Part 7: The Plot to Metroid Part 4

Let's Read Up On Metroid's Story!

Part 4: Note to self, the elf is Kreatz and the gorilla is Mauk

So we ended the last volume with the reveal that the Chozo are working with the Space Pirates because peace is best achieved through superior firepower or something, probably easier to say that Mother Brain has snapped and we need to finish her off.


I like how you can see Ridley's ship from Zero Mission in there, despite this manga coming out two years before Zero Mission, it's almost like it's canon or something

Chapter 8: Scar

So we open with Ridley tossing Samus around and calling her a defective bio-weapon, while Gray Voice notes that Samus is acting oddly and isn't fighting back, so suggests that Ridley's presence may be causing her to show symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (no, seriously, they actually call it that) Samus can't breathe and loses her suit because she lacks the will to keep it on. (not explained as such here but I realized I forgot to mention that her suit is controlled by her willpower earlier) Ridley is mildly surprised to see Samus is a girl and thinks he's seen her before while Samus tries to crawl away from him. Gray Voice informs him that Samus is a survivor of K-2L, which makes Ridley pissed as he remembers his ship getting shot down and spilling space fuel all over the place, burning him badly so that he was forced to survive by eating foul human flesh.


Also implies that everyone who survived the Space Pirate attack was burned alive

Gray Voice scolds Ridley for telling a ridiculous story, to which Ridley replies that it's not as bad as the one Gray Voice told about Samus joining with the Space Pirates. Gray Voice tells Ridley to shut up and respect his leaders, so Ridley says he would show Gray Voice some respect if he got his hands dirty and killed Samus. Meanwhile, we cut to Pyonchi, Kreatz and Mauk as they look down on a lab with some Space Pirates in vats with Chozo being held prisoner. As they plan their attack the doors open and Samus is brought in by Gray Voice and Ridley. Gray Voice explains that he can't kill Samus due to some mental guard that prevents Chozo from harming others. Ridley scoffs at this but Gray Voice reminds him that he's their leader and doesn't need to attack, and also that when Samus recovers her fully powered Power Suit she will be released and join the Space Pirates. In the meantime, they need to prepare for the Federation attack. Ridley points out that with their technology now belonging to the Space Pirates they don't need the other Chozo.


That's cold, man, ice cold

Chapter 9: Counterattack

With Gray Voice's permission, Ridley starts killing some Chozo by grabbing one around the neck with his tail and choking him to death. Mauk can't stand seeing the Chozo attacked because this Chozo is the one who encouraged his species to join the Galactic Federation, so he orders their ship that they parked on the surface to start up and fire all it's missiles everywhere. The explosions on the surface cause the place to quake, making Ridley pissed cause he doesn't know what's going on, he lets go of the Chozo but turns his attention to Samus, asking her where her friends are and what they did to cause that explosion. Gray Voice orders him to stand down, reasoning that Samus is a lone wolf operative who likely set the explosion earlier to cover her escape. However, the explosion has damaged some equipment that can only be fixed by the Chozo, who are allowed to live until they fix it. He then orders the Space Pirates to start searching for Samus's ship and to beware Federation scouts.


Ridley, bewildered by this "leadership" thing he just witnessed

Gray Voice turns to Samus and asks what her parents would think of her lying there cuffed on the floor, crying. He calls her pitiful while leaving. Kreatz and Mauk come out of hiding to rescue the Chozo and Samus, but instead Samus starts screaming for them to kill her.

Chapter 10: Phoenix I


Big one is Mauk, little one is Kreatz, man I really should have found a better scene to introduce them

Kreatz asks the rescued Chozo 'what the fuck?' and they say that Samus is now remembering the massacre on K-2L that she's been repressing all these years. Samus herself isn't exactly helpful, mostly muttering ill omens about having no place to hide, no way to fight, everyone dies. We then flashback to Samus walking through fire and seeing Ridley sitting atop the crashed Space Pirate ship.


Samus, honey, you're got some of daddy on your cheek there

Samus continues her freak out, with Kreatz trying to remind her of the kids she saved on Jigrad, but Samus only starts to calm down when the Chozo start talking to her, telling her that it's alright, she can cry if she wants to, because they're family. She cries. We cut to Ridley flying outside, listening in on Space Pirate communications as they're all panicking, unable to figure out what to do. Ridley asks for Gray Voice to give them further instructions when he's given a report that the Chozo have escaped. We cut back to the Chozo, with Kreatz and Mauk taking out Space Pirates with ease as they lead the Chozo to their ship, Samus walking head bowed in the back. A Space Pirate leaps out from hiding behind the group and is about to attack when Samus blows him away with a her arm cannon.

Chapter 11: Phoenix II

Samus is back in her Power Suit and seems to be normal again, noting that they need to hurry as there's only an hour left until the Federation starting carpet bombing the place. Kreatz asks if Samus is really alright, and she says yes, sorry for making you worry, I'm fine. Kreatz and Mauk snicker a bit as Samus never says sorry, but they move on anyway as Gray Voice watches them from on high. He reminisces about Samus growing into a woman then flies off, which causes Samus's suit to flash briefly. We cut to Mother Brain ordering around the Space Pirates as Gray Voice busts in with a Power Suit and a Fuck Off Cannon staff rod thing, saying he's come to settle things and starts shooting the place up. When Mother Brain asks what he's doing he says that the Chozo are not expendable, and fires a shot at Mother Brain, which causes him to collapse. Mother Brain notes that the mental guards that prevent Chozo from harming others are still active, so he's in considerable pain trying to attack them and is probably going to die, but he plans to take them with him.


If you stop and think about it, the Chozo could be considered the real villains in Metroid...

Mother Brain trying counterattacking, but can't figure out the weapon Gray Voice is using, since it's an old relic from before her creation. Gray Voice calls Mother Brain a fool for thinking she could be the master of the universe, afraid as she is of the potential life can have, and jealous of Samus for proving that potential. She says he's wrong in that voice you hear when somebody knows they can't argue back but do so anyway, you know that voice right? The one that says, "No, you're wrong, because you're wrong, so you're wrong!" Yeah, that voice. Just accept the truth, idiot. Now where was I?

Chapter 12: Phoenix III

Samus and company are checking out the Space Pirates ships when the Chozo tell Samus that Gray Voice was going along with Mother Brain's plan, waiting for an opportunity to retaliate from the start. They didn't consider rescue to be an option and had decided to die in order to destroy Mother Brain. Samus points out that they could have called for her help, and says that she can hear Gray Voice's thoughts telling her to flee. The Chozo ponder that, since the Chozo DNA used to enhance Samus belonged to Gray Voice, they could be considered father and daughter, at least on a genetic level. Samus takes off at this, but is stopped by Kreatz pointing out that they need her in order to make it off the planet.


That's no moon...

Cut back to Gray Voice fighting Mother Brain, mocking her, saying she's afraid of Samus and the possibilities she can create. Ridley drops in to stir shit up as Mother Brain meekly asks for his help. Ridley then gets his shit wreaked as Gray Voice beats him up, but the mental guard is causing too much strain and Gray Voice falls to his knees, giving Ridley the chance to piece his heart. We cut back to Samus and company already on a ship taking off with Space Pirates in pursuit, Samus on the outside of the ship shooting them down. As the ship is leaving orbit we see Gray Voice crawling towards a Chozo statue, Ridley taunting him all the while, pointing out that his ships are pursuing Samus and will shoot them out of the sky. Gray Voice raises his weapon and blasts a fighter out of the sky, then Ridley uses his plasma breathe to incinerate Gray Voice as he prays for Samus to use her strength to help others. The ship Samus is on makes it into space, but finds only the Space Pirate Mothership with no Federation Army in sight.


Insert witty comment about Adam's cock size here

The Chozo who has a name but I can't be bothered to remember it remarks that they'll be able to reunite with the ones who escaped before them and that this is a happy ending now. Samus vows to use her Power Suit for good and calls Gray Voice 'Father'.

Chapter 13: Hunter

We skip ahead a few years. Mauk is now a commander investigating a recent Space Pirate attack, and finds that all the bodies on the station are mummified. We cut to Daiban where Adam is discussing Mother Brain's activities with Chairman Keaton, who suspects Mother Brain is up to something and wonders if the humans have their secret weapon ready. Pyonchi is also there for some reason. Cue Mysterious Woman is a dress walking in the breeze. Then we're at a ceremony of some kind where Keaton is accepting flowers from a girl. The Mysterious Woman breaks from the crowd and rushes the stage. Some guards try to stop her but she's easily able to take them out with kung-fu, then shouts to Adam to grab the flowers and toss them. He does. The flowers turn into a big mutant thing that charges for Keaton. The Mysterious Woman jumps in front of the little girl and her arm turns into a cannon. She the blasts the monster. Turns out it was Samus. She's a bounty hunter now, and charges Adam 3500 space bucks for killing the monster for him.

Chapter 14: Confidence

Mauk is tailing Ridley's ship. They notice him but Ridley says to ignore him, as he's got bigger fish to fry, then reveals that they have Metroid now. We cut to Chief Hardy giving a briefing on SR-388. A team of scientists found the planet three months ago, and estimated that 80% of it's life was wiped out, calling it a dead world. They try to investigate the cause but are attacked. Samus recognizes the attackers as Metroids and explains that the Chozo created them. Keaton remarks that this explains why Mother Brain attacked the ship that was carrying a Metroid sample. He expositions about how they managed to destroy the Space Pirate Mothership years ago, but that Mother Brain is still protected by Zebes harsh environment, which she has turned to her advantage by making the entire planet her fortress. Samus asks what they want her to do now. We then cut to some kids bullying some other kids.


Pyonchi is having none of that shit

The kids see Samus entering a research lab. Inside, Samus has bomb and missile data uploaded into her suit. Adam remarks that Samus shouldn't forget that she can't be a warrior all the time. Samus says she can while doing a badass pose. Keaton tells her to be careful, and Samus expositions a bit how this Zero Mission has to go under the radar, and since she knows so much about Zebes she's the perfect person for the job. As she leaves she sees Pyonchi playing with the kids in a park.

Chapter 15: Tooth and Nail

Mother Brain is monologuing to herself about beasts and brains and rocking things to sleep to become ruler of the universe when she notices Samus has landed. Samus is fighting the wildlife, who have become more violent than ever, almost like they are protecting Mother Brain, and Samus asks if that is what she wants, to rule over mindless beasts. Mother Brain sends out Kraid and talks to Samus about reseting everything to Zero. Samus says fuck you, I believe in the future. But she's wounded from Kraid's attack and collapses soon after.


This a Star Wars reference? I think it could count but I'm not sure...

Chapter 16: The Successors

Gray Voice says that in battle, everyone becomes a beast, and that he doesn't want Samus to make the same mistakes he had, the same sacrifice. Samus admits that she's not sure if this is the right thing to do, as a Chozo successor, but that there are things she wants to protect and is willing to sacrifice herself for them. We cut to Adam fighting Ridley in a space battle which looks like it's going badly for him when suddenly Ridley's ship leaves for Zebes. Adam realizes Ridley is leaving to attack Samus and orders his ship after them. We then cut to Kreatz and Mauk but I honestly can't care about them so we'll skip ahead to... oh, okay, the next cut is to the girl at space academy, the one Samus saved earlier, don't care for her either, Pyonchi is there though. Next it's Samus talking to Gray Voice about what she's done the last few years, thinking she's strong but wondering if she's mistaken at thinking that. Gray Voice simply says she's grown taller.


Pictured: what every little girl wants for their birthday

Gray Voice says that the Chozo's tasks are finished, and that the future should be left up to their successors. Suddenly, Ridley! He attacks but doesn't even scratch her Varia Suit. She shouts that she's not who she was before, and will kill him by the count of three. One Wave Beam, Ice Beam and Missile later...


Personally would have gone with "EAT THIS!" but I can guess why that might be a sore spot for you

After a fist clench and victory yell Samus heads for Tourian, which she doesn't realize she's found until she sees Metroids everywhere. She says Metroids are no longer what the Chozo wanted them to be and that she'll stop them and Mother Brain.



And that's the official origin story of Samus! Kinda skips over the second half of Zero Mission, but this manga did come out before that game so it's understandable. Next time, we'll be looking at more manga.