"Why did you call that creature 'Dark Samus'?" Twilight asked once everyone had stopped laughing. "I mean, I know it looked a lot like you-"
"Because it was basically Metroid Prime wearing my Phazon Suit," Samus interrupted, causing several of the mares to gasp. "When it pulled the Phazon corruption out of my power suit, it also got a sample of my DNA. So when it recreated itself somehow in Phazon elsewhere, it did so in my image, along with abilities based on my own."
"Not a pleasant sight," Spike pointed out. "Especially since it just wouldn't stay dead."
The mares shuddered at the sound of this, though the fillies and draconequus looked all the more eager for details. Seeing their faces, Samus chuckled. "Alright," she replied. "At any rate..."
Once Samus had comforted Spike for not being able to get any Phazon to help him adapt to Dark Aether, the pair continued their exploration of the base. Not far down a new path, Samus found a new beam weapon system. The Dark Beam was a weapon designed by the Luminoth to use the Ing's own energy against them. However, according to the specs, the Luminoth had never figured out how to create a dark energy generator small enough to fit in a hand held weapon. As a result, the Dark Beam relied on an ammunition system, and replenishing ammo by absorbing dark energy from the environment, or collecting Dark Ammo from storage containers. Samus' own power suit was unable to fully analyze the Dark Energy the weapon was based on, and as such could not use its own energy generators - which fueled the Power Beam and other Chozo tech - to supplement it.
As many of the various devices scattered around used Dark Energy to activate, this proved most useful for Samus. Unfortunately, beam cannon based weapons were not compatible with Spike's armor, as his only beam weapon was his breath. However, given just how powerful his breath was, Spike was content to rely on that and his melee combat abilities.
Returning back to the entrance chamber of the Space Pirate base, Samus discovered that the portal to Dark Aether the Pirates had been using could be energized with Dark Energy. Firing the Dark Beam at the rift, the portal opened, letting the pair through to the shadowy world.
...
On the other side of the portal, Spike and Samus found themselves in a wide open chamber. One of the keys to the Dark Agon Temple - a red oval gem surrounded by two rotating black rings - was in plain sight. Nearby was a small amount of Phazon, not enough for Spike to easily consume, especially as it was outside any safe zone.
Nearby was also a glowing sphere of light. Samus' scans revealed it to be a beacon, Luminoth tech that, when activated, created a temporary safe zone. It was apparently designed after the war had strained Luminoth resources, and the Crystals that made the permanent Safe Zones could no longer be built.
Manipulating some Luminoth tech platforms, Samus and Spike were able to continue onward through the area. In the next chamber, there was a large puddle of Phazon...and two full canisters.
"Mom...I have an idea," Spike said carefully. "If it doesn't work, I'm going to need you to pull me back into the Safe Zone here as fast as you can."
"Keep your tail in range, then," Samus replied. "No Grapple Beam, remember?"
Nodding, Spike grabbed the two canisters and hurled them against the large pool of Phazon on the floor and wall opposite, charging after them. As the Phazon erupted and he entered the field of the explosion, Spike disengaged his suit's energy shields.
Samus flinched as she heard him roar in pain and the sizzle of Dark Aether's atmosphere on his scales...but both noises quickly faded. When she could see clearly again, all the Phazon was gone, and Spike had changed.
The change wasn't as drastic as most of the ones he'd gone through. His scales had changed to much darker shades of purple and green - contrasting much more vividly against the white and gold of his armor - and his teeth were a brighter white. The white of his sclera had turned red, and the slitting of his pupils had become more pronounced. The spines along his back were also slightly sharper. "Spike?" she asked as his armor reactivated the energy shields.
"I'm okay," he replied. "But...my energy's dropping a lot slower now."
Curious, Samus scanned Spike.
Adult Spike - Dark Mode
By absorbing Phazon mixed with Dark Aether's atmosphere, Spike has created a partial adaption to Dark Aether's atmosphere. It appears Spike can shift back and forth between this mode and his normal state. This adaption has reduced the energy drain on his shielding by 90%. His high stamina allows him to function at the equivalent energy levels of your suit with maximum energy levels.(1)
Samus disengaged her scan. "Well, that's going to be helpful," she murmured as they headed for the next chamber. The explosion of Phazon had also killed the Warrior Ing that had been in the chamber with them, so they went unmolested.
As the path further on led to a narrow passage, the pair were forced to split up, Samus continuing forward and Spike trying to loop back around from the other side.
"Splitting up?" Rainbow asked worriedly. "In a world of shadows, darkness, and poison filled with monsters made of living shadow, the whole thing looking straight out of a horror movie...and you split up?"
Samus and Spike glanced at each other. "Well...when you put it that way..." Spike began.
"Sounds even more fun!" Samus replied eagerly.
Twilight chuckled. "Something tells me you'd greet a zombie apocolypse as a fun challenge full of free targets."
Spike glanced towards Samus. "So...does BSL count as that?"
Samus shrugged. "Close enough."
"BSL?" Luna inquired.
"Our last mission before coming here," Samus explained. "We won't say anymore, so put the sign down, Pinkie."
Pinkie giggled as she lowered her 'Spoilers' sign.
After a time, Samus found another Luminoth beam weapon system, this one designed to use Light Energy. The generator issue the Dark Beam had was also present with the Light Beam, and her suit could no more generate Light Energy than Dark, so she was still forced to rely on ammunition. However, she did discover that the use of one type of ammo to destroy an enemy would cause it to release energy of the other type, which her Arm Cannon could absorb to convert into ammunition.
Seeing that the chamber was open air, Samus figured Spike had taken the opportunity to explore from the sky, so she decided to go back to the chamber of the portal back to Aether to wait for him.
However, by the time she got to that chamber, she found Spike waiting for her where she had seen the Key before. "Done exploring already?" she asked.
"It's a lot easier to explore this world flying," he replied. "Much of Dark Agon is open air, although the Temple Grounds and Dark Temple are sealed by the Keys. Speaking of..." Opening a compartment in the chest plate of his armor, he set out three Keys - two red, one pale green - along with several expansions for Samus' Power Suit. "Picked up some stuff for you while I was flying...but this key looks different."
Collecting all the pickups, Samus blinked. "This one is a...Sky Temple Key," Samus explained. "Apparently, it's one of nine to open the path to the Energy Controller in the central area of Dark Aether, equivalent to the Great Temple in Aether where U-Mos stands guard."
Spike blinked. "Huh. No wonder it was contained inside an Ing. Speaking of, found out eating the Ing replenishes me like this nearly as efficiently as Phazon...though they don't taste very good."
Samus shrugged. "Then don't eat too many of them," she instructed. "If they don't taste good, they probably aren't good for you."
"They weren't," Spike murmured to the listening audience.
Everyone was silent for a time. "Spike?" Samus asked.
"...I'll explain later..."
(1) This means that Spike's normal stamina is equivalent to Samus with all Energy Tanks. Also, the damage reduction from the atmosphere for Spike in 'Dark Mode' is equivalent to Samus with the Dark Suit.
surely there must be a drawback for being dark spike, otherwise why would he change back?
maybe he... uh... I got nothing
6312718
At the moment, the only known drawback is that it weakens him while in Aether, so he takes more damage than normal.
There's another drawback - and another advantage - but that won't become plain until later.
Clever boy...
draconequus
... Why do I imagine Ing are akin to instant overload of laxatives for dragons with a time delay set up built in so he doesn't horrify Samus?
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
after the war had strained Luminoth resources
1. Luminoths.
6312902
No. The name of the race is Luminoth.
6312902
No. There is no plural. Whether you're speaking about one member or all of them, the correct terminology is Luminoth. Same for Chozo.
I know that makes no sense, since we say humans when talking about our race. Please remember that this game is an import; you don't hear us say Japaneses.
I can only wonder what he did... Come to think of it, if Kirby met Spike now and Pinkie, it's like that crossover movie with Goku, Luffy and that one guy from Toriko.
and time, six chapters now spike is becoming dangerous let's just see how op he becomes.
Why am I getting the feeling that too many Ings eaten lead to a dark Spike to follow Dark Samus?
6312939
6312917
Whoops, my brain derped and I kept thinking that Luminoth was the planet name. Again.
6312762 FORESHADOWING... OF DOOM.
6313381
Wrong.
Metroid 2 is when all Metroids are exterminated. It cannot come before the Prime games, all of which are rife with Metroids.
6313233
Yeah, that's a common thing. Happens to me all the time.
Did I really just say that?
I just thought I'd point that out; I didn't mean anything by it.
I still find fubbed words in my stories.
Too many actually...
6313391
I think putting Other M at the end is supposed to be the way it really goes. Zero Mission is a reboot of the original Metroid.
Then again, if you look at how the Space Pirates were in Other M, and how they were in Prime, you get confused.
I know I have at times.
Course, figuring out universe time lines is always confusing.
6313413
Actually, Other M is a direct sequel to Super Metroid, chronologically picking up right from the end.
Timeline goes:
Original Metroid/Zeron Mission
Prime 1
Prime Hunters
Prime 2
Prime 3
Metroid 2
Super Metroid
Other M
Fusion.
6313435
Yeah, I know. The confusion I have is because of launch dates, and some of the features that came with them.
You remember the GC version of Prime? Well, there was a feature that allowed you to download the Fusion Suit from Fusion.
I always took it to mean that Fusion took place before Prime. Now that I think about it though, they did the exact same time-switch crap that they did in the Zelda universe.
I shouldn't dig them about that; it's a common trope that is severely overused
I'm guilty of it myself...
That makes sense, that's in fact a fantastic explanation for why we don't just get limitless ammo like with the other beams.
What are you thinking?
Oh boy.
Coool...
He's got his own Dark Suit.
All right.
She's got a point there, except unlike horror movie protagonists, these two are certified badasses and armed to their teeth. Literally in Spike's case.
Yep. Especially since with Samus's Varia Suit, even if zombies got close, the worst they could do is hit her on fire due to Spike's breath if it doesn't obliterate them, and she could probably literally smash their brains out.
Close enough, I guess, I mean, you encounter some zombies in Sector 1.
Long story.
Nice work.
Probably not.
I'm guessing eating Ing is going to backfire on him later?
Gee, that doesn't sound good at the end. Poor Spike... Well, at least he got a new trick out of the process.
C&Cs:
Unfortunately, beam canon based weapons were not compatible with Spike's armor...
> Replace ‘canon’ with ‘cannon’.
Samus' scans revealed it to be a beacon, Luminoth tech that, when activated, created a temporary safe zone.
> [Edited] Add “a” after the first comma.
6313659
Actually, it would be incorrect to add that 'a', since it's referring to Beacons in general with the description rather than that Beacon in particular.
And I thought you weren't supposed to add the 's' after the possessive apostrophe on names ending with 's'?
6313672
You can, but a lot of people don't. It works either way, really.
6313672 The 's' on the end is really a point of preference now. Neither is actually wrong. . . For some reason. . . Personally I prefer without as it looks cleaner.
Dark Spike is probably going to be a double edged sword at some point. I can't wait to see how Spike and Samus take on the next boss!!!!
6313860
This is not Dark Spike.
This is Spike: Dark Mode.
There's a reason for the distinction.
6313672
Actually, from I read, it seems like it was referring the beacons to one of their many tech. So, even if beacon is being used in general, rather than in particular, the focus here was the tech, not the beacons. ((Note: I'm not too happy on how I phrase it, but hopefully you get the point.))
...Speaking of which, is 'beacon' pose to be lowercase or uppercase? The way you have been using it, I'm getting the feeling it should be capitalize.
You don't have to, that is true, but you have to stick with what you used. At the time of creating the C&C, I wasn't too sure about it, but I look around and found that you did use "Samus's". However, after you just recently pointing it out to me, I took a few moment and look at past chapters. It seems you have been using "Samus'" throughout. So, I'll erase the C&C...however, now that mean you got a rogue "Samus's" on the loose (Ctrl-F would be useful here).
And after looking back, at the end of Chapter 23 (Interlude - Power Consumes), you used a possessive apostrophe when it wasn't really need.
> Samus' laughed easily.
6314852 never finiched it. Whas only playing it becuse super powers.
BSL.....Fusion: first game I played, last in the series.
6313864 ohh dear
6317430 Same. I remember my first encounter with the zombie scientists...
My reaction was something along the lines of: "Is that... oh God... it is... PUT HIM OUT OF HIS MISERY!!!... now he's goo... and he's back again... that's creepy..."
6317430
Same way. Burrr... [shivers]
Is it just me or do you keep forgeting to put in horizontal rules?
Foreshadowing! Lucky for me I didn't have to wait for the next chapter to come out. I'm gonna read it now.
6591537
It is just you. All those lines are there.
6591537 I can support what Tasturou says.
I believe it's sclera, not cornea, are what Eye whites are called.
8245520
No, the white part of the eye is called the cornea.
8245648
Err, no. The cornea is transparent, and both provides a large portion of the focusing done by the eye and protects the lens from environmental damage. The opaque coating of most of the eyeball, which usually is white in color, is the sclera. If the sclera changes color, that is a cosmetic change, though (based on setting) may have other meaning. If the Cornea changes color, you go blind as it blocks light from getting through. (I've had enough eye issues over the years to know the difference.)