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Samus scowled at the entrance to the massive building. Its door was several stories tall and wide enough for a space freighter. Dull thumps and grunts echoed out from behind it, sounds that brought back anxious memories from Samus’s previous missions. Her eyes went to the smaller door cut into the gargantuan gate.

She was on a journey with heroes from across the multiverse to defeat a powerful cosmic entity that was enslaving reality, and she had hit a snag. The malevolent creatures that assailed them in this realm were becoming too powerful for her, at least without her lost armor. With no way to replace her Power Suit, one of her teammates recommended visiting one of these dojos run by masters they had freed from the ensnaring magic of the cosmic entity.

So Samus trekked across the strange realm, visiting the dojos in each land. The owners of them seemed to be chosen arbitrarily by the magic of the multi-dimensional place. Some were led by accomplished fighters and skilled warriors, while others were run by athletics coaches, machines, and even animals! While each offered improvements to skills such as jumping, grappling, and speed, none of them gave her what she needed.

But this one did. It was just a shame which random organism from across the multiverse was chosen to head it. Steeling herself, she opened the door.

The inside of the dojo was much like the others she visited. The walls and floor had a green and beige color scheme, with large windows and doors that matched the scale of the entrance. The center of the room was left open with a cushioned mat covering it. Display cabinets and shelves surrounded the fighting area. The previous dojos Samus had entered held peculiar objects from their master’s world, some cute, some impressive, and a few ridiculous. However, the mounted skulls of alien creatures and armored spacesuits that occupied those trophy holders were all too familiar to the intrepid bounty hunter.

As was the massive, green-scaled behemoth that turned to meet her.

Kraid let out a mighty roar at Samus that shook the ground. She braced herself, reaching for her stun gun and wishing she had her Power Suit. After a few tense seconds, the creature eased slightly, though his eyes burned with contempt. He snarled at the bounty hunter, and it took Samus a second to realize the beast was just acknowledging her.

“I’m here for your training,” Samus declared.

A curious sound came from the creature.

“We need to fight back this cosmic entity, but I don’t have my armor,” Samus explained. “So, I figured your training would… help me.”

Saying that made her sick, but it was true. Without her Power Suit, she lacked the raw power and armor to continue the fight. The other dojos’ offerings were enticing, and their masters were far more amicable, but they couldn’t improve her strength and endurance nearly as much as Kraid’s training. While she wasn’t too keen on receiving help from one of her enemies, she knew only he could give her the edge she needed in the upcoming battles.

Kraid leaned in closer, his three red eyes studying Samus. He huffed and puffed a few times, clearly no happier of the arrangement than Samus.

“Look, do you want to live or not?” Samus spat. “All of our worlds are about to be destroyed, and my team and I are the only thing that can stop it. Now, are you going to help me, or are you just going to sit there and let yourself be enslaved again?”

Kraid roared at Samus, his heavy stomps shaking the dojo. His tantrum sunk into sulky muttering, occasionally stealing glances at the armorless Samus. At last, the creature nodded.

“All right,” Samus said, dipping into her fighting stance. “Let’s get started.”

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The clone’s sword slashed Samus hard, sending her into the air. However, the last few training sessions she had with Kraid were paying off. Her increased weight kept her from trailing too far off into the distance, and her thicker skin made the blow sting less. She righted herself in the air and landed with a thud on the battlefield.

Samus’s hand went to her stun gun. Unfortunately, her altered fingers messed with her natural rhythm, making the action more clumsy. Luckily for her, she whipped the weapon out just in time to hit the swordsman square in the chest. Her opponent shook in electrified agony.

Samus smirked, holstering her weapon. While her digits didn’t allow her to use her weapons quite as effectively, they did come with a new advantage. Samus wound up and swiped her clawed hand across the swordsman’s face. Unable to block, the strike took the last bit of strength out of the swordsman, and it exploded in a burst of light.

Samus’s smile widened at the sight, then sunk when she looked back at her hand. The blue fabric of her zero suit had ripped around the white claws of her middle and ring fingers, revealing how they were growing as her other fingers dwindled. She looked to her other hand to see that, while the glove was holding, it was changing similarly. She went for her gun again as fast as she could, but her altered hands fumbled, causing her pistol to clatter to the ground. Samus huffed. It seemed Kraid’s training came with some unwanted side effects.

However, it also had some serious benefits. Samus felt stronger, stronger than she ever had outside her suit. And bigger, too! She had reach, even on armed opponents, and while her larger size made her a bigger target, her thickened skin and muscle absorbed most damage. But not all.

With her adrenaline draining, the aches and pains of the fight came full force. Samus groaned. The clones were certainly not letting up, and she was no closer to finding her Chozo armor. And while Kraid was temperamental and childish, he was honestly a very good teacher. She was clearly growing a lot under his tutelage, if the strained fabric over her bulking body was any indication.

“Maybe just a few more sessions,” Samus reasoned. “Just enough to get by.”

“And who knows, maybe I’ll get some of those weird spike launchers in my stomach.” The absurd idea tickled her.

------------------

Samus lumbered forward, swiping with her claws at the brawler. He nimbly dodged the strike, then jumped in and landed a nasty uppercut on her forming muzzle.

Samus reeled and landed with a thump on the ground. This brawler was no joke. Even with her doubled size and strength, she just couldn’t get her body to move fast enough to catch him. She needed to hit him with something, or this fight was going to end badly for her. She rose up and saw the brawler charging toward her.

In a moment of inspiration, Samus twirled, bringing her new, thick tail about. The brawler had just enough time to duck past the heavy object, but Samus wasn’t trying to hit him with that. Her blue eyes gleaming, she came back around, her left claw grasping the clone’s right arm.

Samus squeezed tightly and brought the fighter in close. She opened wide, bit down on the clones left shoulder, then tossed the clone over her shoulder. He sailed into the air. Now was the perfect time for a stun shot! Samus reached for her pistol, but only hit air.

“Damn,” she cursed herself. She should have known better. After more sessions with Kraid, her human weaponry just didn’t suit her anymore, but her muscle memory lingered.

She lurched forward, the ground trembling with each heavy step. The fighter landed in a heap a few paces ahead, dazed and unguarded. Samus’s charge accelerated, becoming a freight train of half-human, half-alien mass. The fighter got up just in time for Samus to slam her chubby body right into him. The fighter's body couldn't handle the impact and burst into light.

Samus heaved a relieved sigh. Her body was bigger, her muscles were stronger, and her skin was tougher. Her teeth and claws were sharpening and growing in size. She was even starting to see more thanks to a small new eye growing on her forehead. But despite all these Kraid-boons, she was having difficulty taking down these tougher foes, especially now that she couldn’t use her gear.

“Maybe I should stop,” Samus thought. She could always go back and visit that weird pink Pokemon, return to normal, and get back all her equipment. But then she’d be back at square one, and these enemies were tougher than before.

She sighed, looking over at a reflective surface to see her reflection. She was starting to resemble Kraid. Her zero suit was unable to fit her taller and wider body, so she had switched into an oversized pair of her old two-piece skivvies which revealed how her skin was turning green and cracking into scales. Her tubby belly had lost its button, replaced with three bumps she reasoned would become her spike-launchers. Turning to the side slightly, she whipped her tail into view, the operation of the thing oddly natural to her despite it appearing only three training sessions ago. She looked up to her face, whose shape was extended out to make room for her larger and sharper teeth. She was unsettled by the tiny third eye on her forehead staring back at her. She turned away from the reflection.

Samus didn’t want to turn into a monster. At the same time, she needed to defeat the mighty foes before her. Without her Chozo armor, there was no way she could face these enemies. Not as herself, and probably not even as the hybrid she now was.

It stung, but Samus relented: “I need more training.”

It was unfortunate, but she reasoned it wasn’t all bad. During their last sessions, Kraid had sounded very pleased with her progress. Odder still, he seemed far more relaxed and even, dare she say, happy with her. He had shown excitement when Samus’s belly spikes started coming in, and the way he pantomimed his joy made her think he could hardly wait to teach her how to use them. And if Samus was being honest… she did want to try them out, too.

------------------

Finally, after pummeling hundreds of clones, trudging through endless expanses, and completing nearly every one of Kraid’s lessons and changes, Samus had arrived.

There, hovering within a column of green energy, was her Varia Suit. It remained suspended, casually rotating to allow onlookers to marvel at its sleek, ingenious design. Its red helmet and thin, green visor, its spherical shoulder-pads and powerful booster pack on the back, its flawless yellow and orange plating, its massive arm cannon; it was all glorious. In awe, Samus traveled toward it.

It took her about two earth-shaking, lumbering steps towards the mystic suit to come to an awful realization: her suit was now like a doll to her.

She peered down at her monstrous body. Her skin had hardened into green scales, their tone lighter on her long belly and darker on her back. Her fingers had twisted and stretched into two vicious claws, and her toes were now wicked talons. Her trim physique and feminine curves were a distant memory, her belly now round and possessing three spikes in a line which couldn't fire out yet but were nearly ready. A colossal tail dragged behind her, its end idly swishing back and forth. Her skull had elongated forward into a crocodile-like snout, complete with nasty teeth and a horn at its tip. A row of spikes cut through the last vestiges of her blonde hair, the final strands unable to conceal her elongated skull. The only part of her that was still all human were her eyes, but they now had a solid blue partner on her forehead, a preview of what they would soon look like. After training for so long with Kraid, his body had rubbed off on her, literally and tremendously.

Samus bent down and carefully cradled the suit in her hands. She knew what she had to do next: get the suit back to safety, visit that forgetful Pokemon to unlearn all of Kraid’s oddly-transformative training, and pretend this whole affair never happened.

Then she looked back at the path of destruction she had left in her wake. Walls were crumbled, weapons destroyed, machinery smashed, and an entire enemy army wiped out. And Samus had hardly broken a sweat!

She looked back down at her armor, torn. Kraid had indicated there were only a few more lessons, and she was starting to see another, kinder side of him, one that she suspected the Space Pirates forced him to suppress.

“It… would be premature to turn back now,” Samus reasoned. “And besides, this body is more ideal to fight this kind of enemy. When this is all over, I’ll get back to normal.”

Underneath her logic and professionalism, Samus held a secret giddiness. After all, she hadn’t used her spike launchers yet!

------------------

Kraid roared in jovial praise, patting Samus’s equally large and dominating back as the two waddled together off the dojo’s mat.

Samus happily barked back. The two’s sparring had gotten interesting since she had completed her metamorphosis into a Kraid-creature. Samus wasn’t trying to out-maneuver or find weak spots on him anymore; she was fighting him head-on, toe-to-toe, their raw strengths locked in combat. It was invigorating, and always made her feel good about her decision to finish her training, even if it had turned her into a gross monster.

Kraid pointed outside toward the growing amalgamation of light and dark, Samus and her team’s final foe. He then clasped his hands together like he was squashing a bug, then made an inquisitive sound.

Samus looked him square in the eyes and firmly grunted with a nod. She and her allies, both new comrades and former enemies, were ready for their biggest fight. And it was mostly thanks to Kraid, at least in Samus’s case.

Kraid grunted in agreement, paused, then pointed to Samus’s chest and made an inquiring noise. Confused, Samus pointed at herself, then Kraid, and returned the questioning grunt. Kraid nodded heartily, excitement flashing in his three eyes.

Samus made a surprised grunt, then vehemently shook her head. Why in the world would she agree to team up with someone as notorious as him, let alone join his species? Yes, the destructive power was nice, very nice, but she had other jobs to do that didn’t require that! Like…

Samus paused. She looked back at Kraid to see an emotion she’d never seen on the monster’s face before: disappointment. Curious, Samus stomped over to a collection of Space Pirate armor on one of the display shelves. She got Kraid’s attention, pointed down at the suits of armor, then back at Kraid.

The other gargantuan reptile waddled over. His eyes went from the equipment of his compatriots, to Samus, to the armors again. Without warning, he roared and smashed the suits, then gave an angry huff at the broken equipment. He looked back, pleading, at Samus, a grunt, almost a whine, gurgling up from his throat.

Samus was a little shocked by Kraid’s sudden betrayal. Sure, he wasn’t the smartest alien, but for him to give up everything just for the chance for her to stay the way she was? First of all, it was foolish to think that would be all it would take for Samus to give up her normal life. Secondly, there was nothing to prove that Kraid was telling the truth. Third-

Suddenly, the doors to the dojo burst open as Ridley whooshed in. The sight of his dark scales, wicked tail, and bat-like wings immediately boiled Samus’s blood. The space dragon settled on the ground, his fiery eyes burning. Immediately, he began barking at the two tubby reptilians, demanding Samus return to the group so they could finally end their awful alliance.

Ridley’s tirade was cut off by a launched spike nailing him square in the jaw. Flipping feet-over-head, the space dragon landed on his stomach with a pained gasp. Samus turned to see that the spike had come from Kraid! The enormous creature chortled until Ridley rose up. He glared at Kraid with such intense malice, it was a small wonder the crocodile alien didn’t burst into flames. Of course, the second spike that struck Ridley quickly reduced him to a laughingstock.

Samus grinned, relaxing her belly. Of all the targets for her first spike to strike, she was thrilled it was that detestable dragon. Kraid guffawed, slapping Samus on the back. Ridley slunk out as the dojo became a din of uproarious, monstrous laughter.

Settling down, Samus looked back at Kraid. His doey, hopeful look was back. Samus chuckled.

“Not in a million years,” Samus thought to herself. But she did pat him on the shoulder and smiled, which satisfied her training partner.

Bidding her new friend farewell, Samus headed out the door to join her team. As she marched with her allies towards the final battle, she contemplated her budding friendship with Kraid.

---------------

Samus sat outside on the lawn, her rear resting on the lush grass and her arms crossed. Her gaze was fixed on the gently waving blades. The cosmic entity that threatened the multiverse was destroyed and the various fighters she had teamed up with had gone their separate ways. Everything was back to normal, all but her.

Samus looked up, her three blue eyes shooting daggers at the Slowpoke staring vacantly off into the distance. She growled and lowered her head again. Other fighters had visited this strange creature and had their training from the realm’s dojos wiped, but for some reason, it just wasn’t working on her. And as long as she possessed Kraid’s training, she was stuck as a monster.

So here she sat for the past week with nothing to show for it. She seethed beside her inert trainer, but underneath that anger was a deep-rooted fear that this was indeed permanent.

The stillness was broken by the distant sound of blasting engines. While the Slowpoke remained comatose, Samus turned to see a spaceship heading towards them. She mistook it for a freighter at first, but as it drew closer, she realized it was an oversized personal transport.

The spacecraft set down nearby, its rockets blasting the peaceful meadow with fire and kicking up a hot wind. Samus rose from her spot, scowling at the lowering ramp beneath the gargantuan ship. Two green, taloned feet emerged first, then a rotund belly with one, two, three spikes jutting out of it. And finally, Samus caught the pilot’s red eyes.

“Kraid,” Samus mentally growled. “Why the hell is he here?”

Her spite dissipated slightly when she caught his expression. She expected him to be overjoyed his little apprentice was stuck like him, but instead, he looked like a scolded puppy. It was a little humorous to see such a titanic creature acting pitiful.

“Is he… sorry?” Samus tried to banish the ridiculous thought, but all the signs were there. Maybe Kraid was a little more compassionate than she thought.

Kraid offered a mewling hello; Samus only growled back. The monster looked over her shoulder at the passive pink creature and grunted in question. She huffed, ran her hands over her body as if to say “How do you think it’s going?”, then crossed her arms. Kraid looked toward the ground and nodded, pondering something.

Samus gave a sharp roar, getting Kraid’s attention once again. Staring him down, she demanded to know what he wanted. She assumed he wanted her to join him in marauding across the galaxy with his Space Pirate buddies. The very idea boiled Samus’s blood. It didn’t matter if she was like Kraid or Ridley or even Mother Brain itself; she would never be like them!

Kraid groaned, then turned back to his ship, beckoning Samus to follow. She shook her head. Kraid gave a pleading sound. Samus sighed. If it would get him to leave, then fine.

Traveling up the ramp, Samus was honestly impressed at the ship’s design. It seemed that the Space Pirates had outfitted his craft with oversized controls and displays, as well as creating small creature comforts fit for a monster the size of a three-story building. Of course, that also meant it suited her, much to her disdain.

Kraid moved over to a display and, using his claws on the gigantic keyboard, pulled up a log. At first, it was in an alien language, but with a few button presses, the text switched to a format Samus could read. Kraid moved aside, calling Samus over. While she was still perturbed by Kraid, she figured the sooner this was over, the sooner she could go back to training, or more accurately, nothing.

Science Team 304: Log 1
We’ve received orders from High Command that we are to start work on the Genetic Manipulator ASAP. It sounds like the idea of combining the DNA of various creatures to augment our forces was well received, as it should be. With this kind of device, we could give our soldiers the energy-siphoning capabilities of a Metroid, the strength and speed of Leader Ridley, or even craft our own hybrid-clones of the detestable Hunter. Preliminary work on the machinery has begun, and test subjects are being rounded up. By this time next month, a new generation of soldiers will be born!

Samus mulled over the log. First of all, she was appalled they even considered splicing her DNA with anything, let alone make clones of her! Second, this device sounded like serious trouble. If regular Space Pirates suddenly had the abilities of a Metroid or powers like Ridley, the galaxy would be in serious trouble. And third…

“Genetic Manipulator,” Samus read again. Could she maybe use this device to get back to normal?

She checked the date. It was written over one galactic month. If everything had gone well, it would have been completed. She turned to Kraid, who seemed to know what she was thinking. He nodded, and pointed to his navigation computer with an inquisitive grunt.

“Alright, fine,” Samus attempted to say, but only a muttering growl of affirmation came out. Kraid’s mood rose, happily trotting over to the autopilot and typing in the coordinates to the planet.

For a moment, Samus considered what was happening. This could have been a trap. It made sense; get Kraid to take her away, surround her with an army of Space Pirates, then begin the process of breaking her, forcing her to work for them. But as the ship lifted off, Samus felt determined. They couldn’t stop her when all she had was her Power Suit; there was no way they would bring her down as a behemoth.

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Kraid’s vessel sailed through the stars. Inside, the two beasts sat in silence. Samus kept to herself, occasionally glancing at the navigation computer to check how close they were. She also stole a few glances at Kraid, who seemed to be doing likewise. At last, about halfway through their trip, Samus broke the silence.

She pointed to the planet at the end of the trip tracker and grunted. Kraid rose up and pulled up another log on the display screen. She checked the planet’s name, and was surprised to see that it was one of the uncharted worlds in the Federation database. There shouldn’t be a Space Pirate base there!

“Should he really be showing me all this?” Samus wondered. She looked over to Kraid who only shrugged and looked away.

“Well, if he’s not going to stop me,” Samus mused. She looked down at the keyboard, deciphering a few of the common symbols, and started typing in some queries. She turned to Kraid, who seemed unconcerned with her unauthorized access to Space Pirate information.

Poring through the data on Kraid’s computer, Samus learned that the base they were headed to was one of the top-secret auxiliary bases of the Space Pirates, and a surprisingly big one, too. Orbital defenses had been installed, several major research projects were located in its large planetside facility, and it even possessed large data centers to serve as back-ups for the terabytes of data produced across the Space Pirate enterprise. This base was definitely key to Space Pirate operations.

This didn’t sit right with Samus. Why was he letting her know all this, and why was he allowing her to use Space Pirate tech? She pressed Kraid again about his possible betrayal. He only shrugged again. Samus barked back, unwilling to accept such a nonchalant answer anymore. He mulled over her demand, then walked over to the computer, brought up another Space Pirate log, and sat back down.

Samus checked the data; it was dated several years prior. Apparently, the Space Pirates had discovered a race of humongous reptilian creatures in the depths of space. Powerful and unruly, the Space Pirates had tried to reign in the creatures, to very little success. Never ones for ethics or mercy, the Pirates’ techniques often killed the subjects, steadily exterminating the species. There was only one success. After months of cruel neurological surgeries and painful biological manipulations, the Pirates had wrangled one of the reptilians under their sway: KR-41D, or “KRAID”.

Samus looked over at Kraid. He was looking out the cockpit window at the streaks of stars zooming by.

The logs could have been forged or edited to make him look like the victim. In fact, there was a chance Kraid made those entries himself. At the same time, the story definitely had all the dressings of a typical Space Pirate project. But most convincing for Samus was the time she had spent with Kraid. He was a brute, a glutton, and a dolt, but he wasn’t a liar.

She waddled over, wrapping her arm around him. Kraid leaned in. Two orphans of the Space Pirates, journeying across the cosmos.
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The ship slowed as it neared its destination. The ethereal effects of faster-than-light travel dissipated, revealing a distant green dot that quickly enlarged into a lush orb locked in orbit to a nearby yellow sun. Closer still, some satellites and a space station came into view, all bearing the mark of the Space Pirates.

Samus and Kraid had gone over the plan a few times. Kraid would come out first, demanding to try out the Genetic Manipulation. Then he would figure out how the machine worked, get the scientists out, take Samus there, and turn her back. Samus thought the plan didn’t account for her moving through the base, and she wasn’t sure how Kraid expected to get everyone out of the lab where the device would be, but she didn’t have any other idea, besides plan B: smash their way there.

Over the communicator, the sound of a Pirate came through. Samus bared her teeth, but kept quiet. Even if this wasn’t a trap, using their technology to fix her condition didn’t sit well with her. Considering all the inhumane methods they used to test and assure their technology, she felt like she was stepping over the skulls of hundreds of innocents to get back her humanity. But there was no other recourse, and besides, she could always destroy it once she was back to normal. The thought brought a smile to her reptilian muzzle.

Kraid answered with an irritated murmur, then took to his keyboard to send his authorization code. For a moment, Samus wondered if they would let him in, but thankfully, a happy jingle announced their admittance. Undisturbed, Kraid’s craft descended toward the surface.

The vessel settled down with a hard thunk. Samus slunk over to the back of the ship away from the ramp. Kraid stepped over to it and pressed a button, causing the ramp to lower slowly. He looked over to her one more time, giving her a hopeful bark. Samus nodded. The ramp set down and Kraid exited.

The female giant waited and listened. She heard Kraid’s talons clack against the metal of the ramp, reaching the concrete of the landing zone. The voice of another alien then drifted into the ship, as well as Kraid’s growls and grunts. Not much came after that, just the sound of machinery and distant engines. Samus started to feel uneasy.

Another set of heavy footsteps came in. A hiss took Samus’s breath; it was Ridley! Silently cursing in the darkness of the ship, she listened to Kraid and Ridley converse in a coarse language. The sound of additional soldiers running into position and weapons charging made Samus fearful. The roar Kraid gave stirred Samus to action.

Before the soldiers could harm her friend, Samus took the initiative. Rushing down the ramp, she quickly spotted the platoon of Space Pirates surrounding Kraid, their weapons trained on him. She plowed through them, her talons ripping and feet stomping the collection of soldiers. She turned to see several more take flight with jetpacks. Unfazed, she protruded her belly toward them and launched several spikes out. The projectiles struck one pirate, sending him screaming to an explosive end.

Samus and Kraid roared together, slicing, swishing, stomping, impaling, biting, fighting to the bitter end squad after squad of Space Pirates. Ridley swooped over the pair, shooting beams at them as they launched spikes at him like anti-aircraft cannons. Plasma and laser shots stung Samus’s thick hide, but she kept her face protected, allowing their pathetic weaponry to ricochet off her natural armor. More and more soldiers assaulted them, but the two struggled on.

A blast from Ridley’s mouth caught her partner off guard. The beam sent Kraid to the ground, groaning. Enraged, Samus stood between the armada and him. She refused to give up, swiping away soldiers and swatting off Ridley.

Ridley swooped in at Samus like a missile. She recalled seeing this move when they fought together earlier. Smirking, she stepped forward into the motion of the beast and reached for him. Ridley, unprepared, couldn’t slow down fast enough. Samus snatched the devil out of the air as he unleashed a blast of plasma death. The attack missed the two giants, but hit the group of soldiers closing in, vaporizing them.

Smirking, she slammed the dragon into the hard landing pad. Stunned, he didn’t have time to dodge her foot. Putting all her weight down, she crushed his chest. Ridley’s fiery eyes flashed for a moment, then extinguished for good.

Seeing their leader was slain, the few remaining Pirates retreated. Samus checked on Kraid. The big guy was more tenacious than he let on, rising up with a grunt and groan. She chortled; she had definitely chosen a good teammate! She tried to check his injury, but Kraid brushed off her concern. Barking for her to follow, she shook her head.

“Not exactly according to plan,” Samus mused, following her friend. She smiled, “But I’d have it no other way.”

Onward the two titans trudged through the labyrinthian complex. Thankfully, most of the base accommodated for the two’s size, but there were a few corridors they had to squeeze through. Crawling around on her claws and talons, dragging her heavy belly across the floor, only made Samus more determined to fix herself. Descending down aircraft lifts and trekking past numerous hanger-sized workstations, the creatures at last found the Genetic Manipulator.

The door protecting it proved no problem for two behemoths. Samus looked in and saw that the device was far larger than she anticipated. What looked like a two-story turbine dominated the right side of the room, and a catwalk with an array of computers was positioned beside it. The turbine ended with a radar dish pointed at the other end of the room, which was covered in padding material, presumably to absorb whatever the device radiated and protect the subject from injury. It all seemed a bit excessive to Samus, but then again, its size made it perfect for a creature like her.

She followed Kraid over to the controls, looking over his shoulder as he carefully tapped buttons on the comparatively miniature keyboards. Leaning in, Kraid scanned through various data archives until a picture of himself popped up. He then moved two computers over and searched through the database until a grainy photo of Samus in her armor, blasting apart some Space Pirate facility, appeared.

“Hmph,” Samus thought. She would have to be more careful in the future. The last thing she wanted was the Space Pirates having her DNA, especially considering the crackpot things they came up with.

Finally, Kraid went back to the central computer and delicately made a selection that showed the two pictures moving in opposite directions. He looked over to Samus, nodded, and directed her in front of the device.

Samus complied, but unease settled over her. There was no telling if this machine was finished. What if it just made things worse?

“Well, it’s either this or go back to sitting around with that dopey pink thing,” Samus reasoned. While not comforting, it was enough to get her to try the machine.

She let Kraid know she was ready, and he activated the device. A terrible, high-pitched grinding sound echoed around the room as the turbine whirred to life. The dish faintly glowed a purple color that steadily turned blue as the science engine continued warming up. Brighter and brighter, louder and louder, the machine at last expelled its energy at Samus.

The blast hit her like a strong gust of hot air. She staggered, not expected such a forceful delivery. The rest of the machine’s sudden burst thumped against the padding behind her, kicking up a bit of dust around the room. The Genetic Manipulator quickly died with a mournful sound, leaving Samus and Kraid in silence.

She looked down at her claws. Then she inspected her stomach. She turned, peering at her tail next. She lifted one foot past her belly, then the other. Finally, she looked at Kraid and gave him a confused murmur.

Kraid seemed to share her perplexion. He looked back to the screens. Samus watched his head go from one screen to the next, his expression morphing from puzzlement to disappointment. When he looked back to her, his apologetic look was back.

Samus stomped over, nudging her partner aside. She stared at the screens, trying to make sense of the foreign symbols. But she didn’t need to be literate in alien languages to understand the images on the center screen. Her picture was the same, but the Kraid image had a question mark over it. Underneath it was a word Samus deciphered: “missing”.

“That’s… impossible!” Samus mentally screamed. She bared her grinding teeth, her two-fingered hands clenched, her shoulders tensed, and at last, she couldn’t hold it in anymore. She bellowed at the offending machine, lashing out with claws and talons and spikes and teeth. The catwalk didn’t survive a single strike, the numerous computers breaking into a thousand pieces. Next was the Genetic Manipulator. She tore into the metal paneling, ripping wires out with her teeth and stomping on circuit boards and piping. In a blind fury, she obliterated the worthless piece of Space Pirate garbage. When she finally reached the other end of the machine, its guts now strewn across the laboratory, she finally relaxed, plopping down. On the outside, she angrily sulked, but inside, her anxiety and sadness were welling up.

Before her sorrow could spill out, Kraid waddled over. He put a hand on her hunched shoulder and gave an encouraging purr. Samus looked up, her blue eyes meeting his red. She looked away and huffed.

“At least someone can be happy about this,” Samus sneered internally.

Offering his hand, Kraid helped Samus back on her feet. The two’s journey back to Kraid’s ship proceeded like a defeated army’s melancholy march away from the battlefield.

“I just don’t get it,” Samus thought as they moved. “How could I possibly still have the same DNA? I’m completely different!”

She scowled as she waited for Kraid to squeeze into a tight tunnel, still lost in her thoughts. “I mean, what, is it magic?” She scoffed and pushed into the passage.

But as she crawled along, the snide comment lingered. Magic… could that be why she changed? There was no such thing as “magic” in her universe, but during her time in the multiverse, there had been plenty of it. Physic powers, controlling the elements of nature, summoning familiars, casting beams of light and dark energies, it seemed like there was quite a lot of magic in other dimensions! So… could it be her condition was magic-induced, and only other magic could dispel it?

She emerged from the other end with a contemplative look. What she needed to figure out, then, was how exactly she had come into contact with that magic. Well, she had started transforming when she began training with Kraid. So, was Kraid magical?

The two entered into an elevator, and with a lurch, it began rising. Samus looked over at the lumbering monster. No, he couldn’t be magical. If he was, then he would have used it on her during one of their previous fights. Or he would have offered to just change her back, and then there would be no need to bother with attacking his former associates or using their equipment. So if it wasn’t Kraid, then what?

It dawned on her: the dojo! Every time she had trained with Kraid, her body had changed to match his. But outside of the dojo, it didn’t matter if she used her own style or Kraid’s, she never morphed at all. All of her changes happened in that dojo. So the solution was simple: she just needed to have those anti-training lessons in Kraid’s dojo!

A new motivation possessed Samus as the two Kraid-creatures exited the Space Pirate base. She hurried toward the ship, barking at Kraid to hurry up. He did, though with a look of bafflement, and as soon as he got into the vessel, he saw his friend feverishly pointing at the navigation computer, demanding they head back to the Slowpoke dojo. Kraid looked apprehensive at first, but Samus’s infectious determination made him comply with a grin.

The ship rocketed off the landing platform and zoomed off.

------------------

Samus inhaled, feeling her chest and stomach expand. She held her breath for one, two, three seconds, then exhaled. As she did, she felt the fabric of her zero suit ease, the final extra layer of mass vanishing. On her gloved hand, however, the fabric in her thumb, index, and little fingers stretched just a touch more. She opened her two eyes and looked down. The move caused a lock of blonde her to get in her way; she brushed it aside and looked at her hands and stomach.

“Just like I remember them,” Samus thought, smiling. She looked over to her teacher who was staring off into space. She chuckled, remembering how frustrated she had been when the creature did nothing when they first entered the dojo. Of course, when she had calmed down and just did as it did, suddenly things started to change.

She checked her communicator. “Two days...” she whistled. Even with minimum breaks to eat and get dressed (when her clothes finally fit), the process still took some time. She shrugged; considering how much of her had changed in that time, it was still pretty incredible.

She got up, feeling lighter than she had in weeks. Stretching out, she praised the return of her limber body. No more waddling around, no more watching where she swung tail, no more bumping her protruding belly into things, no more having to watch her head on doorways or being unable to fit in hallways. She was finally back to normal!

The door to the dojo cracked open and Kraid called in. Samus smirked; he had learned some manners when he had barraged in when Samus was starting to show her femininity again. After she had sternly corrected him, of course. She giggled and allowed him to enter.

The brute lumbered in, his eyes scanning the room at his level first, then adjusting to meet the now much smaller Samus standing on the mat.

“So, how do I look?” Samus asked. “Awful, I’m sure.”

Kraid chortled and shook his head. He offered some happy barks, but the big guy was pretty bad at hiding his emotions from her.

“You liked me better when I was bigger, huh?”

Kraid sighed and nodded.

“Well, come on, at least let me be me for a bit,” Samus jeered. A laugh rumbled out of Kraid. She smiled back.

Samus had done a lot of weird stuff during her mission to save the multiverse. She had fought robots and swordsmen and brawlers and monsters. She had met strange creatures and joined up with quite a few colorful characters. She had beaten back light itself and then darkness incarnate.

But none of that held a candle to her becoming like Kraid and then, perhaps even more shocking, becoming friends with him!

“Come on,” Samus instructed Kraid, hoisting up the Slowpoke. “We better get this guy back to his place.”

-------------------

Samus pondered the hologram of the planet before her. It was another secret Space Pirate base, one that Kraid had graciously provided to her. However, unlike the last world, this place was a fortress. Thousands of defense stations in orbit, their frigate-cracking cannons ready to obliterate any craft dumb enough to come by. If somehow a ship got through that web of destruction, then they would have to contend with the potentially millions of bloodthirsty Pirates infesting the planet.

“You’re sure Mother Brain is here?” Samus asked Kraid. He nodded with a growl.

Samus hummed. The planet certainly seemed like the kind of castle that vile creature would hide in. Eliminating this re-incarnation of that tyrant would be doing the galaxy a huge favor. But still, the impressive defenses surrounding the planet gave her pause. It was very likely they were expecting her, maybe Kraid, too.

“I don’t know,” Samus finally said. “We could sneak through the orbital defenses on that Pirate freighter we’ve got, then use those authentication codes we intercepted, but they would definitely have numbers on us, no matter where we set down.”

Kraid gave a hearty laugh, then pointed out at the mat.

Samus raised an eyebrow, “Come on.” She tried to sound stern, but a creeping smile tugged at the sides of her scowl.

Kraid insisted, growling and grunting, pointing to the Space Pirate-shaped targets off to the side on the fighting arena and dramatically pounding his hands together and stomping his feet. He then ended his incoherent but rousing speech with a pleading mewl.

Samus shook her head, a bit of a chuckle mixing in with her annoyed sigh. She turned to see Kraid holding his hopeful expression. Her eyes rolled over to the mat.

“That Slowpoke is still hanging around its dojo,” Samus pondered to herself. “It would only take about two days to get back to normal…”

She smirked, but her voice held a commanding tone as she said, “Fine, we’ll do it your way. But I’m changing back the second we come back, alright?”

Kraid dismissively yapped in agreement, to which Samus punched his ankle. The two shot each other a look, then broke into laughter as they entered the arena.

All day, Samus trained with Kraid. They started with just a sparring match, Samus with her stun gun and rocket boots and Kraid with his claws and spikes. By the time the match ended, Samus’s hands could barely hold her weapon, and her boots got some nasty holes when her talons poked out. Next, Samus practiced some tackle drills against some dummies. Slowly but surely, she pushed the weighted targets further as she packed on weight, mostly in her protruding belly. They then took a break for lunch, where Samus decided to try some of Kraid’s food. The flavor grew on her, mostly because her taste buds, along with the rest of her head, were becoming more alien. By the fourth course, Samus was chowing down with her claws and teeth just like Kraid, the succulent meats sliding down her widening neck with ease. When the meal concluded, Samus had outgrown the last scraps of her human clothing, revealing her scaled skin and alien anatomy. They continued through the afternoon, and she continued to grow. Her rapid growth motivated her to challenge Kraid to a final sumo match. She lost, unfortunately, but she blamed it on not being nearly Kraid enough, which got a laugh out of her reptilian friend.

Exhausted, Kraid bid Samus goodnight as he shuffled off to his room in the back. Samus stayed in the main room, though, wandering over to a mirror large enough for the building’s owner.

She marveled at how quickly her body had changed. She had grown quite a bit taller, now only about a head shorter than Kraid, which still made her larger than a house. Her skin held only a slight tinge of her former human flesh, the vast majority of it being green and scaled. Her feet had turned enormous and terminated in long talons, and her legs were stocky. Her long torso held no belly button or mammaries, but did have the beginnings of the spike launchers she enjoyed so much. Her thumbs, index, and little fingers were gone, but she was ok with that because her remaining fingers had turned into long, strong fingers with deadly claws.

Her inspection reached her face. Her original eyes had become bigger in proportion to her body, but they lacked the alien attributes that the new, blue eye on her forehead had. Her snout protruded out, and opening it revealed the wicked teeth within it. She turned her head to see that her neck had widened considerably with muscle, and it had grown a row of spikes that led up to the top of her head.

Then she saw her hair and scowled. It had grown alongside her body, but as her head became more and more reptilian, it began to thin. Now with such an alien head, the remaining locks looked pretty out of place on her. Bending over slightly, she reached up with her claws and brushed away her remaining hair. She even tugged out a few of the stubborn strands. When she looked back up, she was bald, much like the creature she was destined to become.

“There!” Samus said, resting her hands on the top of her belly and admiring her new look. “A few more bouts with Kraid, and I’ll be all set.”

She was about to leave when her eyes fell on her discarded hair. She paused, realizing she had been pretty casual about removing that part of her humanity. The almost-Kraid-creature looked back into the mirror. She should have been disgusted by how monstrous she looked, but she found herself oddly fine with the beast that looked back at her. Maybe she liked being big. And strong. And so alien! Maybe… she wanted to stay like this for a bit longer...

Kraidian Samus chuckled. “Maybe for a little bit.” She waddled off to bed, her thoughts on the mission ahead and potential opportunities to utilize this alternate form in the future.