The girl held her legs close to her body as she hid behind a wooden-and-metal chest with rusty hinges, holding a blanket wrapped around her small frame. Maya had gone up to the attic; she had noticed the older ones to be gone a while ago, and afterwards a stranger had banged on one of the windows when she had tried to see the others outside. The creature -- whatever it had been -- had splattered blood across the window and let out a gurgling shriek, frightening her and making her topple over backwards. She had quickly gotten up and run upstairs, not paying attention to Mercy, just giving a brief shout into the room he was supposed to be, and she had hidden where she was now.

Now... now she heard rumblings and mutterings downstairs. Had someone broken in whilst the rest was gone? Bruglars, or unknown attackers? Trying to be somewhat brave, Maya crawled out of her hiding place and through the door, getting up and slowly starting down the stairs. If they were bad people, she would at least have to get Mercy. When she got down the first flight, the voices got a little clearer and louder, but still not very recognisable. When she got the second flight, and saw a door standing open, she got closer, and finally recognised the voices. One of them was that of the older woman from before. The other was of the girl that had told her some stories; what was her name again?

"'Sea!" Maya cried, happy because there were no burglars. She let go of her blanket and ran over to the young woman to wrap her arms around her. "I'm so glad is is you! It was scawy all a'one!" She sniffled.

"Hey!" Alasea exclaimed, putting on an upbeat tone for the girl as she collided with her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave you unattended. Nothing bad happened, did it?"

"You know," Helena said, "even though this place is dangerous, it's very beautiful sometimes."

"Yes, the landscape is handsome," Matt said.

"...why did you call it 'handsome'?"

"Handsome's a man word, Helena. We men say it to feel more secure about offering compliments to anything that isn't feminine."

"You're an idiot," Hugo said. He glanced sideways at Helena. "You would've thought the same thing."

"Even still, looks can be pretty deceiving," R.D. noted, looking out the energy windows of the artificial bridge, down at the Impact Crater below. "Just about everything here's tried to kill us, including the damn grass."

"Not all worlds were as civilized as Earth or the colonies," Samus replied, aiming her weapon at the door at the end of the bridge, shooting open its blast shield. "The Chozo wanted the preserve the natural wildlife here, and gave up technology on this world, until the meteor struck. And after that, the Phazon did its best to consume everything, and mutate anything it couldn't consume."

The door opened to reveal another short, stone hall; the beginning of the temple. Unlike the last hallway, it was devoid of Needler creatures and the moving grass. It was a short walk down this stone hallway to the next blast door. Samus shot the door's blue blast shield to open it, and the door lagged slightly as it readied to open, like it always did. As they waited, Samus let her mind wander. Why did it feel like she was forgetting something important? She had already acquired every single upgrade her Gunship could detect, and she had all twelve of the Chozo Artifacts. So what could it be that she was missing?

Matt put his hands in his pockets. "You know, I wonder what would happen if you were trying to run around this place and you didn't even have a blaster to open doors with."

"Couldn't you just kick them?" Helena asked.

"Maybe."

"I'd be questioning the stupidity of anyone who went out into the wilderness without a weapon at this day and age," R.D. said as the door finally opened. Samus proceeded through, followed by the rest of the group.

Within, they were in a small room with pathways on either side. In front of them was a greenish-tinted window that spread out from the center into the two wings of the room, the panes having faint latticework designs in them. Ileyna trotted up to the center window, which bulged forward slightly and looked out, down into a wide, circular pavilion that contained twelve stone obelisks facing a central pillar-like statue covered in glowing blue lines. "Wow," she breathed, looking out at it all.

The two pathways seemed to angle around and downwards, but the right wing of the temple had caved in as it went downwards, leaving the group with the left wing. Samus walked down it and the group followed, walking down a ramp to the entrance that lay below the window. They stepped out into the pavilion as the rain continued to come down, but here, the water didn't seem cold, but was warm, calm, and soothing. There was no doubt that this place was sacred and holy in some way.

To R.D., it seemed as they could see out for miles all around. Way out across the Impact Crater, they could make out the hills and mountains and rainforest surrounding the Impact Crater, all of it lush and green. The sight was simply breathtaking. Turning around, R.D. looked up, and saw that above the temple was numerous avian designs. The window they had looked out of earlier combined with a protruding bird's head to form outstretched wings. On either end of the temple walls were bird heads with gigantic beaks, and set out onto the roof was well over a dozen bird statues, standing tall, looking out over the Cradle and the Impact Crater--and as far as R.D. could tell, the rest of the Tallon Overworld. Despite showing signs of wear and damage from the elements, numerous blue lines of light traced through the statues, and R.D. could feel the overwhelming power of the Cradle emanating from it all.

"My god," he whispered.

Matt took in the scene silently for a change. He had to admit, even he was set aback by such a sight.

Despite the rain Helena remained still, staring out over Tallon from their vantage point. "...wow."

Samus let the others stare at the temple and the surrounding wilderness for a while longer, letting them get it out of their systems before they progressed down into the Impact Crater itself. After all, who knew what horrors awaited them down there, where Metroid Prime lurked in darkness, producing and feeding off of the Phazon as it poisoned Tallon IV?

After several minutes of the group wandering around the obelisks and examining them, Samus decided it was time for them to continue. She approached the central statue, and allowed the Artifact data to be downloaded into the Cradle. The obelisks came alight, and the circles beneath them began to glow. Blue energy burst up from the center, beneath the statue, creating a portal set into the stone floor below it. Ileyna could feel her heart pounding as she watched the spectacle. Above, the various heads of the totem began to spin as a blue light lifted them up, spreading out brilliant rays of light as the beam pushed through to the second set of heads, and up again into the sky.

After several moments, the light receded, the portal open as the Artifacts of Truth, Strength, Elder, Wild, Lifegiver, Warrior, Chozo, Nature, Sun, World, Spirit, and Newborn came together to open the pathway into the lair of the Worm, the origin of the Great Poison. Soon, they would descend into the Impact Crater to do battle with Metroid Prime.

A rising chime rang through the air as blue light shone from Ileyna's hair, and her eyes widened in horror.

Matt spun around. "Omega Essence!"

"Where's it coming from, Ileyna?" Helena asked. She was already taking steps back, scanning the skies.

Ileyna opened her mouth to answer, but no sound came out as a furious roar split the air way off to their right. Samus spun in its direction, realizing with horror just what she had forgotton, what had been missing all of this time. How could she have been so stupid to forget!?

R.D. saw as some black shape descended down from the heavens over the jungles on the right side of the Impact Crater, turning and revealing wide yellow wings. Samus's eyes narrowed as the creature came into focus. A gigantic dragon of black metal cut through the rain-filled air, opening a long beak of a snout to reveal burning flames and sharp teeth.



It roared once more, its cry much louder and just as terrible as before. Its massive, golden wings hummed with energy, leaving a sort of energized steam in its wake as the rain struck it and sizzled, evaporating in an instant. The creature looked down at the pavilion, hundreds of feet below it, and banked downwards, swooping towards them.

"Incoming!" R.D. yelled. "Ileyna, get out of here!"

With a frightened nod, Ileyna manifested her powers and took to the air, shooting up towards the mass of statues above the Temple of the Cradle. Samus kept her gun trained on the beast as it flew over the temple, clipping the activated totem, the uppermost section exploding as it smashed into the dragon's armored form. It caused a chain reaction in it as the energy fluctuated, explosions tearing through the rest of the totem and scattering rock shrapnel everywhere, forcing them to duck or be hit by the rock.

Immediately, the portal beneath the totem faded, the lines of light in the stone leading to it fading. The path to the Worm had been cut off. Samus could feel the rage building in her; all of that hard work for nothing, nothing, because the most dangerous of the Space Pirates came to settle the score. The dragon flew out and banked, soaring over the mountains at the edge of the Impact Crater, then turned in for another run as it launched a salvo of missile at them. Luckily, the missiles didn't hurt any of them, and the dragon swooped down below the pavilion.

Edited by RisingDragon on January 22, 2009 at 18:52:23.

Grabbing Helena amidst the chaos, Matt slammed his back against one of the totems, changing his arm. "What the fuck WAS that?!" he shouted toward Samus, as the impact from the missiles sharply faded.

"Meta-Ridley!" Samus shouted in reply. "He's the leader of the security forces for the Pirates!"

"He's got the Essence, too!" R.D. growled. "We gotta take him out!"

Mist exploded upwards as Meta-Ridley rose up from the edge of the pavilion at sudden speeds, spreading out his wings and roaring angrily at the group, glaring down at them with blazing gold eyes. Energy gathered up in his jaws, and R.D. noted that minute gaps in the armor glowed brightly with blue light as it happened. It swept its head from left to right, firing a burning ray of energy from its Kinetic Breath Weapon system. Samus and R.D. followed Matt's idea and ducked behind the obelisks as Meta-Ridley attacked, and Samus quickly began scanning the creature for weaknesses.

Helena looked over her shoulder at the grin spreading across Matt's face. "Matt!"

"I've always wanted to fight a dragon," he said, moving her away. "Stand back! I gotta make some noise!" Whipping up some fire, he leapt out from the safety of the totems when there was a safe gap in Meta-Ridley's attack. "Hey, ugly!" He threw out his palms, and sent flickering bursts of fire across the pavillion at the giant dragon. "Suck on THIS!"

"Damn it, you moron!" Hugo shouted, transforming his pickaxe to prepare for an attack.

As the fire bursts spread out at Meta-Ridley, the cybernetic dragon flapped its wings and moved to his right side, causing the flames to wash harmlessly over its legs and tail. It curled his wings around it while angling his head downwards, and various ports opened up in its back as it targeted the group. It suddenly lashed them out, and there was a sharp hum as a number of missiles flew out from its back and over the wings as they streaked in at them. R.D. flung himself away as some of the missiles smashed into his obelisk and blew it apart with startling efficiency. Shrapnel crashed into his armor as he came out of the dodge roll, arming his beam cannon.

Samus completed the scan, detailing the weapons payload of the beast and its capabilities. "Aim for the chest!" she shouted, arming her Plasma Beam as Meta-Ridley roared again.

Matt used the speed of the lightning gem to rush away from the streak of missiles. Damn, this thing was loaded, but he figured he knew how to hamper it for a bit.

Dashing behind a totem, he switched to the nature gem and snapped his fingers. "Wild Growth!"

Giant thorned vines burst from the surrounding cliffside, wrapping about the mighty dragon, trying to bind its limbs.

A second volley of missiles came in as the vines shot out at it, but once more the dragon swooped out of the way, charging energy into its Kinetic Breath Weapon once more, firing the beam out at them and raking it out over the obelisks. The beam cut through the thorned vines, dropping burning husks off of the edge of the cliff under the pavilion, while leaving a deep, dark char in the obelisks--they couldn't stand up all that well against Meta-Ridley's attack.

R.D. opened fire at the beast, trying to hit the dragon's chest, along with Samus as she fired a number of Plasma Beams at it. With several flaps of its wings, the dragon rose up over the temple and into the air, and flew away at breakneck speeds, causing Ileyna to let out a little scream as he flew past, wind lashing at her and the temple statues. It soared out over the crater, banking in the air as it began to make a flyby.

R.D. ran over to the walled edge of the pavilion, watching as the creature glided through the air, leaving a trail of energized steam in its wake. Suddenly, its angle became clear to him, and he swore. "Watch out!" he yelled, running away from the edge. It was behind him in an instant, flying over him and past, dropping a series of Meson Bombs as it did so. The explosives smashed into two of the obelisks and the floor behind R.D., flinging forward into a third obelisk. He could hear his armor fracturing under the force, and overhead Meta-Ridley banked into the air to make a second bombing run.

Samus switched to the Power Beam and charged up, firing a Super Missile as it began. With a sudden movement, Meta-Ridley turned, deftly avoiding the blast as he swooped in and released another line of Meson Bombs at Matt and Hugo.

Helena screamed. A bomb hit near Hugo, and he was sent tumbling, cursing all the way. Matt managed to shield himself with a forcefield from a close explosion, but he was sent skidding back.

"Okay," he said, eyeing the mark on the skies. "Now I'm pissed."

He crossed his arms. "Dragon Drive!"

Throwing them outwards, an aura of energy exploded about him, collapsing into rough wings and horns. From her new vantage point, she watched Matt burst into the sky, right at the dragon, and she turned away and covered her head.

"OH YEAH!" Matt whooped, soaring in with a monstorous swing toward Meta-Ridley's armored head.

As R.D. pushed himself up, he saw Matt explode with the power of Dragon Drive, and shouted "Matt!" as he took off at Meta-Ridley.

The monster in question saw Matt flying at him and turned its body, the attack missing the creature's head but glancing into its chest, the energy cutting into the armor plating. Growling, the dragon slashed out its hind foot, kicking at Matt to knock him into his tail as it lashed by.

Bounced into Meta-Ridley's tail, Matt plummeted down to the pavillion before regaining control. He swooped back up, darting past the dragon to latch onto his back. Matt smashed his energy claws into the armor, and let loose the electricity he had been building up. "Stun Voltage!"

Meta-Ridley bellowed as the lightning electrocuted him, playing hell with his operational systems. Snarling, the creature began making wild movements in an attempt to dislodge Matt from his back. With a sharp twist, Ridley passed over the pavilion and dove with enough force to dislodge a Space Pirate, diving into the mist hovering over the Impact Crater.

Maya nodded her head silently in reply to Alasea's question. She wanted to tell her about the scary thing that had banged against the window and how it had gotten spatters of blood all over it, but she wanted even more for everything to be alright, so she nodded. "Evything is are right."

"Alright, kiddo," Alasea said with a slight chuckle, patting the young girl's back slightly as she looked up. Her eyes caught sight of the window, and she instantly frowned.

Blood. What in the world was blood doing on her window?

She kept herself relaxed, though, so she wouldn't alarm the girl that clung to her. Instead, she surreptitiously made eye contact with Veronica, and motioned to the blood-stained window with a slight nod of her head. With that, she turned Maya around and made a motion for the girl to follow her into the living room.

"C'mon, let's find something for you to do," she said, taking the girl's hand.

"Shit shit shit shit!" Matt tried to hold on, but Dragon Drive wasn't as strong as it used to be-he was soon tossed into the wind, swerving to recover with a wide swing toward the Crater.

"It's out of range!" Hugo shouted as his guns wailed. "Damn it! R.D., help Matt get that thing down here!"

R.D. ran to the edge again, trying to see where Meta-Ridley went. As he reached for the wall railing, Samus shouted, "Get back!"

Immediately, Meta-Ridley exploded out of the mist, body twisting about until it spread out its wings, roaring in challenge at them. R.D. stumbled back with a cry as the dragon made a couple flaps with its wings before dropping right into the edge of the pavilion itself. R.D. barely managed to run out of the way before Meta-Ridley landed, shaking the Cradle upon impact.

Meta-Ridley growled as it turned towards him, lashing with his tail--the armored appendage cleaved through another obelisk, destroying it with ease. Samus aimed her Plasma Beam at the creature and began to firing at his chest, trying to inflict more damage on the cybernetic monstrosity.

Damn it! His weapons were too weak against that armor, like usual. Deploying the Laser Options to cover, Hugo fired his grapple at a visible horn, latching on and flinging himself toward the dragon.

Matt halted in midair, chambering his fists. "Megaton..."

As Hugo went sailing towards Meta-Ridley's head, the dragon shook his head violently in an attempt to dislodge the grapple, screeching angrily at the mechaniloid even as the Laser Options began pelting it with lasers, which it ignored.

Now distracted, Samus charged up her Plasma Beam and took careful aim at the dragon's glowing chest. Sparks of fire danced forward on her arm cannon as flames grew wild in its barrel, and she let loose, firing an erratic wave of superheated ions at Meta-Ridley's chest. The creature screamed, in pain and in fury, as the blast collided with him, causing him to stagger a bit. It spun around suddenly, and then leaped, diving off of the pavilion and down into the crater once more.

"Hugo!" Helena shouted as the Mettaur plummeted along with Meta-Ridley.

Hugo's cry of "DAMN ITTTTTTTTT!" echoed.

"Great!" Matt said, diving toward Meta-Ridley. "Hold on, Hugo!" Folding in the wings to his aura, his speed increased, closing the gap.

He threw his fist back. "Fuck you!" He launched a powerful swing at Ridley's head, hopefully enough to stun the beast momentarily, and he swerved to grab Hugo, pulling off the grapple in the process.

Matt's blow struck Meta-Ridley sounded, causing it to roar in fury as it glared at Matt. With a flap of his wings, the cyborg dragon increased his speed as energy gathered in his chest armor. The missile ports on his back opened up and fired a volley of missiles as he flew off, each of them streaking back at Matt and Hugo.

R.D. watched as the cybernetic dragon came back into view, sweeping out towards the far end of the crater before banking and sweeping in. Energy gathered his mouth for a moment, causing more of the blue light to shine beneath the dragon's armor. With a terrible roar, Meta-Ridley unleashed his Ultrathermal Flamestrike Projector on R.D., Helena, and Samus as it flew past, and R.D. was forced to use his shield to lessen the blow and protect unarmored Helena.

The beam crashed hard into the shield, knocking him back before he could dig his feet in. The heat rose and soon the metal was warping, before the shield finally shattered and the beam tore into R.D.'s left side. He cried out as the attack smashed him into the wall next to the entryway to the pavilion. Up above, Meta-Ridley turned to make another pass, readying his Meson Bomb launcher for another bombing run on them.

Edited by RisingDragon on January 25, 2009 at 1:59:33.

"Shit!" Rolling, Matt flew out toward the landscape, keeping an eye behind him as the missiles came flying in. Hugo began firing, and thankfully, his shots were enough to pick down each missile one by one.

"This asshole's starting to piss me off!" the Mettaur shouted. "Get me near him again and I'll take him down for good!"

"Only if I can help!" Matt said, and they both turned back toward Meta-Ridley.

Helena screamed. Fear struck her cold. She had to help, but what could she do? Could her fire even hurt that thing? If she fought, she'd just die...

The familiar rapid beating of her heart rose amid the yells and fire of the battle.

Despite the burning pain in his side, the heat from the warped armor burning through the white jumpsuit hidden beneath the armor, R.D. stood up and locked onto the approaching dragon while Samus opened up her missile launcher. The two of them unleashed a vicious barrage of ammunition at Meta-Ridley as he swooped in.

"Watch out!" Ileyna screamed at them as Meta-Ridley flew over, dropping more of the Meson Bombs on them. The ground exploded around R.D. and Samus, knocking them back as the blasts bit into R.D.'s plating and Samus' shielding. Meta-Ridley dove down over the edge of the pavilion, before shooting back up to hover at its edge. Its yellow eyes glared at them as it readied its Ultrathermal Flamestrike Projector once more.

Edited by RisingDragon on January 25, 2009 at 2:07:54.