Darkness Remade, Part One By Michael Bridge - nintendogamer794@hotmail.com ----------------------- Samus aran stared out at the emptyness of space. It had been two years since her encounter with the SA-X and the destruction of the planet SR-388, now rumored to have never existed in the first place. No doubt a cover-up from the federation. Samus' entire life had had always been hidden. All her adventures, her missions, and even her own existance had been covered up and forgotten because of the feds. She had never completely understood why the federation had used such secrecy. She had potentially saved the galaxy time after time, yet she was still the unseen savior from the unknown danger. The shadow in space hidding the truth. The reality that the universe was never safe at all... She knew that the federation would have never stood a chance against any of the creatures, the monstrossities, the evil that she had faced alone. This gave Samus a sense of purpose and meaning. She fought, won, and saved the the cosmos from harm. Yet life for her went on, unchanged despite all her adventures. Save her recent encounter with her "old" C.O, Adam Malkovich. This had given samus that she had lost comprehension of for the longest time. Understanding and true friendship. A person to talk to, who understood her. Love was out of the question for her. But she was grateful for companionship of this manner. ------ She was currently following a lead she had concerning the Chozo. She had once come close to a surviving colony located on Tallon Four, but by the time she had arrived, they were all dead. This time, she was not going to let that happen. Samus was headed for the planet Twin-Tabula, a planet known for a deadly desease known as the "twin fever". She was not sure how/ if the Chozo there were still alive, but she was confident that her power-suit's artificial life-support system would protect her. At least, she hoped... She landed on the planet and immediatly set out for ground reconaissance. She almost instantly found a transport room. It was definatly Chozo-made, but it was in ruins. The wreckage was recent. Something had definatly happened. She scanned tha area, as she turned around, she saw that the door was locked! A bird-like shriek came from above her. A Chozo came plummeting down from the open ceiling. When the golden creature hit the ground, it melted away into a blue puddle. It was Phazon! She looked up again. Standing above her were two figures. The sun made it so that she couldn't see them properly, only their silhouettes were visible, but she was certain they both looked like her. Then it hit her. "SA-X..." She cursed. Both simultaniously fired at her. She attempted to dodge, but was caught in the blast. Then, everything went dark... Images flashed through her head. She saw an army of Space Pirates. They were handling a group of Metroids, but they were tame! She then saw Elite pirates, Omega Pirates, and several other verieties. She saw herself leading them against a swarm of shadowed figures. " Wha- What am I seeing?" She asked herself. " What you must see if you are to overcome the darkness that you have unleashed." A voice replied. " A force of darkness? That I unleashed? What are you talk-" Samus was cut off by a brilliant flash of light in front of her. And then she saw- -------------------- Samus awoke abrubtly in the middle of a battle. She was still in the transport room. She looked up to see herself sorrounded by a small batallion of Space Pirates who were, for whatever reason, protecting her. They were shooting upwards at the two figures. The pirates dragged her from the room. Still firing upwards, some stayed to hold the ennemies off. "But..." Samus protested, but then she fell unconciouss. ------------------- The SA-X observed that the pirates were removing Samus from the battle. The Dark one finished off the last of the pirate filth and loked down upon the fresh batch of Phazon it had created from the dead Chozo creature. With one movement , the Dark one made the phazon reform into a chozo, but it was black as night. And it's mind was now unpure. " The Huntress is here." It stated. " Do we proceed?" The SA-X responded. " No, this changes our strategy." The first one replied. " How? She is no threat." The second protested. " Perhaps, but she may aid the pirates in their attempt." " She has defeated us before, we must eliminate her." " The hunter has not destroyed me as she did you." The first one confirmed. " But they will attempt to-" " They will NOT succeed. She cannot defeat IT." The black SA-X walked slowly toward the chozo, ending the disscussion. " Agreed." The second complied... The dark one nodded at the chozo. The Chozo rose and flew off into the distance. " Did she see?" The SA-X asked. " I cannot be sure, there was another within her mind. It sensed my pressence and withdrew itself before I could aquire more information. At any rate, she is being aided." " If the Hunter has seen she will attempt to make contact with-" The Black SA-X cut him off. " She will not contact the others, they are beyond her aid now." " What of the pirates?" " If the hunter is to attack us, she will require their aid. But this causes a problem for us because of the one you attempted to assimilate. We must destroy them soon, before they become aware of IT." The Black SA-X left it at that, and walked away. " ..." --------------- Samus awoke. The first thing she did was check her energy reserves. She had two tanks and 29 units remaining. This was not good. She looked around. As far as she could tell, she was in a space pirate fortress. She was in a cell, blocked off by a forcefeild. But the access panel was on the other side. She checked her weapons. Nothing was damaged or malfunctioning. She sat down and thought for awhile. If she attempted to escape with only two energy tanks, she would be killed. In a sense she was happy. Samus didn't like running away from anything, no matter her chances for survival. She always got the job done. Whatever it was. And right then her job was to find out what the hell was going on... After an hour, a space pirate passed her "cell". It fidled with a box attached to it's throat. " GGGRRASHNAH! HUGHNTER, DO YOUGH HEARGH ME." It asked in a sense that made it sound more like a statement than a question. Samus stood up, but before she could reply the pirate continued. " GHOOD, YGHOU FOLLOW ME." It deactivated the forcefield and led her into what looked like a small control center. She followed the pirate to the center of the room, which had an elevator platform. Her "guide" motionned for her to step onto the platform. Samus, wanting awnsers, obeyed and stepped onto the elevator. ----------------------- The elevator took her up to an immensly large circular room with no noticable features, save a large hole in the center of the ceiling. A female voice came from above her. " Hunter. You remember the planet Tallon Four. Yes?" " I do..." Samus awnsered. " If you remember, it was infested with the mutagen known as phazon. Did you ever wonder where the phazon had come from?" " Who are you?" Samus demanded. " I was the one you knew as Ridley. At any rate, I traced the mutagen to it's previous source: Here." " Why are you telling me this? Why am I here?" " I tell you because you must know, you are here to tell me..." A platform descended from the ceiling. When Samus saw what was on it, she gasped. " ...What did you do to me!?! What in God's name did you do to me!!!" the form before her yelled. For standing before samus was an exact duplicate of herself. Suit and all... ------------------- " What the hell did you do to me?!?" Her double shouted. " I..." Samus was speechless. Her copy took off her helmet, revealing the human face underneath. " I'm human now! I'm weak, I have emotions and, to top it all off. I'm a -----ing female!!!" Ridley stepped toward Samus, as if he/she intended to fight Samus. " Wha- What happened to you? You...", Samus was at a loss for words," ... hang on, you think I did this to you?" " What do you mean? Of course you did! I saw you attack me with... I don't know. What DID you do to me?" Ridley asked. 'Ridley' was now calm, she was trying to interrogate Samus, rather than accuse her. Ridley moved towards Samus slowly. " I already told you! I didn't do anything, I only just arrived on this planet. My ship's records can acount for that!" " ... So you say it wasn't you? My entire batallion saw you attack me! They attempted to destroy you once and for all, but you had vanished." Ridley explained. " It wasn't me! I don't know what the hell you're talking about... Are you certain it wasn't-" Samus cut herself off. THAT wasn't even a possibility, THEY had all been destroyed two years ago. But Samus had to be sure, she had seen one in the transport room... Or at least, she thought she had. " But how?" Samus thought to herself. " Did... IT look like I am now?" Samus asked as she motionned towards her Fusion Suit. " No, it didn't, it-", Ridley stoped herself," .... NO- not them... they can't be here- the Vertigon..." Ridley was suddenly scared. " The Vertigon? What are they? Do you mean the X?" Samus was now certain it was them. " They have many names. The Vertigons are parasites that feed off the very flesh of their victims. Destroying them from the inside. They then mimic their prey perfectly. They infect, destroy, and poison everything around them. Much like the phazon." " Yeah, about that. You said it's source was here?" Samus motionned towards the ground " On this planet?" " I did, didn't I? Well, at any rate, it's true. My team tracked the trajectory of the meteor's flight path to this planet several years ago. We immediatly began to study the native envirronement. We found a small chozo settlement. But the chozo, having heard of us, posed... A problem. They... Resisted. So, naturally, we slaughtered them. Only then did we realise our mistake. The phazon reanimated them, creating a new threat to our outpost. The precence of the animated phazon doubled the effect of the "twin fever" on our forces. The Twin-Fever IS phazon Samus. It is a gaseous form of the substance. When our researchers finally realised this, we set out on an expedition to it's largest pure concentration. That was when I met the Vertigon mimiking you. My guess is that when my team finally cured me of the Vertigon by using a metroid, your DNA remained in my body, adapting the same way as the Vertigon did. Eventually transforming me into you." " There were Chozo? Here?!? And you killed them?" Samus was shocked. " Yes, quite brutally." Ridley stated. " And you were cured with a Metroid? How did you get one? They all became extinct after the destruction of the planet SR-388! How did you guys get your hands on one?" " We, like the " Galactic Federation", preserved a cell culture of Metroids. I now wish we had not. For the Vertigon's remenants caused me to turn into this. I would have rather died than become... You." Ridley said in a dark tone. In a sense, Samus pitied Ridley... She had been a proud warrior, turned into the one thing she had hated most. " And now," Ridley continued", I find you. My eternal nemesis. I would normally enjoy to finally taste your flesh. But now is not the time to settle the score. There are several problems that require my immediate attention." " The SA-X..." " The what?" Ridley was confused. " The X- The Vertigon mimiking me, it was named the SA-X." " Yes, I am shocked that the federation revealed their cell culture of metroids just to save you, Samus Aran, and then fake their dissapearance." Ridley explained. " What do you mean? I destroyed them all!" " No, you didn't. If you meant the Biologic Space Reasearch Lab then yes, you did destroy "all" the metroids... there anyway." " Are you telling me that those federation asses have MORE metroids?" " Where do you think we found ours?" " So you hijacked one of their supply ships? Like you guys did last time?" " Yes. But at any rate, you have obviously had dealings with the Vertigons before. So you are no doubt aware of their reproductive abilities. Am I correct in assuming this?" Ridley asked. " I am." " Then you wouldn't be suprised if I told you that there are now no less than One-Thousand-Two-Hundred-And-Fifty-Eight (1258) of them on this planet as we speak." " WHAT?!? I could barely kill one of them on my own? But almost fifteen hundred of them!!! This is insane!" " We are aware of that. And so we have aquired... Additionnal ressources to aid us in our fight. Follow me" Ridley led a still shocked Samus to another transport room. As they arrived at their destination after using the transport, Ridley abruptly turned around at Samus. " You must never allow what you are about to see to ever happen again! Understood?" " What?" Samus was confused again. " This room is not being monitored so I can speak freely here without alerting the others of my condition. I AM you now Samus Aran. I have all of "our" memories, all of our feelings, emotions... So I tell you now. Do not allow this," Ridley motionned towards the door", to EVER happn again. Got it?" " ... Yeah, sure." Samus was cautious, unsure if Ridley was being honest with her or not. Ridley entered an access code into a control panel beside the door. It unlocked itself and opened. " This, is our army!" Ridley said as they entered the enormous room. " ...!!!" Samus could not beleive it. For in front of Samus was the largest, most terrifying force that she had ever seen. ------------------- Everything that the pirates had ever done on Tallon Four related to the phazon program was in front of her. She saw Metroids, of every variety. She could see Elite and Omega pirates. Kraid was present also, but he paled in comparison to the others. Samus understood now why Ridley feared this ever happening again. " We used the phazon present on this planet to enhance our forces. We rushed the process, making their lifespans lower than average, but they will serve their purpose in the war that is to come." Ridley led Samus through the laboratory to a door on the other end. They entered a small chamber. " ... Can we honestly expect to win?" Samus asked seriously. " Yes, but only if we leave in the next five hours. As I said , the process was rushed, they only have 12 hours until phazon madness ensues and cellular degrading begins. The phazon knows what we are doing to it, and so it's genetic strain is attempting to modify itself." " Genetic strain? You mean this stuff's alive?" Samus had never considered it before. " Yes, we didn't realise it until we analysed the source here." " So we leave in 5 hours?" " No, two. We need to make it to our fortress ahead of time to install a suficient defense system. There is a chamber up ahead," Ridley fired a missile at one of the walls, revealing a hidden passage", rest there. Then we fight hell." Then Ridley left, leaving Samus to rest. ----- Far away, the SA-X army was also ready for battle. They moved out. " Will the hunter be there?" The SA-X asked the dark one. " She will, the pirates recruited her into their forces." " Has IT been relocated?" " Yes, IT requested immediate departure to homeworld." " Good. Then all is going according to plan." " It is." ------- Back at the base.... " Samus!" Ridley yelled as he burst in upon a still sleeping Samus. " Wh- wha ( yawning) t is it?" " I'm sorry to bother you, but we have just received confirmation that the Chozo are gone!" Ridley stated. " Gone? Where to?" Samus asked, now fully awake. " We're not sure yet, but we're working on it. But now, it's time to move out." " Got it. Did you transport my ship as I requested?" Samus asked. " Yes. It's in the docking bays as we speak." " Good." Samus moved towards the exit, but Ridley stopped her. " What is it?" Samus asked. " I- ... Can-... When this is over can I come with you away from the space pirates?" Ridley managed to ask. " What?" " Listen, when the space pirates find out about my full transformation, they will terminate me. I want to come with you. Help the galaxy, atone for my crimes. That sort of thing." Ridley explained. " ... Are you sure?" Samus asked. Ridley nodded "Fine. You can come with me." " Thank you." He said as they entered the docking bay. ----- " Get the Elite Pirates into the transports!" " Move it!!!" " Are those defense turrets ready?" It was pandemonium in the hangers. The pirates had installed translators onto themselves so that Samus could understand them. Samus and Ridley boarded their ship, and set out for the fortress. " We've installed your ship with a plasma artillery cannon." " Ridley, what happened to the Mother Brain?" " It was destroyed upon our arrival by the Vertigon." " Was it infected?" " We do not know. If it was, we are all in more danger than any of us could have imagined." Samus saw the other ships leaving. " Adam?" " Yes, lady?" " Match their speed and follow close behind." " Got it." Adam responded. ------ After 45 standard minutes, they arrived at the fortress. The X had not occupied it, nor had they destroyed it after the Space Pirates had abandonned it. It remained untouched. Partially prestine. The space pirates moved out. " Elites! Man the towers! Do not use ground quake! Rely soly on your methane missile launchers!" A space pirate commander shouted to the incoming troops. A scout robot returned from the desert. It was oval shaped with a single red scanner in it's front. It was not bult for combat like the security drones Samus had seen on Tallon Four, but she could tell that it's hull was just as strong. " The enemy forces arrive in 2 cycles." It reported in a monotonistic voice to Ridley. " Shadow pirates, out sorrounding the fortress! Troopers too!" Another commander shouted. The odds were against them, Samus knew that. Despite their overwhelming number, they were weakened by the atmosphere. ----- The SA-X came one cycle earlier than predicted. Guns blazing, from the south. The metroids were immediatly set loose, anhialating the front lines of the oncoming forces. Ridley and Samus moved in, with everything else following close behind. Samus fired her Wavebuster cannon, while Ridley used her flamethrower. The fortress' units fired also. The defense turrets, the elite pirates and the regular pirates fired their projectile weapons onto the oncoming forces. Within ten seconds all hell had broken loose. Then. The black figure Samus had seen earlier, stepped forward, then it raised it's arm, blocking the projectiles with some kind of barrier. It motionned for it's forces to ceasefire. Samus did the same. " Samus..." The creature snarled. " Why are you here? How did you survive? Just what are you?" " We are here to destroy you, we survived any way we could, we are the shadows cast out by the light. I am the vassel of that which will rule supreme!" "... No! I won't let you!" Samus leaped into the air and fired 5 super missiles in rapid succession at the creature. The first two hit the creature by suprise, but it quickly raised it's barrier, blocking the others. Samus started to descend, and began to ready another super missile. The black SA-X turned it's arm cannon into a sword and stabed Samus in the center of her body just as she landed on the ground. " Now then, what else have you got?" It mocked as it withdrew it's sword and began walking away from a shocked Samus. " DAAMMNNNN YOOOUUUU!!!!!" Ridley screamed as Samus' body went limp. Ridley's own arm cannon immediatly glowed a bright blue as he fired an immense beam aimed at the black figure. Then the arm cannon morphed into a white blade. The armys had resumed their battle. Ridley let loose a flury of slashes upon the black deamon, most cut right through it. Slicing it to pieces. The Black Creature didn't have a chance to say or do anything. It was dead before it hit the ground. A mixture of blue and red liquid oozed from it's remains. " ...IT... Will.. kill you all... heheh..." The dark SA-X said as it died. The battle raged on, most of the pirates were dying, but Ridley managed to compensate for their loses. After another twenty minutes of battle, very few SA-X remained. Most of them chose to flee, but the others were killed. Soon the battle was won.... ---- " Samus!!!" Ridley rushed past the dead corpses to where the bounty hunter lay. " ... Win?" She breathed. " Yes, yes Samus. We won." " Good..." then a black shadow moved over her body, when Ridley looked up to see what it had been it was gone. When he looked back down at Samus, she was dead. " Nooo!!!" Ridley slammed her fists onto the ground of the cold, dead planet. ---- Ridley arrived back at Samus' ship. She slowly made her way to the console. Samus was dead, nothing Ridley could do would change that. Still, Ridley was almost certain that there was something left. Something to live for. " Adam?" Ridley asked. " What would Samus do now?" " You would keep doing what you've always done. Knowing that it's right, and that it's worth it." Adam responded, sightly confused as to what was happening, but aware that something was amiss. " That sounds about right to me." Ridley said. The remaining pirates were readying to destroy the ship once and for all, just as they were charging the pulse cannon to destroy the ship, it's engines roared to life, and lifted into the air. It turned toward the cannon and fired it's front plasma cannons, destroying the weapon and most of the pirates nearby. It then rose higher into the atmosphere before blasting away at full speed... -------------------------------- Samus was alive. Alive in the sense that she was somehow still on the planet, she was somewhat transparent. She stood in the battlefeild alone. She was more than slightly dissoriented, and unsure of what had happened. Samus watched as Ridley left the planet in her old ship. It wasn't as if she would be using it any time soon... or ever again for that matter. But she was still saddened by the recent turn of events. She had died, at the hands of the Phazon-X, yet a chozo had saved her. She was certain of that now, she hadn't seen it, but she knew it had been one... She turned back to the now empty feild where the battle had just occured, she "walked" awhile, then came upon her own body. She had been stabbed by the Phazon-X's black sword. She starred at her corpse for awhile, then attempted to pass into it, but just as she did so, it melted into a puddle of blue liquid. It then floated up and shot itself into space. " Here we go!" Samus said to herself as she flew out after it.