"What the hay was that thing?" Applejack demanded worriedly, the description of the beast having made her more than a bit squeamish.
"We're not entirely sure," Samus admitted. "Though it wasn't the last time we saw it. It was obviously another bio-weapon of some sort, but we weren't able to figure out why it was attacking us when it was. As best we were able to determine, something was in control of every creature made in the Bottleship, and was directing them to attack anything that wasn't...and Ridley was somehow boosting their aggressiveness far beyond normal levels."
"It made the trip through Sector 3 rather...interesting," Spike muttered. "Not only were all the creatures much more ferocious, they were pumping themselves full of various chemicals that made them taste awful. Between that and far more enhanced Zebesians, we barely had time in all that heat to breathe."
"And every time we turned around, one of the larger, harder to kill creatures we'd faced before popped up," Samus added. "I couldn't wait to track 'the beast' down and tear it apart."
Spike snickered a bit, only to whistle innocently as Samus glared at him.
"Am I...missing something?" Anthony asked, confused.
"Oh yeah, you weren't there for that fight!" Spike replied, grinning. "Did you catch it, Adam?"
"I'm afraid not," Adam replied. "That's when I made my move."
Seeing several confused glances, Spike shrugged. "We'll get there soon enough. Before that, though, we actually bumped into Anthony."
"I remember that!" Anthony spoke up. "Really saved my bacon, too! Woulda wound up extra crispy without you..."
As Samus and Spike came charging into a large room, they heard a very human scream of frustration. Across the room from them on a much higher platform above a pool of lava, Anthony was desperately trying to fight off the large creature they'd faced on the way out of Sector 2. His plasma cannon was strapped to his back, still charging, and he was forced to fight off the creature and several others with only his freeze pistol. It quickly became plain he was outgunned when the beetle like creature unleashed a searing blast of electrical energy that he only barely managed to evade.
"Anthony!" Samus screamed out in terror.
"Uncle Tony!" Spike yelled. "Duck!" With that warning, he leapt into the air, quickly clearing the gap and landing on the high platform, grappling with the beast.
Samus watched carefully, searching for a way to assist. However, a problem quickly became apparent. Without her to assist him, Spike was quickly caught in a pure power struggle, and couldn't spare a glance for anything around him. Spike was now just as much a danger to Anthony as the creature he was fighting. "Adam, I need to get up there!" she shouted into her comms.
"There's a grapple point directly above you," Adam responded quickly. "Your Grapple Beam is authorized. Do it, Samus!"
Immediately activating her Grapple Beam, Samus locked on and dragged herself to the platform. As she came off the swing, she landed a heavy kick right in the creature's eye, making it rock back. A few quick shots took out its backup, letting her and Anthony move to the back of the platform against the wall, out of danger of being knocked into the lava below.
"Nice timing, Princess," Anthony greeted, immediately focusing his fire.
"Less talky, more shooty!" Spike barked out as he decked the recovering creature.
"Got it, ankle biter!" Anthony replied jovially, quickly pulling his standard rifle out with his free hand, firing with both as quickly as he could.
The combined fire of Anthony's freeze blaster, Samus' Ice effect with her Wave/Diffusion Beam, and Spike's own Ice breath quickly froze the base of the creature's horns, limiting its combat abilities somehow and forcing it to stay grounded. However, its own energy blasts could now be unleashed much more rapidly, and it now attacked with its arms, which stretched out in sweeping strikes.
On occasion, Samus attempted leaping onto the monstrosity to inflict additional damage up close, but each time it reared, using its horns to knock her off. Eventually, the red hole appeared and began sucking energy in, and a missile knocked the creature temporarily prone. Dashing in, she unleashed a full charged blast into the eye, and the damage caused the creature's horn base to shatter, leaving it hornless.
Rather than disabling it, however, this only seemed to make the creature angrier. It began attacking much more ferociously, as well as unleashing its missiles. After the first volley, however, Spike dashed in close at a small size, delivering a fierce uppercut as he expanded to the creature's size, sending it flipping into the air. Rather than continue the assault, however, the creature fled, diving into the lava.
"Whew!" Anthony gasped in relief, lifting his faceplate to get a breath of less recycled air. "That was ugly. Thanks Princess, ankle biter. So...seen anyone else?"
"No, we haven't," Spike muttered. "Were you expecting anyone?"
"Well, I got orders from the Commander to meet up with everyone over here to activate the Geothermal Power Plant," Anthony explained. "The meetup point's a nearby Navigation Booth, but after waiting for everyone for a while, I decided to take a look around...only to get jumped by those things."
"We're after the creature from Sector 1," Samus explained. "It's causing all the other creatures to go nuts, so we're going to put it down before things get any hotter."
"Well, as long as it's just the three of us...can I ask you something, Samus?"
Samus paused, turning to face Anthony. "...go ahead."
(1)"It's...I just don't get it, Samus," Anthony finally spoke up. "I've heard what you two are capable of, alone and together. Between the two of you with your full arsenal, you could have just brushed right past the lot of us and sought out every survivor, and whatever else you felt needed to be done here...and we couldn't have done thing one to stop you. But instead, you come practically hat in hand begging the Commander to let you both help." He rubbed the back of his helmet. "I get that there's a lot of tension between you two, and stuff I probably don't understand...but why are you still taking orders from him?"
Samus glanced away, unsure how to explain herself. "It's...complicated..."
"Try me," Anthony replied easily, his warm smile showing his fraternal affection for her.
Samus searched her mind for the right words. "I...respect him," she offered at last.
Anthony stared at her for a time. "That's it?" he asked. "That's all you've got for me?"
"All she's willing to share with Adam listening in on an open comms channel," Spike offered, smirking mischievously.
Anthony's eyes widened. "Whoops!" He quickly prepped his weapons. "Catcha later, you two!" He quickly rushed off on his mission.
"It's not that funny!" Anthony complained as almost everyone listening burst into laughter.
"Yes it is," Adam countered, smirking slightly.
(1) The following conversation is dedicated to The Fiery Joker, as it was his Rant Video with TheAutarch that was a major inspiration for this entire arc. Thanks for being awesome, Scorcher!