Chapter 3: Nature Walk

The morph ball trundled through the jungle overgrowth. Thankfully, the map overlay they can access enables them the ability to know which direction is north, telling them that they are traveling south currently. They were grateful that this technology would prevent them from becoming lost in the environment. They occasionally checked it, seeing that the immediate environment would fill out with a bright white coloration, while the places they once visited would pale to a darker gray to signify that the terrain had been mapped, no longer needing to be updated.

The morph ball had used this map quite extensively when navigating this jungle environment. Despite the grassy hillocks, sludgy swamps, gnarled vegetation, and overabundance of trees as far as the morph ball's nonexistent eyes can see, this jungle had its own fair share of dangers that they had to navigate around. There had been several occasions where aggressive insects, small reptiles, leeches, and even some hidden vines that reached out and grabbed whatever movement they could sense, had tried to assail the morph ball in some way. However, the smaller pests, despite their best efforts, were quickly drained of their energy before the damage they might have caused became too substantial. But the pests that were significantly larger, especially any animal that was equal to or greater than the morph ball's size, posed a significant threat to them.

The giant scorpion-centipede thing, as an example, was large, strong, aggressive, and confident enough to chase down that strange armored jeep vehicle thing. The morph ball has never seen that kind of animal before in their life. The morph ball made a mental note to themself to never go near those monsters. Luckily for them, they haven't encountered another one of those beasts during their expedition into this jungle.

But that still didn't mean the morph ball wasn't safe yet! There was a fair number of beasts that were enormous in size, or that a particular plant seemed to be adapted to ambush and consume prey of various sizes. In fact, much of the plants and animals that the morph ball observed and witnessed seemed to be incredibly adapted in a sense that they were actively aggressive to human life, or even sentient life itself.

As such, the morph ball has decided to don themself with the name Cularities, and purchased the Spider Ball, Timed Bomb, Remote Bomb, Trap Bomb, and Weighted Bomb upgrades, as well as a few Energy Parts to create a new Energy Tank.

The Spider Ball upgrade was unlike anything they had expected. When they focused, a row of rubbery plates and spiked spines protruded from the vertical center of their morph ball form, which is to say the midline of their body. These spikes seemed efficient enough to dig and grip onto whatever surface they were attached to, and they have tested this power on both wood and stone surfaces with much success. The rubber plates could also deform in some ways, which can become flat and suction-cup to smooth surfaces, or feather out into tiny hairs like setae, which is to say the clingy feet of the noble gecko. Cularities hypothesized that these rubber plates might also have some magnetic properties to them. The only surfaces that Cularities can think of that the Spider Ball power-up cannot possibly climb consisted of melting ice walls, glass that had a film of soap soaking it, or smooth Teflon.

Then there was the new bombs, which had their own advantages and caveats.

The differences between these new bombs and the old bombs that were key to leaving the underground Chozo room were both subtle and quite different. For one, Cularities had never hurt themselves with their old normal morph ball bombs. But the new bombs were different enough that, even though they did the same amount of damage, they had the ability to hurt the bomb layer if they were not careful. They assumed that this was their karmic punishment for their complaining that the bombs were not modular enough.

And these new bomb modules were quite advanced!

The Timed Bomb power-up could be modulated to extend the time it takes for the bomb to normally detonate. Which is to say that it could detonate longer than one second. The normal bombs usually defaulted to blowing up after being laid a second later. With Timed Bombs, Cularities could set the timer anywhere between one second, to eighty six thousand and four hundred seconds, or twenty four hours in layman's terms. Quite useful if they were to plan for an ambush at the right time. They could lay multiple bombs in a single spot, and the damage could be amplified with every consecutive bomb planted.

Remote Bombs have some similarities to Timed Bombs. They are defaulted to detonate after 24 hours, much like the Timed Bombs on their maximum timer settings, but they could be triggered remotely from a distance away. This could be used as a means to set up very specific traps that doesn't require perfect timing, meaning that they can trigger the Remote Bombs when their target gets at the location they've rigged for the ambush. But then again, these bombs cannot be selectively triggered. All bombs with the Remote Bomb module triggers will all be affected when the detonation trigger is activated.

The Trap Bomb, like the Timed Bomb, will default to detonate after 24 hours after being lain. But unlike the bombs before it, the Trap Bomb reacts to physical stimulus, meaning that if something touched it, like a rock or a foot, the bomb will detonate. However, they can also have a primer timer, which can be set anywhere between one second or eighty six thousand and four hundred seconds. This means that, under the maximum settings, the Trap Bomb could wait 24 hours before it primes itself and explode when touched or until its detonation timer counts down to zero 24 hours later. Another discovery Cularities found is that the Trap Bombs can also react to each other, detonating in a daisy-chain of explosions if the bombs neighboring each other were placed close enough.

The Weighted Bombs had stranger functions to them, which opened Cularities up to several other possible strategies and other discoveries. They discovered that their bombs were only ever dangerous to themselves if their bombs' countdown timers were set to detonate after two seconds or more. Furthermore, weighted bombs are not only affected by gravitational forces, meaning that they can drop down from heights or roll with the same inertia and momentum Cularities has, but can also be further modulated with the Timer, Remote, and Trap Bomb modules combined. One thing Cularities has noted when using the Trap and Weighted bomb modules is how they sometimes contradict with the bomb itself. Meaning that, if the Weighted Trap Bomb primes itself before it lands on the ground, it'll detonate whenever it is disturbed by physical contact when it is at rest. Unless the timing is right, or if the the bombs could be triggered remotely, laying a trap on the ground from the ceiling itself would be an inexhaustible and valuable strategy. So long as there is a ceiling for strategies using the weighted bomb module to work.

However, depending on how these bombs could be planted, Cularities could easily see themself becoming too enthusiastic with their bomb laying. It could create a chain of events that would either destroy an area, blow themselves up, draw unwanted attention, or a combination of the three. Nonetheless, Cularities thought of the ways in which they could lay multiple bombs and have them detonate simultaneously, with each bomb planted increasing the overall force of their explosions.

Eat your heart out, Bomberman. Cularities thought.

They would have been grinning from the thought alone, had they a face to emote with.

Or if they were not surviving on this strange and deadly jungle.

Apparently, their experimentation with the new bomb modules resulted in attracting several prowling monsters. There was a pack of strange dogs that chased after them. They looked like a mix between a wolf and a monitor lizard. Their drooling mouths, mixed with noxious breath and green saliva, didn't seem very appealing to Cularities. They decided to use their newly unlocked Spider Ball power-up to climb up one of the trees, graying and dusting its surface as they scaled up the bark. Cularities noticed this, so they decided to turn off their Energy Drain ability for the moment. They would rather not use it on the tree that kept them from the ground, lest they weaken it and make it fall to the danger that lurked below them.

Regardless of Cularities' presence being up in the tree, the flowers of this tree fell and landed on one the predators. The flower exploded into a cloud of spores, which made the creature gag, convulse, and then flailed in panic as its lungs were blocked. They fell over dead a minute later.

Taking inspiration from the spore flowers, Cularities climbed on the branches of the trees and let loose a deluge of Weighted Bombs onto their pursuers. "BACK OFF YOU REPTO-HOUNDS!"

A repto-hound gained a face-full of bombs, which resulted in their ugly mug becoming burnt and melted from the attack. Even with the new deaths delivered to their pack, the repto-hounds stood away from the sporing tree's flowers and Cularities' bombing range. However, Cularities noticed that as time passed, more repto-hounds joined the pack, growing their numbers.

Cularities managed to flee from the initial repto-hound that discovered them, using a series of bombs that killed their first pursuer. However, with more bombs being used, the detonations seemed to attract their repto-hound brethren and/or kin. Cularities even had to use their Boost Ball power-up to skid across a face and leap over for safety.

"Do you guys have literally nothing to do other than to bully someone the size of a beach ball?" Cularities growled. The repto-hounds growled back in kind. With a sigh, Cularities assessed their situation. "Okay. I'm stuck up a tree with no way to get back onto the ground, all without those sons-of-bitches trying to nip at my ankles. ... Uh... Wait. I don't have ankles. ... Anyway! What I need is a way to get away from here. Hmm. How much energy have I got?"

Their current energy level was at 399/399. They were also just one Energy Part away from getting a new Energy Tank, but they didn't feel like fighting the beasts unless there was no other way. The Cross Bomb upgrade could add some extra damage to their repertoire of bombs, but they felt certain the Unable to purchase notification would pop up regardless. Which leaves them with two other upgrades to purchase. Fusion Suit and Energy Magnet.

Cularities decided to purchase Energy Magnet first. They waited for several seconds, but nothing happened. They could feel the climbing spikes of their Spider Ball ball morph form digging deeper into the tree they clung to out of frustration. "Okay. This is probably the first useless upgrade I have ever bought. Wonderful."

The repto-hounds growled at them again. There were still more coming out from the jungle woods.

"AND HOW MANY MORE OF YOU ARE THERE?!" Growls only responded to Cularities. Unsatisfied with the answer, Cularities once more sighed. There was a limit to the amount of bombs that they could lay at a time. Apparently, they are only able to lay four bombs in quick succession, and are only able to lay four more bombs a second later. Despite being able to lay four bombs per second, Cularities could tell that it wouldn't be near enough bombs to deter this many predators at once. However, there was one more option available to Cularities. The Fusion Suit upgrade. Cularities hoped that, by unlocking this power-up, they might somehow create deadly radiation that would either deter the repto-hounds or make them sick enough to give up on chasing after their would-be prize. With very little other options, Cularities gave up on saving their energy and spent it on the upgrade.

They were suddenly falling, with wooden limbs breaking across their body and strangely new blue limbs flailing in panic. Cularities landed on the ground in a tumbled mess, but they were unharmed. They pushed off from the ground and noticed blue arms pushing them off of the ground. They were bulky and light blue, with spines poking out of the forearms. Most importantly, Cularities noticed that these arms were actually THEIR arms. They also felt their legs flexing forward, letting them see their knees for the first time.

"HWAT~?"

The quick patter of an animal run was the only thing that warned Cularities of the danger they were still in. Reflexively, they kicked off of the ground, reverted back into their morph ball form, and sped up the tree with their Spider Ball power-up activated as the flowers of the spore tree fell and killed yet another repto-hound, whom were eager to get a quick kill despite the danger the spore tree presented. Slowly, Cularities found themself a sturdy branch in which to rest on without being assisted by their Spider Morph ability. Then, experimentally, they stood up. They saw their hands. They each had five digits. Fingers and thumbs. The underside of the hands had textured rubber prints, which held the ability to firmly grasp at an object. They looked down and saw that the soles of their feet were similarly textured, but were also heavy like a pair of boots. They reached up to their face, but found that it was covered by some kind of armored dome and a glassy visor.

"... This is the Fusion Suit? But... I thought... I thought it was gonna be radioactive?" Cularities could feel frustration well up within themselves. "GRR. OKAY. I WOULD LIKED TO HAVE KNOWN I COULD HAVE BOUGHT THIS FORM BEFOREHAND, BUT LIKE ENERGY MAGNET, I COULD COUNT THIS AS A USELESS UPGRADE TOO!"

Yipping howls and growls from the repto-hound pack answered Cularities in kind.

"AND YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" Cularities answered back, pointing at them all. Cularities took in a deep breath and sighed. "Okay. Maybe something new unlocked this time? Let's see..."

Energy Part: cost 99

Cross Bomb: cost 399

Power Bomb: cost 999

Force Ball: cost 299

Death Ball: cost 449

Power Beam/Arm Cannon: 99

Scan Visor: 99

"Hmm? Power beam? Arm Cannon? Scan Visor? Uh..." Cularities checked their Energy Meter and could see that it had been growing a small supply of energy during this conflict. It could be that the deaths of the repto-hounds had release a small amount of energy, and that energy was absorbed by them. That or his Energy Leech ability they had turned off while up in the spore tree had turned back on somehow. They noticed they have around 115/399 energy in their Energy Meter, and that their Energy Leech upgrade remained off. Strange. Did they take some damage from the repto-hounds or the spores from this tree? Either way, Cularities opted to purchase the Power Beam/Arm Cannon power-up.

A wash of light enveloped their right arm, while the typical energy alarm blared in their head. Their attention was drawn to the flash of light, and they saw what used to be a right blue arm with spines was now replaced with a chrome metal aperture. It looked like a complex tube of metal, with lines of light that evoked the assumption of power being diverted to the tip of the device. An errant flex of their hand made the device shot a flash of energy from its tip, revealing to be some kind of nozzle, or in this case, the barrel of a cannon.

An excited laugh rumbled out of Cularities' throat. "Now THIS is what I'm talking about! Hell yeah! Ha ha ha!" They gazed down at the horde of repto-hounds. Then at their arm cannon. Since the repto-hounds hounded Cularities to this point, they felt that there was no other recourse but to bring down their wrath on their pursuers at this very moment. "Let's turn the tables."

From the safety of the tree, Cularities fired at the droves of repto-hounds, making them scatter. When they scattered, Cularities began chasing behind them as they blasted their newly gained Power Beam. Shots of harmful energy leapt out of their arm cannon, battering and damaging the fleeing repto-hounds or killing the few stragglers that couldn't escape in time. The few that were braver than the cowards leapt towards Cularities, but unknown reflexes prompted Cularities to counter their attack. They heaved their arm cannon like a bludgeoning device against their biting maws and followed-up with a blast to their vital undersides, killing them instantly.

Experimentally, Cularities jumped onto one of the repto-hounds and reached out with their left hand to grab the scruff of their neck. They then picked up the repto-hound and threw it at the spore tree, making it spore its newest victim to death. The effort used to throw their assailant felt good. They could feel their arm muscles contract and retract. They felt stronger than how they remembered. Perhaps this was the Fusion Suit's doing? Could it be amplifying Cularities' muscle strength in some way?

Once the rest of the repto-hounds had been scared off, Cularities stood there for a moment before composing themself. They looked down at their body again, only this time trying to discern their own gender. The suit was too bulky, preventing themself from knowing the answer from simple observation. However, they checked their Energy Meter once more. 135/399. They seemed to have enough to purchase the Scan Visor upgrade. However, they used the energy to buy one more Energy Part, which then completely filled their Energy Meter as a new Energy Tank became accessible. It now read 499/499. With refilled energy, they then spent it on the Scan Visor power-up.

The Scan Visor activated a circular search reticle that seemed to be at the center of their vision and visor. They gazed upon their left hand and saw a loading bar appear and slowly filling itself.

Name: Cularities (self named)

Morphology: Modified human, enhanced with Chozo blood, Chozo powered armorsuit technology, and metroid antibodies.

Description: None. Please access the logbook to create an entry.

"... What. Come on! "

Cularities decided to scan one of the dead repto-hounds they killed.

Name: Unknown

Morphology: Poisonous mammal/reptile organism. (Dead)

Description: None. Please access the logbook to create an entry.

Cularities sighed as they turned off their Scan Visor. "Of course, of course. Why dare I make anything easier for myself?" They then gazed at their right arm, now encased with metal and weaponry. However, before they could berate themself even further, they remembered something important from the information they scanned. They reactivated their Scan Visor and looked at their left hand once more. They noticed two words in the entry that made their blood chill.

Metroid antibodies.

Did that explain how they were able to drain energy? And why was it locked behind an upgrade? Did their morph ball body somehow suppressed it till they gathered enough energy to unlock it? And why did Cularities even have metroid antibidies? How did they get in their body? And how was the Scan Visor power-up able to discern this information, but fail to provide a description to compliment it? There were too many unknown variables, and Cularities was feeling vulnerable without the knowledge they desired.

Thumping sounds could be heard from a fair distance away. Cularities blinked before they decided to curl into a ball and stilled themself.

"I swears it on Gork and Mork. I heard fightin' over ere'."

"Don't be zoggin' stoopid. I erd' it too."

"Doesn't sound loik any weapon I ever erd' tho. Fink it moight be a beaky? Or dem humies? Maybe deh knoife ears?"

"We'll see it when we's see it. Keep yer gob shut."

If Cularities could blink, they would be blinking multiple times in confusion and shock. Two hulking green things slowly came into view. They were large humanoids, with slightly stocky legs, overly muscular arms, and a mouth full of fangs and tusks, with beady red eyes. They seemed to wear heavy armor that was cobbled together and were of poor quality. They also carried weapons of poor quality, but were large and seemed most suited to their size and strength, being little more than a hunk of sharpened metal welded to a handle, which was then honed into the shape of a heavy sword, or an axe. Cularities couldn't tell what kind of weapon it is. If they could use their Scan Visor on those strange beings, they might be able to get an idea what they are. However tempting, they didn't want to reveal their position. They stayed put where they were.

One of the beings looked at the corpses all around and prodded the bodies. "Hurr... Looks like dis pack of mutts found someone ta play wit, but dey ended up biting much more dan dey can chew. Dhese beasts were shot down."

The other nodded thoughtfully. "Must av' been a good foight dhen! I would have loved ta see it happen. Might ave' even joined in too!"

The first one shook their head and grunted. "Yeah well dhe foight's ovah. I don't see any bodies ere' odher dhan dhese mutts. Whatever dhey came across must a' been really ard'."

"So do we know what krumped dhese mutts?" The other asked, poking into the various burn holes that riddled the repto-hounds' bodies.

"No." The giant green man then peered down and spotted something. He reached down and picked it up before slowly inspecting it. "Hmm... Hey Garg. Wat's dhis fhing?"

The other green hulk came over. "Huh? Some kind of blue shiny ball bit?"

The first one shook their head again. "I dunno. It don't smell loik an egg, das fer sure."

"Could be a weapon dat was left behind." The other, Garg, suggested.

The first one smiled a toothy smile. "Ey, maybe it is!" He turned it around in his hands, giving a small scratch at what seemed like the seems, but found no purchase. "Hm. Uh. I dunno. Maybe it's not a weapon."

"It's not a weapon' my arse! Let me ave' a go." Garg looked at the object with dumbfounded fascination when it was handed to him. He tried turning it like a screw cap, but nothing happened. He then shook his head. "Bah. I ain't smart enough to figure dis out. I's thinkin' we take dhis to a boss. Or maybe da mekboss. He loiks tinkering wit stuff loik dhis. What do you fhink, Norcol?"

A rumbled, defeated growl answered. "Very well. Let's get back to our squad and deliver dhis weird fhing to our hidden listening outpost. Orks like us aren't supposed to be out ere' and too far away from dheir huntin' patrols anyway."

"Yeah yeah. Catachan devils are fun to fight, but dey look at us like dey would look at humies. All hungry loik." Garg said, brandishing what seemed to be like some kind of ranged weapon.

"Speaking of, I fhink dhere was supposed to be one sniffin' around here's." Norcol said, looking around warily.

Garg shook his head. "Yeah, uh, I don't fhink Catachan devils can cause dhis kind of krumpin'."

As the two orks made their way back to their hunting patrols, Cularities got carried away.

Literally.

By a creature that calls itself 'orks'.

"Hmm! I hope no wacky situation arises from being carried to the home of these two green burly things!" Is what I would say. Fek my life.

After a short trek, the two orks reunited with various other hulking green beings that were carrying hunting weapons and hunted game with them. They were told of the field of bodies around the spore tree. The hunting patrol split into two groups, one that would gather the slain bodies, while the other scouted a path forward. Apparently, from what information that Cularities could disseminate from the very guttural language of the orks, they were making an effort to return home.

A/N: YOU GOT THE TOUCH! YOU GOT THE POWAAAAAAAAAH!