Another chapter to continue the story. Sorry for lack of updates... Pokemon GO, trying to gain inspiration, computer problems, and so many other things but mostly all on me for being semi lazy and all...

"Voice of the Spirit Tree"
Thoughts
"Spoken words"

As they looked down the tunnel, the screeching sound stopped. A ghostly figure appeared, standing over a ledge, looking down towards them. Samus was wary, as she had dealt with this type of foe, amongst other things, before. She kept the hand sign held and waited to see what the ghost would do. It remained stationary for a moment longer, before floating backwards and fading away. Intrigued, Samus headed over to where the ghost had been, but then saw something strange as she got closer. The beams were not firing anymore, due to something blocking them. Upon closer inspection, the reason was revealed to be a platform having blocked the Energy Focus, which allowed them to fire. Another ghost appeared on the other side of the platform bridge and headed up a set of stairs, to the ledge above them.
For Samus, this was all too convenient and easy. She was sure something was going to happen the moment they went up those stairs.

"*Sam..s... Samus... there... Samus...*".

Samus brought her hand up to the side of her head, as |she would| if she were in her normal form and wearing her Power Suit. "Adam?", she inquired.

"*Ho...on... signa...*". A few seconds passed. "Can you hear me better ,now?".

"Much better, Adam.", Samus said, letting out a sigh. "Glad you survived the crash."

"Not entirely. In fact, I'm actually in the Space Pirate systems, using one of their heavily unused communication channels to talk with you. I can't exactly keep the channel open for long periods of time, so there will be times that I can't communicate with you. Not to mention having to keep myself hidden from their security scans. Anyway, it would seem that you and Ori are in the Subterra caverns. Readings indicate some kind of energy source near your location. Further scans indicate Chozo Ghosts in the area as well. Move with caution, and I'll be sure to keep your movements hidden from their systems." Adam said, and was gone.

Silence lingered in the air for a few minutes, before Samus turned to Ori. "Alright, seems that Adam has installed himself into the Space Pirates computer systems. He is able to communicate with us from there, but not for extended periods of time. However, there is good news. We are in the Subterra caverns, and there is some kind of energy source close by." With that said, Samus looked up the stairs to the ledge above them. "I guess we should head up."

Samus and Ori headed up the stairs, only to be greeted by the sight of three Chozo Ghosts, standing around what looked to be a pulsing Chozo orb. At first glance, Samus would have shot it for the item inside, but something told her not to do so. She waited to see what would happen. Then, the pulsing of the orb became a glow, as white tendrils rose up from the orb, flying straight for Ori and wrapping him in the blinding light. Ori let out a surprised squeak, as he was lifted from the ground. Samus was unable to see, due to the light itself, as she was surrounded by the three chozo ghosts and being engulfed in their aura. The two were sent to a world in their mind. Their bodies were levitating over the stone floor of the cave.

*Samus*

Opening her eyes, Samus saw a smoke filled sky, glowing with fire light. In the distance, she could hear screams of terror, mixed with the shouts of creatures she recognized. Rising up, she saw the horror of her true homeworld... Earth colony K2-L. Space pirates were attacking and killing everyone, stealing what they were after. She saw her reflection in a smooth and polished sheet of metal that might have been ripped from one of the surrounding buildings. She saw herself in her Forest Guardian form, just as her facial expression went cold and hard, as the fire light glowed around her, like an aura of her anger. She scrambled to her feet and ran out into the fray, firing at all the Space Pirates that she encountered, saving the people that would have been mercilessly killed.

She headed towards the Starport, only to be stopped by Ridley, the one creature she loathed more than Dark Samus, or anyone else for that matter. She glared at him and aimed her hand in his direction, firing off several Power Beam shots as she ran at him. The shots didn't seem to affect him, as he just shrugged them off as being more annoying than painful. Seeing him raise a clawed hand up, Samus leaped into the air and flared the wings on her back out, so as to float to the ground. Ridley had lashed out at her before she jumped, and incidentally missed hitting her. He opened his maw and was prepared to release a torrent of flames at her, but she began shooting him in the mouth, which caused the fire burst that was building in his mouth to explode, causing him to shake his head and glare at her, as he swiped his tail towards her.

She caught the tail full on in the chest and was sent sprawling to the ground, |and| skidding into a pile of wreckage. She stood up from the wreckage, her determination and anger burning in her eyes, like the raging inferno that surrounded them. She rushed towards the big dragon-like beast, firing short bursts of her Power Beam at him, before she leaped into the air, gliding towards his head. Ridley had opened his mouth and snapped at her, trapping her within. She held onto his tongue and fired Power Beam shots down his throat, desperately trying not to be taken down by him. She could tell that her efforts were not working so well, and her determination was fading, as was everything else. She was losing her strength to keep fighting...

Then a voice rang out in her mind. Don't give up... Please Samus, don't give up... She felt as though she recognized the voice, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. Keep fighting... keep fighting for the future... keep fighting... for me Samus. Samus opened her eyes and smiled, as the voice of Ori rang through her mind. She couldn't give up, not now. She stood tall, as a bright, orange glow radiated around her, before focusing it to the palm of her hand. She released it, creating an explosion in Ridley's throat, causing him to spit her out and screech in pain. She looked up at the space dragon and snarled, as she focused the energy to her hand once more. "COME AND GET IT!", she exclaimed to the beast. "You coward.", she taunted loudly, to get the attention of him and his space pirate minions, all of whom turned and looked at the two of them. "Only a coward would attack a planet that couldn't defend itself. You show yourself as being brave and powerful, but all I see is a lowly coward, killing people that had nothing to do with what you were after.". She knew that these words would cause things to become worse, as she took aim and released a focused laser-like ray of the Power Beam.

The beam shot through Ridley's armored hide like a thermal lance, cutting through a sheet of steel, causing the space dragon to screech in pain, as he staggered backwards from the attack. That's sure to have felt like he got hit by a Super Missile. She thought to herself, as she narrowed her eyes and took aim at him once again, focusing the Power Beam to her right hand once more. At this sight, Ridley flew away, and the image of K2-L faded away to white light, as she woke from a dream-like state in the Subterra Caverns. She looked around and saw Ori, laying on the ground a short distance away from her. She crawled over to him and stayed by his side, watching him.

"Thank goodness you're still alive, Samus.", Adam's voice said. "For a moment, your vital signs spiked, as though you were stressed and in the middle of a fight, then suddenly fell to the point of near death. Whatever just happened to you must have been terrible." With that, Adam went silent, as he covered his tracks.

"Yeah... It was horrible...", she said to herself in a solemn tone, as she felt a whisper in her mind, saying something to her. "... Take... with you... the focus beam?". She sounded confused, as she repeated the words, but stood and held her hand up in the formation of the Power Beam sign. Slowly, the beam energy gathered to her hand. She released it, sending out an explosive shot. Remembering what happened in her mindscape, she continued charging it, and soon released it. She was rewarded with a gold-orange laser-like beam that streaked through the air and lit up the chamber, before going dark once more. "Focus beam... seems better than the Charge Beam... Now I wonder how it will work with the other beams.". She was genuinely curious now, as she knelt down beside Ori once again, placing his head in her lap.

And here's another chapter up... I'll delve into Ori's mind scape in the next chapter.