Another Hatchling

by Tatsurou

M: Split Path, Spike

"Was splitting up really such a good choice?" Rainbow asked worriedly. "I mean...creepy space base straight out of a horror movie-"

"With Melissa now emitting soothing telepathic waves to calm the creatures down so they wouldn't attack me, except for the larger ones that were already on a rampage?" Spike clarified. "And no more Ridley to counteract those waves?"

Rainbow paused, one hoof raised as though to make a counterpoint, then settled down. "Okay, I guess that makes sense."

As several members of the audience chuckled, Shining Armor spoke up. "So anything in particular you had to deal with in the way of hazards or enemies?" he asked curiously.

"Well, on my way out I encountered the bio-mech creature we'd dealt with several times before," Spike began. "But it wasn't that much of a challenge for me...mostly because of where it attacked me."

"Why would that affect anything?" Twilight asked curiously. "Was there some aspect of the terrain that gave you an advantage?"

"No, it was a completely circular room," Spike corrected. He then grinned wickedly. "One which I knew was nowhere near any vital systems or the outside of the station."

Twilight tilted her head in confusion at first, but quickly reached the same conclusion that Rainbow vocalized. "Turned your limiters off?" Rainbow asked wickedly.

Spike grinned. "Yup. Tore the bugger apart!" His grin faded. "Of course, that's when I found that not a single part of it was edible..." His grin quickly returned as everyone laughed. "It wasn't a complete loss, though. It seemed I was on the right track that the Seeker Missiles would have given me a missile system." Lifting his right arm, the gauntlet around his claw shifted, revealing a missile launcher.

"Sweet!" Scootaloo squealed, rushing up to examine it up close.

"Of course, generating the missiles drains energy from me, since I don't have anywhere to store them," Spike explained as he let Scootaloo, then Rainbow, then Luna and Twilight examine it. "Still, useful in any number of situations. Don't have the Super Missile option, but I can fire up to five missiles at a time with independent lock-ons."

"Any problems in Sector 2?" Night Light asked curiously. "From the sound of what we've heard, I get the feeling you didn't encounter anything serious..."

"Well, when I reached the path to Sector Zero from Sector Two, I encountered an area where security caused gravity to go screwy," Spike explained. "Reversed gravity proved more problematic than enhanced gravity, since my armor automatically adjusted how much of my strength it was limiting to account for the gravity change, so I always felt like I was in normal gravity. Suddenly flipping from ceiling to floor was more disorienting. And then there was the enemy I encountered just before Sector Zero..."

---

As Spike entered the tall, circular chamber, he looked at his map. "Alright...the entrance to Sector Zero is right up there...I just need to get up there." Spreading his wings, he leapt into the air, flapping his way towards the top of the room. As he made it to the third level, he paused. Something about the shape in the center of the roof was concerning. "...why are all those cables leading into that thing?" he muttered. Deciding not to think about it, he approached the door.

Just before he reached it, energy flowed down the cables into the nearby construct, which turned out to be another bio-mech. This one had a fully armored blocky central body, two armored 'wings' to either side that flexed like arms, and a hanging tail with a strange glowing device at the end. When the device flared to life, gravity increased dramatically.

"Damn!" Spike snapped, letting his armor readjust as he clung to the platform...only for gravity to shift again. "Okay, that settles it. They were designing things here to kill me, too. That's what this is..." His eyes narrowed to slits. "Well then...let's give this Nightmare a field test..."

He raced around the platform, tracking the creature as it fired balls of energy from its wings at him. He rolled to the side to evade each blast, tracking the beast's movements. He quickly saw that the source of the gravity manipulation was the device at the end of the tail, and that the beast moved to keep him away from it. "Huh...is that so?" He growled deep in his throat. "Well, can't plan a launch in changing gravity...time to take a different risk. Shi'cho-kra!"

His armor disengaged, he dealt with the changing gravity as it happened, racing around to get a good angle on the gravity device. As soon as he had a good shot, he unleashed his ice breath to try and freeze the device. It seemed to be working, but the creature reacted quickly, spinning to intercept the blast with its wings. Frustrated, Spike continued to race around until he could get a good angle.

Eventually, the device became completely frozen, and the changing gravity ended. As soon as it did, he lunged forward, grabbing hold of the creature and clawing at its armor. Eventually, he managed to pry the faceplate off, revealing a grotesque green facade that seemed to be on the verge of melting. "...ick..." Spike gagged. "Well...I have to do this anyway..." Pulling one arm back, he plunged his claws into the gooey face, feeling bone crumble as he punched through full force. Twisting his hand and gripping, he ripped back out, riding the now dead creature as it crashed to the floor before exploding.

Spike turned to the hand he'd plunged in, gagging at the stench. He quickly unleashed his fire breath to cleanse it. He then made his way to Sector Zero.

---

"Sector Zero itself..." Spike concluded. "...well, I don't really want to talk about that. It...it wasn't pleasant." He turned away, saying nothing.

Twilight quickly came up to his side. "Spike..." she offered consolingly.

Much to her surprise, Spike shrank down until he was the same size as he'd been when he'd gone missing. "Just hold me?" he pleaded.

Nodding, Twilight pulled Spike into her arms, cuddling him and nuzzling his head.

Comments

[NintenDOS]

The nightmare battle was definitely one of the more interesting battles.

[Kenshinryuu]

Nightmare is one FUGLY SON OF A BH and getting its face ripped off only improved the look.

[Lord Shaxx]

Don't have the Super Missile option, but I can fire up to five missiles at a time with independent lock-ons."

Sounds like the missile pod on the Mantis.

[ChaosFerret]

7114779 Freckles, is that you?

[shinigamisparda]

I was wondering if the Nightmare battle was going to be hard for him. I guess if he had to go full power it was a challenge. Wonder how he'll deal with the X Variant.

[RanmaChaos]

Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.

[Scygnus]

7115087

I haven't heard Spi-X mentioned yet

[shinigamisparda]

7115310 Wait, would that be possible at this point? After all, he does have metered DNA in him.

[ShadowLDrago]

"Was splitting up really such a good choice?" Rainbow asked worriedly. "I mean...creepy space base straight out of a horror movie-"
"With Melissa now emitting soothing telepathic waves to calm the creatures down so they wouldn't attack me, except for the larger ones that were already on a rampage?" Spike clarified. "And no more Ridley to counteract those waves?"

Good point. Besides, either of them can take down pretty much anything in their path.

"No, it was a completely circular room," Spike corrected. He then grinned wickedly. "One which I knew was nowhere near any vital systems or the outside of the station."
Twilight tilted her head in confusion at first, but quickly reached the same conclusion that Rainbow vocalized. "Turned your limiters off?" Rainbow asked wickedly.
Spike grinned. "Yup. Tore the bugger apart!" His grin faded. "Of course, that's when I found that not a single part of it was edible..." His grin quickly returned as everyone laughed. "It wasn't a complete loss, though. It seemed I was on the right track that the Seeker Missiles would have given me a missile system." Lifting his right arm, the gauntlet around his claw shifted, revealing a missile launcher.

Cool! Also, bugger? Oddly British of you.

"Of course, generating the missiles drains energy from me, since I don't have anywhere to store them,"

Good point.

"Still, useful in any number of situations. Don't have the Super Missile option, but I can fire up to five missiles at a time with independent lock-ons."

Useful if something's out of your breath range or you need some explosive firepower.

"Well, when I reached the path to Sector Zero from Sector Two, I encountered an area where security caused gravity to go screwy," Spike explained. "Reversed gravity proved more problematic than enhanced gravity, since my armor automatically adjusted how much of my strength it was limiting to account for the gravity change, so I always felt like I was in normal gravity. Suddenly flipping from ceiling to floor was more disorienting. And then there was the enemy I encountered just before Sector Zero..."

Nightmare. Hate that thing, even the SA-X is easier to beat, there's a relatively easy pattern to get into to kill him, Nightmare doesn't.

Just before he reached it, energy flowed down the cables into the nearby construct, which turned out to be another bio-mech. This one had a fully armored blocky central body, two armored 'wings' to either side that flexed like arms, and a hanging tail with a strange glowing device at the end. When the device flared to life, gravity increased dramatically.
"Damn!" Spike snapped, letting his armor readjust as he clung to the platform...only for gravity to shift again. "Okay, that settles it. They were designing things here to kill me, too. That's what this is..." His eyes narrowed to slits. "Well then...let's give this Nightmare a field test..."

Got I hate that thing.

Eventually, the device became completely frozen, and the changing gravity ended. As soon as it did, he lunged forward, grabbing hold of the creature and clawing at its armor. Eventually, he managed to pry the faceplate off, revealing a grotesque green facade that seemed to be on the verge of melting. "...ick..." Spike gagged. "Well...I have to do this anyway..." Pulling one arm back, he plunged his claws into the gooey face, feeling bone crumble as he punched through full force. Twisting his hand and gripping, he ripped back out, riding the now dead creature as it crashed to the floor before exploding.

... Ew.

"Sector Zero itself..." Spike concluded. "...well, I don't really want to talk about that. It...it wasn't pleasant." He turned away, saying nothing.
Twilight quickly came up to his side. "Spike..." she offered consolingly.
Much to her surprise, Spike shrank down until he was the same size as he'd been when he'd gone missing. "Just hold me?" he pleaded.
Nodding, Twilight pulled Spike into her arms, cuddling him and nuzzling his head.

Damn, whatever was in there, it scarred him.

[Nova Blaze]

That thing was a pain in the ass no matter which game you fight it in. Though definitely uglier here. 3D did NOT do this thing any favors.

[Scygnus]

7115314

Point. You'd think Samus would already be aware of it if it'd come up during Fusion though, and she was surprised earlier regarding Squishy. I'd feel kind of disappointed if Spi-X wasn't a thing. Might've been too dormant when he first gets hit, letting the X infect him just long enough to make a copy of the blueprint before he adapts. It'd certainly make Fusion their greatest challenge.

[Tatsurou]

7115445
Fusion is already their greatest challenge.

The only thing that can damage the SA-X reliably is the plasma beam modifier...which, along with the Wave modifier, Spike can't mimic with his natural arsenal. Meaning his only means of hurting the SA-X is brute force...which it can counter by immediately triggering a Screw Attack, which can shred his scales.

[shinigamisparda]

7115521 Yikes.

[Senou Natsuru]

7115521 What about tearing a chunk of wall out to smash it with?

[Tatsurou]

7116891
Samus has shown in the past that her power suit is pretty durable when it comes to sheer brute force.

Also, same issue as punching.

[Xuncu]

Nah, the secret to beating the <creature>-Xes are getting it stuck in a movement loop, like a cheap bastard.

[Senou Natsuru]

7117175 I was merely being goofy, but in all seriousness, it was never explicitly stated that the wave beam was needed to fight the SA-X. Samus just had it by the time that she had to face it in direct confrontation. It was only stated that the plasma beam might be able to harm it, due to it's piercing capabilities.

[Tatsurou]

7119648
I know. I was merely stating that those two functions are ones Spike can't mimic.

[Senou Natsuru]

7119931 But in the Original Prime arc, he did just that for the plasma beam

[Tatsurou]

7119953
Different function with the same name.

The Plasma Beam of the 2-D Metroid games and Other M is the one that penetrates enemies. In the Prime arc, it was just the high heat beam.

[Senou Natsuru]

7120007 Facedesk I've played every metroid game save other M and Federation force, and I still somehow forgot that.

[Flammenwerfer]

Control f "effect" and change the first one to "affect"

[Bookwurm666]

"Well, when I reached the path to Sector Zero from Sector Two, I encountered an area where security caused gravity to go screwy," Spike explained. "Reversed gravity proved more problematic than enhanced gravity, since my armor automatically adjusted how much of my strength it was limiting to account for the gravity change, so I always felt like I was in normal gravity. Suddenly flipping from ceiling to floor was more disorienting. And then there was the enemy I encountered just before Sector Zero..."

understandable

[Flame1hedgehog]

"Of course, generating the missiles drains energy from me, since I don't have anywhere to store them," Spike explained as he let Scootaloo, then Rainbow, then Luna and Twilight examine it. "Still, useful in any number of situations. Don't have the Super Missile option, but I can fire up to five missiles at a time with independent lock-ons."

Huh Tat's I think you predicted a power up from Metroid Dread it even came out 😅🤣