"Right behind you!" Matt cried out, launching at the Pirate with his energy blade in hand.

Helena stared foward, focusing only on her hands. They became warm. Then almost scalding. Her claws slid out, the scales travelled up her body, but it went further now, spreading past the length of her entire body. Her wings and tail burst free, her feet misshaped, and she cried out in fury and pain, releasing a massive inferno that burst to life about the Omega Pirate, flames twisting and curling toward its weak points.

Ileyna gasped in surprise as Helena's wings burst out of the back of her dress, and backed up in the air--she didn't want to get too close if Helena lost control of her transformation.

R.D. noted the raging inferno in surprise, as did the Omega Pirate. The creature roared in surprise an anger as the heat began to rise up around it, affecting the Phazon armor in its legs. R.D. and Matt attacked simultaneously, their swords striking through the creature's thigh armor and shattering it. The creature staggered and fell to one knee in shock as the two boys landed past the inferno behind it.

"Hugo!" Samus yelled as she switched to her Plasma Beam. She charged up her weapon and aimed at the colossal alien's right shoulder and fired.

"Got it!" Hugo fired a strong beam along with his Laser Options at the left shoulder.

The two beams smashed through the weakened Phazon plates on the Omega Pirate's shoulders, destroying them. The creature's other leg slipped out from under it as it tried stand when the attacks hit, and it collapsed, holding itself up on one arm.

"Get ready!" Samus shouted as she switched to her X-Ray Visor. Sure enough, the Omega Pirate looked up and raised up its fist as it called for backup. The doors up above opened.

"Oh, shit!" R.D. yelled as over a dozen Beam Troopers spilled out from the doors and leaped off of the catwalks. And even more of them were coming in behind them. "Scatter, people!"

The air turned into a hail of beamfire from all directions. R.D. brought up his energy shield to defend against the attacks, and readied his weapons. With a loud cry, he charged at the nearest one and attacked. Ileyna saw the tide of creatures running about as they attacked Samus, R.D., Matt, and Hugo, and realized that Helena was in danger from the stray shots.

Lifting up her hands and making complex hand signs with them, the young girl flew over in front of Helena and strengthened the shield, determined not to let any of the beams get through. The Ao-Gem hanging around her neck began to shine.

Matt lifted his foot. "Seismic..."

He stomped the ground and drove cracks through its surface, tossing the weaker inhabitants of the room with the resulting miniature quake. "CRASH!"

Helena lowered her heavy arms, trying to keep Ileyna in focus. "Thank you," she said. Sounded deep again...she had to rest for a moment.

R.D. took advantage of Matt's attack, using his Phase Scythe to cleave apart the nearest Beam Troopers before they could recover--while their armor was strong, his Isle-made weapon's minute sonic vibrations were superior. He did what he could to cut through the creatures or knock them into the Phazon vats to let the poisonous substance do his dirty work for him. But more were appearing. They'd get overwhelmed at this rate!

Samus ducked into her Morph Ball form as four of the Space Pirates charged in at her, dropping a Power Bomb in the process while she rolled away. The blast easily destroyed the creatures, allowing her to come back out and resume search for the Omega Pirate. She had to find it, before it recovered. If it did and the rest of the pirates were still there, they wouldn't be able to win.

Ileyna gave a suffering grin to Helena when the girl spoke to her, then concentrated back on the task at hand. She turned her head back, just in time to see two of the Beam Troopers charge her, having spotted her.

She fell back in surprise, her power faltering. "Ahh!"

Helena leapt at the first Trooper, grabbing its head with a huge claw and smashing it into the ruined floor. Hugo was immediately on the other, launching up and driving his Blade Option into the creature's back.

R.D. felt one of the Beam Troopers cut through his back armor with its giant bayonet, knocking him to the ground with a cry. Spinning around, he kicked the creature across its tall armored face with his boot, followed up with a fatal slash from his Phase Scythe. He got up and launched a bolt of electricity across the room at a Wave Trooper before it could take advantage of Helena and Hugo's distraction in killing the two Pirates assaulting Ileyna.

He switched back to the X-Ray Visor in time to see Samus launch a Super Missile across the room at the invisible Omega Pirate. The creature bellowed as the blast broke through its armor, knocking to down to the ground for a brief moment. With a laugh, it stood back up and disappeared from their visors again.

It moved to the Phazon vat at the far end of the room, using it to heal up instead. "Hugo!" R.D. shouted at the Mettaur, aiming his own cannon as Samus trained her weapon on the Omega Pirate. "Let's end this!"

Energy gathered into his fist as the ring around his wrist glowed brightly and began to spin. Light filled the orange pistons in his forearm, and R.D. locked on. Samus's charged Super Missile streaked through the air as she fired, while the first five pistons smashed down and fired a wave of azure plasma through the air. A second, much faster blast erupted from his fist as the other five pistons smashed down behind it a split-second later, and the two blasts combined into a single, angry red wave of energy that matched the speed of the Super Missile.

Hugo took aim, gathering energy as quick as possible. "Power Shotgun!" His pickaxe recoiled, launching a hot-golden burst that followed Samus and R.D.'s combined attack.

The Super Missile struck first, breaking through the thick, dark blue armor in the creature's chest. The beast staggered at the blow, leaving it wide open for R.D.'s shot as it plowed through the weakened armor. It exploded violently in a myriad of eye-wrenching colors, destroying the cloaking technology that the gigantic Omega Pirate employed.

Its claws reached up to its breached chest, but not nearly quick enough to block the final attack. Hugo's charged strike punched through the creature's chest and into its core, rupturing it It roared in pain as its arms fell to its side, and it seemed to eye them all pensively. It took a faltering step forward, and collapsed--right on Samus. The woman, surprised, couldn't get away, and was pinned to the ground as the monster's body began to glow.

"Samus!" R.D. yelled in shock, dropping his Phase Scythe on the ground.

Cracks in its skin and armor brightened as a flood of liquid Phazon spilled out, drenching the ground and Samus with it. Within moments, the Omega Pirate's body, overloaded by the Phazon pouring out from its ruptured core, exploded. Ileyna expanded her power around Helena, Matt, and Hugo, while R.D. aborted his run and brought up his shield as chunks of dead Omega Pirate and Phazon littered the air.

In its place, as the Phazon seeped into the ground, was Samus, her body spasming as the Phazon corrupted her armor, blackening it into a wicked new form.

"Hugo!" Matt finally said.

"What is it?"

"Keep your gun on her. If she tries anything unpleasant, blast her will full power."

"Got it."

Matt didn't want to think Samus was lost to the Phazon, but just in case... "Okay, R.D.. Go check on her. Carefully."

R.D. nodded to Matt, and approached the woman carefully, his arm cannon trained on her. The woman had lifted up her left hand, turning it over to examine the change in the metal. She felt... extraordinarily powerful. Her shielding had increased to phenomenal heights, actually visibly manifesting in a heat mirage-like field that molded to her armor.

"Samus?" R.D. called out hesitantly. She looked over, and lowered her arm, turning towards R.D.. She noted bemusedly that he had his weapon trained on her... a good call, she thought. "You're still you, right?"

She nodded. "I'm fine," she said. "The Phazon's only infected my suit, not me. Turned out rather beneficial, actually."

"How so?" Ileyna piped up.

"I have nothing to fear from Phazon radiation anymore," she said, opening up her diagnostics log. "And the corruption has managed to increase the strength of my armor's shielding. And there's something else... but I can't access it without pure Phazon around."

"Good," Hugo said, but he only lowered his pickaxe a little bit.

"All right!" Matt said. "Lunch break after we get out of this radiation room. Let's move quick, Helena needs to change back." He looked at her. "All right with you if you stay like that for a bit?"

She looked down at her lithe, mottled arms. "Yeah."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure. I don't look too bad, do I?"

Matt smirked. "Nothin' a healthy diet and exercise can't fix."

The joke didn't really work, but Helena knew he was trying to cheer her up, so it was good enough for her.

"You don't... look overly surprised about Helena," R.D. noted, as Samus was calm and collected like usual upon seeing the transformed girl--it was one thing they had left out of their explanation to her.

"I scanned the lot of you back when we first met, and it told me everything I needed to know about her," she said curtly as she examined her map while recalling the information the one scan had revealed about Helena Hiroshi. "The base structure of her DNA shows biological mutations that match certain reptilian creatures, which allow her to mutate her own body when she desires it or becomes stressed, her brainwaves suggest that she has pyrokinetic capabilities, and she has an poikilothermic blood system. "

"Huh?" R.D. grunted, thoroughly confused by what the woman just said. She looked to the side at him, and remembered that these kids were far less knowledgable, and put it in layman's terms.

"She's got reptilian DNA that allows her to transform, has the ability to manipulate fire to a certain degree, and is cold-blooded in the sense that her internal temperature tries to match the environment."

"Well, I coulda told you that!" Matt interjected with a gesture.

"So that's why I felt so tired when we moving through Phendrana Drifts," Helena said. "I always felt sluggish during winter, but I didn't think it'd be because I was cold-blooded."

"I'm not sure how your brainwaves let you throw fire, though." Matt shrugged. "But hey, can't complain, right?"

"I'm not complaining."

Samus had already gone back to examining the map. "R.D., come here," she said. "I'm going to send you my map data."

"Alright," he said, holding out his hand like he had before when she updated his visors. "What for?"

As she transferred the data, she explained. "I need to backtrack through the Phazon Mines. There was that one Artifact back in the Phazon Mining Tunnel I can now collect, and the Cradle information said that an Elite Pirate had another Artifact. I'm going to collect those."

"Okay. What do you want us to do?" R.D. asked as the transfer completed. He allowed his visor to close, and the map system appeared up in the corner of his H.U.D..

"I want the rest of you to head to the Main Quarry and wait for me there," she said. "You shouldn't have any problem regarding Phazon in the upper levels. Once you're there, I'll meet up with you once I'm done. Then we'll head back to the Cradle."

"Sounds good," Hugo said. "We'll meet you soon."

Matt clapped his hands. "All right! Let's get the hell out of here."

R.D. nodded, then retrieved his Phase Scythe. "Okay, let's see..." he mused, examining the map system as Samus walked away, using an elevator to reach the upper catwalks and retrieve something from up above. "Alright, I see where we can go."

He pulled out the blue Chaos Emerald and tossed it into the air, before snatching it out of it and unleashing its power on the group. "Chaos Control!"

Light flared, and with a crack of thunder, disappeared. The group reappeared in the Elite Control, which was devoid of enemies. Here, they were able to fish out something to eat while they began their trek to the surface. R.D. lead them to an elevator, which took them up to the layer of the Phazon Mines closest to the surface world of Tallon IV. Upon reaching the Ore Processing room, they came across Metroids that had escaped the Mines' various laboratories, and had to deal with them beforehand. Once that was done with, they climbed up the towering room and exited.

R.D. let out a long whistle at what he saw.

They were outdoors, in a large, dug-out pit underneath a vile-looking, hazy sky. They were out on a wide platform, and across from them was a large crane supported by massive platform structure. Over the cliff wall behind it was a gigantic building spewing out fire and smoke into the sky. Down below, a hanger of some sort, and a fairly large number of Space Pirates were milling about the Main Quarry.

They also noticed them. "Watch out!" R.D. shouted as they trained their weapons on the group. He looked at the crane, which held a grapple point on it, and was moved towards their direction previously, likely by Samus. He fired the Grapple Beam at it and swung over, attacking one of the two pirates on the platform holding the crane.

Matt quickly checked his gems. Mmmm, had to let the others recharge for a while. Let's try the nature gem for a bit. "Wild Growth!" With a sweep of his hand, vines burst from the ground, ensnaring the Space Pirates. This allowed Matt ample time to leap into the fray itself, smashing in faces and chucking dudes at other dudes. Man, it felt good.

A couple more Space Pirates rushed out of the hanger down below, guns blazing. However, before they could do any kind of serious damage, streams of superheated ions chased them out of the hanger and tore through them, disintegrating them in an instant.

Calmly, Samus strode out of the hanger, targeting the Space Pirates as the others fought them and blasted them away with ease. Soon, they had all been destroyed.

"You got the Artifacts?" R.D. asked after he dropped down from the crane area. Behind him, Ileyna hovered down to ground level before releasing her powers. Samus nodded.

"I also found a Flamethrower upgrade to my Plasma Beam," she said. "There's only one more Artifact to get: the Artifact of World. Its in the Chozo Ruins, in the Hall of the Elders. It'll be easy to acquire."

"Good," R.D. said with a nod. "Because I'm sick of this place."

"I don't know," Hugo said. "I'm havin' fun."

"Business before pleasure!" Matt chirped, shaking his finger. "Let's do this first."

"I want to go too," Helena said. "I just want the next world to be a lot more normal..."

Samus lead the group up the ledge to the Wave Beam door, through the hallway and into the elevator room. They were quickly brought up back to the Tallon Overworld, where the temperatures were far more pleasant, and without that awful Phazon radiation threatening their lives at every moment.

Well, not quite, R.D. noted as Ileyna once again took hold of her powers to let them cross the bridge safely, as there was a pit of Phazon underneath it in the cavern outside of the elevator leading down to the Phazon Mines. Soon, they came out into the open, in a tall chamber filled up mostly by a giant tree growing up the side of it. They made their way up using platforms grown from the tree, and the natural rock ledges. They soon came to a hallway of a building they hadn't even known was there due to the growth, which lead to the elevator leading to the Chozo Ruins.

"How're you feeling?" Hugo asked Helena.

She smiled. "Much better."

"Good. Hate to see anything bad happen to you." The Mettaur's tone was bitter. Helena looked toward Matt, who just shook his head.

R.D. spared a glance at Hugo while Ileyna just looked back and forth between Matt and Hugo, concerned. Nevertheless, Samus herded them onto the elevator before she activated it, and it launched upwards at a steady pace.

It came to a stop in an octagonal room made up of orange-brown stone walls. There was a feeling of sanctity pervading the room, like one would feel in a really old church. Samus made no hint of whether or not she felt it, but rather progressed forward and shot open the doorway with her Power Beam. She took them through a narrow, winding hall, and they entered a massive, two-story chamber. The ledge wrapped around the top, and on the bottom was a drained pool in a halfpipe design, and on both floors were massive, vaguely frog-like creatures with humongous eyes. Ileyna darted behind R.D. before peeking out around his legs.

"What are those?" R.D. asked, activating his arm cannon.

"Stonetoads," Samus said simply. "They're only dangerous to small animals. They won't make any attempt to harm us."

"Really?" Ileyna said, easing out from behind R.D.. The older woman nodded in reply.

"Let's get going," she said. "The Hall of the Elders is just ahead."

They dropped down off of the second story and eased their way around the massive, tusked and crested creatures, which, true to Samus' word, paid them no mind other than a passing glance. Samus opened the door at the far end of the room and they made their way down a short, metal corridor.

"Wait here," Samus said, motioning for them to stay. "Very likely there'll be Chozo Ghosts in the next room."

"Chozo Ghosts?" R.D. said, raising an eyebrow. Samus nodded.

"The Phazon has corrupted a number of the Chozo spirits, and now they'll attack anything that enters sacred places in the Chozo Ruins," she explained. "They're immune to your elemental powers, and so none of you have any way of fighting back. Just stay here and let me take care of it."

"Oh, to have a proton pack again," Matt remarked wistfully.

Samus opened the doorway and stepped through alone, letting the door close behind her. R.D. leaned up against the wall, and pretty soon they could hear the sounds of energy fire, eerie, creepy screeching, and the telltale sound of Super Missiles being fired all over the place. After several minutes, the sounds died down, and all was quiet. At the back of the group, Ileyna wringed her hands behind her back while shifting from one foot to the other while she waited.

Around a minute later, Samus opened the door up and signaled them to come out. She walked up to a window on the ledge the door opened up to, and dropped off onto a lower, longer ledge. As they followed suit, they looked about the room in wonder. Down below was the statue of a massive, humanoid avian, sitting down on a throne of some sort. Blue light glowed between its hands... this statue must be of a Chozo.

Samus turned and shot a red blast shield in a trio of of them with the Plasma Beam, revealing a bomb slot. She entered her Morph Ball form and rolled up to it, and activated it with a Morph Ball bomb. The light in the chamber began to darken, and the sound of stone grinding on stone echoed through it as the throne statue moved forward, revealing a Ice Beam blast door.

Samus dropped down to it while activating her Ice Beam. "The Artifact's in there," she said, shooting it open. She dropped down into the chamber and collected it, then jumped back out.

"So that's all of them?" R.D. asked.

"That's all of them. Let's go."

"Did you fire missiles at those ghosts?" Matt asked. "If so, that was extremely hardcore."

"The Power Beam is the only thing that hurts the Chozo Ghosts," Samus said. "Since the Super Missile utilizes the Power Beam, it was only natural to use missiles against them."

"I'm starting to agree with Helena, this world's getting all sorts of weird," R.D. said. He shrugged. "Well, let's go see if Metroid Prime has that damned Essence."

Samus nodded. Within moments, R.D. had teleported them to a nearby elevator back around the Reflecting Pool where the Stonetoads lounged in wait of a meal. They boarded the elevator and returned to the Tallon Overworld. They came into a temple-like interior close to the Chozo Ruins in design. They exited the elevator room and made their way through a room choked with large roots, and out another large hallway. They found themselves outside, high up on a ledge. Next to the ledge was the massive wreckage of the Space Pirate frigate, the Orpheon.

"This was the crashed spaceship I was telling you guys about back when we got here," R.D. said to the others.

"Yes... this would be my doing," Samus said indifferently, looking at the wrecked cruiser. She was checking out the pool of water in front of it instead.

Seeing the wrecked ship up close, it must've been a major battle. Were all of those Space Pirates they fought part of the crew of this frigate? Matt had made sure to knock out whoever he could. He wasn't ready to take a life again just yet.

Samus dropped down to a ledge below them, and the rest of them followed while they ignored the rainfall that was still going. They made their way to the ship wreckage and used it to climb down safely, then crossed the flood of water. On the other side, they got attacked by a trio of beetles, but they were easily dispatched, allowing them passage back to the cavern where for Matt's group, all of this had started.

Samus restocked her supplies at her Gunship, and gave them a short break to allow them to rest up, and for Matt's elemental powers to recharge. Then, once they had, Samus guided them up the wet, moss-covered ledges around the pool in the Landing Site, leading them up to a door near the waterfall. Within, they found a hall with needlers and that strange wiggly grass--they destroyed the needlers, and the beam fire caused that grass to recede into the ground.

Samus felt a growing sense of trepidation, much like she had back on Zebes, when she had gone after Mother Brain to put an end to the battles on the planet that had once been her home. She reminded herself that things would be different now, that she had companions that she could rely on. She opened the door at the far end of the hall, and the artificial bridge made by the Space Pirates beckoned them into the Temple of the Cradle.