05-31-2015, 08:07 PM
Scary stories? The bounty hunter had to question Harry’s intent. She had plenty, but none that she particularly wished to relive. But perhaps he had a point. Sharing battle memories, tactics … it would widen their scope of experiences and steel them for the vigil to come.
“How about you, Samus?” asked the wizard with a grin. “I bet you’ve got some stories I haven’t heard.”
Samus took a deep swill from her bottle of water, grimacing at the river-taste before replacing her helmet. “Sure. I ever tell you the story of the Biologic Labs Research Station?”
Harry scratched the back of his neck. “No …”
“It all started when I was assigned to watch over a group of scientists as they travelled to the planet SR388. I was down on the planet’s surface when I was attacked by an unknown organism. A jellylike thing that flew through the sky and was immune to my bullets. It embedded itself into my suit, and then into my flesh.”
Harry and Mickey shared a worried glance.
“Back in my ship, I headed back to the research station when I lost consciousness. All I remember was a sudden searing pain.”
Harry spoke up. “Samus, are you sure this is the right kind of story?”
Samus shot him a look. “You asked to hear a scary story. Isn’t this scary?”
The wizard shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah … but-”
Samus carried on. “I was unconscious and then I drifted into an asteroid belt. My emergency pod ejected and the scientists found me. The thing that had attacked me earlier was revealed to be a parasite. It had multiplied in my body. I was given a minimal chance of survival.”
With her audience so obviously enraptured, Samus found herself getting into the story. She’d never told it before and it was a good one. She leaned forward, gesticulating across the fire.
“But then they came up with this idea. See, in my universe there was another parasite called the Metroid. I killed them all years ago. Anyway, they had a sample from the Metroids. And one of the scientists decided that they could make a serum from the sample and inject into me! See, the Metroids were created to prey upon the parasite. That’s another story. Anyway, they injected me with the Metroid genome and I became part Metroid.”
Mickey interrupted. “Is this a real story?”
“Yes, of course. So I became part Metroid, and then I was able to absorb the parasite in my body because Metroids eat X-Parasites.”
“Wow,” laughed Harry nervously. “That’s pretty creepy. I can’t believe that really happened to you.”
Samus shot him a look. “That’s not the scary part.” She continued unabated. “See during the surgery they had to remove a bunch of my power suit. It was all infected with the X. So they put it in containers and sent it all to the labs. And then …” She paused for a dramatic effect. “Then all the pieces of my suit woke up and became clones of me!” She threw her arms out.
Harry and Mickey just continue to stare.
“Yeah, see the X-Parasite’s thing is that it takes your genes and then turns into a copy of you. But I didn’t know that at the time. All I knew was that there was an explosion at the ship. I went in. There were a bunch of these monsters. Zombies that looked human … before they lunged.”
She recalled the thing they’d seen at the lighthouse. Perhaps they all would have reacted quicker if they’d had her experiences. That was why this story was important.
“Anyway, I was wandering the ship when I heard it. Footsteps that sounded just like my own. Right above me.” She whispered, “It was the SA-X.”
“SA-X?” squeaked Mickey.
“Samus Aran X.” She shot the mouse a dark look. “It knew everything I knew. It had all the powers I had … before the surgery have removed most of my suit. It was stronger than me.”
“How did you beat it?” asked Harry.
“It wasn’t an ‘it’, it was a ‘them’,” said Samus, slightly annoyed that she’d had to explain the crux of the story prematurely. “There were multiple SA-X aboard the ship.”
Above, the weather decided it was time to send the cold wind screeching through the valley in which they rested. Mickey jumped and Samus launched to her feet, brandishing her arm-flak cannon. Harry held up his hands and they all relaxed. Samus sat down again.
“So there were no less than six SA-X aboard the ship. I fought one of them but it got away. But at that point I was pretty shook so I decided to blow up the space station. The only way to get rid of the X-Parasite was to get rid of the planet SR388 as well. So I sent them on a collision course.”
Harry interrupted: “Wait, wait, are you serious?”
“Stop interrupting. After I set the space station on a collision course with the planet, I ran for my ship. But something waited. At the docking bay.”
Samus took in a breath. Telling the story was draining. She still saw it all in her mind. But it was cathartic, somehow. In all her years bounty hunting she’d never talked much about the things she’d seen. She’d had no real opportunity. Who were her friends? Kreatz and Mauk were still part of the Federation. She never saw them. Adam ... well, Adam was Adam. Would anyone in this multiverse believe these stories? The things she’d seen, the things she’d done? Someone had to.
“It was a big … Omega Metroid. I’d seen them before. I don’t know why this one attacked me. Perhaps that saw me as a rival. I don’t know. But in my weakened state, I couldn’t fight it. That’s when I saw my death at its hands. My suit was at its end. One more blow.
“And then … the SA-X that I’d defeated came. I don’t know why. Maybe it was just trying to escape too. Or maybe …” Because it was already dead. And because it wanted to help me. She shook her head. “To this day I still don’t know. But I jumped at it. Absorbed it. And my suit became one with the SA-X. I took all my power back and killed the Omega Metroid.
“And then I ran.”
The woods were silent besides the crackling of the fire. “What about that planet?” asked Harry.
“It’s gone. All the life on that planet – the X-Parasites, the flora, the fauna, everything. It vanished in an instant. The X-Parasites would have destroyed the galaxy.”
She knew it.
“And what about you?” Mickey’s voice was quiet. “What happened to you?”
Samus stared into the fire, careful to listen for the sound of approaching enemies. “I got sucked into here. Didn’t even have a chance to tell my story to the Federation. They probably think I ran from my crimes.” She lay back. “Doesn’t matter now. I’m here, and it doesn’t look like I’ll be going anywhere anytime soon.”
A yawn came from where Erza and Pepsi man were sleeping. The mage knight propped herself up, rubbing her eyes as she regarded the quiet group. “Morning,” she said. “What did I miss?”
“I was just telling Mickey and Harry a scary story. Did you want to hear it?”
Erza’s face lit up, but before she could answer, Harry interjected. “No! No that’s … enough scary stories for now, I think.”
Samus stroked the top of Pazo the Caterpie’s head. “Yeah … I’m sure we’ll have more to tell soon enough.”
“How about you, Samus?” asked the wizard with a grin. “I bet you’ve got some stories I haven’t heard.”
Samus took a deep swill from her bottle of water, grimacing at the river-taste before replacing her helmet. “Sure. I ever tell you the story of the Biologic Labs Research Station?”
Harry scratched the back of his neck. “No …”
“It all started when I was assigned to watch over a group of scientists as they travelled to the planet SR388. I was down on the planet’s surface when I was attacked by an unknown organism. A jellylike thing that flew through the sky and was immune to my bullets. It embedded itself into my suit, and then into my flesh.”
Harry and Mickey shared a worried glance.
“Back in my ship, I headed back to the research station when I lost consciousness. All I remember was a sudden searing pain.”
Harry spoke up. “Samus, are you sure this is the right kind of story?”
Samus shot him a look. “You asked to hear a scary story. Isn’t this scary?”
The wizard shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah … but-”
Samus carried on. “I was unconscious and then I drifted into an asteroid belt. My emergency pod ejected and the scientists found me. The thing that had attacked me earlier was revealed to be a parasite. It had multiplied in my body. I was given a minimal chance of survival.”
With her audience so obviously enraptured, Samus found herself getting into the story. She’d never told it before and it was a good one. She leaned forward, gesticulating across the fire.
“But then they came up with this idea. See, in my universe there was another parasite called the Metroid. I killed them all years ago. Anyway, they had a sample from the Metroids. And one of the scientists decided that they could make a serum from the sample and inject into me! See, the Metroids were created to prey upon the parasite. That’s another story. Anyway, they injected me with the Metroid genome and I became part Metroid.”
Mickey interrupted. “Is this a real story?”
“Yes, of course. So I became part Metroid, and then I was able to absorb the parasite in my body because Metroids eat X-Parasites.”
“Wow,” laughed Harry nervously. “That’s pretty creepy. I can’t believe that really happened to you.”
Samus shot him a look. “That’s not the scary part.” She continued unabated. “See during the surgery they had to remove a bunch of my power suit. It was all infected with the X. So they put it in containers and sent it all to the labs. And then …” She paused for a dramatic effect. “Then all the pieces of my suit woke up and became clones of me!” She threw her arms out.
Harry and Mickey just continue to stare.
“Yeah, see the X-Parasite’s thing is that it takes your genes and then turns into a copy of you. But I didn’t know that at the time. All I knew was that there was an explosion at the ship. I went in. There were a bunch of these monsters. Zombies that looked human … before they lunged.”
She recalled the thing they’d seen at the lighthouse. Perhaps they all would have reacted quicker if they’d had her experiences. That was why this story was important.
“Anyway, I was wandering the ship when I heard it. Footsteps that sounded just like my own. Right above me.” She whispered, “It was the SA-X.”
“SA-X?” squeaked Mickey.
“Samus Aran X.” She shot the mouse a dark look. “It knew everything I knew. It had all the powers I had … before the surgery have removed most of my suit. It was stronger than me.”
“How did you beat it?” asked Harry.
“It wasn’t an ‘it’, it was a ‘them’,” said Samus, slightly annoyed that she’d had to explain the crux of the story prematurely. “There were multiple SA-X aboard the ship.”
Above, the weather decided it was time to send the cold wind screeching through the valley in which they rested. Mickey jumped and Samus launched to her feet, brandishing her arm-flak cannon. Harry held up his hands and they all relaxed. Samus sat down again.
“So there were no less than six SA-X aboard the ship. I fought one of them but it got away. But at that point I was pretty shook so I decided to blow up the space station. The only way to get rid of the X-Parasite was to get rid of the planet SR388 as well. So I sent them on a collision course.”
Harry interrupted: “Wait, wait, are you serious?”
“Stop interrupting. After I set the space station on a collision course with the planet, I ran for my ship. But something waited. At the docking bay.”
Samus took in a breath. Telling the story was draining. She still saw it all in her mind. But it was cathartic, somehow. In all her years bounty hunting she’d never talked much about the things she’d seen. She’d had no real opportunity. Who were her friends? Kreatz and Mauk were still part of the Federation. She never saw them. Adam ... well, Adam was Adam. Would anyone in this multiverse believe these stories? The things she’d seen, the things she’d done? Someone had to.
“It was a big … Omega Metroid. I’d seen them before. I don’t know why this one attacked me. Perhaps that saw me as a rival. I don’t know. But in my weakened state, I couldn’t fight it. That’s when I saw my death at its hands. My suit was at its end. One more blow.
“And then … the SA-X that I’d defeated came. I don’t know why. Maybe it was just trying to escape too. Or maybe …” Because it was already dead. And because it wanted to help me. She shook her head. “To this day I still don’t know. But I jumped at it. Absorbed it. And my suit became one with the SA-X. I took all my power back and killed the Omega Metroid.
“And then I ran.”
The woods were silent besides the crackling of the fire. “What about that planet?” asked Harry.
“It’s gone. All the life on that planet – the X-Parasites, the flora, the fauna, everything. It vanished in an instant. The X-Parasites would have destroyed the galaxy.”
She knew it.
“And what about you?” Mickey’s voice was quiet. “What happened to you?”
Samus stared into the fire, careful to listen for the sound of approaching enemies. “I got sucked into here. Didn’t even have a chance to tell my story to the Federation. They probably think I ran from my crimes.” She lay back. “Doesn’t matter now. I’m here, and it doesn’t look like I’ll be going anywhere anytime soon.”
A yawn came from where Erza and Pepsi man were sleeping. The mage knight propped herself up, rubbing her eyes as she regarded the quiet group. “Morning,” she said. “What did I miss?”
“I was just telling Mickey and Harry a scary story. Did you want to hear it?”
Erza’s face lit up, but before she could answer, Harry interjected. “No! No that’s … enough scary stories for now, I think.”
Samus stroked the top of Pazo the Caterpie’s head. “Yeah … I’m sure we’ll have more to tell soon enough.”
![[Image: 0bwAI3j.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/0bwAI3j.jpg)