| Sovereign Threads: The Spring Fanfiction Project |
April 2, 2004Metroid vs Pac-man: Chapter 1 Haven't I been through here before?! Samus was frustrateed, and not for the first time during the seemingly neverending mission deep in the bowels of the fortress planet Zebes did the bounty hunter even consider calling it quits. The mazelike interior was beginning to take its toll, passing through the same rooms over and over again, completely lost, without so much as even a hint of where to go next. The incoming geruta got one look at Samus's visor before being annihilated by a missile shot. In that one glance, the creature couldn't see through the visor to the person within. None of them could. She could see out, and no one could see in. It was all part of her keeping her true identity a secret. No one knew, not even the heads of the Galactic Federation. No one... except the Chozo. Shooting open a bubble door, Samus ran into the next room. She had been here before as well, but instead of cursing under her breath, she walked forward slowly with her gun arm lowered, and knelt down in front of the statue. The normally cold stone eyes of seemed to show compassion for the one knelt before it. Its empty hands were evidence of her accepting the gift it had for her. She had now come back, seeking an answer it knew it could not give. Seeing this statue again made Samus close her eyes, one tear dropping down her cheek that no one would ever see. Memories of the destruction of her home colony by the space pirates, memories of her as an orphan being taken in by the Chozo, and memories of her being given the Power Suit she now wore all came rushing back. The day she was sent off to "fly away from the nest" as the Chozo Elders called it, they told her that the Chozo would always watch over their Hatchling, no matter where she may go in her life. All of her training had paid off when she signed up to be a bounty hunter for the Galactic Federation. If there was a chance she could pay back what the space pirates have done to her and countless others, she would dive in head first. She was the best, and everyone knew it. Having almost no emotional ties, Samus was free to concentrate on her missions. It seemed almost destiny for her to be the one chosen to infiltrate the base planet of the very space pirates who nearly destroyed her life those many years ago. Standing back up, Samus mouthed a silent thank you to the Chozo statue. With her purpose and inner strength restored, the bounty hunter turned to walk back to the door. On her way, she felt something... or someone... guiding her back to the statue. Is there something you want to show me? A piece of the ceiling broke off and fell to the base of the platform where the statue rested. It only took one moment for Samus to realize what she had to do. Looking back up at the statue, Samus almost thought it was smiling at her. Thank you... for everything you've done for me. Rolling up into the Maru Mari, Samus layed a bomb where the ceiling debris layed, revealing a secret passage that ran underneath the statue's platform. Wasting no time, she rolled on through to the room beyond. ~~~~~~ Wakka wakka wakka... In the life of a dot muncher, there really isn't too much to think about. You run from ghosts, and you eat. Pellets, power pellets, ghosts you've turned blue from eating said power pellets, and the occasional fruit are all on the menu. All are quite tasty as well. That being said, Pac-Man had never questioned why he does what he does. He just does! The same goes for the ghosts. No one ever told them why they should go after Pac-Man, but they do it anyway. It's their way of life. One day though, as Pac-Man ate up an orange, he began to wonder as he ran. Was there a world outside the mazes he and the ghosts travelled day in and day out? Everytime he cleared a maze of dots, he and the ghosts are whisked away before that maze flashed and detonated. Of course, they are placed right back in another maze, sometimes exactly identical to the one he just destroyed. What exactly was the point of it all, anyway? Unbeknownst to Pac-Man, Blinky was thinking the same thing. While Pinky, Inky, and Sue continued their chase, Blinky hovered around inside the ghost box that's found at the center of every maze. His main goal in life was to get Pac-Man, without getting eaten by the yellow disc, of course. What kind of existence was that, anyway? Blinky sighed and knew he should get back to work, when the walls of the box around him began to shudder. Panicking, he closed his eyes to make the situation go away. Pac-Man didn't notice the walls of the maze begin to ripple and shake. When you're running for your life and eating at the same time, there's not much else to think about. The maze walls abruptly expanded and grew further apart, greatly separating the distance between Pac-Man and quartet of ghosts. When Blinky opened his eyes once more, the walls had taken on a more... rocky appearance... ~~~~~~ After blasting enemies in several rooms along her way, Samus finally came upon a tell-tale red door. Five missiles later, Samus entered to where another Chozo statue was lying in wait. The glowing orb in its hands called out to her, to make it one with her suit, to aid her along with the other items she had found scattered throughout Zebes. She was about to shoot the orb to reveal what was inside when the world around her seemed to ripple. Water-like waves shook the walls around her, as well as the statue. Just as soon as the world became blurry through her eyes, it all came into focus again. All around her, little yellow dots hung in the air, unaffected by gravity, and she could see a strange disc-like creature, also defying natural law, gobbling them up. Her natural instinct was to shoot it, since it was probably dangerous, but she was somewhat fascinated with the way it was feeding itself. That is, she was, until the creature followed the dots down to the Chozo orb and swallowed it whole... Chapter 2 Having found himself in a strange alien place, Blinky knew he had to find his three ghosts-in-arms, lest they have all the fun without him in this vastly larger maze. As he floated upwards through the entrance to their normal hideout, his eyes widened as to just how different everything was. Creatures that seemed to be on fire crawled along the outside of platforms. The shrieks of other abominations came from the very top of the room, apparently waiting for some prey to get closer to them before they dived downwards and snatched it up. Even stranger monsters floated passively back and forth, seemingly not caring about what goes on around them at all. Despite all this, it was comforting to see the small pellets scattered throughout the room. He and the ghosts protected these precious gems from that gaping hole of a mouth with their very lives... er, make that ghostly skins. For every time the enemy successfully eats every pellet in a maze, it gets destroyed, and Blinky was not going to let that happen. Especially important were the four power pellets. Once eaten, they gave the enemy the power to overcome his ghostly pursuers, even gaining the power to eat them... that barbarian! Being the leader of the ghostly quartet, Blinky was determined to chase Pac-Man down, at all costs, even in this bizarre new maze. Just as he was about to go find his comrades, a familiar and terrible feeling passed over him. Blinky started to shake uncontrollably, his skin turned blue, and the impulse to run like heck overcame him. The enemy has just eaten a power pellet! ~~~~~~ I don't feel so good... Pac-Man thought after devouring a strange looking power pellet. He saw it was pulsing with power, as power pellets were apt to do, but there was a covering on it, and it tasted awful! There also seemed to be something inside... but he brushed the thought aside as his taste buds complained over what he just ate. Squinting at the bad aftertaste, Pac-Man opened his eyes to the world around him... Where am I?! This isn't like the other mazes... Pac-Man eventually caught sight of what appeared to be a robot easily twice his size with orange armor and a gun for its right arm. Of course, having never seen anything remotely like it, Pac-Man did what he normally does... he ran for his life! ~~~~~~ A weapon the Chozo had left for me... gone. Samus was usually not one to let her emotions get the best of her, but this... thing... had just had a working Chozo artifact as a midday snack. The creature seemed to have sensed her anger, as it decided it was best to run away from her. Quickly raising her gun arm, Samus fired a barrage of Wave Beam shots. The yellow beams arced up and down through the air towards their destination. Upon reaching it, though, the shots had no effect. Tough shell... Switching her gun arm's firing mode, Samus tried a salvo of missiles this time, launching them in quick succession and all on target. The bounty hunter stared in shock as the creature turned around and an energy vortex started to swirl around it. The missiles were detonated by the makeshift shield, the explosions not even reaching the center. Panicking, the creature dove down into the ground, cutting through with the energy crackling around its body, leaving Samus alone with her fears. She peered down into the hole left by the yellow monster. It ate something powerful... too powerful, but how did it incorporate the Chozo technology into itself?! Whatever that thing was, I can not let it escape Zebes. Otherwise, there will be a threat to the universe equal to that of the metroids. Knowing she just had another objective tacked onto her mission, Samus rolled into a ball and followed. ~~~~~~ Blinky knew there was something wrong. It had been several minutes ago when he experienced compulsory fear, and it still had not let up. The effects of a power pellet generally lasted only half a minute at the most. Yet, here he was, still running and still blue. Floating through another bubble door, Blinky took a look over his shoulder when he bumped hard into something and fell to the floor. Shaking his head, Blinky was both surprised and relieved to find Pinky, Inky, and Sue on the ground across from him. "Where have you been, Blinky?! And what is going on here?" A blue Pinky asked while shivering in fright. "I honestly don't know. We are in a maze of some sort, and there are pellets we have to guard, but you guys have felt the enemy's power, too, right?" The others nodded. "The effects should have worn off by now, but we're still in danger! Something just isn't right." "Well, what are we going to do then?!" Inky asked, near hysterics. "We stay together and find the enemy. Hopefully, we'll be able to take him by then." As the four hovered off, Sue asked, "We are going to be back to our normal colors soon, right? I just hate being blue!" ~~~~~~ Normally after eating a power pellet, Pac-Man felt empowered, emboldened, like he could take on the world... for a short while, anyway. Now though, after realizing his newfound ability, he felt the same feelings, only more so. While gobbling up a line of pellets, he spotted one of those fiery creatures crawling along and in his way. Pac-Man would normally just turn around and run, getting around the obstacle somehow. Instead, he just grinned as he felt the energy swirl around him once more, obliterating the nova and continuing on his happy munching way. Nothing could stop him from eating what he wanted. Not even the ghosts, if he ever met up with them here, stood a chance. No longer would the dot-muncher be subject to others. He was now the master of the mazes! Pac-Man cut through another nova, learning how good it felt to be in control. He not only felt powerful, he felt... invincible. It wasn't long before he cleared nearly every room of its store of pellets. Pac-Man entered the last room and paused. Once he ate every last pellet, the maze would be clear, and its destruction would be imminent. He felt gratitude for having gained so much here, but he had a job to do. Opening his mouth, Pac-man gobbled the first of the last pellets in the maze. ~~~~~~ Knowing she currently didn't have an effective weapon against her new quarry, Samus had followed it at a discreet distance, trying to observe its behavior. All the creature seemed to do was eat the pellets that have suddenly appeared, sweeping rooms clean before moving on to the next one, and destroying everything in its way with a simple spin of its body. If the Wave Beam and missiles didn't work, I'll have to go back and retrieve the Ice Beam again. I'm going to need it anyway, if I intend to stop the metroids. With that thought, Samus left the creature on its own and started making her way back to the top of Norfair, where she found the Ice Beam once before. The climb was long, arduous and full of backtracking, but she knew it was all part of her mission. Seeing the familiar door, Samus blasted it open, ran over to the statue, and grabbed the waiting Ice Beam. The familiar chill swept over her right arm, but it was a comforting chill. After having served her well, the Wave Beam power left her gun and returned to its place. Now I have to find that thing again and freeze it before it can do anymore damage. ~~~~~~ Meanwhile, the ghosts were completely lost, wandering around inside the depths of Norfair. The four of them tried to raise their spirits by just chatting amongst themselves. Something they normally couldn't do on the job. "What kind of a name is 'Sue', anyway?" Pinky asked before getting slapped. "The same kind as 'Pinky'!" "I wonder whatever happened to Clyde?" Inky mused. "He decided to switch jobs. Clyde's now one of those telemarketers," Blinky responded before he and the others started to vanish. All four of them knew exactly what it meant. "We're too late..." he muttered. It wasn't long before Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Sue completely disappeared from sight. ~~~~~~ As she was exiting the room, Samus felt the walls around her and the floor begin to flash and shake violently. Seismic activity? From where? A message popped up onto her visor, and it was not what she wanted to read. TIME BOMB SET GET OUT FAST! TIME 099 Chapter 3 It only took Samus three jumps, assisted by her Hi-Jump Boots, to reach the elevator that would take her to safety. Breathing a sigh of relief as the platform rose and the elevator walls surrounded her, the bounty hunter took stock in her current situation, checking each item off with her fingers. Okay. Strange circular objects hanging in midair... check. Yellow creature with a bottomless stomach and an appetite for Chozo artifacts... check. Destruction of Norfair, which I'm sure I didn't play a part in... check. ... What the heck is going on?! She didn't have time to answer herself as the elevator reached the top of the shaft in Brinstar. Two rooms later, Samus looked up and saw the yellow menace again, gobbling up pellets while blowing Zoomers and Rippers to bits with its swirling and razor sharp energy. That's it... this ends now! Samus aimed gun arm upwards, waiting for a clear shot to put this creature on ice. Jumping up the shaft to get a better shot, she was prepared to fire when something blue blocked her line of sight... ~~~~~~ "H-h-h-hold it right there!" Blinky stuttered as Pac-Man came into view. Pac-Man looked up in surprise, hearing his ever-vigilant pursuer. Instead of turning tail though, Pac-Man smiled. It wasn't the usual smile he had on his face after chomping down some tasty fruit or eating an entire line of pellets without interruption. No, this was a smile that struck fear into Blinky's ghostly skin. "Blinky... how nice to see you again!" Inky, Pinky, and Sue floated in behind the dot muncher, and even they felt the absolute terror of this new and improved Pac-Man. "And I see you brought your friends as well..." "N-n-now, Pac-Man... please stop your pellet eating. D-d-don't make us have to gang up on you!" This caused Pac-Man to laugh, but not in the "Ha ha", or "Heh heh" way. This laugh was reminiscent of a certain insane clown he may or may not have met in another universe, where he died messily at his hands. "The world has changed, Blinky. I'm no longer the yellow Pac-Man you used to know. Oh, wait, I guess the yellow still applies... but you know what I mean!" Blinky and the others shrunk back in fright. "Now then... who wants to go first?" "AHHHHHHH!!!" screamed the three behind him, taking off in three different directions. Pac-Man tore through the ground beneath him and snapped his mouth shut on Pinky, devouring him whole. He licked his lips before saying, "Mmm... tasty!" Inky hid out in a small outcropping, near the very top of the column. "Please don't find me here. Please don't find me here. Please don't find me here!" The shivering ghost failed to notice the wall behind him slowly crumble into dust underneath a swirl of energy. "Guess who?" Inky didn't even get a chance to scream. Sue did the smartest thing, fleeing to the hideout, where Pac-Man couldn't reach her. Or so she thought before he bursted up through the bottom and nibbled her to nothingness. Having disposed of his lackeys, Pac-Man went back down to confront their leader. "Any last words before I snack on you?" he cruelly taunted, licking his chops. "Y-y-you monster! J-j-just you wait! We'll be back!" Blinky uttered defiantly before the darkness consumed him. The pair of eyes flew away as fast as they could, leaving the dot-muncher by himself. "Next time, I won't even leave your eyeballs!" I've done it... I won, without using a power pellet! Yes!! I am inveeencible!! As Pac-Man gloated in his victory, his world froze in an instant... ~~~~~~ The shot did exactly what Samus had hoped. With the creature frozen, a simple missile would shatter it, ending its threat to the universe. Switching her gun arm to her secondary ballistic weaponry and aiming up once more, Samus sent a rocket on its way. It's over... she thought, just as it broke through the ice and narrowly avoided the shot. Quickly going back to the Ice Beam, she fired shot after shot, each one getting melted by the heat given off by the creature's spinning. She soon realized it was coming right at her, and she dove out of the way before she was nearly cleaved in half. There's no sense in wasting my firepower on this thing if I can't even injure it. All it seems to do is eat and destroy... and somehow eating everyone of those spheres that just appeared recently triggers a self-destruct sequence for a Zebesian region. At this rate, its next destination will be Tourian. Following that line of logic, Samus came to a conclusion. I'll take care of my mission first... before it can do it for me. She had waited for years for this opportunity, and she was not going to let some yellow disc-shaped creature derail her from destiny. Another area cleared! Pac-Man smiled as he felt he was being pulled away to another maze, to feast to his taste buds' content. Even with his run-in with the ghostly quartet and that orange robot again, he thought this last one was easier than the last. Surely, the next one would be more to his liking: the hardest maze he had ever seen... ~~~~~~ The familiar warning showed up on Samus' visor once more, but she ignored it. Her stay in Brinstar was over. After what seemed like countless hours of going around in circles in this accursed planet, the end was finally in sight. The statues of Kraid and Ridley rose, recognizing the defeats of those whose likenesses they were carved into, revealing the path to a simple room with only a lighted platform in the center. Samus stepped onto it, and the elevator started a final descent into the nightmarish and mechanized heart of Zebes. The bounty hunter checked over her equipment once more, knowing what she would find at the bottom. Tourian, the Metroids, and Mother Brain awaited them both... ~~~~~~ There's... nothing here! Usually, when Pac-Man opened his eyes to a new maze, there would be pellets scattered everywhere. However, much to his dismay, he only saw the metallic walls, the lava below him, and the doors to other rooms. They have to be around here, somewhere... With that thought, Pac-Man moved onwards in his quest to find those delicious little balls of goodness. He failed to notice he was being watched... by things that didn't even have eyes... Chapter 4 The elevator touched down, and Samus leaped out, Ice Beam at the ready, prepared for anybody... or anything that was waiting to "welcome" her to the nerve center of the Space Pirates' base of operations. Feeling both relieved and disappointed in finding only lava and metal, Samus went over her orders from the Galactic Federation one last time. Eradicate all lifeforms native to planet SR388 known as Metroids found on Zebes. Eliminate the Space Pirate leader, Mother Brain. Clearing her orders and shooting the door in front of her, Samus carefully scanned the next room for any sign of danger. She couldn't help but notice the stark difference between the tunnels of Brinstar and the molten caves of Norfair compared to the cold steel of Tourian. Both Brinstar and Norfair teemed with Zebesian wildlife. Everything in Tourian just seemed so... lifeless. The bounty hunter shot open another door to find a vertical room, and the only exit was a door at the top. Her scans continued to show no signs of life. It can't be this easy... She took one step forward before something fell from a ledge above, making a horrific clanging sound as it hit the metal floor. Her nerves already on edge, Samus jumped back and aimed her gun at where the object fell. Her eyes widened as she realized what it was. The bounty hunter leaned over, holding back the bile that she felt rising in the back of her throat at the grotesque sight of a Space Pirate corpse, eyes and jaws locked open in a silent scream. Wrenching her gaze, Samus sidestepped around and leaped up, continuing her trek and putting what she just saw behind her. ~~~~~~ Yuck! What the heck happened here?! Pac-Man thought as he entered yet another pellet-less room. His hope of ever finding something to eat was starting to wane, and he was getting hungry again. There was no sign of any ghosts or that robot, not that they would be any threat to him, of course, but the silence was beginning to spook the vigilant dot-muncher. So far, he had seen nothing but the same things in every room until these previous ones. They all had insect-like beings, all lying motionless on the floor. It was like nothing Pac-Man had ever seen before. Either they had one kegger of a party, or something else really bad hap- Pac-Man's thoughts were interrupted as he thought he heard something in the distance. He was hesitant for a moment before he remembered he was "inveeencible", so he advanced slowly and cautiously. The sound became louder and more distinct as Pac-Man inched forward towards the next door. The best he could make of it was that the sound consisted of small shrieks and... chirping? His curiosity getting the better of him, he approached the door where the sounds were coming from. Pac-Man had seen strange things when he was whisked out of the familiar surroundings, so he thought he was prepared to take out whatever was in the next room. As the door opened in front of him, Pac-Man's mouth was agape at the completely unexpected sight. Green glowing jellyfish things with red centers, tentacles, and no eyes, were hovering around screeching at each other. Pac-Man figured they were fighting over something, but what? Looking behind the squabblers, the dot-muncher's eyes flew open wide. Is that... an orange?! Overcome with hunger, Pac-Man drifted towards the luscious piece of fruit. Sensing that another party wanted their spoils, the three turned to face the intruder before shrieking their displeasure and surrounding him. Trying to get in my way, huh? Let's see how you like this! Pac-Man grinned as he charged forward with the swirling energy around him. He didn't expect to get shocked backwards by just touching one of them. Shaking it off, Pac-Man looked up to see that his target was just fine. I didn't even scratch that thing. The red center in front of him gave off a harsh glow, and the chirping had turned into something more like a shrill growl. For the first time since he realized his new powers, Pac-Man knew fear... ~~~~~~ It seems the Space Pirates still haven't found a way to control the Metroids. Samus noted as she passed several more Space Pirate cadavers. That's a relief. At least I'll be facing something that still goes by natural instincts rather than set instructions. Upon entering the next room, Samus narrowed her eyes as she finally saw one of her mission objectives in front of her, a Metroid. Actually, there were three, and they seemed to be all huddled in one corner, where a familiar swirl of energy was trying to escape. So this is where you went. Even with that weapon, you're no match for Metroids. Samus raised her gunarm and iced them all before pounding missiles into their frozen bodies, shattering them. In the midst of the Metroid remains, the yellow creature wobbled for a bit before vomiting, the traumatic experience of having the very life sucked out of it being too much. Normally, Samus steered clear of anything that threw up, but in this case, she would make an exception. Her hand reached out to touch the black orb with a bright lightning-bolt, shaped like an 'S', on it, and item became one with her suit. New item: Screw Attack With the last weapon finally where it belonged, Samus left the creature alone. It wasn't a threat anymore, and it also wasn't a primary concern. In the next room, she immediately dispatched a Metroid waiting to ambush her above. She was shaken though by what felt like a shot in the back. Wondering who or what damaged her, Samus saw the glowing rings form inside the walls before being sent towards her. This is Mother Brain's doing. She thought about shooting the Rinkas, but Samus had a better idea. Planting her feet and leaning forward, Samus jumped and spun in midair, which activated her newly acquired Screw Attack. After landing, she knew why the Chozo had left her this powerful item. Almost nothing could stand in her way when she executed a spin jump. Several more rooms contained even more Metroids for Samus to eradicate and Rinkas to cut through before she blasted open one last door to find gun turrets waiting for her. Her path blocked by pulsing red barriers, Rinkas sent towards her, and regular gun turrets trying to shoot her, Samus wasn't stingy about her missile store, blasting apart the barriers separating her from her goal. After the last Zebetite barrier was destroyed, Samus stood in front of a glass jar that was taller than her, and inside that jar was a giant brain fused with computer chips and metal spikes. So... this is what ordered the attack on my home colony those many years ago. Samus paused only for a moment before unloading the rest of her missiles, ignoring the small amount of damage she took from Rinkas and gun turrets, shattering the glass jar, and pummeling the bio-mechanical monstrosity into oblivion. With nothing left but the life support system that held the jar in place, the bounty hunter said two words. It's over. TIME BOMB SET GET OUT FAST TIME 0759 Samus sighed before sprinting towards the door behind where Mother Brain used to be. It's always something, isn't it? ~~~~~~ "Let's face it, Blinky. As ghosts, we're failures. We couldn't even stop Pac-Man even when he hadn't eaten a power pellet," Inky sighed dejectedly. "Well, I'm just glad I'm yellow again. Blue is not my color!" Sue declared. "So what do we know, Blinky?" Pinky asked. "This is where we make our last stand. Take a look around. This place is filled to the brim with pellets. We have to stop the enemy here. If we don't, we may as well go look to see if any haunted houses are hiring." As Blinky finished his statement, everything became bathed in red light, and steam started to spout from the walls. Wondering what was going on, the ghosts heard the bottom door open, revealing what looked like an orange robot. "Hey, haven't we seen that thing before?" Inky pointed out. "Yeah, but we were too busy getting chomped on, remember?" Sue reminded. "Hmm... I say we go get him. After all, we have to protect the pellets, don't we? CHARGE!" The four ghosts descended rapidly, but they weren't quick enough as each was encased in ice, letting their quarry hop quickly past them. They shook off their frozen state, and Blinky sighed. "Never mind..." "Hey, look!" Pinky excitedly pointed downwards, where a familiar yellow being made his exhausted entrance. Grinning, the four swiftly surrounded Pac-Man, who was in no condition to try to escape. "Where do you think you're going, buddy?" Blinky asked while holding back chuckles. "We have some unfinished business to deal with." "Uh, guys, about before... you knew I was just joking..." Pac-Man gulped, "Right?" ~~~~~~ Almost there... Doing her best to ignore the bright red klaxons, the blaring sound of the alarm, the timer on the inside of her visor ticking down more quickly than she wanted it to, the crumbling of the walls around her, and the violent shaking of a laboratory about to go critical, Samus made the final desperate jump to the top of the escape shaft. Pointing her gun upwards, she shot open the hatch above and leapt through, up to the surface of Zebes. Knowing she was still not safe, Samus leaped up several ledges before she started running, tapping frantically at a specific button on her gun arm. Finally exitting the caverns, Samus looked up to see the cloud-filled sky once again after what felt like days slogging through Zebes' tunnels. Looking up ahead, the bounty hunter cracked her first smile in a long time as she saw her ride descending to meet her. Samus launched herself off the ground, turned six somersaults, and landed on top of her gunship. Once she was inside, her ship rose up through the clouds to greet the blackness of space. The planet below and the distant stars were all the light Samus saw until a bright flash erupted from the surface of Zebes. Just as quickly as it appeared however, the light vanished, leaving behind a towering column of smoke. Samus sighed in relief before her ship notified her of an incoming transmission. Gee, I wonder who that could be... she thought dryly before accepting the communication request. The comm window opened, showing a poorly lit room with five silhouletted men seated in a semicircular formation around a highly reflective black table, the crest of the Galactic Federation emblazoned on its center. She couldn't tell who of the five was speaking at any given time, but she was used to it. "Samus, our sensors detected an explosion of great magnitude on Zebes. What is your current status?" "The mission was a success, sir." "Yes, we figured as much. You are the best we have, after all." Samus didn't respond. "We expect you to return to headquarters within 48 hours for a full debriefing. The Space Pirates' main base may be gone, but the Metroid menace still looms large. We will have to deal with that problem as well." "Understood. Samus, out." Setting the ship's coordinates for the nearest Federation dust-off point, the bounty hunter removed her helmet, letting her damp, sweaty, blonde hair out of its confinement. As she looked out into space, her thoughts returned to that unusual yellow being whose stomach could never be filled. Samus shrugged off the thoughts as she went to her personal quarters. Stripping the rest of the Power Suit off, she grabbed a towel and headed for the bathroom. A nice hot shower would help wash away her fatigue... ~*Fin*~ Next Back |