Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Fusion of Destinies ❯ First Hunt ( Chapter 13 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Fusion of Destinies
a Harry Potter/Metroid crossover
Chapter 13: First Hunt
1-22-2006
by Grey

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series and all of its characters are the creation and property of J. K. Rowling. Samus Aran and the Metroid series are the creation and property of Nintendo, and was originally masterminded by producer Gumpei Yokoi (1941-1997) .

This fic is dedicated to Razor Knight and CubedCinder128, whose support gave me the confidence I needed to write this thing.

---

It had only taken a few minutes for Samus Aran's ship to once again completely leave Earth's atmosphere. For a brief moment, she stared aimlessly at the thousands of stars. Though Samus knew she was embarking on yet another dangerous mission, she felt an odd sense of calm. She was back in her element, travelling through space and seeking out whatever threatened any form of civilization. And that knowledge helped bolster her confidence and renewed her conviction.

"Lady, the ship has now completely cleared Earth's atmosphere and we're ready to start searching," chimed in Adam's voice, though mentioning it was unnecessary. However, it served to snap Samus to attention. "How exactly do you propose we begin our search?"

For a moment, Samus found it strange that Adam was asking her what their next course of action should be. In the past, both while she was serving under him when he was a Galactic Federation officer and while he oversaw her mission on the B.S.L, it was Adam who took it upon himself to lead and to give orders. It was more than a little odd to suddenly hear Adam ask Samus for further instructions.

Samus paused a moment before saying anything, considering her options. "First, let's circle around Earth and run a full sensor sweep. Let's see if we can't uncover some sort of orbital base that's been cloaked with sorcery," she answered at length. "Also, we'll need to adjust the deflector shields to fool the surveillance equipment of the humans in this time."

"The latter has already been taken care of, Lady," said Adam. "As for the former, I believe that if there's anything magically concealed, the ship's sensors will reveal it. I had taken time to analyze the energy output and signatures of that one method Albus Dumbledore used to conceal the ship while it was landed, and with that data, I believe I reveal anything else cloaked in that manner."

"Then let's do it," said Samus eagerly, and then began to deftly pilot the ship so that it began to revolve around Earth. All the while, Adam operated the ship's sensors, systematically sweeping over every cubic centimeter of the space around the planet. As she piloted the ship, Samus watched data prop up on the screen next to her, and suddenly she was reminded of when she had to manually use sensors while simultaneously piloting her old ship. Multitasking like that was easy for her, but she silently admitted to it was handy to now have Adam handle that job for her, especially since his mind was integrated with the ship's systems. If there was anything out there, she was confident he'd find it.

Eventually though, after almost twenty agonizing minutes, Adam suddenly spoke up again. "All sweeps read negative. We've scanned all around Earth, but I have found no trace of anything that's out of place. No unusual energy fluctuations or anything. There is nothing orbiting the planet that does not belong there."

Samus thought she detected a trace of vehemence in that computerized voice, and briefly wondered just how much of Adam's humanity remained intact in that preserved memory. But she put that thought aside, and said, "Alright then, so their hideout isn't some orbital base. That leaves only one other possibility: the moon."

"I was thinking the same thing, Lady," said Adam, and this time, Samus thought she heard a faint trace of coyness in his computerized voice.

"Laying in a course. Get your sensors ready to sweep the lunar surface," instructed Samus as she plotted a course for Earth's moon. Within seconds, her ship was speeding towards Earth's only natural satellite, which was glowing brightly thanks to the sunlight it reflected. For a moment, Samus was briefly reminded of the dazzling glow that the planet Aether gave off, once its dark, interdimensional twin has been abolished altogether...all thanks to her. If I could help save the Luminoth, surely I can help save my own species from something just as horrific as the Ing, she thought to herself.

As the ship neared the side of the moon that always faced Earth, Adam's voice chimed in again. "So far, scans of the lunar surface read negative as well. The only things out of place are, predictably, the primitive motor vehicles that human explorers brought to the moon. Scans read that they've remained idle and have been unused for several years."

"Hmm, is that so?" asked Samus indifferently. The finer details of her species' history didn't concern her the least bit at the moment. She was too busy flying the ship closer to the moon, preparing to circle around it just as she had done around Earth. "Continue scanning the surface, Adam. Make sure you don't miss a thing," she commanded.

As she continued to slowly fly the ship around the moon, Samus let her mind wander. Specifically, her thoughts drifted back to Harry. It was so odd; she was a very private person, and Adam was the only other human she had ever opened up to. And yet, though it had only been a week since she had first laid eyes on Harry, they had forged such a close friendship, as if they had known each other for years. Of course, their ties had been strained as of late, with Harry insisting that he accompany her, and the way she steadfastly refused to let him do so. I really appreciate the way he feels. No one but the Chozo and Adam has ever shown such loyalty toward me before, such respect. But I just can't risk him getting killed, Samus reminded herself. Besides, what if he NEEDS to live? It seems that somehow...it almost seems like he's destined to fight this Voldemort, the way it seems I was fated to one day turn back the Space Pirates. And every time they've met, Harry's stopped him cold. What if he's fated to finish him off for good?

Samus then began to contemplate how history itself could be forever altered by whoever had cast that time-travelling charm, but before she could think too much of it, her ship continued its circular path around the moon. And when her ship veered around and reached the moon's dark side, something came into view that almost gave her a heart attack.

Directly behind the moon, there had been, from what Samus could tell, something that looked exactly like the B.S.L, which had housed the X parasites in her own time. It took a few seconds for Samus to get over the shock, but eventually, she cried out, "Adam, cease your scans of the lunar surface. Begin scanning the..."

"I see it, Lady," said Adam calmly. For a brief moment, Samus envied how easily it seemed that Adam could keep his composure. "I've already began scanning it. I should have some answers for you in a moment." As Adam proceeded with his scan, Samus continued to stare blankly at what looked like the B.S.L: what looked like a gigantic, oblong asteroid, with the main deck jutting out from the rocky surface at the top, and the huge, cylindrical breeding environments seemingly embedded into its sides, and Samus knew there were six in all. She had only spent a few hours on the B.S.L before setting it to self-destruct and crash-land on SR388, but she had become very familiar with it during that time.

Adam's voice broke the eerire silence yet again. "Preliminary scans are complete. From what I can tell from the sensor data, it is very similar to the B.S.L. The technology and its method of construction is the same. However..."

"What is it?" asked Samus impatiently.

"It seems very haphazardly constructed, almost as if it were thrown together without a proper understanding of its original blueprints and layout," replied Adam. "Very odd, indeed. Also, from what data I have gathered, its interior differs from the original."

"In what way?"

"It's hard to explain. Its interior layout is exactly the same as the original's. There's the main deck which also houses the docking bay, engineering section and reactor core, and then there's the six breeding sectors, which simulate tropical, volcanic, aquatic, arctic, and nocturnal environments, and the last one simulates SR388. However, this preliminary data suggests that the layout of each section has been chaged altogether."

"So, I won't be able to rely on my previous experience?" asked Samus, disappointed.

"To a certain degree, yes," said Adam. "Furthermore, it's..."

But Adam's voiced trailed off as the ship suddenly lurched, and Samus heard the crackle of electricity all around her. On her readout, there was a message displayed: ALERT! SURGE OF UNKNOWN ENERGY HAS AFFECTED PRIMARY SYSTEMS. Samus stared at the message for a few seconds, then timidly said, "A-Adam?"

"Do not worry," came Adam's calm voice. "In some manner, a wave of energy travelled to the ship along our sensor beam. It caused a momentary energy fluctuation in the ship's systems, but I have already fixed what little damage there was. However, I regret to inform you that what sensor data I gathered has somehow been purged from the databanks."

"What?" cried Samus.

"I share your frustration. This means that what data I had gathered about the interior is gone," said Adam. "Furthermore, there is some sort of electromagnetic field surrounding this station now, making further sensor sweeps useless."

Samus stared at the orbiting space station in the middle of her cockpit window. This isn't possible, she silently told herself. Out loud, she asked, "Adam, how can this be? How can the B.S.L even still exist when we set it to crash onto SR388's surface?"

"I have no concrete explanation, Samus," came Adam's swift reply. "However, I do have a possible theory. You said that this magic charm works by letting a person from a previous time take a weapon or object that can be perverted into a weapon from a point in the future, correct?" Samus merely nodded, and Adam continued. "It is possible that not only the escape pod containing the fleeing X was brought to this era in such a manner, but what parts of the B.S.L remained intact. I surmise that it was not one singularity responsible for all of this. Perhaps there was one singularity responsible for bringing back the X parasites, another responsible for transporting this ship, and lastly, one more that took remaining components of the B.S.L."

"So, you're saying that whoever's behind all this took parts of the station as well as the X?" asked Samus disbelievingly.

"It appears so," said Adam.

"But how than this station possibly exist when there wouldn't enough left of the original to rebuild it?" cried Samus, frustrated.

"I assume that whoever is behind this fiasco somehow managed to use sorcery to reconstruct the B.S.L. There may be some sort of effect that can restore a machine, or at least parts of it, if enough of the original article is recovered. I'm not sure. As I said before, my knowledge of the capabilities of this sub-species of humanity is too incomplete to make a concrete deduction."

Samus glared through the cockpit window again. "I guess it doesn't matter how it was recreated. All that matters is that I go in and deal with whatever's inside," she said resolutely.

"That's my Lady," said Adam. "However, the discovery of the nature of the X's hiding place changes everything. The interior layout is completely different, as we have previously deduced, and its vastness will make progress slow and difficult. It might be wise to turn back for now and bring reinforcements that this 'Order of the Phoenix' agreed to provide. Of course, ultimately, it's your call."

As Samus looked at the reconstructed B.S.L, and thought about the sheer number of X that could be unleashed at any time, her final decision became an easy one to make. "We're going in," she said, pointing at the station.

---

Samus Aran's ship drew closer and closer to the docking bay of the mysterious space station orbiting Earth's moon, and all the while, the sight of it brought back unpleasant memories for her. Here was a station built around the remains of B.S.L., and once again the deadliest menace she had ever faced lurked within. And the fact that the X had now copied magical creatures - which she had little experience with - didn't help matters any. Nor did the fact that she and Dumbledore still didn't know who was responsible for bringing the X into the past.

And the stakes are even higher this time, Samus thought seriously. If the X make it off that station and invade Earth, the future of the galaxy will be changed...

Adam then chimed in. "Samus, I've managed to bypass the security lockouts...very crude programming, I might add. We will be docking with the station in less than a minute," came her friend's gruff, computerized voice.

"OK, Adam. Let's do this," replied Samus as she began to run a check on her suit's systems. Readouts flashed across her visor, and as far as she could tell, all her weapons and equipment were 100 percent operational. At least I still have all my abilities this time, Samus thought hopefully.

Her ship steadily flew toward the docking bay doors, and they slowly opened as it approached. Within seconds, her ship was hovering inside the docking bay, which was much more spacious than that of the original B.S.L. Through the front window, Samus could see that hers was not the only spacecraft there; a space shuttle from the current era was docked as well.

"Human spacecraft from this time," Adam explained. "I am detecting modifications that do not coincide with the blueprints in my computer database, as well as odd residual energy signatures...magic, no doubt. I suspect that the SA-X and HP-X used this craft to ferry the assimilated biomass to this station."

I knew this was why the SA-X used the shinespark to escape; a shuttle must have been waiting miles above ground, she thought. Out loud, she nonchalantly commanded, "That's nice. Destroy it." And with that, Adam powered up the forward plasma cannons and proceeded to annihilate the shuttle. It only took a few seconds to completely destroy it, and the docking bay was alight with the fire from its wreckage.

Adam landed the ship, then spoke up again. "Samus, I'm afraid I won't be as much help this time, since I cannot scan the interior. However, I am detecting some navigation rooms where I can contact you - no doubt in segments from the original B.S.L. - but I suspect our unknown adversary would be monitoring our communications..."

"It's OK, Adam," Samus said reassuringly. "I'm used to doing this sort of thing alone."

"I know," said Adam. "However, you will be pleased to know there may indeed be a way to slow the X's propogation until you can strike at the heart of the operation."

"How?" Samus asked enthusiastically.

"It's simple: go after the X-Cores," answered Adam. "After analyzing data from the previous disaster, I suspect that by eliminating the X-Cores, their spread can be slowed drastically. We have already seen an example of this, after you and Harry killed the X-Core in the Chamber of Secrets. Furthermore, my data suggested that X-Cores actually exert control over regular X parasites in the vicinity, by releasing faint subspace signals that contain instructions. I suspect our unknown adversary uses this as part of his or her method of controlling the X. First, send out commands to any X-Core, then those commands are relayed to any other X parasites nearby."

Samus considered this for a moment, and reasoned that might have been how the X lurking in Hogwarts had been controlled. The X-Core mimicking a basilisk had relayed commands to all the other X. She then asked, "Do you think I can truly get rid of all the X once I destroy all the cores?"

"I believe so," said Adam. "They will be deprived of any real means of guidance, making it harder for our enemy to control them. Furthermore, X-Cores can spawn more X parasites far more quickly than normal ones, so their rate of reproduction will be slowed."

That's good to know, thought Samus, but then another possibility came to her. "Wait a minute, what about the self-destruct cycle?" Samus asked hopefully. "Can you start it from here, or can you tell if I can start it once I reach the..." "I do not believe it's worth trying," Adam cut in. "Our unknown enemy will certainly make sure that you will not be able to initiate it. I would hypothesize that the self-destruct cycle has been disabled altogether, or is too heavily protected to prevent someone starting it, if not by security codes than by magic."

"I see," said Samus with a sigh, seeing how Adam's theory made sense.

"So, here's your mission: wipe out the X-Cores, then take out whoever brought the X here and safeguard the galaxy's future. Any objections, Lady?"

Samus smiled as she walked over to the pad that would lower her out of the ship. Adam hadn't changed one bit. "OK, Adam, I'm going. And since you can fly on your own, get out and maintain position outside the station. It's too dangerous for you here, and if any other craft try to get to Earth, you know what to do. We'll keep them bottled up here."

"Affirmative. Good luck," replied Adam.

Samus lowered herself down to the docking bay floor and glanced all around, making sure no creatures were poised to ambush her. After a while, it was clear that she was alone. She then ran past the flaming wreckage of the shuttle and toward the open hatch that led out to the main deck, eager to get underway.

(AN: In Metroid games, you have to shoot hatches to get them to open. Don't ask me why, I didn't make the games.)

---

Two minutes after Samus left the docking bay, Adam still had not left. He was waiting, making sure his friend was gone before...

"You can come out now," came his voice over the ship's internal comm. And over in the back of the ship, Harry Potter suddenly appeared, throwing off his Invisibility Cloak, wand at the ready. Harry ran up to the cockpit and looked all around; at the smoldering wreckage of the shuttle and the dark, metallic walls of the bay. "Did you understand everything I said to Samus?" came Adam's voice again.

Harry glanced down at the ship's control panels, not sure where he should be facing. "Y-yes," he said nervously.

"Then you know what you have to do," said Adam, his computerized voice suddenly sounding grim. "By working separately, you and Samus will cover more ground and eliminate the cores more quickly. Originally, I planned on revealing that you were here once we discovered the X's base, but the vastness of this station has changed matters."

"A-alright," said Harry shakily.

"Samus is capable of handling this alone, but...it'd be wise for her to have a capable ally in the field. That is why I allowed you to board the ship, despite Samus's wishes. I agree with you, Harry. The stakes are too high for Samus to refuse help because of her fear of loss. And besides, from the way she talks about you, it's obvious she respects you, and thus you have my trust as well."

"Well, thanks Adam. That...means a lot," said Harry. Indeed, Harry did feel a swell of pride knowing that Samus respected him so much, and that he had earned her best friend's trust just as Ron and Hermione had accepted Samus as their friend as well.

"However, as you are now, you are incapable of fighting the X on this station," said Adam. "You must be properly outfitted for this mission."

"Uh, what?" asked Harry, confused.

"Your magic alone is not enough, even when factoring in the new abilities you since your vaccination," said Adam tersely. "You will need additional equipment if you wish to survive. Fortunately, during those months I spent entombed, I was able to activate features in the ship that hadn't been completed yet. That's how I created those bombs for the canisters, and I can construct some useful devices for you using them."

"Umm, I'm not sure what you mean," said Harry, still confused about what Adam was saying.

"The Space Pirates aren't the only ones who practice reverse-engineering. I've replicated devices that can mimic some of the functions of Samus's power suit," replied Adam. "First, take off your shirt."

"What!" cried Harry, now even more confused.

"Just do it," barked Adam. Letting out an impatient sigh, Harry took off his sweater, revealing a baggy, white t-shirt. "Your other shirt too," Adam then said, and Harry grudgingly took that off as well.

All of a sudden, some sort of robotic arm came out of the ship's ceiling, and it was holding a thin, electronic panel no bigger than the palm of his hand. The robot arm promptly slapped it onto Harry's bare chest, and he felt a bizarre tingling sensation throughout his body.

"While you accompanied Samus in orbit that first time, I took the liberty of running a full bio-scan on you. Using that data, I have discovered a way to harness your body's own magic energy and use these copious reserves of energy to power machinery," explained Adam as the mechanical arm retracted into the ceiling. "This device uses that energy to create a protective force shield around your body."

"It does?" Harry asked dubiously as he stared at the piece of machinery stuck to his chest.

"Yes. This will undoubtedly aid you. However, as the shield takes more hits, its strength is depleted. You will need to go after free X parasites to restore your body's energy and re-strengthen your shields."

"Alright, so I don't have to worry as much about getting blasted away," said Harry as he put his t-shirt and sweater back on.

"Also, you will need these," said Adam, and then two more mechanical arms descended from the roof. One held what looked like some sort of small, sleek visor which clearly housed some electronic components. It had three buttons on the right side and an elastic band with which to fasten it around his head. The other held some sort of breathing apparatus, which looked like the filter area of a gas mask only scaled-down, and clearly was meant to go over his nose and mouth.

"This visor has all the functions of Samus's," said Adam. "It has scan, x-ray and mapping modes which are activated by the buttons on the side, and it has targeting abilities, which you can activate with a mental command. In addition, it will also monitor your body, letting you know if something is affecting you adversely. The breathing apparatus is for use in environments with dangerous toxins that need to be filtered out. It can also extract oxygen from water, letting you breathe underwater."

"OK, these should come in handy," said Harry, pocketing the filter and his glasses, and then he put on the visor. As soon as he did, a readout sprang to life on the inside of the visor. In the top left corner of his field of vision, there was a small transparent circle, and at the very top was the word 'shields', along with a thin horizontal bar underneath it and the number 99 to the left of the bar. In the top right corner, some sort of small orange cube was displayed which had a flashing green triangle inside it. Harry guessed it was some sort of readout that showed a tiny map of the room he was in.

"Alirght, we've wasted enough time here. You have a job to do," said Adam sternly.

Harry nodded and walked over to the pad Samus used moments before. I don't see how Samus gets along with this guy. He's starting to remind me of Snape, he thought as he was lowered down to the docking bay floor.

---

Samus leaped upwards and started space jumping up through the vertical corridor, her spinning, energized body tearing through the yellow-and-black striped platforms. She reached the very top of the corridor within seconds, and shot the sealed hatch, which promptly opened for her.

So far, Samus had not encountered any resistance. Just like on the B.S.L, the main deck of this station seemed to be mostly devoid of X activity, and the silence that had followed her ever since docking was getting oppressive. Oh don't worry Samus, you'll run into something soon enough, she thought to herself as she went through the hatch.

She had been right. She had stepped out into a long hallway, and about twenty feet from the hatch there was a flight of stairs that led to another hatch. And on those stairs stood a pair of Hornoads, which whirled to face Samus and began hopping toward her, snapping their powerful jaws menacingly.

"Oh please," muttered Samus as she opened fire, her beam tearing through the alien frogs' bodies and leaving behind two free-floating X parasites. She then began charging her beam, and the viral blobs drifted toward her and she absorbed them.

Samus was about to fire her charged shot at the other hatch to open it, but then, something caught her eye. To the left of the stairs there was a ventilation grate. Deciding to check that out first, Samus curled into a ball and rolled up to the grate, then she laid a bomb. The bomb blew the grate to pieces, and she bounced up into the exposed hole and rolled through.

After about a few seconds, Samus rolled over a spot that she sensed was structurally weak. She then rolled back to that spot and laid another bomb, and once it detonated, the metal plating underneath her crumbled and she plummeted about fifteen feet, landing in another narrow tunnel.

Samus had a choice of rolling forward or backward. After a second's hesitation, she chose to go forward. Eventually she rolled up to a solid wall, but fortunately, her bombs allowed her to plow through it. She went through and unrolled herself. As soon as she had, she found herself in another vertical corridor similar to the previous one...and staring down a Space Pirate.

She immediately locked her sensors onto the alien and dashed to the side just as the Pirate fired energy beams at her. Samus then fired an ice missile just as it was turning to face her, and fired another one just as it was about to attack again, freezing it solid. A charged plasma blast was all that was needed to make its frozen body crumble away and reveal the parasitic blobs within.

But the two X parasites lurched upward and converged again before Samus had a chance to draw them to her. This time, the parasites took the form of a dementor.

The dementor swooped down toward Samus, and she immediately began to feel the effects of its dreadful power. It suddenly became unbearably cold within her suit and her visor began to fog up, and she heard a soul-wrenching shriek within her mind...the death cry of the infant Metroid...

Samus began firing blindly all around her, hoping to force the dementor to move off. It worked. The death-like, icy grip on her heart and brain began to lessen, and she could see clearly through her visor again. She looked about frantically, trying to spot the creature, but it wasn't hovering around her anymore.

Then she glanced upward and saw it floating by one of the suspended platforms, about forty feet above her, and it made a motion to swoop down again. Samus aimed upward and fired, bringing her left hand up underneath her arm cannon to steady her aim, but the dementor swiftly glided out of the way and avoided the triple blast of energy.

Oh, the hell with this, Samus thought impatiently. She jumped up and curled up her body, then began space jumping upwards toward the dementor. The dementor glided out of the way just as Samus would have hit it and she soared up past it, but then she came back down and her spinning body sliced through the dementor. It exploded in a shower of decayed flesh and filthy, tattered scraps of cloth. She then bounded back up to absorb the free-floating parasites the fallen dementor left behind, replenishing some of her suit's energy.

Samus landed back on the bottom of the vertical corridor and looked up again, surveying the room with her x-ray visor. As far as she could tell, there were no other hostiles in there with her. So far, the X still weren't offering much resistance.

But she knew this good fortune wouldn't last. Samus had a bad feeling that by now, the SA-X and HP-X knew she was on the station, and it was best to keep moving. She doubted if she was powerful enough to tackle both of them at the same time, let alone even one of them and come away in reasonable shape.

And so, Samus began using the space jump again to ascend through the corridor. She desperately hoped that she would find more parasites to fight. Battle kept her mind occupied, and kept her from dwelling on worrisome issues, like the possibility of her unknown enemy unleashing the X before she could wipe them out.

No, I won't allow that to happen! she thought resolutely as she landed in front of a hatch that was about a hundred feet up from the bottom of the corridor. I stopped the X before, and I'll do it again!

---

Harrry leaped up toward what remained of the metal platform and reached out with his left arm, clinging to the edge. Looking up, he saw two more platforms that Samus had unthinkingly mutilated with her screw attack; it was obvious that she had no idea he would be following her. And even with his enhanced jumping power, Harry was having difficulty ascending the corridor.

"Urgh!" Harry grunted as he pulled himself up onto the remains of the platform, which was barely enough to stand on. He then repeated this process two more times, finally reaching the hatch at the top.

One burst of energy from his wand was all it took to open it, and Harry quickly stepped through, finding a long hallway stretching out before him. Giving it a quick once-over, he could tell that Samus had already been here: the scattered pieces of a ventilation grate lying around an exposed hole in the wall was a dead giveaway. Harry guessed she had chosen that path, and found himself wishing his Metroid DNA let him roll into a ball as well.

So instead, he ascended the stairs and shot a burst of power at the hatch to open it, but it did not open. Confused, Harry tried again, this time using a Stunner, but the hatch remained shut.

Harry stared at the doorway, wondering what was wrong. Then he remembered the features Adam put in his visor. He tapped one of the buttons on the side, and suddenly a horizontal rectangle that slightly magnified things within it appeared in the center of his head-up display (or HUD). And as Harry looked at the door again, desiring to know what was wrong with it, the rectangle changed to a square, and at the top the word 'Scanning' flashed.

It took a second for the words 'Scan Complete' to flash across his visor and display the results: This hatch has an extensive array of internal locking mechanisms.

That was all Harry needed to know. He pointed his wand at the hatch and said, "Alohomora!" He could hear all the metal locks embedded in the hatch spring to life, and it opened for him. Should've thought of using that sooner, Harry thought angrily, ashamed that he had to scan the door to realize he needed that spell.

Harry stepped through the hatch and entered what looked like a circular room about eighty feet in diameter, the ceiling was about twenty-five feet above him, and it had four thick support pillars neatly positioned within it. There was hardly any light in the room, and the metal walls had a depressingly dark, navy-blue shade...

Harry took a few steps forward, and then from high up, he heard a chilling inscet-like grunting sound, which briefly reminded him of Aragog. But before he could look up, something dropped down from the ceiling into the center of the room.

It was an ugly creature, nearly ten feet tall, with a head like an ant's, its antennae swaying wildly. And from either side of that head, out came a small appendage that was attached to a long cylidner-like leg laden with spikes. The cynlindrical legs extended to the floor, culminating with what looked like an ugly, clawed hand (all in all, it vaguely resembled a side-hopper). And in the faint lighting of the room, its body seemed to give off a metallic glint.

Harry whirled around to look at the hatch, and saw that some sort of lock had slid over its surface. He was trapped inside, and Harry instinctively knew he couldn't magically unlock it this time. He then turned back to the creature, which seemd to be silently observing him. It was then that Harry realized his visor was still in scan mode, and it had completed a readout of the monster...

Morphology: Mecha-Desgeega
Large adult Desgeega somehow outfitted with cybernetic armor composed of titanium alloy, treated to resist all known beam weapons. Scans also reveal presence of powerful armor-piercing missiles and generators capable of producing shockwaves.

Harry reached up to switch off the scan mode, and as he did, the creature leaped high up into the air. Looking up, Harry could see the monster was above him and descending rapidly. Harry dived forward, then turned around just as the beast's legs touched the floor again. When it landed, it sent out a powerful wave of energy that travelled along the ground, and Harry had no time to jump over it.

The shockwave swept past him, and suddenly his personal shielding sprang to life, absorbing the impact. But he still felt as if something heavy had hit his legs, and noticed that the small bar at the top of his HUD had shortened. The number displayed was now 78.

Mecha-Desgeega leaped again, but this time Harry was prepared, and he jumped aside using his own leaping power, soaring more than five feet into the air. When he touched down again, he immediately jumped again to avoid the shockwave, and while in midair turned to look at the beast again.

As he concentrated, something odd happened. On his HUD, a transparent circle appeared around Mecha-Desgeega's head, and within it, a smaller circle with three lines protruding out of it. And as Harry began to carefully move around the creature, its head remained within those circles so long as he lept looking at it.

Then, all of a sudden, the spiky protrusions on its legs popped out and momentarily hovered. Then they all pointed toward Harry, and he could see what looked like ignited rockets from behind them, propelling them forward.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed as he shifted his attention to the projectiles, laying waste to them with standard power shots. But there were about eight of them, too many for him to destroy in time. He ducked behind one of the pillars, and they detonated harmlessly on the other side.

Guess those must be its missiles, thought Harry darkly. Then he noticed that the circles emcompassing his enemy's head were still active, even though it was no longer in view. Very handy, he thought with a smile as he jumped out from behind the pillar, charging up a shot.

As soon as Mecha-Desgeega was in his sights again, he released the charged shot at its head. His blast was on target, but it merely rebounded of its metal-plated head and smacked into another one of the pillars. Then it jumped again, forcing Harry to jump out of the way, then again to evade the shockwave.

Oh yeah, it deflects beams, Harry remembered, realizing that Stunning Spells and Reductor Curses would probably be equally useless. If only I had something like Samus's missiles...wait a minute...

He turned to face Mecha-Desgeega again, who had once again sent out spiky missiles. Harry grinned; this was what he needed. He pointed his wand at the nearest incoming missile and performed a Banishing Charm, and it was sent spinning back towards Mecha-Desgeega, impacting its head and detonating. Harry was able to repeat this process with two more missiles before being forced to jump up and allow them to fly past.

When he touched down again, Harry could see several deep cracks had formed in the armor covering Mecha-Desgeega's head; obviously, the explosive force of its own missiles was enough to damage it. Harry pointed his wand at its head again and bellowed "Reducto!", and his curse caused its armor plating to fly off.

After that it was a simple matter of avoiding its jump attack and subsequent shockwave again, then he unloaded a charged shot at its head, followed by a Stunning Spell. Once he did that, the rest of its armor flew off in all directions, and its body began to melt away. In the dim lighting, Harry couldn't make out what was happening, but it looked as if it was reforming into something else...

After a few seconds, Harry saw what it had turned into: it was a spherical, glassy, spiked shell that housed an X-Core. The X-Core that had mimicked the basilisk had transformed into the same thing once Samus had pummelled it enough, and Harry knew what was needed to bring it down for good.

The spiky sphere lunged toward Harry, attempting to ram him. But Harry was ready, and merely jumped upward and it harmlessly swooped underneath him. While still in the air, he hit it with a Reductor Curse. This caused a couple of X parasites to break free of the core, but Harry took no notice. He merely continued to fire off curses, and eventually the shell shattered.

Now, floating in the center of the room, was a large, writhing X parasite, giving off a eerie blueish-green glow. Harry timidly stepped forward, expecting it to fly off as he approached, but it remained suspended in midair. Taking a deep breath, Harry thrust his fist into the gelatenous mass, and suddenly it was sucked into his arm.

A wave of exhilirating power washed over Harry; it was so great that he staggered to his knees trying to cope with it. It felt as if every muscle in his body was tensing up and gaining mass, but he felt this sensation was strongest in his legs.

After a few seconds, the feeling subsided, and some words flashed across his visor:

HI-JUMP AND DOUBLE JUMP ACQUIRED

Harry stared blankly, not sure what to make of it. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something glowing brightly on the floor, illuminating everything within a few feet around it. He slowly walked over to the light source and bent down. It was a large piece of Mecha-Desgeega's robotic armor, and on the inside, there were what appeared to be two green, glowing crystals.

Without thinking, Harry reached out to grab them, but suddenly, they became detached from the circuitry and hovered in the air. Then they floated towards Harry's chest, right where Adam had attached his shield device.

All of a sudden, his HUD flashed a blinding white, and he felt the same tingling sensation that he had when Adam attached the shield device. When his HUD returned to normal, he noticed that more words had appeared: 'Maximum Shield Energy increased by 200', it read.

Glancing at the top of his HUD, he saw that the number displayed was back to 99, and in addition, two tiny white squares were now shown atop the replenished bar. "What, m-my shields have more power?" he thought out loud. "B-but how? What w-were..."

Then he remembered something he had managed to retain from one of Professor Binns's classes: sometimes giants had wizards charge topaz crystals with magic and use them to power force barriers and other things. It was a sort of magical battery, and now, they had increased his shield's maximum energy supply.

"I hope I can find more of those," said Harry as he looked all around the room. The hatch he had gome through earlier was unlocked again, but Harry noticed another way out: near the very top of the room, a small metal platform jutted out from the wall, and he could make out what looked like another hatch.

Harry leaped up, and was astonished to find that he could now jump TWICE as high as before. Not only that, when he reached the apex of his jump, he found he was able to perform a SECOND jump. Obviously, his visor had been truthful about the abilities gained from the X-Core.

Harry reached out and grabbed the platform, then quickly pulled himself up. There was indeed a hatch that led out of the dark, foreboding room, and Harry wasted no time opening it and running through.

---

Samus continued to roll through yet another small tunnel running through the main deck. This station's version of the main deck evidently had an extensive, convoluted network of tunnels that was taking her quite a while to explore. Spending so much time in morph ball mode while in such narrow spaces was making her nervous; it provided her enemies with ample opportunities to spring traps on her.

Eventually, she rolled up into a solid block of matter that obstructed the tunnel, and Samus guessed that it was bendezium. So she laid a power bomb, and the whole tunnel became engulfed in the thermonuclear explosion, and the block disintegrated into nothingness.

Samus rolled forward again, and soon she rolled up into a solid wall. But she sensed the area directly underneath would give way if she laid a bomb, which she did. Once it detonated and the ground gave way, Samus found herself plummeting several feet, and judging from the way the sound of her impact echoed, she was now in a very large room.

She quickly unrolled so she could see better, and saw that she was indeed in a rather wide open area. It was a sort of circular room, with the same greenish-yellow walls that most areas of the main deck had. But what was really interesting was the center of the room...

It was a large, circular metal plate - emcompassing practically the entire floor - that appeared to act as a door, and it looked like a large-scale version of the doors found on Aether. And surrounding the edge of the enormous doorway, there stood several odd pillars - thirteen in all - which were as tall as she was. The bases of the pillars were made up of a mirror-like, silvery-grey metal, and adorning the tops of those pillars were glassy spheres which resembled the shells that encased X-Cores. Within each of those glass orbs, there was a fierce, red ball of light that glowed menacingly.

Samus switched her visor to scan mode and scanned one of the pillars, then the huge door. Her scans revealed was she had suspected already: the large hatch on the floor was locked, and the mechanisms keeping it locked were the thirteen pillars surrounding it. Each lock was kept in place by a signal being sent out by an X-Core; once a particular X-Core was terminated, the corresponding pillar would release its hold.

OK then, Samus thought as she continued to look over the room. All the cores on this station are keeping this hatch locked. If I wipe them out, I can get in, and I have a hunch whoever's behind all this is holed up underneath this door...

Realizing there was no point in staying there any longer, Samus glanced around again, and found a hatch leading out of the room. As she went through it, she failed to notice that the red light in one of the glass orbs was suddenly snuffed out...

The hatch led out into the middle of a hallway, and she had a choice of going left or right. She chose to go left, fired two missiles to shatter a blast shield that covered the door at the end, and went through.

Inside was an elevator room, which had a small circular platform in the center. Once she stood on it, she could activate it and it would take her downwards. Alright, this should lead me down to the elevators that'll take me to the breeding environments, Samus thought with a malicious grin. Perfect. Now the hunt really begins.

---

I'm pretty sure that with this chapter, the word count of this story will go over 100,000 words. That's a new record for me. My last two novel-length stories were both 16 chapters long, but neither even breached the 90,000 word mark. But here's only the 13th chapter of this story, and it's already longer than those, and this is far from over!

Either I'm getting more skilled at writing, or I'm just a hopeless geek. Probably the latter.

So long,
Grey