowds.
"SAMUS! SAMUS! Hero of life! Savior of humanity!" The cheers came down as accusations. Samus' face burned as she looked at the devastation she had wrought.
"Behold." An insect-like voice said behind her. The great chozo had joined Samus. "This is a monument to all that you have achieved. Behold the dead, and behold the living." He waved his hand towards the crowd.
Samus understood that these were the beings that her efforts had saved. The crowd was enormous, it numbered into the thousands, and Samus perceived that the benches extended beyond possibility, to include an almost infinite number. Yet the number of the dead was not so much less. The reek of the carcassess filled the world. Samus' skin crawled as she considered just how many lives she had taken, and how many more that she still had to kill.
The chozo raised his spear, earning a fresh round of cheers from the crowd. He brought it down like the swing of a hangman's ax. At once, the galactic federation soldiers executed the space pirate prisoners. Samus cringed as the heads rolled onto the sand. "You are a matron of death," The chozo whispered faintly. "It is almost time for the consummation, but first there must be a feast."
Samus was taken away from the arena. The sounds of the cheering crowds dimmed as she was led into the castle. She passed through several long hallways of empty stone until she entered a great banquet hall. All manner of foods awaited her at the table. Samus was given the seat of honor, and then left entirely alone. She sat still for a moment, wondering if she should use this chance to try and escape.
The inciting scents of the food wafted in front of her. Samus' stomach grumbled more than ever. "Perhaps just a few bites won't hurt." That is how it started at first. Samus munched at the corners of the bread, and risked a few spoonfuls of the soup. Tasting the food only increased her sense of famine. She tore eagerly into the meat and relished the feeling of the juices dribbling down her chin. Soon she lost all sense of herself. Samus ate and ate, gorging herself on the spread.
She reached for a helping of vegetables, when she saw something scuttle from beneath the plate. Samus froze. Suddenly, she could see faint trembling within all the food. Samus looked down in horror. The inside of the chicken was blue with rot. Maggots swam beneath the surface of the soup. Roaches filled the hidden layers of the pie. Samus gagged and fell back onto the floor. She seized her throat as the food started to rise out of her stomach. She could feel the writhing movement of the bugs inside her.
Samus' hands twisted on the stone floor. She spat up the first glob of food. Only it wasn't food. It was a dark, murky liquid that pulsed with purple solids. Samus groaned as she started to throw up more and more. Waves of phazon poured out of her body, spilling onto the floor in chunks. Her cries of pain altered her captors. Chozo came rushing into the room. They watched in silence as Samus spilled her guts onto the floor.
It was torture, and by the end her throat was raw. At last, Samus spat out the last vestiges of phazon. She was weak and shaking by this point. Strong arms took her in hand and lifted her up. The leader of the Chozo was by her side again. "You must wash before you are brought before the king."
Samus was brought to a great bath house filled with golden light. The water steamed with refreshing heat and bubbled with many colored fragrances. Samus staggered onto the top steps. The hot water stung her skin, but then quickly refreshed her. Without thinking about what she was doing, Samus lowered herself into the water. The pleasant smells washed over her, and the terror of the phazon started to dispel.
She let out a sigh of relief and laid back against the steps. Samus closed her eyes and took long slow breaths. The warm steam entered into her and cleansed the filth within. Her hands floated easily to the top of the water. Samus had not felt so relaxed in ages. It was too much of an effort to even open her eyes. She allowed herself to lean her head back. .
It wasn't until she felt a slight change in the water, did she look down. Samus' heart skipped a beat. A thick purple ooze had filtered into the bath water. She let out a stifled cry and jumped out of the water. The water boiled with phazon. Samus let out a groan of disgust and fear and raced out of the bathhouse.
The door she had come through did not lead her back into the banquet hall. Instead, Samus entered the throne room. An organ played in the background. A purple carpet at her feet led up the dais and towards an altar. Ridley awaited her at the top, prepared as a groom expecting his bride. Only this was not the Ridley Samus had known. His skull had been horribly mutated. The back ridges had been broken apart to make way for the most unholy of unions. Mother Brain, the cunning mastermind of the Space Pirates, was crudely stuffed into Ridley's skull.
Ridley turned to Samus. His bestial jaws opened, but the voice was that of the supercomputer, Mother Brain. "Come Samus, it is time for us to be joined together." Samus was so horrified by the image in front of her, she turned to leave. However, her way was blocked by the leader of the chozo. He locked his spear into the door, preventing it from being opened.
"This is your consummation. Death for death." The chozo bent his head and faded into dust.
"Come, Samus. This is your destiny." Ridley motioned Samus forward.
She trembled from head to foot. The monster ahead of her was worse than anything she had ever known. But she had no weapons to fight it with, no armor to protect her. Almost as if in response to her call, a yellow light suddenly flashed overhead. The throne room was topped with a dome, at the point of which there was a painting of the sun. The orb of light materialized out of the painting and hovered down. It took shape slowly, and Samus saw the outline of her chozo power suit. She strode forward to meet it. But the light drew back.
To Samus' horror, her suit went to Ridley. It expanded in size, taking the shape of the dragon. Ridley fused with the suit, turning a bronze orange color. Ridley flexed its claws and marveled at the sheen of his new armor. "We are almost complete," It said. "There is but one thing missing. Your heat." Ridley dug his nails into his chest and pulled it open. There was a huge chasm inside. "Give us your heart, and we shall be complete. We shall be the ultimate power in all the universe. The very power of death."
"No," Samus said firmly. She glared up at the monstrosity above her. Samus was beyond fear now, beyond the point of negotiation.
Ridley snarled and whipped his tail. "You cannot resist me. I will tear your flesh apart and take your heart anyway."
"Go for it."
Screech. Ridley scratched his nails against the stone floor. "Fool! What do you hope to prove? You have nothing to fight me with, nothing to defend yourself with. There is nothing great about you. You are only what the Chozo made you. You are nothing!" Ridley rose to his full height and extended his wings.
Samus smirked. "No, I'm far more than what they made me. Unlike you."
"Then die!" Ridley streaked forward. Samus rolled past his first attack, but it was hopeless from the start. His massive size allowed him to quickly corner her. He tried to catch her in his hands, but Samus managed to slip underneath him. Ridley's tail slashed around and hit Samus. That one blow was enough to cripple her. She flew back into a wall and felt her bones break. She landed pitifully onto the floor.
Ridley towered over her. His head drew back and he let out a frenzied cry. "No beast! No! Take her heart!" Ridley snapped back to attention. He extended one deadly claw and lowered it towards Samus. At that moment, Samus knew there was only one thing she could do, only one way to make a final resistance. When Ridley's blade lowered towards her, Samus summoned all her strength and lunged into it. The blade stuck straight through her chest and punctured her heart. Samus gasped as pain exploded all over her body. However, her pain was dwarfed by the scream of Mother Brain.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Samus was dropped onto the floor. Ridley fell back into a tumult of sparks and pain. Samus rolled onto her side. Waves of blood were pouring down her pale flesh. She watched dimly as the chozo armor that protected Ridley started to shrink. The beast howled in pain, and used his great claws to tear apart the armor. Pieces of the disposed armor fell within arms reach of Samus.
The pain was lessening. Samus knew that she only had a few more moments left to live. She had frustrated her enemies for the last time, and that was enough for her. The room darkened, tunneling down into what occupied the space a few inches away from her; a piece of her chozo armor. Samus saw the metal flash, and turn from orange to white. Suddenly, and with vivid clarity she remembered the stained glass window. With all that she had left, Samus reached out. She touched the piece of armor and there was a great flash of white light.
Samus rose to her feet. Her armor reformed around her and there was a satisfying hum as her HUD came back online. She checked her scanners. All of her beams were available to her, and she had a full arsenal of missiles. The sheen of her white armor reflected on the walls. This caught the attention of Ridley who was still thrashing in pain. He flipped around and snarled at his suddenly revived enemy. "Impossible…"
Despite Mother Brain's fear, this last foe was as deadly as any she had ever encountered. The combined forces of Ridley's ferocity and Mother Brain's genius gave birth to a devastating new enemy. Samus had to employ every trick her suit and weapons had just to stay alive. However, her reborn power suit had not just returned to its previous functionality. It was lighter than her usual power suit, but just as durable. This proved the difference as Samus was kept on the run.
She evaded Ridley's attacks and responded with a barrage of missiles. Mother Brain kept Ridley from devolving into simple tactics, and every time Samus felt she got the edge, the supercomputer would change strategies. Twice, Ridley managed to catch Samus in his claws. She only managed to escape with a quick morph ball and breaking his grip with power bombs.
The duel lengthened, and eventually, Samus' stores of weapons had drawn low. Ridley had been exhausted as well. It appeared that Mother Brain was not sensitive to the dragon's pain, and had allowed Ridley to take too much damage to non essential areas. Samus checked her HUD and saw that she had enough missiles left for one more super. "This is it." Her fingers danced on the hull of her arm cannon. One last shot would determine everything.
Mother Brain seemed to sense the finality of their next engagement. She hesitated, no doubt calculating thousands of possible scenarios. It wouldn't matter. Samus did not have to win a thousand times, just once. She rushed forward, crossing the gap between them in seconds. Ridley roared, temporarily ignoring the control of Mother Brain in favor of fighting Samus himself. At the last moment, Samus used her grapple beam to swing to the left. She hit the far wall and back flipped into the open air. Ridley had over pursued. She flew over him and all he could do was look at her in wonder. Samus aimed at the brain erupting out of his skull and fired.
Her super missile hit its target and Ridley went down in a puff of smoke. Samus landed near the doors of the throne room. She panted and dropped to her knees. Ridley had fallen near the point where she had been bleeding earlier. Samus saw the red stains slowly start to bubble. She watched in exasperation as her blood turned to phazon and blanketed Ridley's corpse.
"No….." Mother Brain had been torn to shreds by the blast of the super missile, but now chunks of phazon were filling in the gaps. Ridley stirred, his jaw hung open at an odd angle. The phazon was reanimating his body, lifting him back up. Samus could not fight anymore. She charged up her power beam and directed it at this new monstrosity. The Ridley zombie lurched forward. "Afdafadkfadjfk" The disembodied voice of the corrupted Mother Brain spoke through him.
Samus had never seen anything quite so repulsive. Pure hatred surged inside her. A hatred she had long held dormant within. This one mutant was a combination of everything that Samus hated most. The monster that had killed her family, the unfeeling a.i that sought to dominate the universe, and the liquid poison that had killed the peaceful Chozo, and had tried to corrupt her. That hatred boiled over. Samus' arm cannon began to glow with an ethereal white light. Samus' arm shook with the sudden surge of power. "DIE!" She screamed as she fired. The blast struck Ridley in the chasm inside his chest. He exploded in one burst of light.
Samus was knocked backward. The corpse of Ridley shifted and then melted. Pure phazon lay unmoving in a puddle on the floor. Samus watched it, certain that it was not yet destroyed. A hand emerged out of the reek. It slipped against the floor as it tried to take hold of something. Samus crawled backward in fear. Steadily, a naked woman emerged out of the puddle. Purple veins crossed all over her otherwise flawless physique. The reborn Samus looked down at her counterpart. Her head fell back and she let out an inhuman screech!
The yell struck Samus like a physical blow. She fell back onto the floor and rocked back and forth. The sound felt as if it were piercing her like tiny knives. Samus flung off her helmet and covered her ears. The pain was overwhelming. Samus screamed to try and drown out the sound.
Samus woke up with a start. She grasped the armrests of her chair and looked around, her heart racing. She was back inside her gunship. Stars wheeled past the viewscreen ahead of her. All was quiet. Samus sat up and tried to calm herself down. "It was just a dream." Samus was sure she had never had a dream like that before.
She stood up and approached her computer. Samus hesitated before entering the command. "It wasn't real, it was all just a dream." But Samus could not convince herself that that was true. Something had happened, and she knew that there was only one way to check for sure. Hesitantly, she started to type in the command. When she had left Tallon IV, she had been certain that she had destroyed everything in that crater.
But, now all she could see in her mind was the image of the woman emerging from the phazon. She had been born from the blood Samus had left on the floor. Hadn't Samus done something similar back on the planet? When the phazon had been pulled out of her suit, what if it hadn't just died? Samus punched in the command and waited. Her ship's scanners did the work, searching for signs of life back in that impact crater. A blimp appeared on the screen. Something was moving, crawling slowly up the gaping hole in Tallon IV's surface. A cold thrill came over Samus. Something had survived. The threat of the phazon had only just begun.