Samus and Spike sat in silence for a time, plainly lost in painful memories. Eventually, Fluttershy spoke up. "What happened to him?" she whispered softly.
Samus sighed sadly. "That was actually the next mission...which was more a continuation of the previous one. Before I went to file the report of the successful extermination of the Metroids, I...dropped the little guy off at Ceres research station. I wanted them to give him a full going over, make sure he was healthy, figure out how to feed him without predation..." She shrugged. "Maybe figure out how to synthesize the crystallized bio matter from SR-388."
"I explained to little Squishy that the humans were going to take care of him until we got back, to do as they said, and to not eat them," Spike added.
"S...Squishy?" Rainbow Dash snorted out. "You...you named him Squishy?"
Spike shrugged his shoulders. "Neither of us are really good with original names."
"Didn't the researchers of Ceres take good care of him?" Cadence asked worriedly.
Seeing the pair's expressions, Shining Armor frowned. "Someone else took care of them first, didn't they?"
"Yeah," Samus agreed. "I'd just set course to get their report when we got their distress beacon. Ceres Station was under attack..."
Once Samus' ship had docked with Ceres Station, she and Spike entered carefully, weapons primed and senses sharp. The docking elevator had them entering at the top of a tall shaft, and the pair carefully made their way down through the dark passage, even the emergency lights non-functional. Reaching the bottom of the shaft, they found the automatic hatches still functioned, opening as they approached.
The next chamber in the path to the central research chamber was the cafeteria. There were chairs and tables, but no signs of life. Leaping over them all, Samus and Spike took the stairway downward.
Reaching the next chamber, Samus froze, struggling not to see what awaited them. It wasn't even the damage to the lab that bothered her, though all the damage to the machines meant no data could be recovered. What hit her so hard were the bodies scattered about, lifeless and broken. While it wasn't the first time she had encountered the aftermath of a battlefield like this...this was the first time the bodies were people she knew personally, ones whose names she now tried hard not to remember. After all, they were all on her Christmas card list.
Even trying not to think about it, happy memories forced her to see as she passed each body. Here was the lady scientist who had discovered just how much Spike enjoyed being scratched under his ear frills as opposed to over. Looking at the body, she heard Spike's happy giggle in her mind as the memory of that day played through her head.
Over there were the two younger scientists, about Samus' age, who were such total dorks. While studying Spike, they would awkwardly attempt to inveigle Samus to allow them to 'study' the 'capabilities' of a human/Chozo hybrid in a more 'controlled environment'. They were so socially awkward about it - and so obviously smitten to the point of blindness with her - that she'd laughed it off rather than taken it as insult, even gone so far as to encourage them to find a girl who was actually interested, giving them pointers on how to have more confidence.
Against the far door...the one who'd discovered the Metroidal DNA in Spike after Tallon IV, and the one she'd left Squishy with. She gently shifted the body aside before opening the door.
The hardest part of all of it for her...was that she recognized the wounds inflicted upon them. She knew exactly who she'd find behind the door. She privately regretted that she'd limited her arsenal coming in here to avoid damaging the station further.
She really wanted to tear Ridley apart, piece by piece.
Dead silence reined as Samus paused in the story to rub her eyes a bit...only to find the ponies divided evenly between glomping onto her or Spike. Cuddling her was Twilight, Luna, Cadence, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle. Shining Armor was trying to reach through the pony pile on Spike to give him a brotherly embrace, but was having trouble getting past Celestia, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom, and Gandrayda.
Discord was oddly quiet, his eagle talon and lion paw clenching and flexing. "...tell me you left him in pieces," he suddenly growled out, startling everyone with how intense the raw, seething hatred in his voice was.
"...not there," Samus admitted. "But we did. Several times."
"Ridley was in the back of the station...but..." Spike began.
As the pair entered the last chamber, they saw Squishy in his containment capsule, skreeing pitifully. As Samus and Spike moved towards him, however, his skrees became much louder. Mama! Brother! Danger!
Hearing the warning, Spike pulled Samus back just before Ridley leapt out of the shadows, roaring at them. Grabbing the capsule, he took to the air, bombarding them with flame bombs. Spike and Samus both unleashed the full arsenal they had available against him as best they could, but they had to be careful not to hit Squishy. Ridley's lashing tail was also a concern in the confined space, which prevented Spike from taking to the air as well.
After taking enough hits, Ridley withdrew, fleeing with Squishy in tow. Samus and Spike were briefly torn between two conflicting desires: immediately pursuing Ridley to retrieve Squishy, or seeing to a proper disposition for the remains of their friends on the station.
The computer coming online settled that dispute for them. "WARNING: Research Area Containment Breach! Galactic Safety Protocols Implemented! Self Destruct Sequence Activated! One Minute Till Detonation! Evacuate Colony Immediately!"
"Fuck!" Samus snapped as she turned, rushing alongside Spike just to make it back to the ship in time as the insides of the colony started to collapse. They were left with no choice but to leave the bodies of their friends behind...
I was going to leave this until tomorrow. But I couldn't resist. Off topic, why did you skip over Metroid 2? I mean in universe because no one likes remembering genocide, but, for you, did you not enjoy it, or not play it, or not think of any way for it to be that different even with Spike?
Hey, it's better than what I've seen, it's usually either just the Hatchling, or the Baby.
Oh god...
You and me both. This is the first time I've hated Ridley as more than a villain, this makes the hate feel PERSONAL.
... Eep. I have a headcanon, Discord doesn't kill because it means he'd be giving them away to death, he can't do much with a corpse, and chaos is his whole mindset, however, I get the feeling that with Ridley, he'd be more than willing to break his "rule".
This is why you are my favorite author ever. You don't just write a damn good story. You write a damn good story that provides insight into how characters think, you make it personal, you make us love the characters and hate the villains as much as they are in universe, you make us visualize every scenario, every joke, every bit of slapstick, every punch thrown, every shot fired, everything, you take the most absurd crossovers that would normally never work and make them WORK, you do more than just go over the events of canon, you put your own spin on it, you make it better, you slip in reference to other franchises, and so, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I don't regret reading a single one of your stories.
I think Discord may have been in a similar situation somehow. That's the only explanation of his reaction I can think of.
... no words.
6807211
1. I skipped over Metroid 2 for the most part because it has no cohesive plot. It's literally "run around, kill Metroids, grab upgrades, escape". There are no milestones, no bosses, no spikes in difficulty. Nothing to build a narrative around.
2. As far as Discord, no. He wouldn't kill Ridley. He would maim him, torture him, tear his body and mind apart in ways that no living being should be capable of surviving...
But he wouldn't allow him to die.
3. As for that last paragraph...wow. Thanks so much. That...that means a lot to me.
6807233
Fair enough.
TImes like this I'm reminded that a furious reality warper is TERRIFYING even as an idea.
No problem. I'm sure pretty much everyone else in the comment section feels the same.
I'm sure this has been asked before, but WHY DOES EVERYTHING EXPLODE!? WHO IN THE FEDERATION, AND THE SPACE PIRATES, AND ALL OF THE GALAXY APPARENTLY, DECIDED THE BEST SAFTEY PROCEDURE TO EVERYTHING WAS BLOW IT ALL UP!?
... Sorry. I mean, I know it's a game, but seeing it here really makes it apparent.
6807211 I"m pretty sure that he did do Metroid 2 in an earlier chapter. It's one of the missions that Samus didn't want to go over, to remember. In fact, neither her nor Spike wanted to talk about what happened, but in the end they did.
6807242
Well, in this case, because most of what's researched there is incredibly dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands or escapes.
...and that's actually the case in most of the other scenarios as well.
6807247
No, I'd meant like an arc like with the others, but, I got my answer, so, all's good.
6807233 What is up with Ridley?
I'm guessing we'll find out why Discord was so furious later?
6807266
Ridley is a vicious monster with a vendetta against Samus and Spike for making a mockery of him as a tyrant.
Please explain this, not now but in the story. Please
Woah, Discord seething with hate, that's unexpected.
I somehow predict that when Ridley pops back up again, he won't just have to deal with the Hunter and the Drake, he'll be nose to nose with a pissed off CHAOS GOD.
6807242 Scorched Earth Tactics.
Make the earth itself unlivable so the enemy cannot use it against us. We cannot allow our foe to gain a copy of our advantage, so we set a safety regulation as final resort, Detonation of the facility and all materials within to ensure all data is removed so neither side can use it.
And now discord is mad...and we have never seen discord mad...serious yes...angry? No definitely not...
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
Really Squishy?
Squishy!
I got his Squishy. . .
I'm sure you do!
Wut?
woof
Ah yes, having two stories in the featured box at once. Good show!
Only 2 stories left to fusion, I can't wait to see how you fit spike into the story on the bottle ship and BSL.
6807446
I believe that the Story for...Other M should just be Reworked for this story...please
6807446
Yeah, cause the official timeline places fusion after Super Metroid. As Super Metroid is placed way after the other games. That confused me when I first found out; I always thought Fusion took place between Super Metroid and Metroid Prime.
Then again, the original Prime for the GC had a link cable thing that you could do with Fusion; I think it was that that had me confused as to placement.
6807233 ...2.....dark. I am now somewhat scared of Discord.
There's the monster and beast I know and love to hate. Welcome back Ridley!
6807661 Buddy you should always be weary of discord.
6808082 I see that now! *Shivers*
6808315 I imagine his fun will long, torturous, painful and degrading for him.
6807233 So pretty much every time Ridley is an inch from death, Discord is going to pull him back from the brink, probably not saying it, but thinking "I'm not done with you yet. You hurt my friends, and no one does that."
6808411
More along the lines of temporarily removing Ridley's ability to die.
6808417 pretty sure it won't be temporarily
6808417 Hmmm. While that does seem torturous, being on the edge of death and close to escape from pain and suffering, only to be forcefully yanked back to endure more torture, that's downright malicious.
Something I don't understand is... How Ridley managed to enter? There is not Defense Systems? alarms? guards?
If Discord reacted like that toward Ridley’s actions in the beginning, I can’t wait to see his reaction toward Mother Brain’s actions toward the end.
C&Cs:
Ceres station was under attack...
> Capitalize ‘station’.
Once Samus' ship had docked with Ceres station...
> Add ‘the’ after ‘with’ and capitalize ‘station’.
Against the far door...the one who'd discovered the Metroidal DNA in Spike after Tallon IV...
> Metroidal?
6808521 Bare in mind this is Discord you're talking about. He may not be a bad guy anymore, but he is most certainly not a good guy either. In a way he's the most literal representation of Chaotic Neutral you'll ever find.. He is still very much ruled by his whims and emotions. Those whims and emotions are just now linked to the beings he now cares for. I imagine forcing Ridley to the brink and back again repeatedly is only the beginning of what Discord would do to him.
6808605
Chances are that the Stations systems miss identified Ridley as Spike.
Unless I am misremembering things, a lot of the more delicate Space Pirate gear was stolen from the federation....
6808823 Except that they know that bug and they could already worked in that.
Dang it, Squishy is adorable! Now I really need a Mother Brain and Ridley voodoo doll set. Hopefully this will make Samus be more aggressive than I've read about her being when Ridley reappears in Other M, though I've never played the game myself.
Tats, is there any way for Squishy's spirit to end up meeting Sapphire???? Please???
6807214 Tirek backstabbing him and hurting Fluttershy makes sense to me.
6807305 Who will give him a proper beat down and then pass him over to the ponies to stomp on, then Spike and Samus will casually walk up and debate finishing him off or letting him crawl away like a worm to try to take them on again while living with the knowledge they pitied him.
6807446 He might have control of his shape shifting by then and be able to shrink down to horse size to follow Samus. I really want to see him fight some of the bigger bosses in the boss rooms where he'd have room to fly by staying small.
6808999
Point of Order; Ridley was declared Dead, Killed during the Phazon war, His death was recorded, he was quite literally Vaporized by his own Phazon mutation when it over loaded. at least in baseline, need to look at his death in this story.
6809210 He was killed before also, so they don't know if he could be back like he did.
6807233
That's the thing you're a GOD. You don't kill your enemies, you don't have to. And it's INFINITELY MORE HORRIFIC because you don't kill them.
I might be cold hearted when saying this but I hope Samus's ship was downloading the station's data well it was docked. It is possible with all the times she's been then her ship could have been seen as safe and I trust her and Spike with all that date then anybody else. You know power should be put in the hands of those who want it the lessee, I feel that knowledge like that in those who don't fully understand it or how to use it like Spike and Samus then some other scientists. Am not saying they keep it all to them self's but be conservative with who the give the data too.
FINALLY got caught up. Glad to see that things have made it this far! Lel on the two trying to pick her up
6809210
6809297
Ridley cheating death is pretty much a series Staple. It's even been theorized in the comments of this story earlier that his Clone seen in Other-M somehow is possessed of his original Soul, so my theory here is that this is a similar case: Ridley Stashed a backup-clone somewhere as a "Just in Case" so when his Phazon infused incarnation was reduced to less than its component mater he "Woke Up" in a fresh clone.
6807242
6807248
It's funny but this may be a case of fiction is a reflection of reality. A nice movie called The Andromeda Strain explains the reasoning perfectly. The aforementioned movie has an alien virus land on Earth which all life on our planet has no cellar defense against; leading to an end of the world scenario. You might think that's fiction but any invasive species can decimate an ecosystem, cats are infamous of doing this for example wiping out entire species for food or sport, A good example on the viral side of things is the multiple Smallpox epidemics that decimated native populations in the Americas due to the arrival of various European civilizations. This is taken vary seriously by the U.S. government at least and the have a whole slew of laws and regulations concerning Planetary Protection. So having space ships/stations explode is quit a reasonable response to possible planetary or sector wide genocide.
6811849 I read the book. In the book there's a failsafe that if an emergency was triggered the scientists would have a limited amount of time to deactivate it before the facility nuked itself.
6811849
6811932
I read the book, too. Though I liked that, in the book, it turned out that fail safe would have only supercharged the strain and spread it across the entire globe.
6811992 Kinda like how in the movie "Evolution" all the napalm jumpstarted the aliens' evolution.
Ridley...
You wont be waking up ever again...
The world eater and i both want you dead, and we have armies who are stronger then you.
There wont be enough of your spirit left to reconstruct. shergoth, molag, herma-mora, namiera, dagon, vile, and siths shall all aid in your destruction. Molag gets you streinght, shergoth gets you insanity, herma-mora gets you secrets, nimera gets your corpse, dagon gets your rivalry, vile gets your greed, and siths gains your hope.
Alduin gets your power.
And i get your will to survive.
MOAR!¡!¡!¡!¡!¡!¡!