"So how did things go on the Pirate Homeworld once you found your way?" Celestia asked carefully.
Samus shrugged her shoulders. "Rather straight-forward. Oddly enough, I didn't actually encounter all that many Pirates right at first. Of course, I was mostly following the Morph Ball tunnels-"
"Why would the Pirates have Morph Ball tunnels in their base?" Twilight interrupted. "I mean, they know you have the Morph Ball, and they certainly didn't."
"Most of them were ventilation shafts," Samus explained. "Not sure about the rest. For all I know, Dark Samus ordered them to design it that way in the hopes I'd get further corrupted via Phazon exposure."
"...possible," Spike admitted. "That thing didn't think too clearly."
"At any rate, it wasn't long before I found a new X-Ray Visor," Samus explained, "which allowed me to - amongst other things - interact with the Space Pirate security terminals and door controls, since I could use it to see what the code was to open it."
"As Mom continued, we both picked up a distress signal from a Federation Trooper," Spike added. "It was a bit of a sketchy signal-"
"Was it Corrupted Gandrayda trying to lure you into a trap?" Pinkie asked.
Gandrayda's jaw dropped. "...I'm glad I never had to fight you," she muttered. "Even Spike didn't get it until he was face to face."
"We did get a transmission of coordinates," Samus explained. "Since it would take a while for me to get there, I told Spike to fly there on his own and see what he could do about rendering assistance."
"So while Mom was making her way through the Facility, I flew there directly," Spike explained. "Oddly enough, a great many of the enclosed parts of the facility had openings that irised open for Ridley...and they continued to recognize me as such, for some reason. Not that I was going to complain..."
As Spike flew carefully through the Pirate Facility, doing his best to look like he belonged there, he followed the path that opened on his flight. He wasn't about to argue with that, since it was taking him exactly where he wanted to go, and it was easier and quieter than blasting through the walls.
As the walls of the final chamber he was trying to reach opened, he spotted a Federation Trooper under fire from two Space Pirate Commandos. Without hesitation, he dropped down atop the Commandos, shredding through their shielding with his claws before blasting them to bits with his breath.
"Spike!" the Federation Trooper called out, stepping out from his cover. "Thank the stars it's you! I thought I was a dead man! I think I can help you and Samus get to the Seed. With the path blocked by acid rain-"
Without warning, Spike spat a fireball at the Trooper, making him duck.
"Spike, what-"
"Cut the act, Gandrayda," Spike growled. "You've been corrupted. It's the only explanation for why - once I was here - you wouldn't reveal yourself. I can see the aura of your power surrounding you...and I can smell the Phazon poisoning your systems."
Gandrayda laughed wickedly as she resumed her true form, electric blue Phazon veining her body. "Well well well...look who's all grown up and knows his stuff," she teased. "You know, Dark Samus is very unhappy with you." As she spoke, she began to saunter around Spike, strutting as they circled each other.
"I'm crushed," Spike replied blandly. "And after I wanted her approval so badly."
"So now I'm going to have to punish you," Gandryda teased, smirking at him.
"It seems like I'm not the only one who's been naughty," Spike replied. "Do I need to give you a spanking?"
Gandrayda laughed...but it wasn't a wicked laugh. "Only if it's you," she replied, for a brief moment in a normal voice, without the echo the Phazon corruption was causing.
Spike grinned widely. "And there you are," he murmured before firing off a blast of Fazite, making sure to aim so that Gandrayda was able to dodge it.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded as she rolled out of the way, launching blasts of electrical energy at him in retaliation.
Spike used his ice breath to make a wall of ice to deflect the electricity, before smashing it to launch the fragments at his foe. "I studied your condition!" he shouted back, hurling chunks of the room at her between flame, frost, and Fazite breath. "In the others, the Phazon Corruption is like a parasite, slowly corrupting them by filling them with the substance. But in you, it's more like a poison, as its energy slowly corrupts, consumes, and replaces yours."
"Then you know how much has been replaced by now," Gandrayda muttered, once more her voice more normal as she evaded. However, she was unable to dodge the full onslaught, and took several bad hits, making her stagger back,
"Which is why I had to be sure you were still in there!" Spike roared, charging forward. Grabbing Gandrayda, he slammed her against the wall to daze her. "Because now I know I can still save you. And all I have to do is this."
Lunging forward, Spike locked his lips with Gandrayda's, sucking the Phazon out of her and breathing his own flame back in to replenish her as he held her there. His plan proved quite effective, and before long the blue veins running through Gandrayda's body turned green, lined with fire instead of Phazon. Her PED fell off of her with a clank as it lost its power with the destruction of the Phazon Seed inside her, and she wrapped her arms around Spike's neck for balance.
It was, of course, at exactly that moment that Samus caught up to Spike. "Ahem!" she coughed, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.
Glancing back, Spike saw Samus staring at him. Glancing down at how Gandrayda was smiling up at him, he suddenly realized how the situation could be misinterpreted. "It's not what it looks like!" he shouted out as he leapt back from Gandrayda.
Samus decided to wait on telling any more until everyone stopped laughing, and Spike stopped sulking about the laughter.