//------------------------------// // Zebes: Ridley // Story: Another Hatchling // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// "Ridley actually had his own special area within Zebes' catacombs," Samus explained. "It could be accessed via an elevator in Norfair, and it was filled with acid pits, which were incredibly difficult for me to navigate around. Spike's adaption from the Pirate Homeworld made him immune, so I mostly let him explore ahead and see if he could identify the path forward first. Although the first path forward involved activating a Chozo Statue to drain the acid by curling up in its outstretched hands." "Which made it rather confusing as, immediately after, we came face to face with another rogue statue..." Spike continued. As the pair dropped down into a wide open area, a Chozo Statue also dropped down. As its eyes opened, its brown exterior turned golden and it stood up. It lunged after the pair, hurling explosives, emitting penetrating energy waves, and leaping to try and crush them. Spike expanded himself to match the size of the statue, trying to meet its charge head on. Samus dodged around the conflict, trying to get clear shots on the Statue with her Plasma Beam that wouldn't risk hitting Spike. As it had been discovered, this version of the Plasma Beam phased through his scales as easily as anything else, forcing Samus to be quite a bit more careful with her weapons. With careful maneuvering and timing on both their parts, the statue was eventually destroyed...which revealed an alcove behind it containing the Screw Attack. "Now we're talking!" Rainbow crowed, pumping her hoof into the air, ignoring the titters from the star born visitors at her enthusiasm. "Bet that made things a lot easier!" "As long as I was careful not to hit Spike," Samus replied. "He isn't immune to that either." "Really it just changed how we did things," Spike added. "Always before, I'd been the one leading the charge, with Mom either behind me or on my back. Now, she charged ahead Screw Attacking, and I followed up blasting anything she missed. Allowed me to stay clear of her to avoid getting shredded, and was quite efficient any time we had to head through an area that started to fill with acid as we passed through...which did happen in that area." "Further beyond that, we encountered Space Pirates with two new types of armor," Samus explained. "The first type, in gold armor, could only be damaged by my Screw Attack, while the second - in black - could only be damaged from behind after they performed a jump kick. Thankfully, there were only two of that last sort." "And then we encountered Ridley himself," Spike concluded. "He was not happy to see me..." As Samus and Spike entered the chamber, a draconic shriek startled them as Ridley lunged up at them, slamming Spike against the ceiling as he immediately lunged in for a bite. Spike managed to catch hold of the lunging jaw with both claws, but was left defenseless against the lashing tail. Samus immediately opened fire with a volley of Super Missiles from below, slamming them into Ridley's hide. "Let go of my son, you son of a bitch!" she roared out as she continued the unending volley. Ridley snarled angrily as he deflected several of the Super Missiles with his tail. "Stay out of this, bitch!" he growled. "This is a battle between dragons!" He exhaled a barrage of fireballs at Samus, which she barely managed to dodge. "You leave my mother alone!" Spike snarled, bringing his clenched fist back and punching Ridley across the jaw. Ridley staggered back, spitting blood. "Always hiding behind your human, are you?" Ridley screeched. "You're no dragon! You're nothing but a pet lizard!" "As if I wanted to be anything like you!" Spike snapped back. "You'd be no match for a true dragon without your tender!" Ridley snarled. "I'm 7!" Spike shouted back. "What's your excuse?" "Insolent whelp-" Ridley cut off his tirade to round on Samus, who had taken advantage of his distraction to get behind him and slam him with several super missiles. "Do you mind?" he growled out. "Yes," Samus replied as she shot a super missile straight down his throat. Ridley started coughing up blood. "You'll pay for that, wretch!" he snarled, lunging for her only to fall on his face as Spike grabbed hold of his tail. "You really need to learn not to turn your back on me," Spike growled, spinning to slam Ridley bodily against the walls of the chamber before plunging him into the acid pits below. Ridley shrieked in agony as the acid poured through the missile wounds and into his flesh, burning him away. "Where's Squishy?" Spike demanded angrily. Ridley burst into agonized laughter. "The Metroid is ours now!" he shrieked out. "And will be your demise!" With one last agonized wail, most of Ridley's body dissolved. As the acid drained away, the door opened wide. Samus and Spike immediately rushed through. Inside, they found the containment capsule the infant Metroid had been in...broken open, no trace of little Squishy anywhere in sight. "W...what now, Mom?" Spike asked worriedly. "Where else could he be? We've been everywhere on this planet!" "Almost everywhere," Samus corrected. "There's one last area we can check. The one part of the planet that they'd keep a Metroid. The one place they kept them before. But if we need to go there...then they've brought back Mother Brain, who can control Metroids telepathically, and...we may end up fighting Squishy, like Ridley said." Spike stared at Samus, waiting for clarification. "Where?" "...Tourian."