Warning: Severe story spoilers for Metroid: Other M.

Warning: Slight story spoilers for Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog.

Warning: Epic story ahead.

When the Federation sent me out on the distress call, I figured it would be like any normal procedure. Get in, get help to those who need it, return to HQ, file a report. The typical standard that never failed. The first thing that should have tipped me off about this mission was that Adam himself was coming along. Adam Malkovich, my commander and friend.

Along with Adam was a small group of soldiers; Anthony, James, Maurice, Lyle, and KG; most of which I knew from the academy. They too obviously thought that this would be a normal distress call until Adam joined us with these words of advice:

"Be prepared and never let your guard down. I know some of you have faced dangers before, but nothing like this. Let's go."

Every word from Adam was to be taken seriously. The man never joked around, much less made sarcastic answers or comments. If it was dangerous, he would tell us flat-out and as soon as possible. He was always direct to the point. No stalling or detours along the explanations.

So now I found myself in a small ship with Anthony at my side, plotting in the course.

"I managed to get a little information out of Adam before we all hit the road," He began. "he said we're headed to some top-secret research facility that most people don't know about. Some of the workers on the facility don't even know that they're in a highly-illegal situation."

"It's amazing how some people can lie to others." I sighed, directing the ship around a few asteroids.

"It's amazing how they don't know by now." Anthony shook his head. "Adam will fill us all in with all we need to know, but I think he said something about bio-engineering and all that fun stuff. From his tone of voice, I think everything escaped."

"I've been in worse." I said, shuddering at the memory of Mother Brain.

"If you say so, Princess." Anthony fell silent.

With that, my thoughts became distracted and I found myself thinking of the last baby Metroid. If it hadn't been where it had been, I know for a fact I wouldn't be where I was now. I owed it my life, and now it was dead, killed by its own controller.

"See that up ahead?" Anthony said, pointing through the thick glass that separated space from us. "That's where we're going."

I followed his gaze to a sphere-like structure that didn't look all that much different from a moon. Maybe that was how it managed to go undiscovered for so long. I tapped my earpiece and said, "I'm closing in on the destination. Where do we enter?"

"Just a second, Samus. We're searching for any possible entrances right now." Adam said. "For now, just circle and keep close."

I began slowly circling around the moon-like structure, watching for anything unusual. It certainly seemed normal, but I knew from experience that things weren't always how they seemed.

A flash of light caught my attention. I turned around in my seat to see a small spacecraft speed away from some sort of port, closely followed by another.

"Samus, did you see that?" James' voice sounded in my earpiece. "Follow them! They're fleeing!"

"Adam?" I asked.

"Pursue and bring them back." Adam confirmed.

The spacecraft Anthony and I were in turned violently and started after the smaller ships. They were definitely earth made, slightly older models than the ones I was used to piloting. They swerved around oncoming space rocks and debris, almost too late at times.

An alarm began blaring on my control panel. I glanced down at it to see that it was a warning on one of the small ships in front of me. They had lost steering and were spiraling out of control towards a large asteroid. They were going to crash and there was nothing I could do about it.

"No!" I couldn't help but shout as the craft came in contact with the rock in a brilliant blast. Debris began drifting away, propelled by the force of the explosion.

"Samus, where's the other ship?" Anthony jerked me out of my thoughts. He and I began glancing wildly around, trying to catch sight of the other ship. We saw nothing.

It was like they just vanished into thin air.

"Samus, if you lost sight, fall back to the station. I found a possible entry." Adam said slowly.

I nodded even though I knew he couldn't see me, saying, "Rodger that." I turned the ship around and we headed back to the spherical station.

Both Adam and James' ships were hovering around the docking point where the small ships had fled. On my officer's permission, I entered the dock first. It was indeed a landing point and we soon powered down side by side, all three of our crafts barely taking up half the space.

"Suits on." Adam said.

My Power Suit activated, protecting me from the vacuum of space and other dangerous factors. Anthony and I exited our ship and waited by Maurice for instructions.

"Be on your guard," Adam began, walking back and fourth in front of us slowly. "this place has issued a level four warning. This is a research and space colony known as ARK. Many of the workers here are not aware of the current situation, nor the situation they've been involved in since they've begun work here. This facility has a top secret research and development lab where they've been mass producing weapons of destruction, most of them being live, active and deadly. They are at the moment roaming around and basically attacking anything they come in contact with. Our mission is to bring them back to the high-security lab as unhurt as possible and restore order."

None of us said anything.

"There is another thing," Adam continued. "these creatures are extremely dangerous. Dangerous enough to the point where they could kill you and you wouldn't realize until it was too late. They can blend in with their surroundings and strike without warning. They will destroy you if you are not aware. Because of this we also need to round up survivors and protect them."

Silence covered the docking station again.

"There is someone inside that should meet us before we head off. Let's go."

We turned and headed for a small airlock door. When it didn't open even after Adam logged some sort of code in, Lyle stepped up and shot the control panel twice. In a hiss of sparks and smoldering wire the first doors of the airlock opened and we crowded inside the decontamination area.

"Proceed." A robotic voice sounded once various jet streams of air had finished cleaning our suits off. We entered into a small, darkened room.

"Are you from the Federation? Answer!"

I spun around, weapon at the ready. What I found wasn't exacally threatening. An old man was hunched in the furthest corner, a large type of gun clutched in his hands. I doubted if he even knew how to shoot judging by the way he was holding it. Adam stepped forward.

"We are. Are you the professor?"

"Professor Robotnik," The man said, slowly standing up with aid from the wall. "you've got to hurry. Most of my workers are stranded in rooms trying to keep the experiments out…and others have already fallen prey. Please, don't kill any one of them, we brought this upon ourselves." He pointed into the opposite corner, where small bags were stashed. "Take one of those. They have everything you should need; tranquilizer guns, a small First Aid kit in case anything happens and a heat detector. If I were you I'd use them to see through walls and to expect the unexpected."

"Thank you, professor. We'll report back here in an hour. What should we do once we bring down the experiments?" Adam asked, handing out the bags to us.

"On every floor is a high-security cell. You can put them in there until we can decide what to do. They won't fight each other…they're all one." The professor said.

Before I could ask what he meant, Adam nodded towards us. "Spread out. Samus, take the lower levels with Lyle. KG and James, first. Maurice, go with Anthony. I'll remain here and pass on any important information I receive. Once you secure your floor move up to another unoccupied one. Move out."

We headed to the thick steel door, opening it cautiously before exiting the room. Lyle and I headed for the elevator across the hall while the others continued either left or right.

"You are now heading to the research level." A computerized voice said. "A level three warning has been issued for the research level. Please carry a weapon at all times and never go alone. Thank you."

"What's that tell you?" Lyle sighed. "because it's telling me that something bad's about to happen."

Three seconds later the elevator came to a halt and the doors slid open to lead us onto the path of what looked like a sphere of water with some sort of computer mechanism on its back, powering it. It caught 'sight' of us and would have succeeded in slamming me into the wall had I not dodged narrowly into the hallway. Lyle pulled the tranquilizer dart gun from the pack he had slung over his shoulder, looked back at the sphere of water and said loudly, "How the hell are we suppost to tranquilize that thing?"

As if it had heard him, two long arms grew out of the blue mass and stabbed viciously at the wall, leaving two scorch marks. Lyle jammed the dart gun back into the pack and drew his blaster. "Screw this!"

While he distracted it I ran around the back of it to see what I expected to see. Some sort of biomechanical life support system. I aimed my weapon at it and let off the smallest charge I possibly could. The thing gave a loud shriek and the blue water like substance below it disappeared, sending it crashing to the ground. It didn't move.

"What is that thing?" Lyle asked, somewhere in-between awe and disgust.

"Anyone have any idea what the big blue blobs are?" I asked into my communicator built inside my suit.

"We'll learn later, Samus. For now just secure it and keep moving." Anthony sounded rushed, and I thought I heard shouts in the background. Shouts…and the crackle of fire.

Before I could ask anything else the link shut off and I turned my attention back on the hopefully deactivated thing in front of me. Its computer part of it was almost as big as me.

"Get one end and help me." I commanded. "The cell thing is right over there."

Even with our combined efforts it was difficult to move. After at least five minuets of pulling with all our might we made it to the cell door. It opened easily and we dragged the thing in, setting in a password everyone would know in case they found others up here and had to toss them in.

"One down. So far so good." Lyle said.

"Unless we counter another of those things we need to use the darts." I said, pulling my gun from the pack. Lyle gripped it in one hand while he held his regular blaster in the other. Together we began off at a slow pace down the hallway, listening for anything out of the ordinary.

"Hey, it's James," James' voice said into my headset. I nearly jumped at the sudden sound of his voice. "is it just me, or is it too quiet?"

"It's really calm where we are." Maurice responded. "We haven't run into anything yet."

"We fought a blue blob." Lyle said. "But it's gone really quiet where we are too."

"Something tells me this isn't going to be good…" KG muttered.

"We have heat sensors, don't we? How about using them?" Adam suggested, obviously annoyed by how nervous we all were.

"Holy shit, this really works!" Anthony exclaimed.

"Then shut off the communication link and work on finding your enemies."

I smiled grimly to myself, looking around the corridor as I did so. It began to widen out as we went on, until finally coming to a fork in the hall. I pointed left. "I'll head that way. Report back here in forty five minuets."

Lyle nodded and began making his way carefully down the hall. I did the same down mine. Why had it suddenly gone quiet? Were the experiments smart enough to know that we were coming for them? Were they indeed one, like the professor said?

I held the heat sensor in front of me, making slow sweeping movements along the hall. A bright red form showed up when I directed the machine in front of me.

I just barely had time to jump backwards as the strange alien-like thing sliced at me. I back flipped, readying the tranquilizer as I went. By the time I hit the ground I had already fired but missed as the thing vanished into thin air. I felt a blow as it was landed on my right side, sending me crashing into the wall. Before I could react, another one sent me crashing to the ground. I held the gun in front of me and shot where the force had come from.

A defeated wail rang out and the alien became visible as it collapsed in the middle of the hallway. I stood up, waiting to be attacked again. When nothing came I approached the experiment.

My heart skipped a beat. For there, lying in front of me, was a Zebesian. How did it get here? What were they doing with one of them?

"Samus, respond! What's going on?" Adam's voice broke through my thoughts.

"Adam, I'm fine. But they have Zebesians here. I don't know how or why." I said. My voice shook slightly.

"Keep in touch. I'll ask the professor about that along with why they're creating weapons." Adam flicked the communication off and I was left alone with the unconscious alien to drag it into the security cell.

As I re-logged in the code to lock the door, the question began tugging at my mind. Why were these people creating such powerful weapons? What were they planning? And was there worse to come as we rid this colony of runaway experiments? Something was telling me that I had only seen the beginning.

The heat sensor's screen was cracked but it was still usable. I made my way down the hall to where I had been when the Zebesian attacked and resumed the search. I eventually made my way down the hall enough to run into three hallways that branched off into different rooms. I swung the scanner around but nothing showed up anywhere except for in the last room. Dart gun at the ready, I crept forward.

The heat source was caused by what looked to be a humanoid figure, but the heat readings were below normal. Way below. Almost as though this person was cold-blooded.

I rounded the corner to see someone standing, just facing the wall. Dark hair and pale white skin, dressed completely in green.

"Are you all right?" I asked clearly.

The figure turned slowly and fixed their slits of yellow eyes on me. A forked tongue flicked out between their pointed teeth. I realized the green they were wearing wasn't clothes, it was scales. Before I could pull the trigger on the dart gun, the creature lunged at me. I barely managed to roll out of the way as it lunged again, tearing the bag from my arm and sending it crashing in a corner. I threw the heat sensor after it and prepared to find a time to shoot and take the thing out. Whatever was attacking me, it was smart. It knew not to stay in one place too long. It knew not to hesitate. It knew how to kill.

I dodged long, crooked claws that looked as though they'd be able to take a chunk out of even my Power Suit. The creature didn't stop its aggressive attack and kept coming. I fired once over its head with the gun attached to my Suit, but it acted like I just dodged to the side again. I dodged another attack and fired at its green underbelly.

The blast sent it flying backwards into the wall outside the room, hitting the wall hard and sliding down. It didn't move, but I wasn't taking any chances. I readied the dart gun and fired; the dart sinking into its neck. Its eyes flared open and as it saw me coming towards it, tried to escape. But the drug took effect and it collapsed, leaving it at my mercy.

I more or less dragged it down the hall to the cell where I met Lyle. He was carrying some sort of small, white birdlike creature that seemed harmless enough.

"This thing is vicious." Lyle growled, tossing it in. "It tried to eat my entire head. It dislocated its jaw just to try to take a chunk out of my helmet."

"I guess we're doing pretty well then." I said, switching on my communications. "How's everyone else doing?"

"Fine, at the moment. We brought down seven different things and are now tracking another." James said.

"Just finishing up on our floor." Anthony said. "We're doing very well, in case anyone wants to know."

"Listen, as soon as you can, come back to the airlock room. There's something I have to tell you all." Adam's voice joined our conversation.

"Yes, sir. Give me a few minuets to check out these last rooms." I said, switching off the communication link again.

"Still got that much to go?" Lyle asked.

"Not that much. Just a few rooms." I said, turning back the way I had come.

"Then I'm coming too so we can get this done faster."

Together we headed off down the hall again, coming to the last rooms I hadn't had time to check. I turned into the one where I had seen the creature and retrieved my supplies, disappointed to see that the heat sensor was now almost completely useless. I tossed it into the bag anyway and retrieved the tranquilizer gun.

I glanced over Lyle's shoulder at his sensor, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Taking that as a good sign, I continued into the back room.

There was a door set into the wall. A door decorated with a bright black and yellow 'BIOHAZARD, DO NOT ENTER' sign with a keypad nearby.

"There's a few things in there…and they're moving around. Not humanoid." Lyle informed. "Know the code?"

"I'm about to." I used the sensitive instruments on the tips of my Suit's fingers and found the various numbers and letters, pressing them in a way the Suit told me to. The door beeped softly and unlocked.

"Samus, they're heading for the door."

Lyle's warning came almost too late. At the last second I managed to roll out of the way as another Zebesian darted out of the door, closely followed by another of the floating blue blobs. I dodged around both aliens and found space to recover inside the room. I only had a few seconds to take in detail, but I knew I was in some sort of darkened lab. In a corner a green tank of some kind stood, wires spilling over the top and feeding information into a giant computer. Something was curled inside the tank, but I didn't have enough time to see what it was.

The Zebesian threw something at me, catching my arm and sending me reeling backwards. While it was distracted with me, Lyle shot at it with his dart gun, sending it falling to the ground. Now we only had the blob to worry about.

Its arms shot out at me, barely missing and crashing into the wall behind me. I began backing up, because I couldn't get in a clear shot. Neither could Lyle. For the moment we would just wait and see who would make the first move.

I feigned to the left but the thing didn't fall for it. Instead it lashed out at me again. I leapt over its arm and it pierced the green tank in the back. Light green liquid began draining from it and a soft alarm began to blare. I couldn't pay attention to it at the moment.

The blob struck out at me again, catching me in the stomach and sending me crashing into the wall. The Suit absorbed most of the impact, but I knew I would still have bruises. It obviously thought I was down because it turned and began attacking Lyle, which would be its biggest mistake. I aimed briefly at the back of its 'head' and fired my Suit's weapon. It hit exacally where I intended it to hit and it went down, blue blob vanishing underneath it.

"You all right?" Lyle asked.

"I'm fine. You?" I said almost emotionlessly.

"Great,"

"Start getting the Zebesian out of here. Something tells me this machine in the back was important." I headed towards the drained tank, careful not to slip on the liquid. The creature that had pierced the glass had drained everything out of it, leaving a small shuddering ball suspended by various sized wires and tubes. I pried the broken glass away from it and began pulling them away, all the while taking readings with the Suit's system. Whatever this ball was, it was powerful and interfering with my Power Suit.

So when the ball uncurled into a small creature I dropped it and backed up, mostly out of shock than fear. What was lying at my feet was what appeared to be some sort of animal, about the size of a four-year-old human, dark as the night with red stripes running down its head and…quills? I couldn't tell. It curled back into a ball, shuddering from the cold air and unfamiliar environment.

"What is that?" Lyle came up behind me, glancing over my shoulder. "Another of the experiments?"

"I don't know. If that other thing hadn't pierced the glass this one would have remained where it was." I backed off a little from the creature. Its power was incredible. My suit began vanishing away from my hand.

"Is it doing that?" Lyle caught sight of my blue suit underneath my protective one before it restored itself.

"I think so. Whatever this thing is, it's powerful but weak." I took my tranquilizer gun from my side. "Just in case, don't you think?"

"Better safe than sorry." Lyle responded.

I more or less shot the dart into the creature's small arm. Its muscles relaxed and it went still, save a small shudder. It looked so different from the other monsters we've been fighting off.

"Adam, I have to ask you something." I said clearly into the communication link. "There was some type of tank in a lab we just entered into…the glass broke and there was a small creature inside that's now lying at my feet. I don't know if its dangerous, but its power readings are incredible and messing with my Power Suit."

"Samus, stay where you are. We'll join you." Adam's voice sounded worried.

He was never worried. This unnerved me.

"What about this thing? Should we drag it out of here?" Lyle asked, jerking a thumb at the downed monster behind us.

"Probably," I grabbed one side of it and began lugging it towards the door. Lyle picked up the back and we made slow progress down the hall, more than once setting it down heavily and catching our breath.

"How do these things manage to hover?" Lyle exclaimed loudly, dropping his end and leaning against the wall.

"We'll hopefully learn in a few minuets." I said. "The cell is only a few feet down and around the corner. Let's get it in there."

Upon reaching the cell I logged in the code and Lyle made sure nothing was poised to spring. Luckily the tranquilizers were strong enough to keep the experiments out. We more or less threw the creature into the cell and left without glancing back.

"If there's more of those things around here, I'm not lugging them back." Lyle growled, walking down the hall back towards the rooms in the back.

"That's why Anthony and James are here." I said.

Lyle stopped and turned to face me. "Was that a joke?"

"Your call," I answered, smiling slightly.

He shook his head and continued down the hall, closely followed by me. We re-entered the lab to see the small creature still where we had left it, but its shaking intensified. I glanced around the lab, my gaze finally settling on a blanket set on top of an operating table. I retrieved it and spread it over the shivering experiment, watching as it curled up underneath it and its shaking dulled.

The power radiating from it seemed to get stronger. I backed up before my Suit could short out. "Where is everyone?" I asked, activating my communications and heading towards the door.

"We're right here. Sorry we took so long, Princess," Anthony's voice said into my communication system. A second later I saw my comrades and a couple of scientists round the corner and stop dead in their tracks as they stared around the lab.

"What happened?" One of them asked.

"Artificial Chaos," The lead professor sighed. He began walking towards the wreckage of the tank and knelt down next to the unconscious experiment. "Is he harmed?"

"No. The thing that attacked us…it speared the glass and I brought him out here," I said. "is that another bio-weapon?"

"In many ways, yes; and in many, no." The professor said.

"What is it, then?" Both James and I asked at the same time.

"He's the Ultimate Life Form."

XxXxXxXx