The Dark Ages [Dark Data]

[Samus Aran]

Shinnah was dead. The question Samus posed herself was: could she have done anything to prevent it?

She’d made a pact with herself not to use Hypermode, nor the chip, unless absolutely necessary. But perhaps if I’d used it sooner, she thought, Shinnah would still be alive. Samus prayed that the gnome had been a Prime.

So where was the line? What would it take, she asked herself, to break her limits?

She looked at the machine before her.

To hell with the danger.

Samus’s suit glowed blue.

Centaur Man had lost his mind. He charged, frothing and grinning, the intelligence of his eyes now lost.

Samus intercepted his charge – arm outstretched and the newly-blue buzz beam extended against his legs. But unlike before, when Madotsuki had neatly clipped off one of his limbs, there was a horrible scraping noise upon contact.

But Samus wasn’t left unprotected. Okor marched up to her left, and his arm caught Centaur Man in a lifeless grip. “No,” he said simply.

Madotsuki’s figure leapt up, using Okor’s frame as a jumping board. Her arm was stretched back. With her bare hands, she pummelled the Centaur’s face furiously, heedless of the danger.

Samus looked at the beam extended from her arm cannon, wide-eyed in confusion. There was no energy to it. No power. Was this the effects of the dark verse? Even as she looked, the energy of her power sword seemed to shrink against the darkness before finally being swallowed up whole.

Centaur Man laughed. “Haha! Here is my domain. You won’t be able to use your tricks.”

Samus took a step back. At least Hyper Mode seemed to work. She checked her HUD.

Morph Ball Offline
Block Beam Offline
Barrier Beam Offline
Buzz Beam Offline
Missile Launcher Offline …

“Tch! Suit, tell me what I do have!”

Power Beam Online
Grapple Beam Online

Well, at least she had the staples. But, thought the hunter, This has gotten really fucking old.

The Centaur seemed more than happy to continue his assault, however. He bucked, somersaulted, and leapt into battle with a fervour even greater than that he’d displayed before. Samus had to admit, he was the perfect bodyguard for this realm.

But … no more. He’d taken up too much of their time.

“Hey Okor!” she called to the hulk. He looked over, and she tapped her cannon. “One more.”

He seemed to understand. More tendrils wrapped around the Centaur, tugging him into a vile embrace.

“This again?” Centaur Man scoffed. “Get loose you foolish-”

The Zero Laser lit up the fields.

It enveloped the Centaur.

And even in his powered-up state, there wasn’t a lot he could do about it.

Okor had freed himself in time, half-falling backwards to the corrupted soil. He and the others bore witness to another beam that tore through the realm, ripping away Centaur Man’s outer plating with its persistent waves.

It carried on for what seemed like forever. Then suddenly, and abruptly, it petered out. Samus fell to one knee, and this time she gave a cry of what sounded almost like real pain. The blue light faded from her suit and smoke issued from the gaps in her armour.

“You alright, hunter?” enquired Hiro as he offered her a hand.

Samus could barely speak. The suit was tied to her life force, and she’d almost expended it. But she took the hacker’s hand, and took to her feet, legs trembling.

Centaur Man spat blood. He, too, had managed to stand, but he looked in even worse shape than Samus. Ichor flowed from every gap in his armour.

Samus glared at him and spat her next words: “Just die.”

Used Hypermode Tier 1 for 1 post. 1 SP
Used Zero Laser. 2 SP
That’s all of Samus’s personal SP supply gone.