Just for those who are unaware, this is a sequel to my story Wasteland. If you haven't read that, I recommend you do that before reading this so you'll know what's going on.
It's been a month since the organization known as the Committee was defeated and destroyed by Solid Snake and his allies. Now the Unified Republic has been formed, serving as a benevolent government focused on uniting people of the Wasteland and creating a better world. The group spread itself throughout many cities in the Wasteland, largely due to Snake's heroic influence. He was a hero to the people. They trusted him, and since he was a part of the republic, they knew they could trust that as well.
The Unified Republic managed to establish law throughout the wasteland. Their military strength was quite capable, as it was made of the armies of different civilizations merged into one team. Things like slavery, murder, and anything generally considered non-peaceful was not tolerated. And each member of the republic would personally see to it that heinous crimes be stopped along with the perpetrators.
Zelda and Ike traveled together, heading to a slave camp they'd been informed about. Zelda looked out into the distance and something caught her eye.
"Over there!" She pointed. "Is that it?"
"Yes ma'am. That would be the place." Ike confirmed.
"Oh thank goodness!" She said with relief.
"You seem pretty excited to get there." Ike chuckled. "What's the matter, you don't like the exercise from traveling?" He joked.
"I'll admit; it's been a while since I've walked such a long distance. It's quite exhausting."
"Eh, you're just not used to it. It becomes easier the more you do it from what I've learned. Hell, I've done it a lot, but I'm nowhere near the level of Snake and Ryu. Those two are masters of traveling on foot." He thought. "Besides, we could both use the exercise don't you think?"
Zelda looked at him with a smile. "I think so. I will say, your humor has definitely made the trip easier for me."
"I'm glad to hear it. Now let's keep moving. We should be meeting up with Link real soon."
A few minutes later, the two rendezvoused with Link, who was accompanied by a squad of Hylian soldiers.
"Geez Zelda. I don't think I've ever seen you sweat this much." Link laughed, getting a joking shove on the shoulder from the princess.
"So Link. What have you found out?"
"Well my scouts did threat assessment. They don't have too many armed men, so if negotiations go south, we'll have no problem dispatching them and rescuing all the imprisoned."
"I think you mean when negotiations go south." Ike sneered. "Let's be real, they're not going to be peaceful about this. They're slaver scum that value money over human lives. They don't want peace. Why don't we just kill them and free those poor people?"
"Ike I understand how you feel. And chances are you're right in that they won't want to settle this peacefully. But our movement aspires to bring change and give people the opportunity to change. These men may have done horrible things, but if there's even the slightest chance they could turn a new leaf, we will take it. Even Snake thinks that's how it should be." Zelda lectured Ike.
"I feel the same as you do in regards to how the negotiations will go. But you know how it is…we won't know if we don't try." Link spoke to the other swordsman.
Ike took a deep breath and calmed himself down, putting aside his personal feelings on the matter. "You're right. C'mon Zelda, let's get this over with."
"Alright! If anything happens, the men and I will do our thing." Link assured. "Good luck."
Ike and Zelda entered the camp and approached the trader. Zelda put on a friendly face before she began the discussion. Ike didn't bother, and just looked at the man with an intense glare.
"Good day to you, sir!" She greeted kindly.
"What the hell do you want? You here to buy?" The trader spat, not dignifying her greeting with a response.
"Oh, right down to business I see. I can respect that." She kept her cool.
"Good. Now who do you want to buy?"
"Oh you're mistaken. We're not here to buy slaves."
"Excuse me?!" The man scoffed, and his armed guards began to grow suspicious.
"Now hold on! We are here to make a deal however. If you would be so kind as to hear us out."
The man remained silent, glaring at Ike and Zelda for a while. He finally let out a frustrated sigh.
"All right fine. This better be good." He replied. He lit a cigarette and began listening as he smoked.
"Thank you. See my friend and I are part of a group, the Unified Republic. Our goal is to make the wasteland a better place for everyone. establishing laws that work towards a peaceful society." She explained.
"Sounds lovely. What's it got to do with me?" The trader showed further impatience.
"Well one of our laws is the illegalization of slavery. So we've come to ask you to shut down your operation here."
"Are you fucking with me?" He yelled, starting to become hostile. Ike's hand moved closer to the handle of his sword. "What kind of deal is that? Telling me to shut down for business, and for what?"
"If you do, you and your men will be granted a pardon. Nothing bad will happen to you. You will be given a clean slate, and a new start with the option to be in a much more dignified line of work."
The guard's eyes seemed to raise up with interest at the sound of Zelda's offer. The trader however, was unfazed.
"Clean slate my ass! No deal! Guys, kill them!" He ordered and Ike readied himself for a fight. TO his surprise, the guards did not raise their weapons.
"Hang on a minute sir! Why don't you take a minute to consider this? I mean business hasn't really been booming as of late." A guard suggested.
"Not to mention we don't even like this job. What we do isn't very good on our conscience." Another said.
"Did I ask any of you to speak?! I sure as hell did not! Kill them!" He barked once again. The men hesitantly raised their weapons. But suddenly they found themselves surrounded by Hylian soldiers, all ready to fire. Ike smirked as they all lowered their weapons.
"I highly suggest you reconsider." He said to the trader, who furiously glared back at him.
"Boss please! Take the offer!"
"Hang on a minute." Ike raised his hand, motioning for Link's men to lower their weapons. "So you guys just work for this asshole? You're just here on the clock?"
"We don't like the work, but we can't find other ways to make money. If it was up to me, I'd be outta this job in a second!"
"Don't you understand sir?" Zelda asked. "It is up to you. This offer is for everyone of you. Don't let him be the one to answer for you!" She said referring to the trader.
The guards looked to each other and nodded in a mutual agreement.
"Well then we say fuck this!"
The guards then walked over to Zelda and Ike's side. The trader screamed with fury and pulled out his gun, aiming it at Zelda. He didn't do anything after that, as an arrow went right through his head.
"Good shot soldier!" Link praised.
"Thank you sir."
"Well I'll be damned! That actually went well. Looks like you were right Zelda." Ike happily admitted.
"Remember...we just have to give people a chance." She reminded him. She then turned over to the guards, five men to be exact. "I'm very proud of all of you for the decision you've made today. You can follow us back to one of our towns. But first, would you be so kind as to free the imprisoned people?"
"Oh! Y-Yes ma'am!" They said and quickly got to work.
Hours later, Zelda, Ike, Link and his men began traveling back to Hyrule, with the reformed guards and freed slaves accompanying them.
"We did very well today, don't you two think?" Zelda asked and the two men nodded in agreement.
"Yeah! I'm sure Snake wished it would've went like this when he was freeing slaves." Link smiled.
"Speaking of which, have we found out where he went off to?"
"I'm afraid not." Zelda frowned. "He just got up and left a couple days ago according to Rosalina. I really wish he would let us know."
"Don't worry. He's not abandoning us. I'm sure whatever he's doing is important." Ike assured her.
"Well why doesn't he tell us when he's going to leave?"
"I just think he hates saying goodbyes is all."
Far away in a place known as Green Hill Zone, there was a small town. This town was mainly inhabited by friends and associates of the late fighter Sonic the Hedgehog. Among them was Sonic's best friend, Miles "Tails" Prower, who sat in his lab tinkering with electronics. It seemed that's all he really did these days. To him it was better than constantly thinking about his dead friend.
"Sonic would've wanted me to move on." He would tell himself.
Suddenly someone came knocking on his door.
"Hey Tails?"
"Hey Amy, what's up?"
The pink hedgehog entered the room, looking rather nervous. "There's someone here who's asking to see you."
"Who is it?"
"I'm not sure. He's a human and…just come over here and see for yourself."
Tails walked over to her and took a look outside. He saw the man she was referring to. He was wearing a hooded cloak so his facial features were obscured.
"I don't know Tails. The guy looks like trouble to me."
"It's fine. Tell him to come in. I'm interested in what he has to say."
"Alright…if you say so."
Tails went back to his desk while Amy went to fetch the man. Soon enough he entered Tails' office.
"Are you…Miles Prower?" A gruff voice beneath the hood asked.
"That's correct. I hope you don't mind me asking who you might be." Tails replied. The man then removed his hood, revealing the face of a middle aged man with a bandana around his head…
"My name is Snake." He answered, gaining a puzzled look from the two tailed fox.
"But you're a human…"
"It's just a codename, or nickname. Whatever you want to call it."
"Oh I see. Well if you go by your nickname then I insist that you refer to me by mine. Just call me Tails."
"Ok Tails. Mind if I talk to you for a bit?"
"Of course not. Go ahead and have a seat."
"What can you tell me of Chaos Emeralds?" Snake asked.
Tails suddenly became very cautious towards the man. "Chaos Emerald? I'm afraid I've never heard of that." He lied.
Snake smiled at that. He knew it was a lie, but was glad to know that Tails was not one to just throw this information around.
"Good answer. Now I'm sure I can trust you with this information."
"What are you…"
"You don't have to lie to me. I'm not trying to collect the emeralds…at least not in the way you're used to. Take a look."
Reaching into his bag, Snake pulled out a blue Chaos Emerald. Tails was greatly surprised.
"Jeez! I haven't seen one of these in years. Where the hell did you find this one?"
"It was a pretty secluded area, and there were creatures that didn't make getting it easy." Snake explained. "I've heard that these things are quite powerful, but that's all I know about them. I know that back in the day you and your friends had a lot of experience with these things. Can you tell me a little more about them?"
"Well, a single Chaos emerald is incredibly powerful, so you could only imagine what someone could do if they collect all seven."
"What's a single emerald capable of?"
"Things like teleportation, the ability to see visions of the future, ability enhancement and more."
"I see…sounds like a megalomaniac's best friend." Snake thought aloud.
"So what are you planning to do with them?" Tails asked as Snake took the emerald back.
"I'm going to destroy them."
"WHOA! Why!" Tails shouted in shock.
"Why not? These things always seem to attract people who want to use them for evil, and they're capable of corrupting someone with a lust for power."
"Well I guess you're right but…destroying a very ancient relic like that. I've never considered it."
"I need to get rid of them. A force of evil will come, and I don't want them to be able to have anything to give them an upper hand." Snake insisted.
"Who are they." Tails asked. Snake remained silent for a moment and scratched his head.
"Well truthfully I don't know yet. I don't know who they are, or if they've even showed up yet. But when an evil force shows up, I'd prefer to be prepared."
"Okay…so this is just some extreme long-term planning you're doing?"
"Guess you could call it that. So is there any specific way to destroy them?" Snake asked.
"No actually, they're fairly easy to destroy. But be aware that just because you destroy them, the power is not gone completely, it's split into the shards. Though of course those shards are nowhere near as powerful as a full emerald."
"Well that's better than nothing I guess."
Snake took out a hammer and smashed the emerald into several pieces. He gathered up the shards and gave them to Tails.
"Here's my plan. I'm going to destroy these, and then entrust someone to guard the pieces. You're going to be one of them. Can you do that for me?"
"Yes Snake. I will."
"Okay, thank you. I've got to get going now. It was good to meet you." Snake waved goodbye as he exited.
"Goodbye Snake."
"One down, six to go. At the very least it'll be difficult for someone to possess seven whole emeralds." Snake thought to himself.
After Snake left, Amy entered not too long afterwards. "So what happened? Who is he?"
"I'm still not entirely sure. All I know is that he goes by the name Snake, and that he's put a tremendous amount of faith in us to keep something safe for him..." He explained and showed her the shards of the Chaos Emerald "I don't plan on letting him down."
Snake knew that people would have mixed reactions as to what he was doing. Some would find it odd, some would say that he's being paranoid. And he would say that they're probably right. But Snake believes he's properly paranoid. The world is never safe; he knew that from experience. If he couldn't identify who the next threat would be, then the least he could do is keep anything that could give the enemy an advantage away from their grasp.
But that was just one of the things on his mind. He also couldn't stop wondering whatever happened to Crazy Hand. It was something he never thought about until Marth brought up the idea during their final battle. If there's a possibility that Crazy Hand is still alive, Snake would look for him. He needed answers, and if anyone could give it to him, it's Crazy.
I better head back before the others start to worry about me.
But along the way something caught his attention. He came across an old temple, one that looked familiar to him.
"The architecture looks just like Skyworld. That was were Pit was from wasn't it?"
Now interested, Snake decided to enter the temple. Inside was a large statue of a woman, presumably a goddess. The place seemed to be an old shrine dedicated to said goddess.
"Human!" A voice boomed in the distance, Snake stopped in his tracks and checked his surroundings. "Leave this place immediately. You do not belong here!"
"Is that right?" He muttered and defiantely took a few more steps forward.
"Do not test my patience! You continue any further and you will be punished!"
Snake would not stop walking forward. Soon enough an angel warrior appeared right in front of him at incredible speed. But Snake was prepared and dropped the angel as fast as he appeared with a swift punch.
"Stand down, kid." Snake warned. The angel rose to his feet, and Snake recognized who he was.
"Pit…"
Pit took out his blades and began attacking Snake. Snake dodged the attacks before taking out his machete. He was only going to use his blade as a means of blocking attacks, as he wanted Pit alive. He would strike Pit with punches or kicks whenever an opening came.
"Just stop it kid! I don't want to kill you!"
But no matter how much he pleaded, Pit just kept attacking.
"Damn it kid…you made me do this!"
Snake smashed his knee into Pit's face, reeling him back before he fell to the ground. Pit touched his face to discover he was bleeding from his nose.
"How?! How are you so strong?!" Pit angrily slammed his fist to the ground.
"You don't recognize me do you?" Snake asked.
"What?!"
Suddenly Snake was hit with a dropkick from behind, sending him tumbling across the room. Snake, now on his back, looked over to his attacker. He was also an angel, looking very similar to Pit in fact. Only this one was completely dressed in black.
"Get up." The dark angel ordered as he helped Pit up to his feet.
"Thanks Dark Pit."
"Never mind that! Let's just kill this guy and end this!"
Snake got back up, and readied himself as the two angel warriors walked towards him. But they flew back in evasion as a barrage of bullets went their way.
"Two on one? Why that just isn't fair now is it?" said the voice of a woman with a British accent. She stepped out of the shadows and stood at Snake's side.
"It's…it's that witch!" Dark Pit cursed.
"Bayonetta!"
"It's good to see you again boys!" She teased.
"Thanks for the help." Snake said to her.
"I must say you were very impressive back there, handsome. I've never seen a human dominate an angel in combat like that."
"I appreciate it."
"Well it looks like you don't have a partner for this dance. Mind if I fill the part?" She winked.
"Be my guest." He said and the two readied themselves for battle against the angels.
