Other M Chapter 19/20 –Naruto Style–
The door closes behind her. The large expansive hallway was dark and few lights were lit, showing her where to do. However, at the end of the hallway were giant hull doors, lit with glowing panels of light. She glances around; her radar however detected no hostile movement in her area. Therefore, Naruto began to move forward. She was unaware that something WAS in that room, having escaped the confines of Sector Zero. The further she moved forward, the more her mysterious tracker followed in the shadows. She stopped halfway, just as her instinct told her something was following her. She turned around. Naruto gasped, backing up whilst grasping her cannon. Floating there, chirping innocently was a jellyfish-like monster with four small fangs and a brain-like pod within its half hemisphere-like transparent milky globe.
"A baby Metroid," she whispered, shocked at seeing it.
It floats there, making small bumping movements in the air with each playful chirp. She remembers back to SR388, at the moment the infant Metroid hatched before Naruto after her grueling fight with the Metroid Queen. At first she wanted to shoot at it, but it made no harmful moves towards her and when she extended a hand to it, it latches to her, like a child would seeking its mother's care and warmth. Back to the present, the Metroid continues to float before her. She hesitantly takes aim at the infant Metroid, remembering the baby she had taken with her in the past, up to when it saved her from Mother Brain...
No! This isn't the baby I know!
She resolves herself, and brings up her arm cannon, as she steels her nerves and prepares to kill it. Suddenly, she cries out in shock and in pain as she is hit in the back with a Freeze Gun blast before she can fire. Her visor goes fuzzy and short out as her suit's energies had been drained completely. She stumbles forward, as her suit slowly dematerializes. Then, she falls to the steel floor, her Power Suit disintegrating completely. Now with only her Zero Suit, Naruto is at the mercy of the infant Metroid as it chirps and hovers above her.
Naruto looks up, now frightened, as it makes a skittering noise. It bares its tiny fangs and tries to attack her, but is hit with another Freeze Gun blast. Naruto's head hits the ground, both in exhaustion and relief as the frozen baby crashes towards the ground away from her. Footsteps echo on the metallic floor as her attacker walks up to Naruto. Outside, the exterior of the Bottle Ship extends forth large panels from its hull, in preparation for flight. But back inside the Entrance to Sector Zero, Naruto awakens as a Federation Marine Trooper kneels down beside her.
"Naruto... can you hear my voice?"
"... I read you... loud and clear..."
Naruto's blue eyes drift up, from the armor of a Federation Power Suit, to a familiar face she cherished.
"Sarutobi..."
Commander Hiruzen Sarutobi, of the Galactic Federation Marines... "You know what lies up ahead: the Metroids and the artificial intelligence that controls them. The fruit of the Galactic Federation's twisted project..."
"Yes... So why did you shoot me?"
He stares at her for a moment. "You can't destroy these Metroids," he tells the young lady.
"What... do you mean?" she questions him, not understanding.
Sarutobi glances briefly at the doors to Sector Zero. "Sector Zero Metroids most likely can't be frozen."
"What? What are you... talking about, Hiruzen?"
"Naruto, there's a strong likelihood that the Metroid's mortal weakness, the vulnerability to cold, has been overcome through genetic manipulation. And if that's true, there's no way you can destroy them."
Naruto stares at him, before looking towards the frozen remains of the infant that almost killed her. "But that baby earlier... The infant Metroid—you were able to freeze it!"
Hiruzen nods. "True. My guess is that it was because it was still in a larval stage, but who can say? One thing's for certain—they're definitely propagating Metroids."
The frozen infant slowly crumbles to pieces. The lifeless Gigafraug found in Sector 2 then entered Naruto's mind, as she remembered when she had discovered the monstrous alien, showing the signs of Metroid Predation.
"Developing bioweapons with an obvious and fatal flaw would be suicide. It's hard to imagine the military mass-producing defective weapons. Then again, none of this makes sense. Metroids are lethal—their extinction was a wise decision." Sarutobi holsters his Freeze Gun, takes his assault rifle, and stands up, "And now, since no one has the technology to defeat them, they cannot be allowed to exist."
"Hang on, Hiruzen. First I need to know why you're credited as the creator of the Metroid military program report," Naruto demanded.
Sarutobi turns to look at her.
"I received the request to write the report from Galactic Federation headquarters. In that report, I outlined the potential dangers of such a program and I have explained categorically why it shouldn't be attempted."
He turns away from her and walks away. "HQ listened. However, a small group within the Federation co-opted my report for its own purposes..."
Outside, lights begin to flicker on all over the Bottle Ship's hull, as systems once offline now go online. Inside, the entrance to Sector Zero lights up as well, rumbling as the ship's start-up thrusters begin to warm up.
"Naruto... you'll be fully recovered soon."
He turns and faces her once again.
"I have several missions for you." Naruto's eyes flicker with light, as she stands at attention in her slump position, "This facility appears to be on an intercept course with Galactic Federation HQ."
The Bottle Ship rumbles as its main thrusters are now online. The facility is now moving, leaving the dust cloud it sat in.
"If what Sakura Haruno said is correct, there's a distinct possibility that this is the start of an attack by MB against the Federation. One way or another, some sort of attack is clearly imminent. You have to find a way to divert the ship off its intercept course. I've located a survivor in Room MW toward the rear of the Bioweapon Research Center. Whoever it is will be a key witness. Secure the survivor's safety. And defeat Ridley. He's as much of a threat as the Metroids. And one last word of warning. Sakura Haruno... is no ally."
Sarutobi cocks his rifle and walks toward Sector Zero. Naruto painfully stands up using the metallic pillar she was leaning against in order to stand.
"Hold on, Hiruzen. What are you planning to do with the Metroids here in Sector Zero?"
"Leave it to me," he explains, "I'll deal with this place."
"You have a plan for dealing with Metroids that can't be frozen?"
Sarutobi continues to look at her. "... Sector Zero has a self-destruct protocol. If the sector receives a significant amount of damage, the unit is programmed to detach and self-destruct. A powerful explosion will eliminate the Metroids and MB without leaving a trace."
Naruto's eyes widen in shock. "Don't you dare, Hiruzen! Let me go in! I'm the only one who has a shot against the Metroids. We have to take the chance! Please, Sarutobi!"
Sarutobi stares at her, remembering the similar words she expressed back to when she was a younger Naruto Uzumaki, during the drive unit incident.
"You have to trust me! You have to trust me. Just give me a chance!"
She lurches forward and Sarutobi catches her arm. She stared at Hiruzen.
"Naruto... I wish I could battle Ridley, but I can't. Unlike you, I'm no galactic savior. I'm merely human. But I can save you. You should be completely healed soon. There isn't much time." The Bottle Ship continues to accelerate into deep space. "We both need to get started on our missions. I'm sorry for getting a little rough with you."
He releases her and she stands, as Hiruzen grants her a final nod.
"Good luck, Naruto."
He readies his rifle and walks toward Sector Zero. Samus runs after him as her suit begins to reintegrate, halting her as she tried to reach him.
"Wait! Sarutobi!"
Parts of her armor flash in and out on her body, the symbol on the back of her Zero Suit, and on her left hand, glow a bright pink.
"Wait!"
She continues to stumble forward, as the flashes increase.
"Sarutobi!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi, weapons armed and ready, enters Sector Zero and the door locks behind him. A screen displays the status of the door:
SECTOR ZERO MAIN AIRLOCK
STATUS: OUTER DOOR LOCKED
Naruto was too late in reaching him, as her suit fizzles out of existence again. She reaches the door and pounds her fist on it, shouting out to him.
"Please wait!"
An inner airlock opens and Hiruzen steps into Sector Zero. Naruto is still pounding on the locked door, as her cries for him continue, although muffled in his point of view. As the lights within the first interior of Sector Zero trails about, he turns around to face her.
"No objections, right, Lady?"
Naruto stops pounding on the door, reading his lips, and thus knowing the trademark quote. Her eyes are filled with tears as the man stares her down. She slowly raises her right hand. Her thumb is extended up as she gives him a thumbs-up, but quickly she changes it to a thumbs-down. She choked on a cry, as Sarutobi nods in approval, and turns around, intent on destroying Sector Zero. And he walks away from her forever, as the inner airlock closes and he disappears. Naruto is distraught as tears fall from her eyes, refusing to move.
Inside, Hiruzen Sarutobi opens fire with his weaponry, destroying everything and anything that moves in his sight.
ஜ۩۞۩ஜ
Outside the Bottle Ship, a series of clamps release Sector Zero, as unheard alarms blare their warnings.
Emergency in Sector Zero... Disengaging unit...
Sector Zero begins to slide away from the Bottle Ship.
Emergency in Sector Zero... Disengaging unit...
The large steel block that was Sector Zero, completely detaches from the Bottle Ship and it floats toward open space.
Emergency in Sector Zero... Disengaging unit...
ஜ۩۞۩ஜ
Inside the Entranceway, Naruto was hurt. She walks away from the door and hears a loud explosion outside, making her wince.
Sarutobi vanished. My best friend, the person who understood me best... the closest thing to a father I had. Thoughts swirled through my head—I couldn't come to grips with what had happened. Such a cruel way to say good-bye... I was the only one who witnessed Sarutobi's last moment, and though it shook me, I was calmer than I usually am. I think Sarutobi granted me that eye-of-the-storm clarity—his final gift to me.
Naruto calms down, as she brushes the tears away from her eyes.
There was no time for me to grieve his death. But there was time for me to say: Sarutobi, thank you...
Her suit fully reactivates, and all systems were online and ready...
Leave the rest to me.
She readies her arm cannon as she runs. Exiting the Entrance to the now defunct Sector Zero, she sees the curving hallway was now infested with Super Zebesians. The red cyborg Space Pirates all turn at her with threatening intentions. She runs regardless, dodging their weapons fire, and when one jumped at her, she Screw Attacks, destroying the monster instantly. As she continues, she heard alarms as the first hull latch seals. Suddenly, she was nearly jolted off her feet as the sealed hull detaches from the main hallway, thus introducing the vacuum of space. Several close-by Zebesians were sucked out into the darkness of space and Naruto held herself as she tries to run, but the vacuum was too strong and she was knocked off her feet...
Her suit's internal computers activate her Gravity Suit feature, thus bathing her entire body under a purplish pink aura. She falls just on the edge of the open lock, and now runs for her life. She completely ignores the struggling pirates as they attack her, as well as prevent themselves from being sucked out into space. But as she ran, the segments of the hallway detach and begin to float off in blazing sparks. Naruto grunted as she reached the end, just barely passing through the closing hull door.
Her Gravity Feature temporarily turns off as she gets to her feet, sighing in relief that she escaped that precarious moment.
"Don't worry, Hiruzen... I won't fail you."
With renewed vigor, she exits that room, her intent in returning back to the Biosphere Sector, and infiltrate the Bioweapons Research Center.