"The SA-X was...that intelligent?" Shining asked worriedly. "Is that because it was copying you and you're that intelligent, or are all X that intelligent?"
Samus shrugged her shoulders. "We were never able to get a straight answer about that," Samus replied. "It's not like it sat down and talked to us or anything. Sides, once I knew what it was and that it was after me, surviving was the main goal."
"That's something I've been wondering about, actually," Discord spoke up, spiraling down from the ceiling. "I get that the SA-X was incredibly dangerous...but why were you so terrified of it? How was it any different from Dark Samus, as far as fighting it was concerned?"
"I was on a space station," Samus replied simply.
"Huh?" several of her listeners asked, confused.
"Confined spaces," Samus explained. "Very little room to maneuver. Chambers that would seal themselves shut if I got caught in combat in order to limit damage to the station, meaning escape wouldn't always be a viable option, especially if we clashed. And even if I was able to avoid being frozen long enough to do any damage to it...that model of my suit allowed me to survive in space for a time, and even reboard a space station after unexpected EVA, like back on the Olympus. So if the SA-X determined I was too much trouble...it could just blast open the walls and have us all sucked out into space...where without the Varia Suit data, that absolute chill would freeze me solid, and I would either die slowly from hypothermia and suffocation, or quickly as I plunged into SR388's atmosphere..."
Everyone listening shuddered from her description.
"But there's more than that," Samus continued. "Dark Samus' weapons were all Phazon based, which could damage Spike's energy reserves at worst. It could weaken him into a comatose state, but not really kill him unless he was really careless. With the SA-X...one Plasma Beam between the eyes and he'd drop, brain fried. The SA-X could kill him in a single shot if it got lucky, or Spike got careless. And if he got too close and it used the Screw Attack..." She shuddered just imagining it. "So yeah, I wasn't risking facing that thing unless absolutely necessary."
"I can easily understand why," Twilight agreed, glancing worriedly towards Spike.
"It didn't happen, Mom," Spike chided gently, smiling reassuringly. "We were fine...after the fact, anyway."
As everyone digested that tidbit, silence reigned. Eventually, Adam spoke up. "How come it took you so long to return from the TRO sector, anyway?" he asked. "Were the other tunnels that hard to maneuver?"
"More that they required an ability I didn't have at the time," Samus explained. "I needed to jump higher than I could normally to get back to the mapped areas, and the rooms were too small for Spike to get big enough to carry me and get up there. Thankfully, we encountered another Large Core X..."
Spike and Samus dropped down into the large chamber they'd found in the unmapped area while trying to get back out, surprised to find a large red and blue Core X surrounded by a pale blue shell, with numerous small yellow X floating around it. Eventually, it fused together, manifesting as an armored, bulbous creature, tall and thin with a single eye near the top and several tendrils waving up top. The pink, spiky shell surrounding the creature proved impenetrable to the pair's available weapons, though it only wriggled along the ground towards them. Unexpectedly, it leapt into the air, forcing Samus and Spike to race under it to avoid being landed on.
When it jumped again, the pair once more dashed under it. Glancing up, Samus saw that the bottom of the creature was, in fact, a maw, and what she'd taken for toes were actually teeth. The maw also had a straight path to the creature's core, behind the eye. At the next leap, it paused in the air, slowly floating down to attempt to envelop her. Taking a moment to fire a missiles upward, she confirmed the nucleus was the only part that could be damaged, then rolled out of the way of its landing.
"Spike!" she called out. "How strong is the ceiling?"
Spike glanced from the creature to the roof, then grinned. "Strong enough!" he called back, racing up the wall while Samus continued to fire on the creature with her beam, keeping its attention. After a time, it began its jumps again, while Spike stayed near the ceiling near the center of the room. When it once more paused at the apex of a leap with its maw open, Spike lashed out and caught the tendrils at the top with his teeth. He then held it there as Samus moved underneath, firing her missiles straight down the maw into the nucleus until the creature's form began to dissolve.
When the form collapsed, the X Core attempted to escape, only to be knocked back into the chamber by Spike's claws, leaving it in perfect position for Samus to shoot it with her missiles until the shell broke apart, allowing her to absorb the X inside.
Hi-Jump and Jump Ball abilities recovered.
Samus couldn't help but smile. "That will be most useful," she murmured happily, leaping up to catch hold of Spike's outstretched claw. "Let's go."
"After that, we made our way out of the TRO Sector," Samus explained. "The only odd point of the trip was that all the red larva we'd encountered had turned grey and solid...as though having entered cocoons."
"We didn't know what it was about at the time," Spike explained. "But it came back to bite us later. Not that we could have done anything about it..."
ive been noticing something of a trend with ur updates, tats, that i was starting to wonder about. namely, the fact that they seem to be coming much later in the day recently. this is the first time in a few months that both story updates occurred before midnight, local time. having a bit of extra trouble or just getting stuck in the games needed?
And introducing the second stage of my least favorite enemy in the game!
7228236
A combination of sleeping alter, having more trouble getting started, and overheating as we approach summer.
7228277 Hey man make sure you take care of yourself I can probably speak for at least the vast majority of us that like your work in saying, we would rather see delays so something bad doesn't happen then you suddenly dropping off the face of the earth for a while because you got sick or something.
Yeah I'm going to copy Imayaruk and say, please take care of yourself. I'd rather have the updates later than you getting hurt, sick or otherwise incapable of showing off this mindful fun that you're allowing us to enjoy.
Nice job describing why the SA-X was their biggest threat yet, particularly comparing it to Dark Samus. Also, considering their reaction to the mere mention of its existence, I can't wait to see the group's reaction to finding out there's more than 10 of them.
7228363
7228326 Ditto
Gooood.... gooooood
Those other guys have the right idea. We can wait, take care of YOU first.
7228326 agreed go rest ignore the protesters saying you need to update
Both I think.
Think about it, it's like a horror villain, there's this thing chasing you, it's stronger than you, it's smart, very smart, it has all your intelligence and none of your compassion, nothing you can do can hurt it, it has weapons that can kill you in an instant, and it's actively hunting you on a closed space station above a hostile planet with no way out.
And there's that.
And that.
Ah Zazabi-X, annoying one.
This guy, never enjoyed fighting him.
Seriously. if someone redesigned ANY of the Metroid games with Spike, it would be SO much easier. Except the one with the Ing since, y'know, Spike becomes the final boss.
How useful.
Yes, those damn Ki-Hunters, even with the Wave Beam, it takes a fully charged shot to kill them, hate those things.
(To add to the comments, they're right, we are more than happy to wait if it means you take better care of yourself. Your life takes precedence over us.)
7228380
When I got to that point in the game, I was glad I had used the lavatory about an hour or so earlier. I was honestly expecting an escape sequence with multiple SA-X chasing me. *Shudder*
7228277
If you need to alter your update schedule, do so. We'll be here for you when things stabilize. If you need to cut expenses to afford an air conditioner, for heaven's sake, do so. If you get sick on us, then where would we be? If there really isn't anything that can be done to improve the situation, keep calm and canter on.
...but seriously, take it from someone who physically shuts down when the temp passes 80 degrees: Heat Narcolepsy sucks.
7228838
Yep. Tatsurou is one of the most consistent authors on this site I've ever seen. If he has to slow down, it won't bother me all that much. I have a backlog on the Vinyl Scratch/Octavia fics anyway; should probably sit down and read those at some point.
In all honesty, I get a feeling of envy when I think of how frequent Tatsurou updates his stories. He has what, two stories he works on a day for six days? I have two primary fics that I'm working on right now, and a smattering of others. Ideas for a chapter have to percolate in my head for days before I can write anything down.
7228623
Seriously, I don't see why they're bitching so much. The only day he takes off is Saturday; all else are used for chapter updates.
Two each day, six days. That's TWELVE fics that he consistently updates on each week. When he finishes one, he adds another to the list.
I think his update schedule is just fine. Sure shows me up; I have a fic on this site that I started in May of last year that still isn't finished.
Imma gonna reiterates has already been said. Take. A. Break. We certainly won't be going anywhere. And even more so, I, personally, would be okay with seeing longer waits between chapters. Like, maybe only three chapters a week, and if you write more you have a backlog of chapters. This would probably result in longer, higher quality chapters. At the rate you write, this would probably be really effective. But, as stated earlier, you need to take a breakers. This is only a suggestion, and you definitely don't need to use this idea immediately, if at all.
Hoping all the best,
~Mega Nut 678
another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
7229715
Nice.
Nice battle, wish I'd had Spike to keep that sucker still for a missile barrage in the real game.
7228277 Dude, take care of yourself! We don't need updates so badly we want to risk you getting sick or having to be rushed to the hospital due to heat stroke.
7230855 actually, via a small sequence break, one can avoid that first hatcher entirely, and one-shot all three.
I did it by accident.
Sooo, there seems to be a continuity problem. You say this:
But earlier on, you say this:
Spike is CLEARLY older, more powerful, and more durable than Garble, so that plasma breath he used should have killed him, correct? What happened with this?
7352520
Not a continuity error. Spike's breath isn't plasma.
At least, not in terms of the Plasma Beam effect. It does not have the same penetrating qualities.
In these terms, the Plasma Beam is closer to the Nova Beam of Prime 3 (which is a high fequency beam which penetrates various types of material, biological and otherwise), while Spike's breath is the Plasma Beam of that game (which is just a high-heat beam).
7352652 Ah. Well. Now I feel stupid for not thinking of that. Oh well. Thanks for clearing that up!