Chapter 394: Metroid
Of course, after a few twists here and there, with some turns from there and here...
With a bit of resourcefulness and the terrors of the unnamed planet involved...
The new Predator story eventually ended
And boy... was it a wild one?
The big bad Yautja, who looks to have the upper hand in almost every aspect, had been vanquished.
The unassuming Samus wasn't actually that unassuming at all. His skills and especially his armor were actually quite special than how it looked at first glance.
A yellowish sheen shone on it, however, that glory was dampened...
Aside from all the wear and tear and battering... there's also the familiar phosphor-green blood splayed across it. It was just that trope of a Predator story.
It meant that the Yautja was finally down... but at a cost...
Not far from the corpse of the fallen was the blasted container. Inside it... a mushed-up Metroid.
Although the enemy was dead... the package was compromised.
Both the Predator and the Metroid. A bit poetic, isn't it?
As for Samus' survival... it's hard to say. This was one dangerous planet he was stranded on, after all.
The same could be said for the matter of escape. Given the situation, it's highly improbable!
Indeed, it was quite the attrition but at a cost.
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Then again, just as the grim silence and picturesque panels capped off this book... there were still a few pages left.
The silent bounty hunter's comms actually managed to intercept a signal.
Samus hurriedly pulled through... and a prompter from the Galactic Federation was received.
The stranded bounty hunter reported what had transpired... explained the situation... and requested evac while he was at it.
Information was corroborated and as it turns out... the rogue Hish ambush for the special Metroid wasn't the only one.
There was also another incident that had transpired.
Samus's team wasn't the only one designated with the transport of SR388 Metroids.
There's actually a separate and much bulkier space vessel. This one was for research. With much plentiful Metroid samples, of course.
In a bit of conspiracy and at around the same time as the Yautja's attack, Space Pirates had actually ransacked the other one.
Whilst Samus somewhat prevailed... the researcher-manned team had lost devastatingly.
The dangerous Metroids had been usurped by even more dangerous people... and a lot was at stake!
Ridley's crew was plotting something and a planet called Zebes was at the core of it.
Hence... the Galactic Federation's hurriedly made a request...
For Samus, the nearest and somewhat-Metroid-experienced bounty hunter, to take up the task...
To which... the bounty hunter agreed...
And...
That was it!
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Why?
Why would he take up that offer in the first place? Wasn't this Galactic Federation just sending him up to die?
Hadn't he just gone through a lot?
Why did his countenance suddenly perk up when Space Pirates were mentioned?
Does he have some sort of interest or grudge against them or something? Or maybe it was this Ridley character specifically? Who even was this Ridley?
Do those Space Pirates have more Yautjas, too?
Were there actually more of those blobs in existence? Why were these Metroids so special in the first place?
What was going to happen at Zebes?
More importantly... when?
With such a cliffhanger, questions can't help but rain. Especially when they thought about the fact that the continuation might only be available next October.
That was going to be an agonizing and long, long wait!
For such an amazing story, it sure has quite the catch, doesn't it?
Also, what does Samus Aran look like in the first place? Were they supposed to just know him by his cool-armored visage?
In essence, [The Predator and the Metroid] really riled up quite a lot of thoughts and inquisitions.
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Well... that was actually great!
In the opinion of Creed Entertainment and comic book store representatives.
Were they just that sadistic in relishing in their customer base's confusion and dissatisfaction?
Probably but mostly no!
The public's reaction was great... because it will help in sales.
Not just the sales of this Octoberian Volume Book, of course.
It will help with the sales of a certain video game as well.
Obviously, these all just points to one thing...
Just a few days after [The Predator and the Metroid]... just Metroid was back again in the picture.
Metroid.
The 9th game in the Creed Games' roster.
Situated at 9/9 in every Creed Chaos System ever.
General comic fans can't help but be a bit speechless at such a timely turn of events.
It's as if it was all planned from the get-go.
Could this be another Top Gun and Flight and Fight scenario?
And lo and behold... they were right.
How did they know?
Well... a lot of them brought the GameKeys right away!
Some had complaints about the blatant capitalism but hey... they were here for it.
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Anyhows... Metroid.
A video game with a plot that goes as follows.
In the year 20X5, the Space Pirates attack a Galactic Federation-owned space research vessel and seize samples of Metroid creatures, parasitic lifeforms discovered on the planet SR388.
Dangerous floating organisms, the Metroids can latch on to any organism and drain its life energy to kill it.
The Space Pirates plan to replicate Metroids by exposing them to beta rays and then using them as biological weapons to destroy all living beings that oppose them.
While searching for the stolen Metroids, the Galactic Federation locates the Space Pirates' base of operations on the planet Zebes.
The Federation assaults the planet, but the Pirates resist, forcing the Federation to retreat.
As a last resort, the Federation decides to send a lone bounty hunter to penetrate the Pirates' base and do what they've collectively failed to do.
Quite the connective plot, isn't it? It's as if this was a sequel to a comic book story.
Aside from the obvious, just knowing Alexander Creed's way of doing things is enough assurance that this is truly the case.
Predator didn't just go inter-planetary... it sort of jumped into video game territory as well.
Sort of?
This seems to be Samus' story now, after all.
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Then again, this is sort of their story too.
With Metroid being an action-adventure game in which the player controls Samus... it kind of is.
A bit wild considering that they've just read up on this bounty hunter from days ago.
Granted, it was actually fun to play futuristic bounty hunter.
With the game taking place on the alluded planet of Zebes... Samus takes on a large, open-ended world with areas connected by doors and elevators.
Traveling through the planet's caverns and hunting Space Pirates.
It all begins with just a weak power beam as the only weapon, and with only the ability to jump. The scuffle with that Predator must have scuffed him up pretty badly.
However, by exploring more areas and collecting power-ups, Samus is granted special abilities and enhance her armor and weaponry, allowing entry into areas that were previously inaccessible or just plain hard.
Among the power-ups that are included in the game is the Morph Ball, which allows Samus to curl into a ball to roll into tunnels. Probably related to the popular Sonic when one thinks about it.
The Bomb, which can only be used while in ball form and can open hidden floors or wall paths.
And the Screw Attack, a somersaulting move that destroys enemies in its path.
Through these upgrades, ranging from missiles, energy tanks, the morph ball, bombs, screw attack (lightning ball), and the ice beam.
Samus will be able to dispatch all the alien creatures who get in the way.
It's not just these common enemies and Metroids that he was up against though.
He actually comes across another Yautja... a boss-type character... probably related to the other Yautja that was dispatched.
Of course, the Predator race wasn't the only one... there's also Kraid. Another ally of the Space Pirates.
Then, the commander of this darned collective that Samus was up against... the draconic Ridley! Something that he has quite a history with!
If that wasn't enough... there is still actually a true big bad behind all these big bads.
The Mother Brain!
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Just as how [The Predator and The Metroid] had so many twists and turns... Metroid was all the same.
With the lack of a map and the non-linearity of the gameplay... there sure are plenty of those.
This turn on this corner had this twist... and this twist had this turn.
With such peculiar gameplay, it might as well be a sub-genre in of itself!
Metroid-esque? Metroid-like? Metroid-vane?
It's hard to get something that rolls off the tongue. When something called Castlevania is released though... something should come up.
Of course, that would still take a while...
Just like how it will take a while for the game's final twist to be revealed.
No... it wasn't Mother Brain!
No... it wasn't the time bomb escape scenario!
The true twist was actually the identity of Samus Aran!
This was the reveal that will shock quite a lot. With that bulky Power Suit and the voicelessness of speech bubbles being blamed.
The fandom will be so bamboozled that Fanboy and many other fanboys can't help but wonder...
Was their idol and idol's company just that good at subversive marketing?
Or were they just that bad when it came to girls?