I recently became a fan of the Metroid games, so that will be the crossover of this chapter!
Cover Image: Star and Kid at an aquarium, looking at the Metroid tank. Kid is planting funny faces against the glass while Star worriedly discourages him.
"Gooooooood morning, Galaxiaaaaaaa!" A muscular man in a green superhero suit greeted his viewers with a glinting grin. "Welcome to Intergalactic News' 'Know Your Planets'! I'm your host, Captain Qwark! You might know me as the celebrity superhero of Solana Galaxy!"
"Hey, I know that guy!" Kid pointed at the small screen in Star's car. "I got his comics! He's so cool!"
"Don't meet your heroes, Kid."
"Today, I'd like to talk about Planet Zebes of the Nintendia Galaxy! Just let me pull up the Galactipedia article—I mean, the photos." Qwark first showed a picture of a mostly desolate-looking planet. "Composed of Urthic Ore, ideal for subterranean construction, Zebes is the home of the spiritual, yet scientifically advanced Chozo." A shadowed picture of bird humanoids. "It was a peaceful world, until it fell to extreme ruin due to meteorites," a photo of a blue radioactive meteorite hitting the surface, "science projects gone crazy," the Metroids sucking on lifeforms, "and deadly body-snatching parasites!" Floating colorful jelly blobs attacking creatures. "Nowadays, very few Chozo are left roaming the planet today, doing their best to make their home hospitable. But you won't catch me going there, ho ho no. Ahem, I mean, in more recent days, not only have the Vilgaxians been lurking around it, but the planet seems to be experiencing odd dimensional rifts. Heh, and people think Earth and Mira get a lot of flak."
"Zebes isn't far from Sauria." Star said. "I guess they're gonna try to take its Heart next. Based on this log of Vilgaxian activity, they mostly invade small planets with fairly limited defense. Purportedly taking their Hearts, too."
"And those Hearts give him superpowers, and that's how he took your spacebending? Does that mean… those Power Stones we found were actually World Hearts, too?"
"Yep. I don't know how they wound up in your town, but there's essentially a planet's life inside of you, Kid."
"'Tis my fated duty as a hero of the universe." Kid stood and put hands on his hips in a proud fashion.
"I'm worried about what the Vilgaxians could pick up on Zebes; Qwark wasn't lying about its problems. Let's make it our next stop. I can hopefully get more spacebending from those rifts, too."
"YEAH! WE'RE GOIN' TO ZEEEEEEBES!" (pronouncing it "Zeebz" in this universe :3)
Chimeran Hammer
Vilgax rested in a capsule of liquid with tubes attached to his mouth. After fully revitalizing, his servant, Psyphon drained and opened the capsule. "Feeling refreshed, My Lord?"
"Hardly. It seems my body does not adapt to the Nether Stone as well."
"The chi of the Netherverse is difficult to adapt to, even for normal spacebenders." Frieza replied. "Your Heart-Heart Fruit was only designed to compress and steal the Hearts of Worlds, but harnessing their power is another matter."
"I don't need you to remind me of that! It still irritates me that those wretched humans were accepted as hosts. Though I wouldn't have that problem if not for YOU, Fantos!"
A large, pink-skinned henchman in a gray helmet and tunic was in the process of rolling Vilgax's laundered armor in when he was called out. "Uh, what, yes, Your Greatness!" He had a big nose, green eyes, and the center of his tunic had a picture of Vilgax with colored stones orbiting it. "Your armor's good as new! Even used your favorite Acid Mountain detergent!"
"I wish you could've handled those stones as well as my laundry! When I ordered you to take and hide them from a pursuit squadron, I DIDN'T mean to entrust them to a two-star delivery company!"
"I-It's not my fault their cargo hatch wasn't secure! They could never understand the importance of the great emperor's trophies! This universe is full of ignorant buffoons!"
"You're just lucky to have found Azmuth's Treasure." Frieza stated. "Or else you and your collection would be out of your mother's basement."
"Speaking of which, when is your special expert arriving?" Vilgax asked.
"Momentarily."
"Your Highness, there is a small, one-man ship approaching." Psyphon reported. "It appears to be driving somewhat erratically."
"That would be him." Frieza confirmed.
The small, shabby saucer had clear passage into the Hammer's hangar… but it bumped against the right side of the entrance, then into a fighter ship on its left, then parked on the edge of another fighter, tilting precariously as its driver stumbled out. "BUUUURP. Sorry I'm late, got stuck in Space Quiznos' Drive Thru." He said, wobbling into Vilgax's chamber. He was an old, lanky scientist with light-blue spiky hair, drool on his chin, and alcohol in his hand.
"How dare you present yourself before the emperor so shamefully!" Psyphon shouted.
"Wait! I've seen him before…" Vilgax growled. "He's on intergalactic wanted lists." He projected a holo wanted poster of the scientist, worth 100 billion. "Involved in the destruction of the Schwifty Galaxy council, along with numerous other incidents in the same galaxy, including mass murder of several species and important individuals. The self-proclaimed Smartest Man in the Universe,"
"Wubba lubba DUB-DUUUUUUB!" the man of the hour sang. "Rick Sanchez, mother f***! Sheesh, look at this plain dark alien spaceship, couldn't afford a greenhouse or a harem room or something?"
"Uh, ex-CUSE me, do you know who this is?" Fantos emphasized the emperor's presence. "This is, like, the one and only Emperor Vilgax, conqueror of 200 worlds, feared throughout the universe, who wears the Hearts of Worlds as his armor?!"
"What, like, 200 micro worlds with only one kingdom? I do that every other Saturday. Sometimes entire dimensions!"
"And now you work for me!" Vilgax commanded. "You will put your prowess to work for the Vilgaxian Empire. And your first duty… will be to repair this."
Psyphon presented a chest with a green, hourglass-shaped lock and opened it. What looked like a black, hi-tech watch was inside with the same symbol. "This is what I need to fully harness the power of the Hearts. The Omnitrix…"
"Pretty sure there's, like, radio shacks for junk like this, but fine, I'll see what I can, burp, do."
Zebes; Station SR388
Star and Kid flew through a veil of clouds, rainfall pounding their car as they searched for a landing spot. "There's a ship there." Kid pointed. "Is that Vilgaxian?"
Star looked closely. It was a round, orange ship with a green windshield. "I…I recognize that ship. It couldn't be…"
"Hm?"
Star parked a short distance from the ship. "If I'm right, this should be a friendly. HEY! Is anyone in there?"
It wouldn't respond, for it was a ship. "Maybe we'll meet them inside. Better get your mental map ready, Kid, because I hear this planet is really mazelike."
"Papa G told me a trick to mazes, but I forgot what it is."
"I think it's 'Look up online guides.'" (Play "Upper Brinstar" from Super Metroid!)
Stage 3: Zebes
Mission: Find out what the Vilgaxians are up to.
Star and Kid traveled to a blue, circular door in the cliff, leading into the Crateria tunnels. Sidehoppers, huge yellow and blue insects with two legs, bounced about with the aim to crush them, but Kid could trap them in his goo while Star borrowed the H.O.M.E.R. to defeat them. The tunnel descended downward as they entered another door—but a Rift Portal was behind it. "Huh?!" They went from Crateria's dark tunnels to Brinstar's lush, underground jungle. "Well, I can't tell if this makes the maze easier or harder." They in the middle of a vertical chamber made of brambles and could either go up or down via Star's gravity. Star decided to take the upper route first, the boys shooting cactus-like Cacatan along their Grav-Path. There was a floating creature called a Grapple Glider between the end of the path and the next door. Aptly-named, they used Star's grappler to swing it.
This portal led to the aquatic Maridia. The boys took a breath and dove; though Kid wondered if his current biology even needed to breathe. They avoided Skultera fish while navigating the underwater tunnel and found another portal. This one led back outside on a long, entrenched path. They followed the path to the end and realized they were above the area where their ships were parked. "I guess it's a shortcut back?" Star wondered. "But we didn't travel far, anyway… Maybe we need to come back later with something."
With that, they backtracked to the vertical bramble room and dropped to the very bottom, entering a portal to a corridor covered in pink flora. The ceiling had several grapple points to swing, but there were also pipes in the walls that bugs would come out of, such as Zebs, Geegas, or Zebbos. Kid shot them down so Star could grapple in peace, but he noticed one of the pipes didn't release bugs. Kid jumped off and squeezed himself into the pipe in his blobby state, finding a hidden room where a Spoof (space floof) was trapped. Kid broke her glass prison and was rewarded a Gold Bolt before she tunneled away. Star and Kid reached a foothold at the end of the grapple zone; there was a small tunnel that, though Kid could worm into it, he didn't want to advance through the portal beyond it without Star. Instead, they both jumped platforms over a left route and entered a different portal.
Numerous sandfalls poured from the ceiling into a small sand lake. Sandfang worms attacked from the sand while Sandbats swooped down at the boys from above. They had to jump through sandfalls between platforms, which would push down and hinder their jumps. It took a few attempts for them to make it to the portal. This one warped them to the surface again, this time near the base of a huge, wrecked spaceship, and a moat around it. "The Riftdar's picking up a signal. We're close to a Netherverse entrance." There were several suspended, escalating platforms around the moat and Grapple Gliders between them. However, before climbing, Star saw, "A Grummel Tech vendor!" a mechanical, mobile vendor projecting a hologram of a toad-like man.
"Hey there, kids! Welcome to Grummel Techs! But ain'tchu two a little young for weapons?"
"You're never too young to have spirit, Numbuh 20x40."
"Ha ha, I was just testing ya, Star! Boy, it seems just like yesterday I was selling weapons to your mothuh. Heard some nasty phenomena's been happening on this planet, but I got just the weapon for you. For the low, low price of 1,500 bolts, it's the S.N.O.B.O.M.B.E.R.!" A gun with a dense snow globe on top.
"If only I bought it during the Christmas discount. Oh well, I'll take it!"
Galactic Kids Next Door: S.N.O.B.O.M.B.E.R.
Snowmen Now Offer Bodies Obliging Master By Eliminating Enemy Renegades
With their new weapon in hand, Star and Kid began to swing and ride the Gliders to each escalating platform. However, amid their ascent, they saw floating creatures lurking the area, with translucent green membranes, leech-like maws underneath, and four red, spherical organs inside. "Impossible! Those are Metroids!"
"Huh?!"
"They're supposed to be extinct! Watch out, if they latch onto you, they'll suck your life out. They're weak to ice, so it's a good thing we have this!" When the first Metroid approached them, Star shot a full-sized snowman out, which would run and jump into the Metroid, freezing it in a snowy explosion. Afterwards, Star fully destroyed it with the S.P.O.R.E.. They destroyed the other Metroids while swinging up the rest of the footholds, soon locating the Nether Rift on the side of the wrecked ship.
"Star, can I go in, too, this time? I wanna see what the Netherverse is like!"
"I wonder if you're even able to?" Star held Kid's hand as he touched the rift and phased into it. "Huh. I guess you can!"
"Woooooow…!" Kid was awed by the dark-pink dimension with floating crystals. "Is this where spacebending comes from?"
"Er, sort of. Now we need to find a ball of Space Chi. Looks like we have another maze ahead of us, too." (Play "E.M.M.I. Zone" from Metroid Dread.)
The duo entered a narrow cave corridor with a few basic turns. Star then had to levitate them to Grav-Paths along the wall, over a pool of energy. Spiky crystal balls moved up and down along them, but they were easy obstacles to avoid. "Beep-boop, bee-boop-bee-boop." There was a high-pitched whistling through the ceiling above.
"What's that?" Kid asked.
"I don't know… I bet we're not alone this time."
Past the gravity zone, they could jump up some high stairs and take another right turn. "Beedeboop, bee-boop-bee." The whistling was drawing closer, along with a rapid clanking. There was a gap they needed to swing over with the G.R.A.P.P.L.U.H., but in the middle of their swing, a red light passed by their peripheral vision, in a small tunnel in the wall. "Bee-boop-bee-boop!" The sounds were getting closer. The two hastened into a run and reached a fork in the road, deciding to go right. But just as they did, "BEE-BEEP!" the source of the beeping came out of a narrow tunnel.
It was a skinny, white and black robot, crouched down like a four-legged spider. It had a round head with a glowing red eye. The robot turned and acknowledged the intruders with a yellow scanner. "That's not a Nether." Star said. "Maybe it's a Zebes robot?"
"Maybe it's confused." Kid took a couple steps forward. "Heh heh. You look like a lost puppy. There there, it's oka-"
The scanner turned red—"BEDEBEEP!" an alarm blared from the robot as it tackled Kid. "BEDEBEEP!" A spike jutted out of its eye to stab him—Kid narrowly avoided it by splitting his gooey body. "AAAAAAAHH!" He melted out of it quickly, reforming himself as he and Star bolted from the fast-crawling droid, following the left route. Star shot the S.P.O.R.E., but the bombs did nothing, and the S.N.O.B.O.M.B.E.R. wouldn't freeze it. "Nothing's working! Just run, Kid!"
Unfortunately, this route led to a dead-end, but there was a grapple point low enough to swing up and over; the robot tried to stand and grab their ankles. They landed and ran up the right path, the robot in hot pursuit. They turned a left corner and dropped down some platforms before running through a new passage—the robot climbed down its own tunnel to quickly catch up. "Okay, I REALLY wish we were being chased by Nethers now, because this feels 10 times worse!" Star panted as they navigated a small maze. "Where's the blasted exit in this place?!"
"THERE!" Kid saw a door up ahead. Unfortunately, it was sealed, and none of their weapons could break it. "Crud! Hey, there's a vent! Maybe I can unlock it from the other side!"
"Hurry!"
Kid blobified and entered the vent, navigating another small maze while Star outran the robot. "STAR, IT'S OPEN!" He immediately dashed back to the door and rejoined Kid. They had to Gravity Shift up a vertical passage, then along a ceiling over some energy, but the robot was just as good a climber without gravitybending. By the time they were back on stable ground, the menace caught up and grabbed Star's arms. "AAAH!"
"STAR!"
"BEDEBEEP!" Its spike was ready for injection into Star's skull-
Before an orange-clad boot kicked it off course, leaving the droid in a stunned state. "What?!"
Star and Kid only had a moment to view their unexpected savior before she ordered, "Come on!" and led the way up the hall. She wore orange armor with an arm cannon, green visor, and round shoulder pads.
"It's…" Star murmured in recognition as they followed the woman. The robot was beeping after them in confusion, but they jumped through a rift before they could fall in its sights. (End song.)
The woman stopped running. "We're safe now. It won't follow us out of that zone."
"Huff…PHEW!" Kid sighed. "Crud, that was scary!"
"It was an E.M.M.I.. Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifier. It used to be a powerful scouting droid for Coruscant, before a certain criminal took control of them. It seems they've been programmed to secure those interdimensional rifts."
"You…You're Samus Aran." Star said, eyes widened with awe. "The legendary hunter!"
"Legendary hunter?!" Kid gasped.
"Want my autograph, kids?" she asked sarcastically.
"I remember reading that you disappeared." Star said.
"Nah. I'm just good at keeping to myself. With good reason, of course."
"What do you hunt?" Kid asked.
"Dangerous alien species. Any species that poses a threat to society or the universe at large, I exterminate every last one. That includes small parasites or viruses. You'd find a lot of them on barren planets no one ever visits."
"Whoa…"
"She's not exactly on good terms with Gourmet Hunters." Star said. "Though ironically, there's an infamous one among them that does the same thing."
"Crossed paths with him, actually." Samus replied with a light smile. "Good man. Zebes is the world where I was raised, so I return here once in a while… but imagine my horror when I saw the Metroids returned."
"We were about to ask about that."
"Is that why you're here?"
Star explained the situation involving Vilgax, the spatial rifts, and his loss of powers. "The Vilgaxians… I wonder if these rifts were involved in the Metroids' return?"
"Well, why don't we team up to find out?" Star offered. "We could really use your help navigating the planet. Plus, we'd… sure have a lot of firepower on our side, heheh."
"I work alone, boys. And it's best you're not associated with me, anyway. I'll escort you back to your ship, but I'll deal with the Vilgaxians and the Metroids."
"Nuh-uh!" Kid huffed. "This was our mission, not yours! You can't make us leave!"
"Where'd you pick this one up?" she asked Star.
"New Mexico. But he's right, we don't intend to leave until the Vilgaxians do. And like it or not, traveling with you would be in our best interest, too."
"Sigh, why do kids get so attached to me? Fine then. I suppose I should sympathize, losing your powers and all."
"Have you lost yours, too?"
"A few times. Once from a radioactive explosion, once when I was infected by parasites, once when I was bested by an adversary… and one time I left my suit in the laundry too long and it shrank."
"What kind of washer shrinks hi-tech armor?!" both boys exclaimed.
"As for the Heart of the World, only I know how to find it. And I don't intend to share my secrets with anyone. So, don't become a liability." (Play "Phendrana Drifts" from Metroid Prime!)
The trio entered a corridor within some sandstone ruins, the pale yellow sky open to them. "Seems we're in the Chozo Ruins of the Tallon Region." They saw the sand shuffling in trails ahead of them. Large insects with beak-like pincers jumped them, but were quickly shot down.
"Yikes, what're those called?" Kid asked. "Tallonoids? Sandmites?"
"We call them Beetles." Samus answered.
"Wow, that's… so plain. I'll call 'em Tallonoids."
They would jump some platforms over a quicksand pit, but Blastcap mushrooms were stationed on them. Samus swiftly destroyed them with her Wave Beam. The platforms wouldn't carry them all the way across the sand, but there were magnetic tracks that went along the wall and ceiling. Samus curled up into her Morph Ball form, much to the boys' intrigue, and she could attach to the start of the track. While she proceeded, the boys had to shoot down War Wasps that threatened to sting her off. She had to carefully drop down to low parts of the track, then ball-jump to return to higher portions, and once she was across, Samus shot a switch to extend a bridge for her acquaintances.
They reached a crossroad-like room with some faint plant life. Samus noted the blue substance on the flora. "Even the Phazon is back… It's almost as if the planet has gone back in time." Her gaze turned to an inscription on the wall. Its letters were unfamiliar to her guests. "(Eshka our handcrafted land les ili sky, ura hoped dosh aimar dara bond nul nature here. But ili Bunta Poison corrupted bura land. Our temple sen doomed dosh sanol.)"
"Uhhhhhhhhh…" Kid's jaw practically melted in confusion. "I give up. What's she saying, Star?"
"She's speaking Chozo. I don't really know."
"You DON'T?!"
"They don't teach it in any schools. I'm pretty sure Samus is the only outsider that does…"
"Their blood runs in my veins."
There were a few passages they could follow, but they chose one in the back-right corner of the ruins. It was a portal to the snowy Phendrana Drifts. "Brrrrrrr!" Kid shuddered, his body freezing. "S-S-S-So c-c-c-cold."
"Always bring the right gear, kid." Samus pushed a button that turned her suit purple; the Gravity Suit shielded her from cold. Big-mouthed beasts called Sheegoths ambushed them as they navigated a ruined town. Their weak backs were easy targets for Star's Bomb Spores. They could get into one building and jump some platforms through a hole to the roof of another. They climbed other interior platforms to reach the higher roofs of the village, which all seemed to be linked in a row via bridges. However, Samus saw a hidden Morph Ball track in one building, leading up to a Gold Bolt. "What's this?"
"We use those for upgrades!" Star answered.
"And we DANCE when we find them!" Kid cheered. The three rolled around in a triangular shape, Samus in her ball form, passing the bolt to each other before Star stashed it in his cube.
The interlinked path over the roofs led to a dead end wall. "Hmmm…" Samus stared thoughtfully. "I think I know what this needs. Fortunately," she withdrew a pair of mechanical boots, electric-blue with thunder bolt symbols, "I happened to find these on my way here. A child-sized pair of Shinespark Shoes. I wonder if they'd fit you?"
She tossed the pair to Star. He fit them on. "They feel nice. What do they do?"
"Run toward that wall as fast as you can."
Star shrugged and began running—"WAAAAAAH!" He quickly gained speed, cleared the long path in seconds, and completely tore the wall down.
"Woooooow!" Kid echoed across the distance. "I want speed shoes!"
"Sorry. Couldn't find them your size." Samus used her own speed to catch up with Star. The Supreme Leader returned to let Kid on his shoulder and run back. "WHEEEEEEEE!" Kid cheered.
Behind the wall was a portal back to a bridge above the Chozo Ruins crossroad. It would lead to some stairs going back to the lower area. Confused on where to head next, Samus noticed the tower from the left of the bridge and another portal inside it. "Wanna see something cooler, kids? We'll have to go back and build speed again."
"Okay?" They returned through the portal and ran back across the roofs.
"Now, when we run back through the portal, quickly stop and duck." Star and Samus dashed, and as soon as they were on the ruins bridge, both ducked. Star felt a rush of power in his shoes.
"NOW, JUMP!" Samus faced the tower portal and performed a terrific diagonal leap. Star hastened to follow her example, with Kid letting out a loud, "WHOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAA!"
They would keep flying through the portal and smash through the side of a base. "What WAS that?!" Star gasped.
"That was the Shinespark. You'll be amazed what secrets you'll find with it!"
"Haha! I love Shinespark!" (Play "Crashed Frigate Orpheon" from Metroid Prime!)
Samus recognized this base as the crashed frigate, Orpheon. They entered a corridor that sloped downward into water, so the boys took a breath and dove. Samus' suit, however, allowed her to walk around underwater weightlessly. The tunnel turned right, but Jelzaps would impede them, three-tentacled squids whose tops and bottoms were separated by electric spheres. Samus demonstrated that her Ice Beam could freeze them, so Star assisted using the S.N.O.B.O.M.B.E.R..
They reached a room where they could resurface for air and climb onto a platform. The underwater door was locked, but there were four orb switches rotating around the ceiling. Kid shot the H.O.M.E.R. to bounce between and quickly hit all switches, unlocking the way. The door led to a rift, which dramatically changed their environment from an underwater frigate to a mechanical fortress on a mountain, overlooking a bright city. "Holy moly!" Kid exclaimed.
"It's the Luminoth Capital, in the Aether country." Samus said.
"My Riftdar's picking up another Netherverse entry up there." Star looked up the fortress. "But I don't see a path." The only indication of one were lights with faded blocks around them. If only Star still had his Space Block ability. Instead, they could only go inside the sanctuary, facing a long path with holo-barriers along it. Star and Samus had to start running and building up Shinespark, leaving Kid to shoot switches that would disable the barriers. They used their speed to jump long gaps past the barriers, but the third one would end at a wall! They had to Wall Jump to a floating wall parallel from it, then to a door parallel from that.
They would zip through another portal and find their selves surrounded by storm. The clouds possessed a purplish hue, as did the lightning, and they were standing on a road connected to two spiked towers. "The Volt Forge." Samus observed. "So, even Viewros is connected."
"Is that another region?" Star asked.
"Home of the Lamorn. They warped this country to another dimension to protect it from a plague. Another plague." Samus surveyed ahead: the road twisted at several points and was severed apart in floating segments. "You think you kids can handle this?"
"With my Gravity Shift, we can!" Star assured. Once more, the three built speed enough to stay along the twisting track. When it ended, they abruptly stopped and Shinesparked to the upside-down track parallel, relying on Star's gravitybending to stabilize. They built speed again as this track did a full loop and would end with the group positioned sideways. They stopped and Shinesparked directly into the nearby forge tower, smashing through the window.
There was a hi-tech motorcycle parked on a display. "Cool!" Kid chirped. "So, these Lenore guys made motorcycles?"
"Lamorn. And yes." Samus answered. "But they're just 'eh.' Speed Boost is much more efficient." She looked out the window. "Looks like the lightning rods are having trouble drawing it in."
Star assumed that's why this station was so dark. "Well, there's a rift over there." He pointed to one of the exits. "Uh-oh!" A horde of pale, almost human-shaped creatures clambered out of it, prancing about on four arms and two legs. They had four antennas and glowing green mouths and bulging chests.
"Grievers!" Samus reacted to shoot them, the boys following her example. Their Ice Beam and S.N.O.B.O.M.B.E.R. were effective, but Kid had misgivings about entering the portal they came from.
Regardless, it was their only option: the rift led onto a broken bridge of a unique stone material. A lush forest resided on the other side, defined by an enormous tree that coursed with veins of mystic lights. Those same lights softly rained from the leaves, thousands of feet above the surface. "The Fury Green." Samus introduced. More Grievers clambered up onto the bridge, but Kid's H.O.M.E.R. sent them plummeting. Unfortunately, just as they tried to cross a very slanted segment of the bridge, it caved and fell into the trench below. But Star saw the Grav Path along the bottom of the next segment and reacted to draw his team up to it.
They stayed along the bridge's bottom until they reached the end, climbing up to enter the jungle. There were Metroids actively feeding off some Grievers, causing the parasites to develop a green glow. The Metroids dodged the trio's shots more evasively and closed in. One latched Kid and began to suck his Life Chi, but Samus was quick to freeze it. Two Metroids latched onto her, but she moved far enough from the kids to destroy the parasites with a Power Bomb.
After clearing the remaining Metroids, they entered an enclosing with four Lamorn statues, with two on each side and escalating in height before a ledge. Samus used her Grapple Beam to hook their outstretched hands and reach the cliff, so Star and Kid did the same with the G.R.A.P.P.L.U.H.. However, Kid looked back at the robed statues with four antennae. "So, did the Lamore get eaten by the Metroids or something?"
"They tried to harness a green energy called Eco and nurture the flora and wildlife. But it caused them to mutate into what you saw now."
"Those Grievers?" Star asked.
"It's quite a sorry state of affairs. They hoped to return their country to the planet after the sickness had been cured for good. Not even I could find a way." Samus led the way into a tunnel with glowing blue plants. Another rift would lead them into a similar, beautiful cavern with luminescent blue ground and giant mushrooms.
"Well, this is pretty." Star stepped forward-
"Don't touch!" Samus shouted. "That's Phazon. It's highly radioactive. We must be in the Tallon Mines. It's safe to jump on the mushrooms."
"Well, that's ironic." Star remarked. "Oh, more Metroids." There were red, vertically squished Metroids with longer tentacles; these Hunter Metroids began to sap the life out of the boys from far away via a beam, but Samus quickly shot them. "Ick! That was unpleasant!" The trail of mushrooms ran short, but there were vertical shrooms along the Phazon-covered walls. Star could gravitate them onto the mushrooms and they could jump them as normal. Fission Metroids approached them, colored variants that could only be shot by Samus' elemental beams.
The trio reached a portal, which, according to Star's radar, was a Nether Rift. "Beedeboop, bee-boop-bee." Their hearts started from the E.M.M.I.'s beeping, hearing the droid crawling through a tunnel beneath them. Samus ushered them to hurry. "They follow vibrations, so we won't be able to hide." she whispered.
"That's it!" When they came to a fork, Star shot a Spore Bomb to the left while the group kept going right. When the bomb went off, the E.M.M.I. stayed to survey the zone. By the time it caught up to where they were, the three had climbed to cram into a dead-end tunnel. Remaining motionless, the E.M.M.I. stopped to look around the passage before deciding to move on. They waited until its beeping grew fainter. "Sigh…Samus, how do we break these things?"
"Either be a Pirate Emperor or find its Omega Core. I'm sure it's around somewhere, but priority one is to survive."
The E.M.M.I. had gone in a tunnel while another fork was presented to them. The left route immediately led to an exit rift, leading to a familiar Urthic cave. "Brinstar." Samus observed. The cave had some of the usual creatures here, but it was a dead end. They used super speed to tear the wall down; Star and Kid recognized the tunnel layout from when they first arrived.
"Hey, this is a shortcut!" Kid beamed. "Our ships are just back there!"
"And I bet I know a place we can use our new speed!" Star said. They returned to the vertical chamber of brambles and navigated to the portal at the top, leading to the entrenched track that would overlook their ships. They zoomed along that path and ran straight off the edge, the momentum flying them across the ships as they plowed through the wall in the opposite cliff! This hidden chamber held a mixtape.
"Cool!" Kid took it. "A new song to listen to in the car!"
"'Samus Under Fire'?" Samus read the label. "Ugh…don't tell me."
"Wait, is this yours?" Star asked.
"Just throw it out when you're done. This wasn't the right way, so let's head back to the E.M.M.I. Zone." The very suggestion was dreadful.
They returned to the same rift and heard the E.M.M.I. go back through the tunnel. The trio followed the right route, leading to stairs that would merely drop them into a low room where the E.M.M.I. lurked. However, there was a mazey Morph Ball track along the immediate ceiling and a grated vent on their right. "Okay, I have an idea." Star whispered. "Kid, go through that vent; if the inside has enough routes, you can make noise and lure the E.M.M.I.. Then it won't notice Samus going across the ceiling to, hopefully, hit a switch to let us across."
"Why do I gotta be the bait… Sigh, fine." Kid melted into the vent. Once he grew comfortable with the "maze" within, he began shooting and bouncing the H.O.M.E.R. ball, drawing the E.M.M.I.'s attention. It found its own opening in the tunnel and searched for Kid, giving Samus the chance to navigate the track. The fast pounding of the E.M.M.I.'s limbs gave Kid anxiety, the boy hastening to outmaneuver it; he went down a dead end by mistake and corrected himself, but fell in the E.M.M.I.'s sight as a consequence. "AAAAHH!" It picked up speed and pursued; Kid made it to the lower exit and fell out onto the open floor. "GUYS, HURRY!" Kid frantically looked for an exit and saw the other tunnel the E.M.M.I. took to get here. He ran and gooed into it, and Star bit his lip knowing they would be up here in seconds.
"Samus, hurry, hurry!"
Luckily, the hunter reached the passage at the other end and shot a switch, extracting a grapple point from the ceiling. Kid was scurrying up the stairs, the E.M.M.I. behind him—Star quickly grabbed his friend's hand and swung across to join Samus. The E.M.M.I. clambered across the ceiling, and it would have time to catch up as the group had to jump platforms up a vertical shaft. Afterwards, a straight hall was available for them to dash, but a dead end would immediately block them. "SHINESPARK!" From Samus' cue, Star duck-halted, felt power coursing, and he and Samus Shinesparked up a vertical tunnel just before the E.M.M.I. caught up. Even better, they flew through a portal out of the Netherverse.
"Phuuuuuh!" the boys slouched against each other's backs in reprieve. "I need a drink break after that!"
"Um, boys?" Samus drew them to attention: they were in a mechanical base full of Bioids… who were looking at them in bewilderment.
"Welp, found the Vilgaxians." Star said.
Gunfire filled the room, the intruders returning fire. They followed a flight of stairs to the middle layer; some Thugs-4-Less were trying to net an escaped Metroid, but it latched onto one's head and sucked him dry, reducing him into a sand statue. Samus shot the Metroid dead while her allies KO'ed the other thug. They fought a few Bioids on this floor before finding the stairs to the third layer. There were two armored birdlike soldiers with laser guns and energy sickles. "Chozo!" Samus gasped. "Does that mean-"
"(We meet again…)" Star and Kid faced the looming presence behind them: a huge Chozo in silver armor, a red cape with two banners hanging by his sharp shoulders, and a right arm cannon. "Anamahar ADHAGA!"
He lunged with the aim to rip his claw through Star and Kid's flesh. Samus' leg, hardened black, intercepted it first, emitting a shockwave that the boys felt. "It's Haki!" Star exclaimed.
"Ashkar Behek…" Samus whispered spitefully.
Ashkar locked his cannon to shoot her, Samus flipped sideways and returned a missile. Ashkar swiped his claw, but Samus deflected it with her cannon and uppercut his beak. Ashkar dove his beak at her helmet, knocking her down, afterwards pinning her beneath his talon. Samus curled in Morph Ball form and dropped a Power Bomb, its wide explosion pushing him off. Ashkar shot his cannon skyward, releasing a massive, red wave of energy that eclipsed the whole radius around him. The trio could only duck inside the safe space around Ashkar himself, but when he quickly slashed his claw at Star, Samus grabbed his arm and flipped him, afterwards loading him with missiles.
Ashkar leapt to the side of the two other soldiers. "But I suppose your new apprentices don't know a thing we're saying, so I'll be simple. I am Raven Beak. Chief of the Mawkin Tribe and soon to be governor-general of Zebes under the Vilgaxian Empire."
"Serving under Vilgax? That's unlike you at all. How did they bring back the Metroids, and the Phazon?!"
"Mawhawhawhawhaw! They had nothing to do with that! It seems this planet has been hit with time distortions. Parts of it have reverted to past states."
"Time distortions?" Star repeated. "Like those ones on Earth?"
"And thanks to them, my plans can finally proceed…" He reached behind his cape and unveiled a Metroid in a glass container. "The Metroids will become a symbol of the empire… and the Phazon we harvested is sure to breed more powerful soldiers! MAWHAWHAWHAW!"
Samus shot a missile, but the twin soldiers blocked it. They and Raven Beak retreated to the next room as the trio pursued. "WHOA!" A towering Mechadroid, brimming with Phazon, blasted an energy beam the trio narrowly avoided.
"We've already created our first drone from the substance!" The Chozo were onboard an elevator, rising to the ceiling. "Perhaps Phazon is what we need to refuel that relic. We'll see how it fairs against you first…"
"I can't let them get away!"
"We can't let this thing run loose either!" Star said. "We have to destroy it!" (Play "Vs. Omega Pirate" from Metroid!)
Boss fight: Phaazdroid
The trio divided as Samus called attention to the three energy capsules around its body. The Phaazdroid kept track of all three and fired separate cannons. "I'll get the one on its butt!" Kid said. Seeing the droid walk over a vent, Kid saw his own vent to goo under, and the other two kept it in place so that he could accomplish his goal. Kid emerged between its spidery legs and dealt a combo on the capsule with the H.O.M.E.R., but the Phaazdroid jumped away and fired a streak of Phazon at Kid. Star grappled him in evasion, and Kid would goo under the vents to sneak up on the robot in its new position. Another combo was able to shatter the capsule, leaving a hole in its armor. The Phaazdroid jumped to a new position, and this time Samus would roll through the vents. Once under the robot, she Bomb Jumped her way up to the hole (it took her years to master this technique). She set off a Power Bomb before exiting.
The Phaazdroid recoiled in dreadful pain; nothing like having a bomb go off in your groin. Star noticed a Grav-Path that looped around the chamber's wall. It was actually lined up with the capsule on its back! Star floated to the path and built up speed! The Fastdroid was phaaz in watching him—I mean, vice-versa—preventing Star from lining up with the capsule. It also cast discs of Phazon to circle the path, so Star jumped them, and he was steadily able to circle to the robot's back. Star stopped and Shinesparked into the capsule, shattering it! However, Samus needed to do it herself now, requesting Star's gravitybending to help. She zoomed, jumped the discs, and got behind the droid. She curled up in a ball before Shinesparking into its hole like a high-powered cannon! "Wow, you can Shinespark like that, too?!" Star exclaimed.
Phaazdroid cried out again as energy sizzled and exploded outward. That just left the capsule on its head. They noticed the grapple points on the ceiling, along with a ball track. Star levitated Samus onto the Grav-Path again so they could grapple the targets, going separate directions. Star shot the S.P.O.R.E. to directly drop bombs on the capsule, shattering it after a couple minutes. Samus swung to the ball track's origin and morphed, rolling along as it led above the Phaazdroid. She dropped inside and dealt the final Power Bomb.
They watched as the robot spectacularly exploded into pieces! …except its Phazon endoskeleton was still functional. Moving more erratically, the robot fired rapid bullets and sprayed puddles of Phazon. "It can't sustain itself!" Samus shouted. "Just shoot it, it'll go down soon!" The trio bombarded it with their weapons like madmen. Kid mashed the trigger on his H.O.M.E.R. until its balls were burned out; Star showered it with Bomb Spores, but once those were out, he switched to the S.N.O.B.O.M.B.E.R. to barely slow it down with cold. And Samus showed them her number one strategy with fighting bosses: SPAM IT THE HECK WITH MISSILES!
Finally, the Phaazdroid collapsed and melted into its own substance. Samus approached and filled her own small capsule with it. "This could help me, too." (End song.)
"WE DID IT! YAH-HA-HA-HEAH!" Kid and Star did a multi-way high-five dance before doing a back-to-back pose.
"Right, let's get after Metal Beak!" Star suggested, running for the elevator.
"Raven Beak." Samus corrected. Unfortunately, after the elevator brought them to the outside mines, there was no sign of her adversary, only a handful of Bioids left behind. "Curses…"
"He's long back at Vil Galaxy by now." Star figured. "I guess they weren't after the Heart. Not yet, anyway. Want us to help you track them down?"
"You kids have your own duties to tend to. I'll try to track Raven Beak… but I wouldn't mind working with you again. Let me know if you feel like coming back to Zebes. There's plenty of secrets to find… but you might want to come back with more skills first."
"We'll keep that in mind! We never even found a bending power in that rift, but I ain't ready to deal with that E.M.M.I., yet."
Side Quest: Metroidvania! Come back with new skills to uncover new areas of Zebes!
There was a rift in this mine area that led to the top of the Great Tree Hall. They hit a switch to trigger a stairway leading lower, with another passage back to the Chozo Ruins. From there, they navigated back to the ships and made for takeoff. "Hey, let's listen to that tape we got!" Kid put it in. They heard Samus sighing through the comms. Now even Star was curious. (Play "Brinstar Remix" from Smash Brawl!)
A rock and roll song livened the ships! "Samus is under fire! She's sent an emergency directive: JOIN THE FIGHT! Hunt Metroids and Space Pirates with six kinds of ammo! Shoot them from the sky in the gunship! All yours for 12.99!"
"Is this… a toy commercial?!" Star asked.
"I needed some extra money, so I signed a deal with a company."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Their laughter was dreadful. Feeling even more lively, the boys rocked out to the song. Now Samus remembered why she worked alone…