Child's Play - By Midget
In a dark, recessed chamber of a rather insignificant building of an
unimportant planet, a sinister deal was being struck. Hunched, coughing, a lean,
grizzled figure stood in front of a table of four men. They had been conversing
at length for some time about the specifics of their 'pact,' but negotiations
were complete now. "I shall prove my worth to you," the hunched figure whispered
between coughs. "I will bring you the head of your greatest foe, as you have
requested."
"Good," a figure at one end of the table, draped in shadows, replied. "Once
that last obstacle has been taken care of, nothing will stand in the way of our
master plan! Should you succeed, you will be rewarded greatly. But should you
fail…" He leaned in closely, so that the coughing man could see the evil glint
of his eyes. "Should you fail, do not return to us, if you are even still alive.
Whatever pain you may have been caused will be tripled upon your return to us,
we will make sure of it." He snarled, his yellowed and rotting teeth glinting in
the harsh light of a single, flickering bulb overhead.
"I will get the job done," wheezed the huddling figure. "Do not attempt to
unnerve me with your hollow threats. You know as well as I do that nothing you
may try to do could hurt me," he spat. "The only reason I am doing this is
because you have great wealth, and have promised me a fine bounty." Turning, he
shuffled slowly, almost painfully, out of the room.
In a bar on the moon of Erianas, a planet not far from Zebes, a lone woman
sat sipping a drink. She was contemplating her job, and just how easy it was to
get cheated out of the money that she deserved. She had resolved to be more
careful in the future when discussing payment with her employers, as she had
been severely underpaid for her last work. She was now wasting the little money
she had received getting hammered, instead of managing it like she was supposed
to be. Screw money management, she though. If I need money, I can
always just look for a new assignment. After all, I'm the best there is.
Life had not been the easiest thing in the world for her lately. It seemed
like it was becoming harder and harder to find work lately. Maybe it was just
because there were so many newer people out there who were looking for the same
work. Or maybe it's because you're getting too old for this, she thought.
She dismissed the idea quickly, though, knowing that if she started thinking
about it too much, she might start to believe it.
She heard what sounded like somebody shuffling around outside the window
nearby. She did not pay close attention to the noise, though, being too lost in
her drink and her own thoughts to care much. Then, she heard the noise of a
blaster being cocked to fire. This noise registered to her, even through the
thick shroud of alcohol clouding her mind. Reacting, she rolled under the table
she was sitting at, feeling a laser beam pass inches above her head. Scrambling
out from beneath the table, she dove for more suitable cover. Landing behind the
bar, she reached for something, anything, which she could use to distract her
attacker. She grabbed a bottle of aged red wine, and tossed it at the window. It
sailed through, and crashed on the wall outside. She heard a screech followed by
severe coughing. Sprinting out from behind the bar, she ran out the door of the
building and made her way towards the hotel in which she was staying. If I
don't make it back to the hotel, she thought, I'm dead. This thought
spurred her on even faster. By the time her pursuer came around to the front of
the building, she was already a small dot moving steadily away along the
sidewalk of the rather empty street. Covering his face in his hands, the hunched
figure coughed repeatedly. Regaining his breath, he padded slowly after his
target. The hunt was on.
Crashing through the doorway of a rundown hotel, the woman hurtled up a
flight of steps and jumped through the doorway of the second room she came to.
What she saw was a welcome sight. Her gear was lying on the bed, exactly as she
had left it. Putting it on, she immediately felt safer. She opened the window
and quietly jumped out. Looking around, scanning for her would-be pursuer, she
crept between the bushes of the hotel's sparse garden. She would not let herself
become the plaything of a predator. She was not somebody else's prey. No,
tonight, she was the predator.
She heard her pursuer before she saw him. He was silently crawling between
street alleys, making his way closer to the hotel. Raising her weapon, she fired
a shot at him which should have knocked him from the wall he clung to. Whatever
he was, he was very agile to be able to cling to walls like that. Her shot did
not hit, though, as he disappeared an instant before it impacted the wall.
Sweeping the surrounding area frantically, she swiftly moved away from where she
had been sitting. She knew that staying in one place was the worst strategy
against an intelligent opponent. She nearly ran into the hunter’s missile, and
had to do a quick roll to avoid it. Coming up, she fired another shot in the
direction from which the missile had come, but she was not met with the sound of
her beam ripping flesh as she had hoped. Instead, she turned around and was met
with a vicious energy sword slashing across her chest. She jumped back, turning
the fatal slash into a mere graze. Looking down, she saw that it had pierced her
body armor and that she was bleeding.
A fear woke within her that she could not comprehend, and she tried
desperately to quell it. Lunging at the creature in front of her, she laid into
him with her hands, clubbing him with her weapon and punching him with her free
hand. They fell into a tumbling, tangled ball, and battled each other across the
garden. She landed many hits, but none seemed to do much more than infuriate him
further. All the while his energy sword was chipping away at her armor, slowly
dismantling it and injuring her at the same time. Finally, she landed a punch
right between his eyes, which seemed to stun him. Taking the brief moment to
disentangle herself, she jumped up and began to run. The woman was not a coward,
but she valued her life and she recognized when it was in danger. This thing,
for she was no longer sure it was a man, having glimpsed metallic limbs fused
with organic parts, was a superior fighter. It also appeared to possess superior
tactical ability, and surprisingly advanced weaponry. She knew when a fight
could not be won, and that was when the best option was to escape. After
all, she thought, it's better to live to fight another day than die
unprepared and unwilling.
She bled from numerous wounds, leaving a clear trail for the hunter to
follow. As she ran, she caught a glimpse of a river off to the left. Veering
towards it, she was cut off and knocked to the ground by her pursuer. Rolling,
she avoided a stab from its energy sword a split second before it sliced through
the earth. She crouched and jumped, but it latched onto her leg, causing her to
lose her balance and crash into the ground face-first. Lifting her with both
hands, it drew back and hurled her into a nearby building. The impact shattered
the outer wall and sent her hurtling into the kitchen of a restaurant. She
landed on a hot stove, and felt searing pain as the slash on her chest came into
contact with the hot surface.
She slid off the kitchen counter, holding her head to try to stop it from
spinning. She coughed, and tasted blood in her mouth. Feeling a throbbing pain
in her side, she realized that at least two of her ribs were broken. She also
seemed to have cracked the visor of her helmet at some point, and a jab of pain
above her eye suggested that she may have also cut her forehead. Getting up
slowly, she was tackled again by the relentless monster that hunted her. The
force of its lunge sent them through another wall, spilling into a room full of
diners. They had all been startled by the crash in the kitchen, and several were
now crushed by the exploding wall. The rest hurried to exit the restaurant,
screaming in loud, frightened voices. The tireless beast caught her with a
strong punch right to the gut, winding her and lifting her off the ground.
Summoning all her strength, she grabbed its wrist to steady herself. Quickly,
she blasted him full in the face with her weapon’s most powerful setting.
When the glare from the blast receded, she was expecting the monster's fist
in her chest to relax. Instead, it abruptly removed itself. She fell, and a kick
came from the side, meeting her again in the chest and sending her to the
opposite wall. Her mind groggily wondered how it had managed to survive her
attack. Rising to her feet, she saw that part of its face had been blown away by
the blast. She marveled that it was still alive, but not for long. She was too
concerned with escaping, knowing that if she stayed, she would die.
Leaping for the nearest window, the woman fired her weapon, blowing away the
glass. She landed on the outside, and began to run. Every time her left foot
touched the ground, she felt a jab of pain shoot up her leg. She ignored it,
though, picking up speed. This was her last resort, knowing that if she could
not outrun it, there was no escape. She made her way steadily towards the
shipyard, not once daring to look behind her. The docks came into her line of
vision, and some hope returned to her. The hope was fleeting, though, as she
felt a blur pass her and disappear in the direction of the docks.
What am I going to do now? She thought. It's going to be waiting
for me at the docks. It's faster, stronger, and smarter, with better weapons and
armor. How can I possibly escape? She despaired, but the warrior within her,
the part of her that would never give up, sounded out. You are the most
gifted fighter in the entire galaxy, it reminded her. You are the best at
what you do, and you have escaped from much more deadly foes than this rogue.
You are a skilled assassin; you are one with the art of death. This monster
cannot defeat you, any more than you can defeat yourself. Gaining resolve,
she ran harder, ignoring the pain from her numerous wounds.
When she had nearly made it to the docks, she saw her adversary standing at
the end of the pier where she had left her ship. I have to get around it,
she thought. She programmed her ship to be ready to take off the instant she
jumped into it, and then summoned all her courage for her final move in their
deadly game of chess. Leaning forward, she barreled towards her opponent. She
knew that her charge would not work, but that was her intent. As the hunter
leaped aside, she summoned all her energy, stopping abruptly and shooting after
him like a shining bullet. She delighted in its shocked expression as she shot
towards it, knowing that it was caught off guard.
As she made contact, the hunter threw its arm in front of its chest,
frantically working something with his fingers. She did not realize what it was
until it was too late. The vicious energy blade flickered to life as she crashed
into it, stabbing through her chest and ending her life instantly. They landed
with a thud, and the strange creature struggled to work his way out beneath the
heavy armored figure. It rolled her over and turned his energy sword off,
removing it from the prone figure. It began to walk away, but then it remembered
its promise to its employers. The energy sword flickered to life again for a
brief moment, after which the hunter again began to leave, this time with the
head of its target clutched firmly beneath its arm.
In a dark, recessed chamber of a rather insignificant building of an
unimportant planet, a hunched figure limped into the light of a lone, flickering
bulb. Lifting his arm, he tossed a helmet onto the table in front of him. A head
with long, blonde hair and lifeless blue eyes tumbled out of it. "As I have
promised you," he coughed, "the head of Samus Aran." He made a small bow to the
four dark figures seated in front of him.
"I can see that our money was well spent, my friend," one of them hissed.
"You will receive your payment shortly, and we shall call on you should we ever
require your services again. When the Space Pirates rule the galaxy, the masses
will fear the name of Gr'bladk the Tormentor. You will be our most valued
general."
The creature coughed, shaking his head. "I do not wish to be publicly
associated with such despicable creatures. I will work for you as a private
assassin, but that is where our relationship ends. I wish you good luck with
your endeavors to conquer the galaxy." The mysterious, dark figure slowly limped
out of the room. He coughed violently, and stopped to pull the hood of his cloak
up over his scarred and twisted face. Sufficiently shrouded in darkness, he left
as silently as he had come.
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