"Can you go any faster?!" I asked with a shaky voice, bouncing up and down with the fighter. Dray and Ghor were doing the same thing, grunting and trying not to hit each other. "I don't want to be a critic or anything, Samus, but you suck at piloting!"

She chuckled. "It's not that I suck, I just can't go slow, Rundas. The ships around us would start shooting. It's better if we just blow through them," I saw her happy grin. "Plus I have a need for speed!" She hit the accelerators, and we went faster, hitting a rough joint in the battle field. The three of us in the back all banged our heads on the low ceiling.

"Ow!" I moaned, and noticed to the two across from me. Dray's arms were around Ghor's neck, and he was clutching her body for dear life. I nudged Samus's knee, which was the only part of her my shoulder armor could touch. "Look..." I muttered.

She did, smiling. "Aw... precious! I wish I had a camera, right now..." she said softly, and I couldn't help but snigger.

Ghor noticed my chortling, and looked at me. "What's so funny?"

I shrugged, watching ships dart by through of the front window, past Samus's head. "Nothing! Nothing at all." The pilot's shoulder pads shook as she snickered too.

I felt his gaze on me, suspicious and cautious. "I'm starting to believe the real Rundas is coming back. All tricky and sarcastic... What aren't you telling me?"

"Spill it! I hate when people keep secrets!" Dray coerced, giving me a stare that demanded truth. I stayed my ground, keeping my mouth shut. "C'mon, Rundas!!"

"Nope."

"If you're not going to tell us, then why'd you bring it up in the first place?" Ghor asked in annoyance, frowning.

"I didn't. I was just laughing, you got all nosy about what I was laughing at." I simply responded, shooting the nuzzling couple a you-can't-get-anything-out-of-me glance.

The robot rolled his eyes. "You're coming back, all right. But with your cocky and arrogant attitude..." he said the last sentence in a murmur.

I leaned forward, practically in his face. "What's that supposed to mean? Cocky and arrogant? Is that some sort of crack about the proud Phrygisian race?"

"Man, Rundas, chill!" Dray warned, tightening her grip on her cradler's neck. "Don't get so worked up over it."

I smirked. "I won't chill," I raised my hands and froze the two of them onto the wall. They were shocked. "you guys will." I leaned back, stretching my legs and arms. "Now you can embrace all you want." They started to move beneath it, groaning and shouting at me to release them. I ignored, smiling in triumph.

"You better get that ice off once we get down to Phaaze II, got it?" Samus said, her voice authoritative. "I'm not scraping it off."

"I will, don't worry. I planned on taking them out anyway." I reassured her, leaning my head back and blinking against a glint from the ice covering Dray and Ghor. "How much longer?"

She sighed. "A few more minutes. Shouldn't be too long."

Samus was abruptly quiet, her armored body still. I was a little concerned, and got up from my sitting position while trying not to hit my head. Kneeling, I placed both my hands on her shoulders, leaning into her view. "You okay? You seem... sad."

She cast her eyes down, tapping her fingers on her knees. "I'm just thinking, that's all. You shouldn't be worried."

"Don't lie, Samus. I know when you're unhappy." She was still silent. "You can tell me anything."

She finally exhaled after an extensive pause. "I'm scared."

I was about to snort out loud, but held it in for some reason. "Scared? Why?"

"I have this bad feeling in my gut... Like something bad is going to happen. I'm not sure what, though." Samus looked at me, her eyes gloomy. They made me feel blue too.

"Everything's gonna work out, you'll see." I rubbed with my pointer finger her cheek, which was covered by her armor. "We're the good guys. Justice will prevail and all that stuff, right?"

Samus went stiff, her fist clenching slowly. "You said it again."

I was alarmed. "Well it just popped into my head. Is that bad?"

"The first time you said it, in that elevator, you went mad a month afterward." Her words were hard, and I caught a hint of stifled anger in them. "Then the second time, you nearly bled to death from extreme dehydration." She turned her head to me, eyes critically watching me. "Please, don't do anything that'll make you kill yourself. I won't be able to handle it."

"Sure," I said slowly. "Anything you say, Samus." That had happened to me? I...

She leaned her head against mine, breathing deeply. "Please... please..." Samus reached up and cupped my bruised cheek in her hand. Hot prickles shot into my face when she touched me, and I shivered inside.

It felt so familiar... Why? Why did it? Yet more questions buzzed through my mind. "Samus..." I said.

"Hm?" she responded, a hint of breathlessness in her tone.

I licked my lips. "How... did we meet?"

She sighed, this time with pleasure. "Gandrdayda, Ghor, you, and I were hired by the Galactic Federation to deliver vaccines to the Aurora Units. The Space Pirates had planted viruses into the AU network, and Dane wanted to get each Unit cleansed. We met in the briefing room, where he told us what to do. You didn't speak to me, but I could feel you looking at me as the Admiral explained."

I stopped her. "Why didn't I say anything? Was I too shy?"

Samus chuckled lightly. "I don't know. But, after that, the Space Pirates disabled the planetary defense system on Norion. We were sent down there to reactivate the cannon generators, for a Leviathan Seed was on its way to impact the planet. You saved me several times on Norion. From Space Pirates, Ridley, and then..." she trailed off.

I shook my head, trying to process all that she was saying. "What happened next? This is starting to get good." It was interesting, and I thought I glimpsed some of it. Little twinkles of something that supposedly happened. I listened intently as she continued.

"We ended up bringing the cannon back online, and went to the control room to aim it at the Leviathan. We were about to shoot it, but something happened. Dark Samus came to stop us, and we battled her as she shot Phazon at us..."

"Dark Samus? Who is she?"

"A doppelganger of mine. She's dead now, hallelujah. Anyway, you and Gandrayda and Ghor passed out from the Phazon exposure, and I destroyed the Leviathan weakly. It was hard, it hurt so bad to move. Plus, my body was slowly shutting itself down. Eventually, we all succumbed to comas, and woke up a month later finding out we were self generation Phazon, with no negative side effects. Then we got the PED Suits, and you three went to different worlds to rid the planets of the Leviathans. You guys failed miserably and I had to finish the missions for you." She raised a thin eyebrow at me.

I sheepishly smiled. "Sorry..."

Samus laughed a few times. "It's all right. Bryyo and Elysia are safe from corruption. And now we're going to safe the Pirate Homeworld from it. Even though I really don't want to."

I was about to ask why, but my words caught in my throat. We were now staring at a giant sphere made of pure blue, with twisting clouds that covered the surface. I gawked, my speech returning. "Is that...?"

"Phaaze II. That's where the armies are coming from, and that's where we're going to put an end to this war once and for all." Samus was now all business, and pushed the engines harder, the ship increasing speed. I gripped the chair, the sudden burst of velocity nearly throwing me back into the cramped area behind me. "You ready? This is going to be one heck of a battle."

I smiled. "Bring it on, Phaaze II. Bring it on."

"That's the Rundas I know and love! Yeah!" she cheered, her voice joyous and motivated. "Let's kick this planet's butt!"

"As hard as I can?" I asked delightedly, newfound happiness pumping through my system.

"No," Samus said curtly. Then her tone softened. "As hard as we can. We have to work together on this. Don't be going all lone-bounty hunter on me, okay? We're in this as one."

I considered this. Us. As one. Together. Nobody else. Love. "This mission's gonna be a breeze!"

"Between the two of us it is. Hey, could you unfreeze Gandrayda and Ghor? I think they're getting a little antsy." She motioned back at the solid coating of ice that glued the two aliens to the wall.

"Sure," I turned and placed my palm on the ice, absorbing the covering from their bodies with little effort. "Better?"

Ghor was gasping for breath, and shot me a glare. "Do you... know... how evil... you are?"

Dray steadied her gulps for oxygen, and said in a girlish tone, "I thought it was pretty nice. A little stuffy, and cold, but nice." She traced down Ghor's jaw with her index finger. "Wouldn't you agree?" The robot shined scarlet.

"We're here, guys. Prepare to land." Samus said, the ship nose dipping as blue light poured in from Phaaze II through the window, and I felt my guts rise as the vessel dropped. "Ghor, could you get a good map of the Pir- Phaaze II? We need to get some Hazard Shields, the acid rain is pouring down there."

"As you wish," he agreed, looking down to his arm and clicking buttons. After a few moments, Ghor said, "There's an armory where we can get them, just off the second hall on the first landing sight. There should be enough to go around the four of us."

"Good. There's a lot down there we haven't seen before. We've got to be careful." We entered the atmosphere, toxic Phazon clouds rushing past the window as the beak of the fighter lit up with blue fire. The ship jostled and jerked with the turbulence, rocking us around violently like before. I held my hands on the ceiling and held myself semi-steady, not wanting to bonk my head again.

We continued our descent, and after a time the clouds parted, revealing the familiar surface of corrupted Phaaze II, which I had seen in a wink of remembrance. My stomach churned, but not from the rough ride.

Samus docked the ship on a landing platform, which was overgrown with Phazon goo and tendrils that wiggled skyward. The four of us stepped out of the ship, staying beneath its cover from the deadly rainfall that the heavens weeped. Samus activated the fighter's hull, which flashed and then deflected the drops that landed on it. They ran down the edge in mini waterfalls.

"Well this is unfortunate..." Ghor mumbled as we stood, irresolute of what to do.

"How are we going to get to the inside of the base when its streaming out there?" Dray worried, staying close.

Samus squinted through the curtain of poisoned water. "Maybe if I parked closer-" she cut herself off, leaning forward and shouting, "What is that?!"

The three of us searched, finding instantly a brilliant comet that was blazing its way towards us. I stared hard at it, and found it not to be a celestial chunk of ice, but a ship that was spiraling, its engines destroyed. We all gaped as it came into range, landing with a huge crash onto the drenched pathway that stretched before the site.

Once the smoke cleared, we watched someone rise from the wreckage, heavily armored and extremely tall. They pressed a button on the side of their helmet, and the visor pulled itself back with a hum. "Greetings, hunters. It is good to know that you landed safely." The voice of the creature was deep and scholarly, and red eyes studied each of us with gratitude. He turned around, shrugging as the ship sparked and began to melt in the virulent rain. "I guess I was hapless."

"Do you have a Hazard Suit, U-Mos?" Samus asked him, sounding largely relieved.

"Yes. I made it myself. It was quite simple, actually. I also brought along four more for you all." U-Mos handed each of us a hand-sized capsule, which was glowing blue inside. "Put them on, we must make haste."

We did so, applying the Hazard Suits on our bodies. I smiled, my suit was cool, and it fit my Phrygisian figure perfectly. This U-Mos was quite talented! I made a mental note to remind him of that later.

"What are you doing here?" Samus asked in disbelief. "Have you come to help us?"

"Absolutely. I wanted to make sure you succeeded, and I wanted to aid you. Come, I know what is happening with the armies and who is leading them." U-Mos turned, resealing his visor and treading through the rain. We followed, I a bit hesitant. "I have devised a plan that will allow us to defeat the enemy and return balance to the galaxy. Are you ready to hear it?" We each nodded. "Very well."