CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: THE MASTER

	Over Earth, the tide had turned again, but this time it was the wrong 
way. The Kihunters were winning by sheer number alone, and although the 
Chozo ships were powerful, there were only a few of them.
	The front of the giant Planetkiller opened up, and it started charging 
for one perfect shot that would cut through the Federation fleet and 
destroy definetely more than just Earth. It was ending.

				*		*		*

	Samus ran, the Metroids hot on her tail. She could almost feel the 
energy pulating from their jellyfish-like bodies. Their shrieks started 
to sound triumphant.
	Samus couldn’t tell how many there were, but judging from the sound, 
there were more than she alone could handle.
	Samus tripped on a rock and the metroids got her.
	They crowded in on top of her, scrambling to suck out her life like a 
swarm of flying leeches.
	A huge one settled on her back, and Samus could feel its teeth starting 
to penetrate her armor. Any second now that protective layer of metal 
would be fully penetrated, and then...
	Something knocked the Metroid off Samus, and the others lept off like 
flies do when one of them is swatted. 
	Samus looked up and sw, of all things, Ridley, getting all the Metroids 
off her.
	She stood up and backed off.
	Ridley impaled a Metroid with his tail.
	“Go. Now. I’ll hold them off.”
	Not one to argue, Samus ran as Ridley held off the Metroids. She got 
out of the room alive, and was soon followed by Ridley.
	Samus stopped and leveled her arm cannon at him.
	“Stay right there. I’m not falling for it again.
	“Samus,” Ridley voiced, “I may not have earned it, but you have to 
trust me now!”
	“I’m sorry. I’ve trusted you enough for one lifetime.’
	“Samus, even though we really aren’t on the best of terms now, we have 
been forced to fight against a common enemy!”
	“Oh, really? Did The Master coach you on what to say over tea 
yesterday?”
	“Look, he destroyed my home planet! I’m not on his side anymore.”
	“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t shoot you now, Ridley!”
	“What choice do you have?”
	There was a loud chirp. A Metroid made a dent in the door. Samus 
lowered her arm cannon.
	“I’m going to regret this. Come on, let’s go!”

				*		*		*

	Huge electric beams arced from the giant Planetkiller as it prepared to 
fire the one shot that would end it all. The beam was aimed so it would 
destroy both the Federation command ship, and Earth.
	Hardy saw it coming, and made a decision.
	“I want you to concentrate all possible firepower on that big ship! I 
don’t care what it does to our systems!”
	“But sir!” a commandant protested, “If we do that, we’ll be floating 
dead in space! We’ll be dead in no time!”
	“I didn’t get this job by making easy decisions. We have one shot at 
this, let’s make it count!”
	Hardy’s ship charged up its main laser cannon, then fired its last shot 
directly at the central orb of the planetkiller.
	The orb glowed brightly as it prepared to fire, and then Hardy’s laser 
hit it dead center.
	The orb cracked completely, and a part of the main shell broke off, 
revealing the inner workings of the ship. 
	The Planetkiller backfired, and erupted in a flaming blast rivaling the 
explosions of the many planets that it had destroyed in the past. 
	The shockwaves from the explosion tore apart any ships directly 
adjacent to the planetkiller, and the flying debris destroyed even more.
	The power on Hardy’s ship failed completely, and what was left of the 
crew rushed to get into some sort of spacesuit while the life support 
still lasted.
	Cheers rose up from the remaining Federation and Chozo ships.

				*		*		*

	The hallways were turning metallic, Samus notd. A sign that something 
big was near.
	Suddenly, Several hatches opened in the ceiling and hordes of Kihunters 
poured out like angry hornets, sswarming in on Samus and Ridley.
	Samus immediately started shooting frantically at them as Ridleytore at 
them with his tail.
	The two ran for the door at the first break, only to be blocked by 
about fifteen more bugs. Ridley charged ahead into the fray, lashing out 
at anything with an exoskeleton.
	“Samus, go! While they’re occupied!”He said, as the Kihunters swarmed 
after him.
	Samus took his advice and ran past the door into an empty room with 
about five doors in it.
	The door behind her slammed shut and locked, sealing away the sounds of 
battle in the corridor behind.
	Out of the shadows in the room stepped The Master.
	“WELCOME, BOUNTY HUNTER. YOU ARE SKILLED TO HAVE FOUND US. NOW, YOU 
WILL MEET YOUR END.”

	Houston ran down the corridors of Tsebnash, blasting bugs and metroids 
alike as he ran.
	The metroids only partly surprised him, he was ready for anything. All 
that he ould think of was ending this game. The halls turned metallic.

	Samus raised her arm cannon and fired a super missile at The Master. 
	The Master caught it easily and threw it back at Samus. Samus barely 
dodged it by throwing herself to the ground and firing everything she 
had at The Master.
	It was all deflected.
	The Master let out a small laugh and raised Its hand into the air.
	Samus was lifted up by an unknown presence and thrown back onto the 
ground. The Master started firing eyelasers at her. 
	A door opened. Houston ran in, and came to a screeching halt when he 
saw who else was there.
	“Samus? I thought you were-”
	“Save it, Armstrong! Shoot!”
	Houston complied, blasting The Master with his remaining ammo. Not a 
dent was made. 
	The Master opened its mouth. A light started to glow inside. Before 
this new attack could be experienced, though, a part of the wall caved 
in.
	And, standing there, was Ridley (although he looked as though a mack 
truck had hit him).
	“DOES EVERYONE HAVE A KEY TO THIS PLACE?”
	“Congratulations, Master, you seem to have grasped the concept of humor 
perfectly.” Ridley sneered.
	“VERY WELL. WE CONSIDERED LEAVING YOU ALONE, RIDLEY. BUT NOW YOU SHALL 
JOIN IN YOUR FRIENDS’ FATE!”
	Fire blazed from his mouth at Ridley, who dodged it with his trademark 
agility.
	Ridley lunged in, and instead of trying to shoot The Master, like 
everyone else, he jammed his tail through Its forehead.
	The Master lurched back, clutched It’s forehead, and silently exploded.
	“Well, that was anticlimactic.” Samus said.
	A door opened. An all-too familiar voice resonated out.
	“COME INTO MY PARLOR, SAID THE SPIDER TO THE FLY.”

			CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: THE VOID

	“I guess we’re supposed to go in there?” Samus said, her usual 
enthusiasm lacking at this point.
	Ridley took in a deep breath and said, “Past that door is The Control, 
a huge computer that The Master would link up to sometimes. I don’t know 
much about it.”
	“THAN PERHAPS I SHOULD FILL YOU IN.”
	“Is it just me, or did It refer to Itself in the singular sense?”
	“It’s not just you.”
	“Go ahead, fill us in!”
	“COME IN.”
	They went into the room. Inside was the Control, an incredibly huge 
supercomputer.
	Houston raised up his arm cannon.
	“If this is The master, then shouldn’t we destroy it?”
	The Master’s voice emanated from the computer.
	“IF YOU DO THAT, THEN I WILL GO FREE AND YOU WILL LOSE. I AM A DUAL 
BEING, LIVING IN A PLANE OTHER THAN YOURS. THIS COMPUTER PROVIDES YOU 
ACCESS TO MY REALM. SAMUS ARAN, I WILL GIVE YOU THE PRIVILEGE OF FACING 
ME ON MY OWN GROUND, THROUGH HERE.”
	A chair with a VR headset came out of a port in the wall.
	“ENTER.”
	“It means, hook up.’
	Samus sat down on the chair.
	“Samus, do you really want to do this?”
	“No.”
	She removed her helmet. The visor attached automatically and Samus was 
thrown out of this reality.

				*		*		*

	Chairman Keaton looked out the main front monitor of his command ship 
and saw something interesting.
	A dead ship in space.
	“that’s Hardy’s ship!” He shouted to himself.
	“Sir, that’s the ship that destroyed the Kihunter flagship.”
	“I don’t care what it did earlier, I care about who’s on it! Are there 
any survivors?”
	“Scanning...yes, sir. About twenty-five.”
	“Twenty-five out of  a hundred-fifty.”
	“Then let’s rescue them!”
	Keaton’s flagship made a 30 degree turn and charged through all the 
other ships until it reached Hardy’s.
	Keaton raised the ship via intercom (personal intercom with the 
individual passengers- the ship’s system was destroyed).
	“Excaliber raising Pork Roast, can anybody respond.
	“Chairman, is that you?”
	“Hardy! You’re alive!”

				*		*		*	

	Samus woke up in a daze. She squinted her eyes in the sheer brightness 
of wherever she was.
	She looked around. There was no landscape, not even a ground for all 
she knew. It was simply light. Pure, multicolored light. And yet 
definetely so much more.
	Samus looked at herself. She appeared to be normal, in her suit, but 
something seemed wrong.
	Your eyes deceive you. They see only what they can see. all that you 
will see here is a representation of the truth.
	“Who said that?” She shouted to the infinite depths of this void of 
pure light.
	I did.
	Something appeared in front of Samus that haunted her worst nightmares 
for the rest of her life.

	Physically It was shaped something like a spider, that is, if spiders 
were twenty stories tall, had twelve legs, had a definite head with the 
norm of two eyes and a mouth, and had arms.
	Samus could see a definite resemblance between The Master’s robotic 
head and Its real one.
	Except for the fact that everything was different, they were somewhat 
similar.
	Two eyes sat on Its head, lit by a blindingly white flame. In Its 
mouth, behind the teeth that dripped blood, not saliva, was another 
void, this one full of stars and systems, planets and galaxies that The 
Master had devoured in its campaigns.
	Between Its two twelve-fingered hands was what looked like an entire 
solar system, the miniscule planets running in their constant orbit 
around their tiny sun.
	Over Its back there were more views of galaxies and systems that it had 
conquered, only these were still in their former glory.
	It was terror beyond imagining, evil beyond description.
	You are out of your league.

				*		*		*

	Keaton’s ship stopped over Hardy’s and an escape pod was sent over to 
the destroyed flagship.
	“Hardy, I want you and your survivors to board this ship when it 
arrives. Remain calm. The pilot will fly it back in to mine. James, I 
was wrong about you. You’re not such a wimp, after all.”
	The ship arrived and was boarded. Keaton sat back in his chair. things 
were going well. 
	There was a loud crash.
Keaton stood up hurriedly.
	“What was that?” He asked frantically.
	“Sir, five Kihunter ships approaching, and their mad, sir!”
	“What?” 
	Keaton looked at the monitor. Five Kihuntr fighters were blasting 
through everything in their way in an effort to reach the Excaliber 
while it was defensless. Another one of their shots hit home.
	The shields were almost down.
	From out of nowhere one of the Chozo ships rammed the five fighters and 
sent them floating dead in space. The Chozo ship nearly destroyed itself 
in the effort.
	“Keaton-” Came over the intercom. It was obvious who owned that voice.
	“Gul’Gen?” Keaton shouted, “Stay there! Whe’re coming!”
	It seemed that Keaton’s ship was going to be on salvage duty for the 
rest of the battle.

				*		*		*

	The Thing in front of Samus opened Its mouth wide, like a fish gaping 
for food. Samus felt herself being sucked into the void inside, to join 
the billions of dead worlds inside.
	Enter, your way to oblivion
	Samus ran the other way; found herself able to resist the newly created 
vortex, as long as...
	She felt something grab her by the ankle and trip her. Samus looked 
back and saw that The Master’s tongue, covered in a vile acidic saliva, 
had grabbed her by the ankle and was pulling her inside of that gaping 
void that was its mouth.
	She struggled to pull free, as It tightened its grip by wrapping Its 
tongue around her torso, and started to pull her in like some warped 
fisherman in a world where fishing for men was taken literally.
	Samus felt herself being lifted from the ground(?) and being pulled 
closer, closer to Its massive head.
	She was almost there now. A few more yards...
	Samus raised her arm cannon and fired everything possible into Its 
flaming white  eye.
	Nothing hit. Samus began to lose hope, then a thought struck her.
	Wait a minute! this is a mental battle, right? Then I have to put some 
extra thought into this, will the shots to do some damage, then I might 
have a chance!
	She fired again, this time one single shot, no panic, into the same 
target.
	The shot hit home, and The Master’s right eye burst outward in a 
cascade of black acidic blood that fell down beyond infinity. Some of 
the drops stayed floating there, like something in a still photograph. 
The white flame in one eye went out.
	The Master shrieked out in pain and dropped Samus. The vacuum was gone. 
The Master backed away, clutching the bloody crater that was once Its 
eye; and disappeared.
	A low gurgling noise came from the remaining drops of blood that hung 
there in the air(?).

				*		*		*

	Houston saw Samus jerk in the chair, evidently in pain. He ran towards 
her.
	“I have to get her out! She’s dying in there!” 
	Ridley stopped him with a firm hit from his tail.
	“Don’t! If you disconnect her now, before the battle is finished, she 
will die! If you really care about her then let her go! You have to wait 
it out. We have to wait it out.”
	Ridley said a silent prayer for Samus Aran, the bounty hunter and hero 
of the Galactic Federation, who was now facing an evil beyond the Mother 
brain, beyond the Queen Metroid, beyond him, beyond anything that she 
had ever known to exist.

				*		*		*

	Samus looked at the droplets of blood the way a camper looks at a wild 
bear that just killed his tent buddy. Something was wrong here.
	As if to answer her, the drops all turned toward her, revealing newly 
formed mouths with razor-sharp teeth, moving like little circular saws 
in their mouths. They charged.
	Samus shot the one at the front of the pack. It blew up and scattered 
everywhere into mini droplets that also grew teeth and came after her.
	“What the-”
	She switched weapions to her ice beam and started freezing them all. 
They stayed in their places, frozen solid. Until they thawed three 
seconds later.
	Stupid piece of mail order- OW! She thought to herself as they swarmed 
all over her and started tearing into her suit. She could even feel some 
of the pain while the blood droplets were still on the surface of her 
suit, ripping in. 
	Samus pulled out a power bomb and detonated it, focusing on two things; 
what she wanted the bomb to do, and what she wanted it not to do.
	As hoped for, the bomb’s shockwave explosion vaporied the little 
droplets of blood and missed her entirely.
	“I think I’m starting to get the hang of this!” She said to herself as 
she prepared for The Master’s next attack.
	Instead, she got a familiar voice shouting “Samus!’
	“What?” She turned around and faced Armstrong Houston.
	“What are you doing here?”
	“Saving your life!” Her brother (who still didn’t know that fact) 
shouted, holding out his hand, “The Master’s left, but he’s set the 
planet to blow! Grab on! We have to get out of here!”
	Samus hesitated a little.
	“Come on!” Houston said even more urgently, “I don’t want to lose my 
sister now that I just found her!’
	Samus started to hold out her hand, then stopped.
	“you almost fooled me,” she said, retracting her hand, “I never told 
Houston that we were related.”
	Immediately the Not-Houston changed into a gangrenous, rotting corpse 
of a brother.
	“This is what will happen to you and to your brother, and to everyone 
you hold dear!”
	The master disappeared again, and a shrill chirp was heard.
	“No! Don’t do this to me!” Samus shouted.

				*		*		*

	Keaton was finally finished rescuing everyone from both ships. Hardy 
and Gul’Gen
were with him on the bridge of the Excaliber.
	“Gul’Gen,” Keaton asked, “I thought that the Chozzo couldn’t kill. How 
did you get around it?
	“We had prepared for this day when we made that promise so long ago. 
You will probably never see these many Chozo in one place again. But 
now, do not be distracted; keep fighting!”
	A very satisfied Chairman keaton turned back to the monitor and 
prepared to lead his fleet in defense of the Earth.

				*		*		*
	
	The shrill chirping continued. A huge Metroid appeared in front of 
Samus.  Wait, check that. not just a huge metroid, but the Hatchling 
appeared.
	“No!” Was all that Samus could say. 
	This was too much. Samus couldn’t hurt the Hatchling, not after what 
happened on Zebes several months ago.
	The hatchling descended on top of a helpless Samus Aran, and started 
draining energy immediately, Its teeth firmly implanted inside of her.
	Samus strained. She couldnt shoot the Hatchling when it attacked on 
Zebes, and she couldn’t shoot it now; only this time it wasn’t going to 
let her go or help her. It was going to...
	That’s it! she thought, This isn’t the Hatchling! This is just another 
of The Master’s illusions!
	Samus raised her arm cannon and fired everything possible into the 
Hatchling’s red, pulsating brain.
	Its insides exploded as the Not-Hatchling fell off Samus and let out 
one last chirp before evaporating into thin not-quite-air.
	“That was the last straw,” Samus said through gritted teeth as The 
Master, in Its original form reappeared.
	“It ends NOW!” Samus shouted, as her hyper beam switched on, and she 
lept further up than is humanly possible, firing beams of pure 
destructive energy into The Master.
	It tried Its earlier attack of  sending out its tongue, but had to 
retract it when Samus blew half of it off.
	The Master’s other eye went in an explosion of blood and pus.
	A shot went directly into its mouth, blowing up what was left of Its 
tongue and sending Its teeth flying out like little bloody missiles.
	One of its hands blew off as It tried vainly to ward off the endless 
blows coming from Samus’ gun. 
	The Master screamed as another barrage of Samus’ lasers ripped off Its 
head and sent the entire thing plummetting down, down, down into the 
eternal depths below.
	It was finished.

				*		*		*

	Over Earth, The Kihunter ships all stopped suddenly and in unison. They 
all floated dead in space as their pilots’ brains exploded.
	Cheers rose up among the Federation and the Chozo ranks. 
	Hardy prayed again, but this time in praise of a former prayer 
answered. 
	It was over. They had won.

			CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: ESCAPE

	Samus felt herself being jerked out of The Void and being thrown to the 
floor as the vhair on which she sat exploded. She hastily put on her 
helmet as a piece of twisted metal wreckage fell next to her.
	“What is going on?” She shouted to Houston, who was nearby.
	“The Master’s death is taking the planet with it!’ Ridley shouted above 
the now steadily rising earthquake.
	“Not again!” Samus shouted, as she got up and the three of them ran out 
of the exploding computer room and into the hallways of Tsebnash.
	“Here, I know how to get out!” Ridley shouted as he took the lead.

				*		*		*

	Schneider had a rude awakening with the earthquake’s beginning. It 
didn’t take him long to realize what had happened.
	he ran for his parked ship outside. The Master might have been 
destroyed, but at least he still had his life.

				*		*		*
	
	Ridley, Samus, and Houston ran past the dead and dying kihunters as the 
hallway started to cave in. A rogue metroid was decimated asthe wall 
next to it burst in a blast of rock and steam.
	The ground started to crack and spew out lava, another testament to the 
facct that Tsebnash’s destruction was going to be far worse than Zebes’.
	More rocks fell from the ceiling. They quickened their pace.
	“The passageway to the left is more direct; go that way!” Ridley 
shouted above the unearthly roar of the earthquake.
	When they reached the end, the ceiling came down over the left hand 
door with a crash and buried it permanently.
	“okay, we go to the right.”
	They ran to the right as fast as possible to avoid the now increasing 
carnage.

				*		*		*

	Schneider got into his little black ship that he had tucked away in the 
cliffside and put the key into the ignition. It stalled.
	He cursed loudly and hit the control panel. The engine started. 
Schneider breathed a sigh of relief as his ship started to rise along 
the cliffside. He looked out the windshield and saw a shadow descend on 
the front of his ship.
	“What the-”
	It was then that Schneider looked up from his ship and saw the one 
disadvantage to being  near a cliff in an earthquake: cliffsides tend to 
collapse.
	Locuthis Schneider let out one last scream as he and his ship were 
utterly crushed in the falling rubble.

				*		*		*

	Samus and Houston were using their speed booster to get down the now 
rapidly collapsing hallway; Ridley was flying like a bullet.
	Everything was going down now. The doorway at the end was also blocked, 
making them come to a dead stop.
	The ground lit up as it started to crack like an eggshell about to 
explode with pure molten rock.
	Ridley grabbed both bounty hunters and flew through a newly formed gap 
in the ceiling as the ground beneath them exploded.They were in the 
final room now. 
	They ran through this last corridor as the floor collapsed inward and 
the ceiling caved in. Jets of steam burst from the walls. the occasional 
rock exploded.
	Houston had gotten out; the rest were nearing the door.
	A huge rock crashed from the ceiling and seperated Samus from the 
others; Ridley flew back in to grab her.
	Houston got a boulder off the ship. It would take a miracle for it to 
run now.
	Ridley grabbed Samus and ran for the door.
	Another boulder hit him on the back and he fell to the ground, dropping 
Samus.
	The floor’s steady caving in caught up with them, and Ridley started to 
fall.
	Samus caught him with the grappling beam, and used what power she had 
left in it to try to bring him back up.
	“Come on, don’t die on me now!” She strained as she tried to lift him.
	Another rock fell from the ceiling and hit Samus’ arm, breaking both 
her arm and the grappling beam.
	Ridley plummeted into the depths below.
	“Ridley!” Samus shouted in vain as she saw Ridley fall.
	“Samus! We have to go!’ Houston shouted as he opened the hatch to the 
ship.
	Samus turned and got inside of the ship. She felt an ache in her heart 
that was similar to when she had left Zebes without the Hatchling. She 
had even started to like him. Somewhat.
	Houston prayed silently as he turned the key to the ignition. The 
engine stalled.
	He shouted and hit the control panel. It still stalled. Lightning 
flashed in the skies outside.
	“Here, let me do it!’
	Samus opened a panel below and connected  a few wires.
	“Now try it!”
	Houston turned the key again and Samus’ ship reluctantly started and 
lifted off just as the ground beneath them melted.
	They lifted off Tsebnash as the mountains turned red and slumped into 
pools of lava, as all the vegetation burned up, as it started to erupt.
	The entire planet erupted in a flaming blast worthy of some of the 
planets that the Kihunters had destroyed in their past raids. One ship 
was seen rocketing out of that blast relatively charred, but with its 
passengers unharmed.

		CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: RESOLUTIONS


	Samus looked back at the flaming debris flying from the planet, and a 
small tear welled up for  Ridley; more sympathy than he had ever gotten 
before for anything.
	“What is it, Samus? I haven’t seen you this emotional since-”
	“Never mind, Houston. Just fly us back.”

				*		*		*

	The celebrations of the victory were tremendous. All over Kihunter 
bodies were burned as the cleanup started.
	On Earth, the main heroes of the war were decorated like kings. Now, 
back to where we left off; the direct aftermath.

	Houston supported Samus as they made their way down the corridors of 
the station to meet with The Chairman and Hardy, who said over the 
intercom that they had a lot to tell them.
	They met with Hardy about halfway.
	“You’re here! Samus, houston, we-”
	“Tell us on the way, Hardy. We’re a little tired right now.”
	Hardy started walking with them to Keaton’s office.
	“So, Houston,” he inquired, “How did you react when Samus told you that 
you were her brother?”
	They stopped dead. 
	Houston turned towards Samus.
	“What?”
	“Sorry, I didn’t have a chance to tell you. You’re Solomon Aran.”
	“Is it okay if I still go by Armstrong A. Houston?”
	“Fine by me. By the way, Hardy, in the future, use your big mouth for 
eating.”
	They laughed.

				*		*		*

	On Earth, there were more celebrations, ceremonies, and news crews then 
you could imagine.
	In between the festivities, Samus, Houston, Keaton, Hardy, and Gul’Gen 
generally rested in a little room that could easily be blocked off from 
the news media. At those points in time, they each explained things 
about what happened on their side of the final battle.
	As it turned out, Gul’Gen had left the station to rally up the Chozo at 
about the same time that Samus flipped out. The remaining Chozo had 
teamed up with the remaining Torizo to fight. The long enmity that had 
been going on between the two races was over.
	Keaton had given back to the chozo and the Torizo their original 
planets, and had decided to make several laws for their protection, so 
they could once again flourish.
	A few Metroids were gathered from Ghanis, so work on that little breed 
could easily continue.
	For Ridley there would be a memorial service, not for who he was, but 
for who he became. His memory would live always as a symbol of 
redemption.
	A knock came at the door.
	“I told you, no interviews between 9:00 and 10:00!” Keaton shouted.
	“Oh, I think you’ll want to see me.” came a voice from the other end.
	“What? How?” Samus attempted to run toward the door (her arm was broken 
in three places, after all).
	She unlocked it, and Ridley stepped in.
	Sure, he looked as though someone had used him as a charcoal briquette, 
but it was Ridley.
	“How did you survive the explosion?” Houston almost shouted.
	“I didn’t. I got off the planet before it blew up.
	“And just how exactly did you do that?”
	“I flew up through the ceiling and got out before it all blew up. My 
escape was probably narrower than yours because I can’t take as much 
heat as your ship.”
	“Why didn’t you come here earlier?”
	“I couldn’t I had to heal a bit first.”
	“Welcome back, Ridley. Welcome back.”
	Ridley sat down with the rest of them.
	“Call the doctor for me before you use me as a float in the next 
parade, oxay? Also,” he said, turning towards Samus, “Do you forgive me, 
for betraying everyone?”
	“Don’t worry, Ridley. I forgive you. We all do. My only question is, 
what are you going to do now?”
	“If I live to the average lifespan of my species,” Ridley said, “I 
should have about a hundred years left on me. That should be long enough 
to rebuild my life. I’ll spend a lot of that time, though, with 
Gul’Gen.”
	They stopped talking and sat down to rest a little. 
	Today was going to be a busy day. A very busy day.


			         THE END