Okay, I'm going to give you a heads up! This is my first Metroid fanfic. I'm not saying this to ask that you be nice or something, but I want to inform you that I have only played Metroid II, so I know very little about what Samus is like or the Metroid series as a whole! That being said, please enjoy this- it is based off my personal experience with this super cool game!

The Queen Metroid was dead.

It had been blown and blasted to ashes by none other than bounty hunter Samus Aran.

Even though the torrent of adrenaline surging within her had subsided as of twenty-two seconds ago, she was far from bone-tired, despite that by all accounts she should be.

Instead, she was strangely energized. Though she wondered why, she took it as a sign to press on. Thus, she stayed on her feet and began to advance down the dim tunnel the Queen had been blocking.

As she walked, Samus checked her Metroid-counter. It was now at zero, but she was suspicious. After all, it was barely an hour ago that the counter had jumped from one to nine, a moment that had sent a chill colder than ice down her spine.

But zero was zero. Something couldn't spawn from nothing.

Right?

Her mindset was challenged the moment she set eyes on the Egg.

It was a Metroid Egg. Samus identified it at once. She'd never seen one, but she knew in a heartbeat what it was.

Impossible was what it was. The Egg was impossible. It should not have been there, and yet it was there, sitting no more than three yards before her.

She checked her counter again. The bottom right corner of her screen still registered an unmistakable double zero. Was it possible that she was so far deep into this planet that some of her systems had ceased to properly function?

No, she thought. The Egg is dead. That must be it. It's not a danger because it died without its mother to care for it.

But then, ever so lightly, the Egg shuddered.

In the span of one half of a second, Samus raised her arm cannon. She aimed it directly at the Egg. Her gaze sharpened in concentration as she became utterly focused. She heard the blood roaring in her ears and her heart pounding against her chest.

The objective was simple. The moment the Metroid hatched, she would blow it to pieces. It was nothing she hadn't done before; it would be no different from the others she had destroyed.

The Egg shook again, more visibly this time. Samus tensed her whole body; she forced her arm to steady. Why was she trembling? She had the advantage. The Metroid could not possibly be aware of her. Samus inhaled deeply, then exhaled, her breath fogging up the bottom of her visor. This would all be over in an instant.

The new Metroid burst forth in a split second, faster than the human eye could track. It was this speed that caused Samus to have a delayed reaction; instead of firing the killing shot, she instinctively stepped backward.

She cursed herself. She'd been trained better than that, to strike back rather than give in to flight instinct.

In her brief moment of distraction, the Metroid charged. Nothing more than a sickly green blur zipped right past her eyes.

Samus forced down a millisecond's worth of panic, but she still felt a keen sense of alarm. On her way to the Queen Metroid, eight larval Metroids had each attempted to literally suck the life out of her. It was the furthest thing from a pleasant experience, and she was not eager to go through it again. And this new Metroid was undoubtedly as capable as its deceased family.

It was flying about no more than a foot away from her. She set her cannon to the Ice Beam and tried to aim, but the Metroid was ridiculously fast. There seemed to be no pattern in its movements. It circled her, zooming over her head, behind her back, and dodging around her legs. Samus tried to jump away, to put some distance between them so she could lock onto it. But the Metroid pursued her.

It was like it had no fear. Maybe it could sense it was the last of its kind? If so, could it sense that Samus had killed the rest of its species? And if that were true, perhaps it wanted revenge?

Suddenly she sensed weird pressure against her leg. Doing what any normal person would do, she looked down at the source.

"Holy—" Samus yelped, rocketing about fifteen feet into the air. The Metroid had been nuzzling her. Like a kitten or some other baby creature…

And now she understood. Realization struck her brain like lightning. She had been so focused on trying to shoot the creature that she had failed to properly register its size.

It was puny.

Maybe a little bigger than her helmet, which was miniscule for a Metroid. It was nowhere near its larval stage. It was a baby. A baby Metroid.

Samus also now understood that its first actions were not aggressive, but playful.

The bounty hunter lowered her arm. When she had killed the other Metroids, it had been her mission, yes, but they had also attacked her first. This baby, on the other hand, was barely a threat.

The Baby approached her again, this time perching on her shoulder pad. It grasped the suit tightly, but it didn't try to suck out her life, so that was a good sign. So far it hadn't exhibited any of the sadistic instincts of its species.

Cautiously, she reached out and patted the tiny Metroid. It let out a weird sound, but it seemed pleased. Samus exhaled, letting the tension ebb from her body like a wave. She decided to sit down and lean against the cave wall, something she hadn't done since she landed on this planet.

This thing seems to like me a whole lot, she mused, staring at the wall opposite to her. I guess it's because I'm the first thing it saw when it hatched.

She stiffened at the last thought. "Oh, no."

She glanced at the baby Metroid, who was now snuggled between her shoulder pad and her neck. It was making more weird sounds, almost like a cross between purring and chirping. Samus looked forward again. "No," she said to no one in particular. "No. No. No no no no. I am not ready to be a parent!"

But alas, the Baby thought she was its mother, and nothing in the universe was going to change that. Samus had unexpectedly and unceremoniously been inducted into parenthood. As much as she was against it, she quickly accepted it. There was no use complaining. Besides, now she had a new objective: bring the Baby back with her.

Getting to her feet, Samus strode forward, climbing further into the tunnel. The Baby detached itself from her and zipped a little ahead before returning to Samus' side. It did this repeatedly, never straying more than a few feet from its "mother".

Finally, the two came to a strange wall that appeared to be crystalline. Samus tried freezing it, but nothing happened. She tried to blast it with a missile, but it didn't even scratch it. She even tried to punch it, but that hurt her more than the wall.

As she pondered what to do next, the Baby flew forward and simply took a huge bite out of it. It let out a high-pitched squeak, which Samus understood to be a sound of delight.

"Well, all right then." She couldn't suppress a smile. "Lead on!"

And so Samus and the Baby raced through the tunnel. Each time they found another crystal wall, the Baby simply ate through it. There was more above them, so the Baby ate that, too, leading to the discovery of a natural opening in the ceiling. Samus jumped up, and the Baby followed.

There was another ledge, and another. And more crystals. This tunnel seemed to go on forever. Samus didn't complain, mostly because she didn't have to worry about what to feed her new companion.

As the Baby ate through yet another layer of crystals, Samus saw stars above them. A thrill coursed through her veins. They had reached the surface!

She jumped once more and touched down on rocky soil. They'd made it. All she had to do now was find her ship.

The giant mountain looming above seemed like a good place to look out from. Good thing she'd acquired the Space Jump. She tensed, then sprang up into the air. This technique was something she still had a hard time with, no matter how many times she'd used it. She soon found herself back on the ground.

Cursing, she tried again. And again. And again…and again.

Finally, she just gave up and used the Spider Ball to crawl up the mountain, which was just fine with her. The Baby followed closely all the while.

Once she reached the top, Samus saw a few hills. She ran and jumped over them (now the Space Jump decided to cooperate), but when she leaped over the last one, she plummeted down the other side of the mountain.

She fell like a stone, but she wasn't worried about crashing and breaking every bone in her body. She had just spotted her ship, still in one piece despite the heavy tremors that had shaken the planet. Plus, she knew how to fall right and had one heck of a spacesuit, so she landed just fine, and, checking to make sure the Baby was close behind, she sprinted as fast as she could towards her ship.

Somersaulting on the roof, Samus paused to survey the area where she'd first entered the depths of Planet SR388. The cave opening was now clogged with boulders, undoubtedly caused by a rockfall. It must have been caused by the Queen Metroid, whose death had triggered the greatest tremor of all.

The planet was sealed. Her mission was complete. She let out a sigh of relief, and the Baby attached itself to her helmet. Samus now looked as though she was wearing a living hat.

She let out a soft laugh. Gently, she plucked it off and held her new friend in front of her. A surprising wave of affection flowed through her.

"I have to admit, you're kind of cute. Y'know, since you're not consuming my soul."

The Baby didn't understand her words, but was happy anyway. It squirmed out of her hands and floated in her face. The two shared a long look before Samus reached out to pat it again.

"Come on, little guy. Let's get going."

Then they climbed into the ship and lifted off, traveling towards the next destination.

Honestly, the baby Metroid is the cutest thing. I'm really bummed about what I've read regarding Super Metroid.