Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Fusion of Destinies ❯ Early Dismissal ( Chapter 17 )
Blah blah blah, read on to see if Harry keeps the X from escaping, yaddi yadda yadda...
Anime/Manga: Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi / Fantasy / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.12.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 8.9K | Visits: 428 | Status: Completed
a Harry Potter/Metroid crossover
Chapter 17: Early Dismissal
2-12-2006
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 Gunpei Yokoi (1941-1997) .
This fic is dedicated to Razor Knight and CubedCinder128, whose support gave me the confidence I needed to write this thing.
Harry ran back into the dark, dreary room where he had fought Mecha-Desgeega and dropped down to the floor. As he had expected, though, he had company waiting: a hammer-wielding troll and half a dozen hornoads were in there with him. They all began advancing, but Harry managed to pick off all the hornoads with spazer-wave shots while edging along the room's walls, making his way to the door.
After summoning the released parasites to him, he turned to face to troll, which was ready to swing its hammer down at him. Harry made a single leap upward while charging a blast, avoiding the hammer, then fired his shot at the troll's head. All three blasts hit it in the head, and it cried out and convulsed as the electric shock coursed through its body. While it was paralyzed, Harry ran to the door and pointed his wand at it. "Alohomora!" he yelled, and he heard the internal locks snap open.
All these hosts are slowing me down, Harry thought nervously as he ran down the hallway and jumped down the stairs. And it's been about three minutes since Adam told me about the shuttle...it could already be too late! It was true; more X had flocked to the main deck to impede his progress. Harry had done his best to quickly get past them, but they were doing a good job of slowing him down.
Harry went through the hatch at the end of the hallway and, without pausing, jumped down the vertical shaft. I wish Samus had found out about this instead of me, Harry thought regretfully as he dropped down. She would've had an easier time blasting through those hosts, and she'd know what to do with the shuttle. And what if Voldemort - or whoever - is still there, backed up by an army of X-hosts!?
But Harry pushed back these feelings of self-doubt and continued darting through the rest of the rooms leading back to the docking bay. Doubt was a luxury he couldn't afford right now, not with the safety of every living being on Earth riding on him.
When he finally reached the hatch that led to the docking bay, Harry saw it wasn't receiving power. However, no lock had slid over it. Harry opened it with magic, and promptly went through.
When he came out the other side, he saw that, just as Adam had explained, the shuttle had been restored. It looked just like the space shuttles Harry had seen on television when he lived with the Dursleys, the ones Americans used for space travel. And Harry couldn't help but notice that the cargo bay at the top was open, and X parasites were floating down into it, pouring through the roof of the docking bay. Without even thinking, he flung his wand forward and yelled, "ACCIO X!"
A score of free-floating X parasites came flying toward him. He forced himself to not be overwhelmed by the surge of power as his body consumed them; it was almost too much excess energy to cope with. Then he looked up at where they had come from. There was a tiny hole in the ceiling, formed by metal plating being pushed outward. "Incendio!" he cried, the heat and force from his spell fusing it shut, and then he followed up with, "Aguamenti!" and cooled the metal.
Harry looked back at the shuttle. There it was, in plain view before him, but how to destroy it before the X launched it? If only Samus were here...she could bombard it with missiles, or set a bomb in the cockpit, or....
As Harry was pondering his predicament, however, he saw a massive amount of X parasites pour out of the cargo hold. Before he could summon them, they began to take form. Four Space Pirates were now advancing on Harry, with two baby sheegoths and two baby Norwegian Ridgebacks bringing up the rear, and three dementors took to the air, ready to swoop down on him.
A small army of powerful, vicious, bloodthristy X-hosts, ready to take him out...it was just like the ambush in the Chamber of Secrets. But this time, there was no Samus Aran to back him up.
Eleven to one? Oh great, Harry thought dejectedly. Out loud, he cried, "Aguamenti!" and knocked back one of the Pirates with a powerful blast of water. Then, as the remaining Pirates were about the unleash energy blasts, Harry yelled, "Incarcerous!" and two of them were bound together by thin, strong ropes. The last one managed to fire off a few shots, but Harry dashed aside, returning fire with his beams....
Then, suddenly, it felt like a icy, clawed hand had taken hold of his insides, and Harry knew the dementors were closing in. He aimed straight up and fired beams blindly as he continued dodging the Pirate's blasts, hoping to drive them off. It worked; he felt the icy grip around his heart lessen slightly, but now one of the baby dragons was flying in too, and was about to breath fire. Harry double-jumped and nailed it in the face with a charged blast, then when he landed, he dashed aside to avoid the freezing breath of the baby sheegoths. He charged up a shot as he moved in behind one of them, then fired it at its back. Its dorsal plate shattered, and a couple more beams were enough to make it keel over and expose the X parasites.
One down, ten to go, Harry thought, trying to maintain a sense of confidence. But the dementors were already moving in again, and that dreadful chill loomed over him. Not only that, but two of the Space Pirates and the remaining baby sheegoth were charging toward him, ready to attack.
But seeing all those hosts close in seemed to awaken something within Harry, squelching his fears and self-doubt. Harry had felt this before, when he had faced Voldemort in that graveyard: pure battle instinct, and the convinction to fight till the end. Let's go, thought Harry as he charged a shot.
Samus gracefully landed on a small metal block suspended from the ceiling by chains, one of many that was in the huge chamber (hundreds of feet wide) she was currently investigating. She took a good look around her; all along the wall were massive metal pipes, circulating water and other liquids throughout the sector. Down below were a series of cylindrical observation tanks occupied by small skultera fishes. And flying all around her were a pair of Kihunters (which were like flying, wasp-like versions of the Space Pirates), ready to go on the offensive again.
Samus locked onto the nearest Kihunter and fired an ice missile, but it batted it away with its scythe-like arm. Then she heard the other one behind her, undoubtedly ready to slash at her, while the one in front prepared to spew acid. Samus spin-jumped forward, then came at it with the screw attack. She had caught the Kihunter off-guard, and her spinning body sliced right through it.
But the other one was already after her; it flew after Samus at top speed and swiped at her while she was flying away. Its scythe grazed her back, and the pain made Samus break her space jump and plummet downward. She managed to grab onto one of the blocks held up by chains, which started swaying back and forth. While hanging on, she aimed upward, locked onto the Kihunter, and fired two missiles. This time, the missiles found their target, and the Kihunter was immobilized in midair, frozen solid.
Samus pulled herself up and lazily finished it off with her beam, then looked around the room again as she drew the exposed parasites to her. This aquarium chamber...it's almost exactly like the one on the original station, she thought, noticing the striking similarities.
This new station, though it still had a main deck, reactor core and six separate breeding sectors, had a completely different internal layout from the original, with entirely different rooms. But the way it closely mimicked the look (and sometimes even entire rooms looked the same, like the current one) of the original B.S.L station...it was giving her a profound feeling of deja vu.
And Samus hated deja vu. A lot of times, she found that the familiar tended to make her uneasy. Visiting the ruins of her Chozo benefactors on Tallon IV and SR388 made her feel haunted, and her last hours on Zebes had brought back vivid memories of her first mission involving Metroids. And the SA-X...she was like Dark Samus all over again. My life has been nothing but one trauma after another, Samus reasoned. I guess I can't stand to be reminded of any of it.
But these troublesome feelings of deja vu were nothing compared to the plangent nagging of her instincts. Ever since the SA-X's attack, she hadn't been able to shake the feeling that something was very wrong.
Let's see, Samus thought, bringing up her map. She took note of the aquarium chamber's position in relation to the rest of the rooms she had explored. It seemed to be near the middle of the aquatic sector, just like in the original station.
The main navigation room must be around here too, I'm sure of it, Samus thought as she began space jumping across the aquarium chamber. She could ignore her instincts no longer: it was time to get in contact with Adam and find out what was going on.
With one charged blast to its backside, Harry finally felled the other baby sheegoth and took in the parasites it relinquished. But just as his energy stock was going back up, his shields once again took a hit. Energy blasts and fiery breath struck him simultaneously. Harry wheeled around and jumped backward, seeing the X-hosts that remained: one Space Pirate, one dementor, and one baby Norwegian Ridgeback. In the last five minutes, Harry managed to whittle down their ranks, but they had whittled down his shield's power; only one full battery remained.
The baby dragon and Pirate attacked again, but Harry leaped backward yet again, avoiding their fire completely. But then he heard an alarm klaxon, as well as the distinctive sound of heavy machinery starting to move. Uh-oh, thought Harry, realizing what was going on. The docking bay doors were starting to open. These hosts were a diversion! I was busy fighting these while the final repairs were being made!
The final three hosts were closing in again, but Harry was ready. The urgency of the situation had awakened new resolve within him. He pointed his wand at the hosts....
"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" "INCARCEROUS!" "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
The speed and ferocity with which Harry cast those three spells both suprised and scared him. The Space Pirate tensed up and fell back, stiff as a board, the baby dragon was bound with magical ropes, and the dementor exploded as a Patronus jumped into it. Harry quickly summoned the parasites, then turned away from the two incapacitated hosts to look at the shuttle.
One set of docking bay doors was starting to slowly slide open, exposing a glittering forcefield that sealed the room off the vacuum of space. But Harry knew that once the doors opened completely, the shuttle could pass through it, and then it would travel to Earth. The invasion of the X would begin....
"Think, Harry, think!" cried Harry, on the verge of panic. He looked up and down the length of the shuttle, trying to figure out how to cause enough damage in time. His gaze stopped at the wing. Harry raised his wand."Diffindo!" he bellowed. The wing immediately fell off and clattered loudly to the floor, as if a giant cutting laser had sliced it off. For an second, Harry stared at it. He hadn't expected it work, but there was the shuttle's wing, lying uselessly on the floor.
Not enough, mused Harry, noticing the docking bay doors were now halfway open. Guess I'll have to do something more...direct. With that, Harry ran at the cockpit and double-jumped. He landed on the nose, in front of the cockpit window.
Three Space Pirates were there, operating the controls. Before they could do anything, Harry smashed through the glass with a Reductor Curse, then set the cockpit on fire. A few spazer-wave bursts finished off the Pirates, and Harry then fired charged blasts into the cockpit, just to make sure enough damage was being done.
After a while, Harry became aware of a familiar buzzing sound, as well as a faint glow from the cockpit controls. Smiling, he pointed at the controls and yelled, "Accio!" Two magical crystals flew out and were absorbed into his shield device, recharging his energy completely and giving him a grand total of six batteries.
Harry dropped down from the shuttle's nose and walked along its side. The wing was still severed and billowing flames roared from the cockpit. That'll do for now, thought Harry, feeling a great swell of relief. But I better get rid of this completely, or else they'll....
But his thoughts trailed off as he noticed an iridescent glow coming from atop the shuttle. Looking up, Harry saw an X-Core, glowing fiercely, and the smaller X parasites were swarming around it, forming into who-knew-what.
A blast of intense heat from behind distracted Harry. Turning around, he saw the dragon had almost freed itself of its bindings, and the Pirate's petrification was beginning to wear off. He hastily finished them off with charged blasts, then turned back to the shuttle.
Atop the shuttle's open cargo hold was a gigantic, fully grown acromantula. And unlike Aragog, its eight eyes were a healthy, obsidian black. It could see him clearly.
That's not good, thought Harry, who, understandably, was starting to feel nervous. Good thing Ron's NOT here...he'd lose it!
Harry saw the acromantula's head shift and the pinchers around its mouth open wide. He leaped backward, and an instant later, a bubbly blast of slimy, green venom erupted from its mouth, barely missing Harry. The venom quickly evaporated and a green mist began to spread out; Harry slapped on his breathing filter again, deciding it was a prudent measure to take. He then aimed his wand at the acromantula, but it took a huge leap upward. Looking up, Harry saw it was crawling along the ceiling, ready to spew more venom.
One disaster after another, thought Harry dryly as he dodged another wad of poisonous, burbling liquid coming right at him.
At last, Samus had found what she was looking for. After stopping in the recharge room to refill her weapons and energy, she finally made it to the aquatic sector's main mavigation room. But there was a problem: nothing seemed to be working.
Hmmm, shouldn't be a problem, thought Samus as she bent down in front of the main terminal. She effortlessly tore off some of the metal plating and exposed the terminal's inner workings, and a quick scan gave her all the information she needed. Ah, nothing to it, just need to do a little rewiring, do a little work to bypass some burned-out components....
She immediately went to work, using her free hand to deftly make the needed repairs. Samus found her task to be calming, almost making her forget the instinctive knot of fear in the pit of her stomach.
Eventually, her efforts bore fruit, and she heard the computer screens come alive as power began to flow back into the terminal. Samus stood up and glanced at the terminal, and saw that it was receiving a hail bearing a Galactic Federation signature. I knew it, something's up, she thought as she hit the 'Receive' button, and noticed her hand was slightly trembling.
"Samus!? At last! You must get back to the docking bay immediately!!" came Adam's surpsied voice, and it also sounded fearful.
"Wha!?" gasped Samus, taken aback by the abruptness of Adam's response. "What's going on?"
Adam quickly explained to Samus about the repaired shuttle, filled to the brim with X parasites, and how he was still trapped by some unknown means. "So you see, you must get back there and help put a stop to it!"
"What do you mean 'help'? I thought you said the ship was immobilized?" said Samus. When Adam didn't reply immediately, she got the feeling he was keeping something from her. "Adam, what are you not telling me?"
A few more seconds of silence, then Adam said, "I already sent someone approximately nine minutes ago to take care of the crisis." His voice sounded hesitant and regretful, bearing more resemblance to the inflections of human speech than that of a cold, computerized voice.
"'Already sent?'" Samus repeated. "What are you talking about!?" But Samus already had an inkling as to what Adam meant. Adam said nothing for another few seconds, letting an agonizing silence hang between them....
"Harry Potter is already there," he finally said.
The battle with the acromantula was not going particularly well.
For one thing, despite its massive size, it moved startlingly fast, unlike the aged, lumbering Aragog. It scurried along the ceiling and ran across the floor with amazing speed, hardly staying still long enough for Harry's visor to lock onto its head and attack. Even though his charged shots tracked whatever his sensors locked onto, half the time the acromantula turned away, and the blast hit its legs or its rear. And it was hard to go on the offensive while it was repeatedly spewing poison or lashing out with webs when perched on the ceiling. Not to mention the acromantula sometimes tried to ram him, drop down on him or slash at him with one of its legs.
Harry fired a charged blast, and it struck the acromantula in the head before it could turn away. But it took another leap upward and began crawling on the ceiling, then it sent out a stream of stringy webs at him. Harry didn't react in time, and his entire body was trapped by the sticky, gleaming strands.
"Ack!!" Harry yelped, suddenly fearful. Luckily, his right arm was free, and he pointed his wand at the web and yelled, "Diffindo!" The strands snapped apart, a split-second before they would have hardened completely, allowing him to free himself. But the acromantula was already on the offensive again, sending down another blast of caustic venom. "Urgh!" cried Harry as the poison spread over him, eating away at his shields and forming a dense, green cloud around him. One glance at his HUD told him he had only two full batteries left and his current one was being drained fast.
Harry double-jumped straight up while charging a shot, safely out of reach of the poison cloud. He managed to lock onto the acromantula's head again and fire his shot. It dropped down to the floor, but the blast's trajectory curved downward and hit its head. I've made over twenty direct hits, and it's still on its legs, all eight of them, Harry thought furiously. Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way....
The acromantula reared back, and Harry knew that meant it was going to charge. But Harry stood his ground, wanting to use this opportunity. The monster bolted toward him at top speed, but Harry merely raised his wand and said, "Incendio!" Instantly, roaring flames burst into existence around its head, and the giant spider halted, letting out loud clicking sounds. "Incendio!" he repeated, setting its head ablaze again.
It worked. Should've realized it'd be vulnerable to magical fire once I landed enough shots, Harry thought. He followed up with rapid beam shots as the flames spread outward, laying waste to the front of its body.
After Harry fired enough shots, the acromantula's thin, hairy, powerful legs finally gave way and it lay lifelessly on the docking bay floor. But Harry knew it wasn't over; sure enough, the acromantula's body was already reforming into an X-Core encased in a clear, spiky membrane. But Harry already knew the drill, and immediately let loose a Reductor Curse, filling the docking bay with a loud cracking sound and forcing the floating, shelled parasite back.
Another minute passed, and Harry finally landed enough Reductor Curses to shatter the X-Core's membrane and expose it. It hovered a few feet above the docking bay floor, emitting an eerie glow. Without the slightest pause, Harry jumped up at it, and it was sucked into his body as soon as he made contact.
Harry deftly touched down as he both felt and saw his energy being replenished. And he kept focusing on his HUD, anxiously waiting for a message to flash, telling him what wondrous new ability he had gained. He didn't wait long....
SPACE JUMP ACQUIRED
Space jump?! Harry thought excitedly, certain he knew what that meant. Isn't that what Samus uses to.... He then realized how lithe and agile his body now felt, how light he seemed to feel....
Harry jumped, soaring upward ten feet. Then he jumped forward, and this time, his body involuntarily curled up and started spinning at a rapid speed. And then, almost instinctively, he tried jumping again, and was astonished to discover that he was capable of making a third jump. And then a fourth. And a fifth....
Harry's spinning body bounded up into the docking bay's ceiling, but the impact didn't hurt him the least bit. On the contrary, he kept jumping again and again, reveling in how he was practically able to fly...without mounting a broom or riding a hippogriff! Somehow, the rapid spinning wasn't making him dizzy, and he could actually sense where he was going and how close the ceiling, floor and walls were.
Eventually, Harry decided he had had enough fun and landed back onto the docking bay floor, then turned to look at the damaged shuttle. I really need to get rid of this for good, or they'll just repair it again once I leave, he thought acidly as he removed his breathing filter. But he couldn't think of any way to destroy it completely.
As he was contemplating his dilemma, however, he felt something grip his shoulder forcefully, and then he was whirled around....
He was now facing Samus, and she was glaring down at him. Harry looked up into her visor, and winced inwardly when he saw the furious look in her eyes. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" she demanded vehemently.
"Saving Earth, what does it look like?!" Harry shot back angrily, pointing at the wrecked shuttle. He had had enough of people telling him to keep out of danger, and he wouldn't hear any of it now, not when so much was at stake.
Samus looked at the shuttle, then glared at Harry again. She was pleased to see him flinch. "Listen Harry, you got lucky here, but...."
"LUCK?!" screamed Harry. "Oh yes, it's always my LUCK that lets me win in situations like this!" Of course, he acknowledged that some of his previous victories over the last four years were due to luck, but he wouldn't admit that to Samus right now.
"Don't try and be smart with me, Harry," Samus said, who was swiftly losing her patience. "Once Adam gets free of that enchantment, you're getting back on board and waiting there...."
"Bloody hell I will!" Harry cried defiantly. "Once I find a way to blow this thing up, I'm going right back down to the breeding sectors...."
"I told you this station was way too dangerous, I thought I made it very clear," Samus said admonishingly. "The Chamber of Secrets was dangerous enough, but this...YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!!"
"Actually Samus, I DO have an idea!!" Harry roared indignantly. "I've been through plenty already! The X tried to kill me by freezing a sector over, but I survived! And the HP-X came after me, but I beat him back! And I've already absorbed four X-Cores, and I'm getting more of your powers! Here, watch this!" Harry jumped up and started using the space jump to fly all around Samus, who could only look on with a profound sense of shock.
This...isn't possible, she thought, unable to believe what she was seeing. This boy who had led a traumatic life so similar to hers...was now wielding yet another one of her trademark powers. How can he do that, without some sort of suit? Wait, the color of his clothes... no, it can't be.... she thought as she finally noticed the color scheme of his clothes matched that of her old varia-enabled fusion suit.
After a while, Harry touched down again near Samus, and turned to face her, his expression one of inflexible resolve. "You see?! I can fly like you! And I've got your beams!" he cried as he pointed his wand to the side. He fired his spazer-wave combo, which crackled against the shuttle's hull. "And this visor Adam gave me...it does everything yours can! And this" -he raised his sweatshirt and T-shirt, revealing his shield device- "makes a personal shield to protect me! So you see, I've got all I need to survive here, and help you hunt down the X!"
For a few seconds, Samus was silent, unable to think of a retort. But the stern look in her eyes let Harry know she still wasn't swayed. "Harry," she spoke at last, "I admire and respect how courageous you are, and your obvious skill. I'm sure the Chozo elders would look at you and remember how they trained me; you remind me so much of myself. And it's good that you've taken out some X-Cores. But...but I can't let you put yourself in harm's way."
"Why not?!" demanded Harry. "No one else has Metroid DNA, so I'm the only help you've got. Or is it this thing you have about working alone?" After speaking these words, he noticed Samus's eyes narrowing.
"Don't try and make this sound like I'm being prideful," Samus shot back. "I just want to make sure you're safe."
"I think I've proven I can take care of myself," said Harry through gritted teeth, having heard enough of this line of reasoning from others.
"Listen Harry, I've told you before...I just CAN'T let you get mixed up in this!" cried Samus. "I know you never knew your parents and you saw Cedric Diggory die, but I've suffered even more loss. My parents were murdered in front of me and my home was destroyed, the race that raised me is practically extinct, Adam Malkovich is trapped in a ship's computer, and the last of the Metroids died trying to save me! The scientists on Ceres got slaughtered because of what I brought there, and the crew of the B.S.L station were killed by a parasite taking my form! Too many people around me have suffered in one way or another, and half the time it was because of me! I am NOT losing you too!!!"
Now it was Harry's turn to be nonplussed, unable to say a word. After a while, though, he felt his temper rise as he thought over Samus's words. "How... how d-dare you say your life is worse than...."
"I didn't mean it like that!" Samus said quickly. "I'm saying that I can't take another loss. You're the only human besides Adam I ever confided in, and...."
Harry looked into her visor again, and saw her eyes were screwed up, barely open. It was almost as if she was on the verge of tears. The seething anger he felt died down again and a long silence hung between them.
It was finally broken by the sound of the docking bay's only hatch opening up.
Samus and Harry turned to see what had entered the docking bay. The two of them let out a collective gasp. It was the SA-X, her once-unreadable face now twisted in rage, and her arm cannon was aimed at the two of them, the barrel open....
SA-X fired a super missile, and it rocketed toward the pair. Samus immediately leaped backwards and to the side to avoid the deadly projectile, but she watched in horror as Harry, apparently taken aback by the new arrival, merely backed up nervously. And not only that, she realized the super missile was aimed directly at him.
The missile struck him dead-center, and the thunderous explosion sent him flying backwards at an insane speed. Even with his shields protecting him, Harry felt as if he had been punched in the gut by a troll, and then shaken about like a rag doll. His back collided painfully against the side of the shuttle, and he slid down to the ground. His body was still and unmoving, like a corpse....
Samus's gaze lingered on her young friend a second longer, fighting back feelings of panic, then she turned back to face the SA-X. A super missile was coming for her now, but Samus jumped forward and began space jumping, hoping to come crashing down with the screw attack onto her double. You're going to pay for that! she thought vindictively, thinking about how lifeless Harry's body looked.
But while Samus was almost consumed with rage over the attack on Harry, her mind was still clear enough to realize that something wasn't quite right. While I was stuck in sector 4, SA-X had plenty of time to get here and stop Harry. Why is she only arriving now?
Samus was closing in with her space jump and screw attack, but the SA-X reacted just in time, jumping up toward Samus. Their spinning bodies collided in midair, the force of their screw attacks severely damaging each other. The two gracefully touched back down onto the docking bay floor, a few feet away from each other.
Samus made the next move. She switched on her grapple beam and flung the wisp whip at the SA-X, but her double raised her forearm and the flaming strand wrapped around it. If the flaming whip was hurting SA-X at all, she didn't show it; her stony, glowering gaze did not change. The SA-X then brought up her arm cannon, and the barrel snapped open again. Samus retracted her whip and dashed aside just in time to avoid being hit with a super missile, then returned fire with blasts of her beam weapon.
SA-X ran backward as the beams came her way and most of the blasts missed their mark. But some of them hit home, and Samus was pleased to see that her beams ripped through her, even though she hadn't charged them. That elemental enhancer...it's given my weapons just enough extra power, Samus reasoned.
But the SA-X was responding in kind, firing back with deadly, triple blasts of penetrating, icy cold. But then again, her beam still has extra power too, Samus thought wearily as she tried to dodge them. But the SA-X managed to connect with one shot, and the deathly chill briefly had Samus paralyzed. This gave the SA-X just enough time to charge her beam, then cut loose with an even bigger triple blast of ice. "YEEEAARRRGH!!!" Samus shrieked, almost passing out from the extreme cold and barely able to stay on her feet. Through her teary, narrowed eyes, she swore she saw SA-X flashing an evil grin as she charged another blast.
Ignoring the pain, Samus raised her arm cannon and locked onto SA-X, and let loose an ice missile. SA-X released the charged blast a microsecond before jumping up, but Samus dived out of the way. The ice missile was sliced apart by SA-X screw attack, and now she was trying to come down onto Samus.
Rather than meet her in midair, Samus started running backwards while charging a shot. She aimed up and released it as SA-X was closing in, but apparently she had seen this coming and dropped out of her space jump, avoiding the blast. SA-X touched down and fired more ice-spazer shots. Samus tried to evade them, but SA-X managed to make two more direct hits, draining away even more of her suit's energy.
Ack, she's still staying one step ahead of me! Samus thought acidly as she immediately retaliated with more missiles. The SA-X had been too close, and two ice missiles struck her and temporarily froze her solid. But only for about a second, as her great strength allowed her to break free almost immediately.
But it was enough time to let Samus charge a shot and release it at her, and she was pleased to see her enemy stagger backward as the deadly plasma tore through her armor. And Samus was able to land more direct hits with her standard beam before the SA-X gathered her wits and flew off. Now this is more like it, Samus thought, unable to repress a hopeful grin. She sorely hoped that she would be able to wipe out the SA-X for good, here and now.
SA-X touched down about twenty feet away from Samus, who was charging another shot. But the SA-X decided to come back at her in another way. She flung her arm cannon forward and the muzzle snapped open once more. Instead of another super missile, however, she let loose a flurry of standard missiles, one right after another.
"Oh that's just great," muttered Samus as the missiles sped toward her. The regular missiles had a much higher rate of fire and flew a lot faster, allowing the SA-X to send a continuous volley at Samus. Plus, Samus knew SA-X had at least 230 of them. She tried to dash aside, but one hit her in the midsection, and another one struck her shoulder. The pain wasn't unbearable, but the impacts drained a whole energy tank, and now only half her tanks were full.
The SA-X tried firing a charged shot at Samus after connecting with the two missiles, but Samus deftly dodged it. SA-X then continued firing missiles, but Samus easily managed to avoid them, for they didn't follow her movements. Since Dumbledore had blown the SA-X's helmet off, her missiles couldn't lock on to anything, something which Samus was devoutly grateful for. At least I have one advantage, Samus thought hopefully as she locked onto SA-X and fired two missiles of her own. SA-X took them out with her beam, freezing them in midair, then fired at Samus with a few of her freezing blasts before continuing to cut loose with a volley of missiles.
Enough of this, Samus thought, thoroughly irritated. As the missiles were closing in, Samus ran forward and curled up into a somersault, and her screw roll kicked in. She spun forward along the ground, and any missiles that struck her body were instantly sliced apart.
As she was rolling, she caught a glimpse of the shuttle behind her, and noticed that Harry's body was no longer beside it. Her heart leapt as she realized this, and prayed he would keep his head down until the SA-X was defeated.
As for the SA-X, she apparently wasn't expecting an attack with the screw roll. She didn't fire upon her with the ice beam to stop her, and when she readied herself for a space jump, it was too late. Samus's rolling body collided forcefully with the SA-X, and she was forced backward and was pinned against the wall. Samus could hear the screeching sound of metal scraping against metal as she continued to spin, her flaming body digging into the SA-X's armor...armor she had once proudly wore....
After a few seconds, though, the SA-X was able to recollect herself and went into morph ball mode, then rolled away. Samus slammed into the wall and bounced away from it, and she noticed that SA-X had deployed a power bomb before moving off. It detonated and Samus was engulfed in thermonuclear fire, but it didn't cause too much damage, and she charged her beam as she glanced up at her radar. SA-X was about ten feet behind her, and it sounded like she was charging her beam. Samus whirled around and released her charged blast before the SA-X could release hers, and once again supercharged plasma ripped through her armor.
But the SA-X was just as intent on blocking out pain and staying on the offensive as Samus was. She aimed at Samus and fired another super missile.
The deafening cry of "Reducto!" rang through the docking bay. There was flash of light, and the super missile exploded before it got anywhere near Samus. Oh no, oh no, Samus thought, feeling both angry and fearful. Out loud, she called out, "Harry, stay out of this! She's too much for you!"
The SA-X ignored her outburst, and looked around while keeping her arm cannon trained on Samus. Samus looked around too, and spotted Harry standing about twenty feet behind the SA-X, his wand raised threateningly. SA-X briefly looked back at Samus, then turned to face Harry again. Her expression was one of utter frustration; it was as if she couldn't decide which one to attack next.
But it was Harry who made the next move. He aimed at SA-X and bellowed, "Aguamenti!" A powerful stream of water struck SA-X in the face, momentarily knocking her silly and drenching her armor. Then Harry charged up a shot and fired it at SA-X, the electrical energy penetrating deep into her armor thanks to the water. Samus took advantage of her foe's helplessnes as well, and fired a charged blast at her too.
But the SA-X recovered quicker than they had expected, and began space jumping upward, toward Harry. It wants to take out the weaker enemy first! Samus though panickingly as she charged another shot. But Harry was way ahead of both of them; he aimed up at SA-X and yelled, "Locomotor Mortis!"
The SA-X's space jumping ceased immediately, and she fell painfully to the floor, her legs magically fused together. But Samus knew that SA-X would free herself in seconds, and released her charged blast at her while she was down. She then peppered her with normal beam shots while Harry followed up with another charged shot.
For a while, it looked like their combined efforts were succeeding in keeping SA-X down; her face was screwed up with a look of obvious pain and she seemed unable to stand up and retaliate. But after a few seconds, SA-X convalesced, bouncing back with surprising speed and tenacity. She jumped straight up and fired a super missile at Samus, then turned in midair and fired upon Harry with the ice beam. They easily avoided her assaults, but after touching down, SA-X wildly lashed out with ice beam shots and missiles, keeping the two part-Metroids at bay.
And then, someone else abruptly joined the battle. The whole docking bay was filled with the sound of powerful, roaring engines. Harry and Samus glanced at the shuttle, fearing at first that it had been restored right under their noses. But they soon discovered the noise was coming from ABOVE the shuttle; Samus's ship hovered over it menacingly, guided by Adam's keen intellect.
The front turned to face SA-X, and the forward plasma cannons popped out and began firing upon her. The SA-X tried using to space jump to evade the bolts of plasma, but the cannon's barrels swerved too quickly for her and she was knocked out of her space jump. While she lay helplessly on the floor, the ship's cannons pummeled her mercilessly. Samus joined in and fired her own beam at the SA-X, and she heard Harry cry out, "We got you now!" as he unloaded charged shots as well.
Surely you can't take much more of this! You can't survive this! Samus thought furiously, her rage causing her blood to pound in her ears as she, Harry and Adam continued firing. But by some miracle, SA-X managed to aim up at the ship and let loose a super missile. The missile's impact knocked the ship back slightly, and its incessant weapons fire ceased. Then SA-X stood up and fired beams at both Harry and Samus, forcing them to back off. Wasting no time, she turned to the hatch, opened it and darted through it. As she ran off, Samus saw that several deep cracks had formed all over her armored suit, and green ooze was seeping out of them.
Samus knew that by the time she reached the other side of the hatch, SA-X could be anywhere. She let out a frustrated sigh just as Harry blurted out, "Damnit! We let her escape!" Her gaze turned upon Harry, and she saw he was hunched over and clutching his midesction.
"You see, Harry?" Samus said as she walked over to him, trying to sound calm and understanding. "The SA-X almost killed you with one attack. You'll be taking a big risk if you back down to the breeding sectors."
Harry straightened himself as she approached, and said, "She just caught me off-guard, that's all. I won't let it happen again."
"It was a mistake that almost cost you your life," said Samus. "She'll still be out there, and you made it sound like HP-X survived too. Suppose they ambush you together...."
"I told you, I don't care," Harry shot back, cutting her off. "It's my choice, and I'm fighting. I've never backed down from a fight before, not when lives are on the line. And on all those past missions of yours, you were putting your life on the line, too, of your own free will."
Samus just glared back at him, struggling to think of a response. But Adam then joined in the conversation, his voice blaring through the ship's external speakers.
"He's right, Samus. It is his choice, and you must respect that," Adam said coolly.
Samus turned to look at the hovering spaceship. "You shut up," she snapped angrily. "You let him come here. How could you let him do something so foolish, so...."
"Considering the seriousness of the crisis, I decided that both of you were needed here," Adam said calmly, cutting Samus off. "Besides, I know you Samus. I can tell how much your last two missions have affected you. You are taking the loss of the scientists on Ceres and the B.S.L station too personally, as well as the sacrifices of myself and the Hatchling. Your fear of loss is so great, it's clouded your judgment and made you reject having a crucial and capable ally in the field."
Samus turned to Harry, who stared back with a blank, unreadable face. Adam spoke up again. "Time is crucial, Samus, and we must defeat whoever is responsible. And with your combined efforts, seven of the X-Cores have been neutralized. We are more than halfway toward our goal."
"'Halfway toward our goal?'" repeated Harry, clearly confused. "What are you talking about?"
Samus quickly explained to Harry about the sealed doorway on the main deck, held fast by thirteen locks, which were held in place by signals from the X-Cores. "Whoever's behind all this is hiding beyond that doorway," said Samus, the trace of venom in her voice tangible. "Once all the X-Cores are gone, I can confront him or her, then wipe out the rest of the X."
"You mean 'we'," said Harry suavely. Samus bit back a caustic retort.
"Samus, we need to get to the root of the problem as soon as possible, and for that, we need Harry's help," Adam said quickly before Samus could argue. "Fortunately, my ability to scan the station has improved so much, I know the general locations of four remaining X-Cores."
"You do!?" cried Samus, her hopes rising. "Where are they?"
"In sectors 2, 3, 4 and 5. There is one in each," explained Adam. "I cannot pinpoint their exact locations, however, so you'll need to find them on your own."
"Alright, that's four more X-Cores," said Harry, a hint of eagerness in his voice. "Added to the ones we've wiped out, that'll make eleven. But we'll still be two short, and we have no idea where the last two are."
"We don't know where they are, but I'll give you one guess as to just what the last two are," Samus said sarcastically. Harry grimaced at the mention of this. He knew full well what Samus meant: the last two X-Cores were undoubtedly their dopplegangers, who had slipped through their fingers.
"We'll worry about that later," said Adam. "For now, you two need to get back to the breeding sectors. Samus, you should go back to the aquatic sector, since you've been there already and are familiar with it. Then move on to the tropical sector. As for you Harry, go to sector 3. Once you find the X-Core there, move on to sector 5. With your varia shield, you can survive the extreme temperatures in both."
"What about you?" Harry asked.
"I will maintain position outside the station and destroy any craft that attempts to flee," said Adam. "I now know how to repel that paralyzing enchantment; I will not be trapped again. As for this shuttle, I shall drag it outside and utterly destroy it."
After landing to allow Samus to replenish her suit's weapons and energy, Samus's ship flew over the shuttle again and hovered there. Then some sort of turret popped out from underneath the ship, and fired what looked like a magnetic grappling hook at the shuttle. Samus's ship then flew out of the docking bay exit, passing effortlessly through the forcefield, and the shuttle was dragged out into space with it.
The docking bay doors slowly slid shut a few seconds after Adam's departure, leaving Samus and Harry alone. Harry turned to the bounty huntress and said, "Well, shall we get going?" For a few agonizing seconds, Samus glared down at Harry, her eyes expressionless and unreadable. But eventually, she shook her head, then ran toward the hatch, beckoning for him to follow.
"....And whatever you do, don't fall in the magma. Unless your shield gets upgraded again, you'll take damage," Samus explained to Harry as the elevator took them back down.
"And watch out for all those deadly magical plants I told you about once you get to the jungle area. And the X might have duplicated merpeople too, so look out for that while underwater," responded Harry as the elevator platform finally reached the bottom of the shaft. Once again, they stood on the deck with all the elevators leading to the breeding sectors.
The two looked at each other again, clearly uneasy about parting. Having Samus with him to lead the charge against the X-hosts on the main deck had made him feel relieved and secure. As for Samus, she desperately wanted to have Harry stay at her side, so she could keep an eye on him. But both of them knew Adam was right: the X had to be stopped, and soon. And only by splitting up again would they eliminate more X-Cores in a timely fashion.
"Well, I guess we better get moving," Harry said sorrowfully. He turned to the right, toward the hatch leading to the odd-numbered sectors, but he felt Samus's armored hand clamp onto his shoulder. "Samus, we've already been through this. We need to split up," he said, his voice betraying a tiny hint of impatience.
"I know, Harry," said Samus. "Adam was right: it's your choice. But just promise me one thing."
Harry turned around and looked through Samus's visor, and saw a pleading look in her eyes. "What is it?" he asked, taken aback by her gaze.
"Just come back alive," she said sternly. "Just promise me you'll survive this."
Harry couldn't surpress a smile. "Don't worry, I'm not that easy to kill."
Samus didn't say anything else. She simply nodded, then turned toward the hatch requiring extreme cold to open, which would lead her back to the even-numbered sectors. Harry watched her go, then turned and headed to the hatch requiring magic to unlock.
The SA-X slowly lumbered aimlessly through one of the dark maintenance tunnels on the main deck, hunched over and clutching her midsection, overwhelmed by excruciating pain. Deep cracks still marred her armored body, and fluids continued to pour out of them. She knew that if she hadn't escaped when she did, Samus Aran and Harry Potter would have had her. Though her face was still unreadable and emotionless, that didn't mean she wasn't enraged by her defeat. She forced herself to supress the primal fury welling up inside her; such emotions had no purpose right now, not when there was still much to do. But in her condition, it was impossible to fight. Power bomb healing would restore her instantly, but her morph ball systems had been severely damaged....
But then, the SA-X heard an incessant buzzing noise from up above, which she recognized instantly. Turning around, she saw the HP-X drop down into the tunnel from a vertical shaft, his wings outstretched and beating furiously. His face was just as stony and masklike as hers, covering up a sinister desire, a desire to wipe out the one he mimicked before moving on....
For a moment, their psyches became intertwined. Now that they were once again close enough, they could transmit their thoughts to each other, letting the HP-X know what had just happened. But it was only for a brief moment; it was merely an efficient means of bringing the other up to speed. Then the HP-X got on with what he had come to do: he raised his hand, and white, magical sparks shot out of them and surrounded Samus. Just like at Hogwarts, the sparks swirled around her, and she felt herself becoming revitalized. Within seconds, the cracks in her armor vanished, all her damaged systems were repaired, and her weapons and energy were fully restored.
The sparks faded away as quickly as they had appeared. The SA-X glared at the HP-X again, and prepared to mentally connect with him again, to go over their plans and what to do next. But before she could, a new set of orders rang in both their minds, coming from the one who had brought their species here.
The SA-X and the HP-X quickly dispersed, but before they did, their minds had connected one more time for the briefest of moments, just to remind each other of one very important thing....
I bet some of you are wondering how I'm getting such lengthy chapters out in a timely manner. Well, I'll spill a little secret: a lot of these chapters were written in advance! That's right. When I started working on this, I was afraid that I'd be too slow, and that during the Metroid-y part, people would lose interest if forced to wait too long. So I wrote certain chapters ahead of time.
Unfortunately, my stock to ready-to-serve chapters is running low. Damn. I coulda used the extra time to catch up on some more great games of yesteryear (Metal Gear Solid 3, anyone?) as well as watch more of those anime DVDs I bought. Which anime, you ask? Sailor Moon, of course.
So long,
Grey