I just recently started getting into Metroid, a little late I know, so I don't know too much about it. Therefore the planets will probably remain nameless and same with the different species. Also I wouldn't be surprised if the characters come out to be out of character or described wrong. Please bear with it and tell me what you think!

Chapter 1

Samus Aran cursed as a blast aimed at her feet forced her to leap back. Ridley and Samus were having one of their many confrontations, but this time, Ridley seemed oddly impatient. Samus guessed that all the times that she had managed to beat him back were finally taking its toll on the dragon. The dragon's frustration could only be matched by Samus'. You just couldn't kill that stubborn dragon. If you defeated him in a battle he'd fly off to lick his wounds and come back for more later.

Samus raised her arm cannon and fired a volley of missiles that Ridley deflected with a wave of his spear-like tail. Samus gave a frustrated sigh. This fight was pointless. She and Ridley have fought so often and gotten to a point in their "relationship" that every habit was easily noticed and allowed the other to counter the upcoming attack. To make matters worse, they were fighting on an extremely hostile planet, inhabited by creatures that even scared Ridley's space pirates…maybe that's why Ridley was acting impatient…

Ridley opened his mouth, preparing to fire another beam from his mouth. Samus narrowed her eyes. It was a feint and she leapt back, Ridley's tail impaling the ground in front of her. Ridley gave a frustrated screech and Samus took a step back from her adversary. There was a cracking sound behind her and she looked back. Samus found her foot half way off the side of a cliff, causing her to give a gasp of surprise and quickly taking a step forward. She looked back at Ridley to find that he was grinning.

Samus couldn't believe it. After all this time, it seemed like Ridley managed to think one step ahead of her and forced her into a corner. Could he read her that easily now?

"Finally…after all these years I finally corner you…" Ridley panted. "It looks like our long conflict…is finally at its end." Ridley wrenched his tail out of the ground, leaving long deep cracks in it.

Samus scoffed. "You've caught me in worse…" she retorted. "Face it Ridley, you'll never kill me! Not now, not before, not ever." She raised her arm cannon and fired an ice missile but Ridley dug his tail into the ground and scooped up a large rock and launched it into the missile's path. Samus cursed yet again.

"Samus…when will you learn that nothing you do will surprise me anymore. I know all of your abilities and I know your potential. You have no chance of beating me. Not this time."

Samus gave a defiant sneer but scooted her feet back, trying to get as far as possible from the dragon without falling into the canyon below. "I could say the same about you. There is no way that you-" There was a loud cracking sound and both Samus and Ridley looked down at Samus' feet. The cracks that Ridley's tail made were growing bigger. To Samus' surprise, as well as Ridley's, the ground beneath Samus crumbled and she fell down into the chasm.

Ridley rushed to the edge and looked down into the canyon to see Samus laying on her back. From this distance Ridley could just barely make out the cracks along the battle-worn power suit. To some what of a relief, Samus got shakily to her feet. Ridley smiled, it would've been embarrassing if word got out he won because of a simple accident. Ridley was about to jump down into the canyon until he heard a loud screech, not unlike his own. He watched as what looked like a giant wyrm burst out of the ground underneath Samus and caught her in its pincered mouth. Ridley watched in somewhat of a trance as one of the pincers pierced Samus' torso, the other shattering her arm cannon and piercing her arm. Even at a distance Ridley knew that the red on Samus' visor was the blood that she had just vomited.

The wyrm slammed Samus' shattered body against the canyon wall, causing half of her chest plate to break off and her helmet to slip from her head. The blood dripping from the back of her head told Ridley just how hard she hit the wall. Ridley slowly flew down into the canyon, his eyes never leaving the unconscious form of Samus. The wyrm looked around at Ridley and roared, as if it thought Ridley was about to steal its meal.

Ridley watched the wyrm in interest. Its size rivaled Ridley's, though not as wide, Ridley was sure that, if standing on its tip, the wyrm would easily top him. He could just let the wyrm eat Samus and the thorn in the side of the space pirates would be gone. But something beat that thought back. If news got out that he had let a feral wyrm kill his greatest adversary, he'd be the laughingstock of the galaxy…Or at least, that's how he figured it. Now he couldn't let that happen now could he?

Ridley stood at his full height, as opposed to hunched over, and fly at the wyrm, slashing through its pincers with his claws with one smooth motion. He whipped the wyrm back with his tail and caught Samus in his arms before she hit the ground. The wyrm roared in fury and hunched over, the spines on its back standing on end before it shot them at Ridley. Ridley shielded Samus' limp form along with himself with his wings. Ridley flared his wings and opened his mouth. Before the wyrm could react, Ridley unleashed a beam that tore the wyrm apart.

Feeling oddly proud of himself, Ridley's attention turned back to Samus. He placed his head against her chest like he's seen many humans do and heard a small, faint heart beat. It was then Ridley knew; Samus was dying. Even after all their fights, Samus had always came out relatively ok. The prospect of Samus actually dying scared Ridley, and the thought that it scared him scared him even more. Samus had been is one and only life time rival, the foe that he had sworn to defeat even at the cost of his own life, and to have her die from a mere accident? Ridley couldn't let that happen. He flew up into the sky with Samus held safely in his arms. For the time being, he would protect and help her…he had to…