Rain was falling on planet SR388. Most of the local wildlife, as a result, had retreated into caverns for shelter from the elements. The only things out were a couple of hornoads that were too stupid to go inside anyway. Storms on the surface usually weren't too bad, at least, so they were spared from disaster.

Unless they happened to run into the planet's visitor: the bounty hunter, Samus Aran. Fresh off of her mission to exterminate the life-draining metroid species, Samus had just finished taken down the metroid queen, the one spawning all of the damn things. All in all, wiping out an entire species was just a day in the life for Samus.

A small chirp at her side brought Samus' attention back to the unexpected boon her journey had resulted in. She'd come across the last, untouched metroid egg just after killing the queen, which had immediately hatched. Samus had, naturally, been prepared to ice beam it into oblivion, but the creature hadn't attacked. It had just...looked at her, the first thing it'd ever seen in this world. Very little was known about the metroid life cycle (though after this mission, Samus herself could probably pen a book on the various metamorphoses the creatures went through), so she was unaware as to whether or not they had any kind of imprinting process. Looking at the small creature that followed her like a dog followed its mother, Samus could guess they did. Unsure of what else to do with it, she decided to bring it to the Galactic Federation, believing that research on a docile metroid could produce who knew how many benefits.

As she hiked to the top of the cliff, Samus looked at the metroid, raising her hand to lightly graze against its clear membrane. The little guy (Or girl. Did metroids even have genders?) chirped with what might've been happiness. It was so bizarre to look at, considering how much time she'd spent battling the things, even before she'd arrived on this planet. But around this one, she felt comfortable, calmer than she had in years. She suppressed a chuckle at the thought. Samus Aran, intergalactic bounty hunter, feared throughout the stars, going soft. She hoped this wouldn't get out.

She reached the edge of the cliff, looking over at her gunship. Activating the command console on her arm cannon, Samus ordered the ship to begin preparing its takeoff sequence. The jets ignited as the ship rose a few feet off the ground. The metroid chirped again, flying down from the cliff towards the ship. Samus smiled slightly in spite of herself. The creature couldn't possibly know what the ship was for, but clearly it knew it was important to Samus, and that was enough. It was almost...cute.

Then the ear-splitting roar jolted Samus out of her thoughts.

No...

Samus glanced from side to side across the landscape, searching for the source of the sound as the thunder clashed above her. Another screech emanated from somewhere, along with the sound of air rushing, as though from the beating of a pair of giant wings.

There's no freaking way...

One more roar finally brought Samus' attention to the canyon behind her gunship. Beneath her helmet, Samus' eyes widened. It was dark, and the rain made her vision poorer than it should've been, but there was no mistaking those wings, that giant spearlike tail, and the general silhouette.

Son of a bitch.

He looked different this time. More like the way his old self. But there were still cybernetics lining his body, metal gleaming in the light of the lightning. But he was still recognizable.

Samus gritted her teeth in fury. Ridley, you bastard...

Ridley screamed as he flew towards Samus' gunship, wings beating furiously, his yellow eyes set on a singular goal. Samus realized exactly what he was looking at one second too late, leaping down from the cliff and landing on her feet, as Ridley seized the baby metroid in his bionic claw.

"High Command," he hissed into his com link, "I've discovered an infant specimen. The Hunter's gunship is here, but there's no sign of her. Preparing to-"

He didn't get to finish that sentence, as a super missile found its way directly between his wings. Ridley shrieked in agony, but maintained his grip on the struggling metroid. He turned around, finding Samus facing him, cannon primed.

"Samus..."he growled, a smile gracing his beak. He tensed his tail and his other claw, wings beating rhythmically to keep himself airborne.

"Give. It. Back," Samus demanded, keeping herself in a battle-ready stance.

Ridley blinked in surprise, taking a moment to look down at the metroid in his grip. "You actually want this thing?" he asked, unable to prevent the laughter from creeping into his voice, "You're not just shooting it on sight?! Is the great Samus Aran-?!"

And that was when Samus' plasma beam blasted Ridley's exposed chest.

The drake screamed again, Samus following up the attack with more shots. She had to aim carefully to avoid hitting the baby metroid, but for her, that was no problem. Samus kept part of her attention on Ridley's eyes, noticing when he focused on her through the pain. Ridley's tail rose upwards, the spear tip pointing towards her, suddenly thrusting towards the hunter with devastating speed.

But Samus was prepared for his counter attack, leaping forward and allowing the tail to go under her. Curling up, Samus went into her screw attack, zipping towards Ridley in midair and surrounding her body in sparking energy. She collided with the drake, scraping the side of his beak and pushing him back into the cliff wall. Samus uncurled and grabbed one of Ridely's wings, planning to jump over and grab the infant metroid.

Unfortunately for her, Ridley saw this move coming. He reached up with his unoccupied claw, grabbing Samus by the leg and swinging down, smashing her back-first into the ground. Samus grunted, feeling the pain, but her armor's integrity held. She activated her morph-ball, shifting into a metallic sphere and rolling away as Ridley launched a handful of blue fireballs at her. Normally, Samus would've released a power bomb, knowing how much damage it could do, but there would be no chance of saving the metroid.

"Come on, Aran!" snarled Ridley, stabbing his tail at the ball and missing, "Can you no longer give me a real fight?! Are you going weak on me?!" He threw back his head and cackled with demented glee. "I've never seen something so pathetic!"

Having made it a good distance away, Samus reverted out of her morph-ball, raising her arm cannon and steadying it with her other arm.

"Shut the hell up!" she yelled back, then quietly cursed herself for not coming up with a better comeback.

Samus fired two super missiles, aiming for Ridley's face, but the drake simply swerved to avoid them. This was part of her plan, however, and Samus charged around him, leaping onto his tail and gripping with her left hand. Ridley gave another screech of annoyance, before swinging his tail around to try and throw her off. Samus held on tight, only releasing her grip at the apex of the swing, launching her into the air. She activated her back boosters, shooting herself forward and planting herself on Ridley's chest. She jammed the barrel of her cannon against Ridley's purple flesh and fired her plasma beam repeatedly.

Ridley let out a screech of pain as Samus blasted him again and again. Eventually, the discomfort was great enough that he was forced to release his grip on the infant metroid. Seizing on the opportunity, Samus leaped off of Ridley's chest and grabbed the baby, leaving the two in free fall. Ridley, regaining his composure, tried to dive after them, but Samus turned in midair and fired a charged plasma beam shot into his wing, knocking him off course. Ridley swerved wildly before crashing into the side of the cliff.

Samus finally hit solid ground, managing to reorient herself and land on her feet. She released her grip on the metroid, which chirp happily. Samus spared one second to pat the creature's membrane, whispering, "It's okay, little buddy." Satisfied, she aimed her cannon in Ridley's direction again. The drake rolled out of the pit his body dug into, falling onto the ground, as several chunks of solid rock cracked from the cliff and slammed onto Ridley's body. Samus kept her cannon trained on him all the same, knowing that it would take more than a few boulders to keep him down.

Her prediction came true seconds later, as Ridley's yellow eyes snapped open, and he got to his feet again, shrugging the boulders off his back like they were nothing.

"You will pay dearly for that," he spat, drops of his green blood spattering the landscape.

This time, Samus said nothing, merely firing another pair of super missiles. Ridley leaped into the air to avoid them, taking in a deep breath of air and breathing a group of blue fireballs. Samus used her free hand to shove the metroid away from herself, then dived to the opposite side, ensuring it wasn't caught in the ensuring blast. The creature floated away with a confused chirp, but Samus had to be content with that. It wasn't like the thing would understand an order to get in the ship.

Ridley charged again, Samus activating her space jump and vaulting over his head. Mid-leap, she fired her grapple beam directly in between his wings, yanking as hard as she could to throw him off-balance. Ridley gave a surprised screech, arms flailing wildly, as Samus charged up the plasma beam and fired several more shots into his back.

No time to be fancy.

Samus ducked under an enraged claw swipe, blasting Ridley in the chest with another super missile.

Just do it. Just take him out. Just win!

Ridley leaned to the side to avoid another missile, retaliating with a stab of his tail. Samus jumped away, but the blade of the tail still managed to graze her back.

"So what's the deal, Samus? You've hardly said a thing this entire fight!" Ridley yelled, sending another group of fireballs her way, "You never were one for great conversation, but you're usually more talkative than this!"

Samus didn't reply, not wanting to risk losing focus. She jumped over another swipe of Ridley's tail, firing another volley of plasma beam shots, but Ridley dodged them all.

"Is it that little metroid?!" he demanded, slashing furiously with both claws. A knowing smile crossed his beak. "Ooh, have you finally gotten over mommy? Finally learned to actually care about something else again? How's it gonna feel when I rip this one away from you, too?"

Samus froze where she stood. Her muscles tensed, and her teeth clenched.

That does it.

"YOU MOTHER FU-!" she screamed, charging towards the drake, her speed booster firing at full blast, accelerating her. Samus slammed into Ridley's chest, knocking the wind out of him. She shoved her cannon against his lower jaw, blasting away with the plasma beam. "SO SICK OF YOU BEING EVERYWHERE I GO! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST STAY DEAD?! WHY-"

Ridley's head snapped down, biting on Samus' shoulder with full force. With a whip of his neck, he tossed her into the air, following it up with a swipe of his tail, smacking her down directly into the earth with a painful slam. Samus screamed again as she felt her armor's defense systems flare up, as she felt her bones rattle from the impact. She cursed to herself, realizing that Ridley had gotten exactly what he'd wanted: her upset. He wanted her to lose focus, and she'd bumbled right into it.

She struggled to her feet as Ridley zoomed towards her once more. Samus weakly jumped backward, squeezing off a few plasma beam shots, but Ridley shielded himself with his bionic claw. Before she could react, Ridley snatched her up, spun around, and hurled Samus at the far wall. She crashed with a sickening crack, falling to the ground as her suit's defensive shielding dropped to eleven percent.

Placing her feet flat against the earth, Samus attempted to rise, only for Ridley to stomp down on her chest. There were no words, just pure fury as Ridley inhaled and unloaded a fireball directly into Samus' face.

Samus managed one more strangled scream, but it accomplished nothing. She couldn't even raise her cannon, and one more attack would ensure her suit fell apart. Sighing quietly to herself, Samus closed her eyes, awaiting what she'd always known was inevitable. Ridley pulled in more air, preparing the finish her off.

The chirping brought her back to attention.

Samus snapped her head to the side, discovering the baby metroid zooming towards them. Ridley didn't notice, too focused on his premeditated murder. Thus, he was completely unprepared when the metroid latched onto his beak, beginning its life drain. Ridley roared in pain, the skin around the bite turning a pale grey as he stumbled back, releasing Samus from his hold.

With a grunt of exertion, Ridley reached up to grab the metroid, plucking it off his skin and tossing it aside. The creature didn't slow down, however, zipping around the monstrous drake and flying back towards Samus. Samus had a moment of panic as she noticed its pincers were spread, as though preparing to feed once again, but when the creature latched onto her shoulder, instead of the familiar numbness, she felt power rushing back into her, and saw her suit's shielding regenerating on her heads-up display. Leaping back to her feet, strength restored, Samus watched as the metroid detached from her, chirping with excitement.

It...gave me his energy?

Samus stared at the metroid in surprise. She hadn't known they were even capable of doing such a thing. Another rare smile graced her face, and she turned to Ridley, who'd shaken off the effects of the draining.

"I'm gonna dissect you alive, you little shit!" he spat, glaring down at the metroid.

Samus didn't waste any time on words, instead activating her beam burst. Her supply of aeion was running low, and this would use the last of it, but she didn't care. It was time to teach the drake another lesson. One he'd hopefully take to heart this time.

With a roar, Samus unloaded her beam burst, the glowing yellow rain of lasers launching out of her arm cannon and blasting into Ridley's exposed flesh. It tore holes in his wings and his metal body parts, forcing him back as he screamed in sheer agony. Samus kept the beam burst going until she completely rain out of aeion, switching back to her regular plasma beam and concentrating her fire on his chest.

Ridley, with his brief reprieve from her assault, charged Samus again, attempting to scoop her up with his claw and slam her into a wall. Samus dodged by shifting into morph-ball mode, emerging only to fire a super missile into Ridley's back.

As Ridley vocalized his pain once again, the metroid bit his beak once again, sucking more life force from him. Ridley ripped the creature from his flesh, but not before all his remaining skin had taken on a sickly grey hue. Samus pumped her fist into the air with joy, hitting Ridley with yet another missile.

At this point, the drake was looking desperate. His skin was pale and dying, with blood dripping from many open wounds. His wings were tattered and torn, and his cybernetics had many chips in them with exposed wires. Panting as he lay on all fours, Ridley focused his yellow eyes on Samus, boring into her with hate. He didn't speak a single word, but instead opened his mouth, launching another volley of fireballs at her. But his aim was getting worse, and she easily space-jumped over them. In midair, Samus took aim at Ridley's open maw.

"And this time..." Samus shouted, as she primed her final super missile, "DON'T COME BACK!"

She fired, the projectile zoom down and striking Ridley directly in the jaw. The explosion eclipsed his whole head, and actually managed to lift Ridley off his feet. He fell backwards, slamming into the ground, his neck whiplashing his head down so hard it left a small crater. Samus advanced on the drake, her arm cannon still primed, the baby metroid still behind her. Ridley made a few last-ditch, desperate moves, but eventually, his head thumped down onto the ground, his yellow eyes going dark.

Samus released the breath she'd been holding.

It's over. It's finally over.

The infant metroid chirped happily.


Safely secured in her gunship, Samus set a course for the Ceres space colony, where the metroid could be researched. The creature itself was currently floating around the cockpit, examining everything around it with the curiosity expected of a newborn, amazed by all around it.

Samus looked at the little creature with a smile on her face. It'd been alive for only a couple of hours, and yet it had already proven itself. She reached over and gently patted its clear membrane with a tenderness she almost never brought out.

"You did good...little buddy," she admitted.

It was...strange, finding this creature so endearing. It'd not only bonded with her, but it'd probably saved her life already. Considering Samus' line of work, there were very few chances for her to feel content and relaxed, but somehow, this metroid was making it happen.

A thought suddenly occurred to her. She hadn't named the creature, and after all it'd been through, the metroid probably deserved some sort of name. She ran through a number of names in her head, before something came to her. A name she hadn't thought of in years. A name that held a special meaning to her, even if she tried sometimes to forget it, preferring not to recall the painful memories. She reached out and gently touched the metroid's fang, as she spoke its name for the first time.

"Pyonchi."