//------------------------------//
// M: Split Path, Samus 
// Story: Another Hatchling 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

	As Spike curled up in Twilight's embrace, Samus decided to try and move past it by continuing the tale.  "While Spike made his way to Sector Zero, I got ready to escort Melissa.  Unfortunately, we were almost immediately confronted by the Deleter, trying to finish its mission of destroying all survivors."

"A hunter-killer android," Ghor mused curiously.  "Obviously an achievement at the time...but I came across no such project anywhere in the Federation data banks at a later date...which indicates that it did not function at the desired level.  How did you handle it?"

Samus shrugged.  "It was...both easier and far harder than I thought it would be..."





Once Spike was on his way, Samus nodded to Melissa.  "Alright, let's go."  Turning, she moved to lead the way out, only to pause as the door opened, a familiar figure entering, helmet removed.  "Adam?" she gasped out, both in surprise and relief.  "You're alright!  When I didn't hear from you after the Ridley fight-"

"Get down!" Melissa shouted out, lunging forward and pushing her to the floor, just before 'Adam's rifle would have sent a round through Samus' faceplate.

Samus spun, confused as she leveled her weapon.  "What?" she demanded angrily.  "Adam, what are you-"

"There's no psychic impression!" Melissa interrupted her.  "That's not Commander Malkovich!  It's the Deleter!"

The Deleter turned, still wearing Adam's face, its weapons shifting as its cover was blown.  That same disapproving gaze Samus knew so well was turned her way as it opened fire with a Plasma Beam.  She quickly grabbed Melissa and rolled to the side, out of firing range.  "Get to cover!" Samus ordered her.  Nodding, Melissa hid behind the nearest command console, using her telepathy to activate all those around to distract the Deleter even as Samus moved to confront it.

She quickly saw that the Deleter android was nearly as mobile as her, but not quite as well armed.  However, it was nearly as durable as the bio-mech she'd faced before, able to both take and give a great deal of damage.  Not only that, the design of its circuitry caused an error in her suit's lock on systems, meaning she had to use manual targeting for all of her weapons.  On top of that, even the Plasma Beam didn't do much damage, even diffused and fully charged.  All it did was slow it down momentarily, and it was still fast enough to dodge missiles.

As she fought, however, Samus found some old anger building up inside her.  She knew that this wasn't Adam before her, but somehow in her mind's eye, she found herself thinking of every moment in the past Adam had pushed her, and the unresolved anger that had been buried each time.  As she faced down the android, she remembered that her anger had apparently done something to her suit's capabilities before...and decided to try and make use of it.  Disabling her Beam Cannon, she charged in, closing the distance to melee range.

"I was never good enough for you!" she snarled out, delivering a solid right cross to the android's disguised face.  As it staggered back, she spun and kicked it in the knee, and she heard the crunch of metal as the join broke from the impact.  "It wasn't enough that I could do everything you threw my way, you'd never treat me like one of the guys!"  It tried to swing up another weapon, but she grabbed hold of the elbow joint, forcing the arm around so it shot itself.  "Even when I was in the Federation I was an outsider!"  Lunging forward, she slammed bodily against the Deleter, slamming her helmet against 'Adam's face.  "And always that same look whenever I was around your 'baby brother'!" she snapped, hurling the android to the ground.  "I didn't even see him that way!  He was just my first friend my own age!"  Her arm cannon reactivated, Super Missiles slotted in for rapid fire.  "And you wouldn't let me save him!"  She fired Super Missile after Super Missile into the thing's body until she ran out of ammo...and android to destroy.

As she stared at the wreckage before her, a familiar voice spoke behind her.  "He knew you could be just as reckless as he could be," Adam said softly.  "Before that mission, he made me promise...if I had to choose between letting him go or letting you risk yourself to save him..."  She turned, seeing Adam not quite meeting her gaze.  "We were in agreement.  There was a great deal of potential in you, more than you could ever achieve in the Federation.  The only way you could become the hero the galaxy needed...was if I pushed you away."

Samus slowly stood up, taking in Adam's words.  They had the ring of truth.  She let them sink into her mind...and accepted their meaning.  She nodded silently in understanding.

"Divisions of the Federation military are on their way," Adam stated, once more looking Samus right in the eye.  "In all likelihood, it's the group that built this Bottleship, and will want to silence any survivors.  I've found signs of one in Room MW, toward the rear of the Bioweapons Research Center.  I assume Spike is dealing with the Metroids in Sector Zero?"  When Samus nodded again, Adam continued.  "Then we need to get Melissa and the other survivor off this station before the military gets here.  Losing the Deleter's signal likely accelerated their time table."  Reaching into the wreckage of the android, Adam withdrew its central processing unit.  "They won't want anyone seeing what's on here."  He turned back to Samus.  "Any objections, Lady?"

Managing to smirk under her mask, Samus gave her traditional thumbs down.





Celestia smiled warmly as she heard this part of the tale come to an end.  "So you two were able to work through the last bit of what stood between you?" she asked softly.

"Thanks to violently beating him to a pulp in effigy?" Luna teased.  "Hmm...perhaps I should try that?"  She glanced side-on at Celestia, who responded with a blown raspberry, much to Rarity's astonishment.

"It was a beginning of reconciliation," Adam admitted.  "We still had a long way to go.  Thankfully, there was ample opportunity later."

"The rest of the present mission didn't go as smoothly as we could have hoped," Samus explained.  "Then again, that was to be expected..."