Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.

A Day Before the Phazon War

All Kraid wanted to do was relax. That's all he ever wanted.

Ever since he was brought back to the world of living just so he could rotate Brinstar Depths to give the Smashers a hell of a time every now and then, he was content with it.

No wars going on, only having to deal with Samus by making her life a little harder on the stage… it was fine by him.

He didn't want any trouble after the last two times Samus arrived at Zebes. First it was to destroy Mother Brain, and then Ridley had to go and kidnap a Metroid, bring it to Zebes and then next thing he knows, he's getting missiles in his mouth by an angry woman.

Of course, the floating Hands brought him back as a stage hazard, but if it meant he could just chill in the lava, that's fine by him. He only had to rotate the stage to try to knock the fighters off of it if the noise bothered him too much.

It was either roaring and rotating the stage or eating missiles for dinner for possibly the third time. He'd rather choose the former. Making their lives miserable, he found that a bit therapeutic, especially if one of them happened to be the bounty huntress.

It was just another lovely day in paradise. Sure, he's a Space Pirate, but he'd rather not do any of those crazy shenanigans ever again. He'd rather spend his time bathing in lava, not get himself destroyed or get pulled in to some crazy scheme that Ridley's pulling again.

Ridley… the thought of him showing up made him angry. He was the reason why Samus made a return to Zebes and made life hell for everyone, including him! To make matters worse, he was one of the few he couldn't make his life miserable by rotating the stage. The others being that orange dragon, two pink puffballs he thought were the same but he could've sworn one of them had a tuft of hair, the blue masked knight, the robot, the pink princess who can simply float and patiently wait, the shapeshifting genie girl who can just turn into a bird, the cosmic space queen, the kid and dog with the balloons, a duck who pulls a dog into the air…

Strangely, despite having wings, he found it amusing that the two angels struggled to regain their footing. It was as if those wings were on their backs just for decoration.

He felt something walk on his stomach. He looked up to see Dark Samus approach him and to make matters worse, Ridley landed on him. "Hey Kraid, you want to unleash some hell on the universe?" Ridley asked.

Kraid snarled, letting out a few roars and looked away, as if he refused. "It seems as if he's refusing." Dark Samus mused.

"Well, convince him then."

Dark Samus chuckled. "I plan on to." She smirked and then planted her hand on his belly, coursing phazon throughout his body as Kraid felt the burning sensation as he looked down and saw blue. A painful searing radioactive blue. He let out several roars of agonizing pain while Dark Samus and Ridley looked on with smirks on their faces.

Everything was a blur at that point… all he felt was pain and suffering. This radioactive blue stuff on him… it was causing him great agony. To make matters worse, he didn't even know where he was. He could see planets but he didn't know what they were, the whole entire backdrop was blue skies and clouds… so it should be calming to him.

And yet this blue stuff on him was causing him agony. He didn't know what was going on… it felt like he was in some sort of nightmarish trance that he couldn't wake up from. To make matters worse, he swore he saw a few tiny… things approach them. He rose out of the ground to get a better look.

"Guys… I THINK I KNOW WHERE KRAID WENT!"

"RUN, IT'S GODZILLA!"

"No, you idiot! It's Kraid!"

"Still, we should run like it's Godzilla!"

He didn't know what they were but he let out a roar… it wasn't a hostile roar. It was a roar of pleading. He begged them to stop this blue gunk from burning him. However, they started to shoot at him, which caused him more agonizing pain. Why were they hurting him? He needed help!

He started to swat at them and fired claw-like missiles from his bellybutton to try and get them to stop. He was trying to defend himself… and then to his dismay, the bounty huntress shows up along with the cosmic space queen. He kept roaring, trying to get them to stop… and then he would spot a big green snake-like dragon come in and before he even knew it, it was enough to knock him out… but he could've sworn he saw a human riding this snake creature.

When he awoke, he found himself at this strange Observatory. He looked down and saw he was on a huge platform that held him in place. He looked around and saw everyone looking at him, seeming to be out of pity. He didn't want to attack them… this blue energy thing in his body made him exhausted. He felt weak… he let out a few weak roars, asking them to help him.

"He's saying he wants help. He doesn't know what the Phazon is doing to his body, but it's hurting him."

"We're doing the best we can, Penny…"

Kraid closed his eyes, deciding to take a nap to try and sleep off the pain.

…Until he felt something stabbing his neck. He let out a roar of surprise as he looked to see some robot and human nurse inject a needle into his neck. "Thanks Penny-san."

"Anytime, Mikan!"

It was a rather huge shot that was fit just for the big guy… the stabbing pain hurt but it left immediately after. Not only that, but the stinging blue radioactive… whatever it was had disappeared. He let out a roar of contentment and looked down at Mikan and Penny. He reached down and patted them on the heads. He was free of the pain.

…Of course, now he was stuck there on that platform but he didn't mind. He decided to take another nap while he let these humans do their thing. Hey, as long as it meant no longer working with Ridley and that purple Samus or whatever color it was, he was content. Sure, he didn't have lava underneath him but he'll get back into the lava before he knows it.

Snap!

Kraid awoke, looking down to see… chains? He let out a roar as he tried to break free of these chains but they were surprisingly durable, even for a monster like him. He let out more roars, trying to catch someone's attention. Of course, it had to catch Samus's attention… but then he would spot someone appearing out of thin air, along with a few others who dared to chain him up.

"Hey buddy! Just what do you think you're doing to our ugly as hell reptile!"

Rude!

"Un akka wruta. Eokan lepoira panora."

Before he knew it, he was pushed into some portal… and found himself in a pool of lava. On the one hand, he was back in a pool of lava, so he should be content.

…On the other hand, he didn't even know where he was, or why he was chained up… or why these creatures decided to torture him!

"Juewana Pwelan bakka tola, Raif." (You now belong to us, Kraid.) Raven Beak said. "Huwna yuwan jianan." (We have some use for you.)

Kraid tried to fight these unknown creatures to him, he tried to dunk some in the lava but this massive chain around his neck prevented him from going anywhere. One Chozo grabbed a hold of his arm and cut it open, retrieving some blood and put it into a jar.

"ULA heuana." (DNA retrieved.)

Raven Beak let out a chuckle. "Juinalpa uwnla wolapa valla." (With this, we can clone him.)

"Quenala ueyaz dela?" (What do we do with him?)

"Suwuqa oolap banna. Pelana turan ienala Petara" (Take him away. Lock him deep into Cataris.) Raven Beak ordered.

With a nod, the Chozo pressed a button as the hatch closed up on Kraid, leaving him trapped in a large tube fitting for him and took him away deep into ZDR. Kraid desperately pounded on his prison, desperate to get out.

All he wanted was to relax. That's all he ever wanted.

And now… he's a prisoner.

"Ruthana quella urenal peola franan ikka? Balwuan klopa!" (Why would you use the X to help you kidnap and torture that creature? It's barbaric!) Quiet Robe scolded.

"Wuenlopa erasa neilopa eena oonala weeka. Ueopala kalwa pananera, Henkin Maradis." (Despite being a parasite, they have their uses. Surely you'd understand, Quiet Robe.)

A low growl escaped Quiet Robe's beak. He clenched his fists in irritation. "Qloan nurado…" (You're a monster…)

Raven Beak let out a chuckle and folded his arms. "Erena hijaka naloan?" (How is our guest holding up?)

Meanwhile, deep into Ferenia…

The SA-X crashed into the water as it got back up, seeing the E.M.M.I.-06WB lunge into the water as the SA-X got into position and fired the Zero Laser, but the E.M.M.I. simply walked through the Zero Laser and backhanded the SA-X into a wall.

The SA-X laid a Power Bomb and kicked it, to where it exploded in the E.M.M.I.'s face… but not even that was enough. The E.M.M.I. grabbed a hold of the SA-X's throat and threw it out of the water where it quickly crawled up the walls.

Once it was back on land, the SA-X activated its thrusters and then unleashed a Shinespark into the E.M.M.I., but it caught the SA-X with one clawed hand as the SA-X tried to push it back… but the E.M.M.I. walked a few steps, holding the SA-X in place and used its other arm to pound the SA-X into the ground.

"Eyula malara ienalpa." (That is quite enough.)

The E.M.M.I. took a step back as Raven Beak walked over and grabbed the SA-X, dragging the knocked out X-Parasite away. "Muenala powna xenala Vowlun." (Back to Elun with you.)

Ibuki: ...On the one hand, seeing the SA-X getting its ass handed to it is cathartic. On the OTHER hand, poor Kraid.

Yeah, and I can't remember who came up with this Gaiden idea... was it Log? Was it Jacob? Was it... Yoshi? One of them came up with it and the rest chimed in... eh, credit to all three of 'em?