It's been a long time in the works, but I finally got Mariokutai-Reincarnated's request finished, most of it today. Writer's block likes me for some reason, but when I want to get my work done, I get it done. I told myself I'd post something today, and here it is. This is a break from the norm of me posting Pokémon stuff, so I doubt I'll get any of my usual fans, and I'll probably catch some flak from someone at some point down the line, but that's good. Flak, or flames, or even truly constructive criticism only serve to help me grow, for the most part anyway.

Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to Metal Gear Solid. By association, Mariokutai-Reincarnated does not own the rights either. This is rated T for violence and alcohol reference.

Thank you, and have a nice day.
…

The job was supposed to be simple. Instead, something happened that led to me having to challenge someone that screwed the whole thing up. But now, now it's all gone strange, and everything is different than what I meant to happen. It was supposed to be a simple job, and somehow I ended up behind cover, hidden by a special cloaking device. He had a similar one but I had managed to shoot it. Now, he was hiding somewhere, and I didn't know where.

But this isn't the right place to start this story. First, I guess I should tell you who I am. My name is Ariel Rose. I'm sixteen years old, and I'm five foot nine. A bit tall for my age, but it helps. I look a little older than I actually am. I'm about, one hundred and thirty five pounds, or I was the last time I checked. I might be one or two pounds lighter or heavier. I'm really slim, and despite that I look a bit older than I am, my body didn't exactly want to develop right, at least around my chest. My skin is also kind of pale, mostly from my work keeping me out at night.

I have long hair dyed gray, and the front bangs fall over the left side of my face. The back is done in a ponytail that reaches my waist. I'm told it makes me look kind of cute. I just like it because it stays out of my way.

My eyes are described as ochre, kind of golden brown. I rather like the color, but I like blue a little more. At least it makes me more unique than most.

I have a blue rose tattoo under my left eye, sometimes partly hidden by my hair. I've always liked roses, the smell mainly, but because I'm like them. Every rose has a thorn, and I'm hardly the exception.

I wear a dark purple shirt most days, and I have more than one so I can always have a clean one ready. I often leave the top and bottom two buttons undone, mostly because it's comfortable. I also wear a pair of black jeans, kind of tight at the waist but they get looser and baggier near my feet, on which I wear a pair of black New Rocks. I also wear a pair of custom made black fingerless gloves with a blue rose petal pattern in the thread on the back. I wear a silver ring on my right thumb, a little present from the only person I care about. Last, I'm never, ever, seen without my dark purple scarf. It hides my face for the most part, and I like it that way.

Now, I'm not like most people. I'm a professional mercenary and assassin, if the money is good. I also only kill professionally if the target truly deserves to die. Otherwise I deliver the person a warning to stop doing what he's doing before someone worse than me comes for them.

I don't carry a lot of weapons. In fact, I carry as few as possible. A tanto, a traditional Japanese short sword, a nine millimeter handgun with plenty of ammo, and three Bo-shuriken. Most wouldn't call them shuriken though, since they look more like needles, but they qualify as shuriken. Small and sharp, completely lethal, and quite capable of doing their jobs, they're useful for silent takedowns, and I can recover them later if need be. I also carry a few suppressors for my handgun, to make sure I'm not found because I decided to use a firearm.

My weapons were chosen because they're lightweight and easy to conceal. Just a quick flirtatious act or two and most men will overlook some things. I can get onto a plane with my weapons easily, too easily, but it suits my purposes so I don't bother anyone with it.

Now, what started the chain of events that led to my situation? That seems a good place to start.
…

"Mmm, Ariel?" She asked quietly. I looked over at her after quickly covering my weapons. "Where are you going?"

"I've got some, things to take care of." I said quietly. I moved over to her as she looked up at me. "I'll be back in as soon as I can." I took her hand and she smiled. She slowly squeezed my hand and I kissed her cheek. "I'll hurry." She let go of my hand as I stepped back.

"See you when you get back." She said. I smiled as I raised the scarf and walked back to the door.

Jenna was about as close to perfect as I could imagine. She was my best friend and so much more. She was five foot six, a year younger than me, but she wasn't like me. She didn't even know about my job. We were emancipated minors, and we were much smarter than most. I had been raised to be the perfect assassin, and her parents wanted to raise her to be the next CEO of her father's company, and she didn't want that. She tells me that they regretted letting her have a team of lawyers.

She has short hair, dyed green. Her eyes, they're normally brown, but she has special contact lenses that make them bright green to match her hair.

She wears a plain white tee shirt most days, along with a pair of blue jeans and running shoes. She wears prescription reading glasses at times, when she needs them obviously, but her normal vision is fixed by the contacts.

She tries to look plain, to make sure no one looks at her too much, but that's how I found her. She was being attacked by some men on the street that were clearly intent on raping her, and I knocked them out in just one hit each. When she asked where I learned to fight like I did, I just told her that I took some classes as a kid. Not really a lie, since my training could count as a class.
…

I set my feet on the table as my contact showed my new client in. I was rather annoyed with him for asking me to meet him somewhere, and my contact agreed knowing my procedures. He was lucky I was seeing him at all, and the contact was lucky I didn't fire him, or put a bullet through his head.

"Thank you for seeing me miss Pandora." The man said. He sat down and I just nodded. "I believe it best to get down to business right away. I'm currently being hounded by reporters."

"Good idea." I said coldly. "You know, you pulled me away on a week I was supposed to have off. I planned this for a few weeks, to have this specific week off." He nodded. He clearly didn't know me as well as he thought he did. If he did, he would have wet the couch he was sitting on. But instead, he just pulled out a packet and tossed it to me. 'I might just kill you after I get paid.'

"I need you to go to the bar mentioned in this file." He said quickly. "There will be a man at a table wearing a specially tailored suit, with three women. One of these women is someone that I care very deeply for." I opened the folder and pulled out a set of pictures. "She doesn't know that this man is going to use her to get to me later. He plans to use her to make sure I can't think properly when I absolutely need to. I can't let him use her like that." I looked at the man.

"Roughly five foot eight." I noted. "Brown hair, green eyes, small birthmark under left eye, and scar hidden by makeup on right cheek." I pulled out a few papers and skimmed them for critical information. "No bodyguards, no security at the bar, and it will be mostly empty." I heard him set something on the table. I looked to see a bottle with a skull and crossbones. "Poison. What kind?"

"Untraceable, confiscated from a lab." He said. "It breaks down and mimics normal proteins made in the human body. There are no cameras there, thus why this is our best, perhaps only, chance. Buy a drink, a specific drink. A Pabst Blue Ribbon, and poison it with this when you can. Get it to him somehow, I don't care how so long as you don't get caught and don't force it on him."

"Don't." I said. "Don't you ever think of me as some amateur." I moved my feet to the floor. "Just for that, tack on an extra five thousand to my bill." He nodded and seemed slightly scared, but it was a start.

"Okay." He said, resuming his calm demeanor. "Now, before I go, I need to warn you that though his bodyguards won't be there, they'll likely make it difficult to get the alcohol. I've managed to sneak in one of my men as the bartender, but he can't get him the beer, because there might be people watching him and we've only got this one shot."

"I'll get it done." I said. "Make sure your guy knows what I look like so I don't have to say some kind of idiotic password." I pulled out another paper and looked at him. "Ten, thousand, plus, the five." He nodded as I looked back. "Warm weather? That's the password?" He nodded. "Fine. Just don't expect me to take another job for you for anything less than a quarter of a million."
…

I sat at the bar with a small scowl behind my scarf. There was an air around the guy that annoyed me. I was starting to believe that he deserved to die. After looking over the information, I was kind of sure. Now, it was much more certain of it. He had immediately bothered me just by asking me to move out of my table from nearby him. He wanted the entire area for himself and his 'girls'. I'd apologize to him about having been in his reserved area, sweetly so he wouldn't suspect anything. If he hit on me, I'd just laugh and say something to throw him off.

"Warm weather." I said as the bartender walked nearby. He looked over at me and I looked at him. He just nodded and pulled out the beer, slowly. "PBR." He set it in front of me and opened it, poured it into the glass, and I produced the vial as I stood up. It had been ten minutes since I'd been ousted from my seat, which had also annoyed me. I was enjoying the music, and now it was harder to hear. I poured in the poison and put the bottle away before turning around and I walked over to the area. I smiled and put on a cheerful air as I approached him. "Excuse me, sir?" He looked over at me. "I wanted to apologize. I didn't realize who you were when you asked me to move." I offered the beer. "Please, I hope you like Pabst Blue Ribbon." He smiled and took it.

"Thanks." He said. "Say, maybe you could join us?" I giggled shyly.

"Maybe later." I said. "I have to powder my nose." I winked as he drank the whole glass in one go. He handed it back to me and I giggled again as I walked away. As I reached the bar I had my scowl again. He had maybe three minutes before the poison killed him. The bartender looked at me and I went to walk away when I heard a silenced gunshot and the girls screamed. I looked back and saw a man putting a pistol away. He was behind the stage, and his face was eerily familiar. I quickly made my way outside and to the back alley, where I spotted him walking toward an abandoned construction sight. I growled as I ran toward him. As he closed the covered gate I jumped up and onto it. By the time he had half turned to check on where I was I landed near him, rolling to get in front of him as I drew and pointed the pistol at him. However, he had drawn his handgun as well, and was pointing it at me. We were deadlocked. "You just cost me a contract."

"Not my problem." He said in a gruff voice. I could tell he had a special Sneak Suit on under his clothes. The suit added a little muscle to his body, a dead giveaway to anyone like me.

"It is now." I growled. "That man was worth one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars, and he was poisoned. Three minutes and he would be dead." He smirked.

"Looks like I wasted a bullet then." He said smugly. I moved my finger, but he did the same. I was crouched, he was standing, and he had more years of experience under his belt, and the reputation to back it all up and then some. "Who are you?"

"Pandora." I said calmly. I raised my gun and he did the same. As I lowered my arm he seemed surprised.

"A kid?" He asked. "You can't be older than sixteen. What were you doing in a bar?"

"My job." I said. "I'm a mercenary, and an assassin when the need for a man's death is enough to warrant me. He deserved to die."

"Then you should be thanking me." He said.

"No." I said. "You cost me my job. Odds are I'll be blamed for shooting him, and I didn't. You owe me one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars." He laughed and I gripped the gun a little tighter.

"I'll make you a bet." He said. "If you can beat me, I'll pay you. If you can get to a point where you can point that gun at my head without me being able to fire back, then I'll pay you the money. Give me thirty seconds to hide in that building, and then you come after me. But if I point my gun at you, then you just have to live without the money." I nodded and he started walking, but he stopped by me for a few seconds. "When you point the gun, say bang before I point my gun at you. That means you win." He ran and I didn't watch. I just gripped the gun. One thing he didn't know was that he was one of my idols, right up at the top. He was, the best. This wasn't for the money, I had enough of that. This was to see how I stacked up. The only odd thing was that he seemed older. He'd recently been a part of the Big Shell incident, albeit heavily undercover, and that was just a few months ago. He was almost six years older than the reports suggested he'd be.

'I'm going to do this.' I thought fiercely. 'I won't lose, not without a fight you'll never forget.' I counted down the last seconds and spun around and went instantly into a sprint. I listened for sound and heard the sound of a trigger being pulled. I went into a slide and moved behind a crate. I heard a shot, and a splat. I looked to see a paint round against the wall. Blood red paint. 'Sick joke. Treat me like a kid. I don't pull punches. That armor would save your life from a few bullets.' I waited for a moment and activated the stealth device. I grabbed one of my Bo-shuriken and threw it toward a crate across the room. I heard him point the gun, but he didn't fire. 'Not bad. You're good.' I went to run when I saw a dart hit the ground near me, with a bandanna on it and a note. I grabbed the dart and the note to look at it. 'Infinite, ammo? How?'

"A little gift, from me to you." He called. "I don't know how it works, but wear it, and you'll never need to buy another bullet." I stared at it. This was his bandanna, an item of his legends. He wore it, and he could fire his guns forever, or so those legends went. "See you a few floors up, sweetie." I growled and grabbed the bandanna, and it went invisible. I quickly put it on, hoping it would work. My pockets instantly felt heavier. I reached in and found more magazines than I ever carry. I set the gun down and all but the ones I normally carry vanished.

'What the hell?' I thought. I grabbed the gun and they reappeared. 'Why give this to me?' I shook my head. 'Well, better for me. Plenty of ammo, even if I ever bother using another gun.' I took off over the crates to chase him down. 'I'll get you, I promise. I'm going to catch you, and I'm going to beat you.' As I went up the stairs, I saw a shimmer. He was using an older model stealth unit. How did I miss that? It must have been built into the suit.

My model eliminated the shimmer for the most part, meaning that only by running would it shimmer at all. His shimmer moved slowly, making him harder to track. He knew I was here. I walked slowly, silently, and watched him.

He crouched and rolled behind a few crates. He'd be moving somewhere else. I had to figure out where the stealth device was, so I could shoot it or somehow disable it. I walked slowly, watching for any sign of him. I heard movement so I turned carefully and pointed the gun forward. Up close, there was no way I could hold my own against him, not with his CQC fighting style. He was the better of us there, but I had to be better at range.

But when I leveled my gun, I saw only a bunch of cardboard boxes. My eyes went wide.

'Cardboard, boxes…' I thought slowly. Images passed and words echoed in my mind. He was, great at hiding in cardboard boxes, using them to go to other parts of facilities, to places that he would normally have to take a long time to get to. Now, he was hiding among them. 'Or, he's playing with me. Leading me to believe…' A shimmer caught my eye. He wasn't using them as I thought he would. He was using them without using them. He wasn't hiding in one, but near the boxes. 'Not bad. But not good enough.' I walked carefully, avoiding everything as I followed the shimmer. I took aim at him and prepared to jump aside where he couldn't sight me in. I spotted a spot with no shimmer, the cloaking field generator, and I fired on it. There was a spark and a sudden wave of electricity on him as I jumped aside. He yelled and fired where I had been, missing completely. "Not bad. You knew I would have known about your affinity for cardboard boxes, how well you use them for stealth, and how you can get around with them, to places you normally would have to bypass security." I moved slowly for a moment as he went behind some wooden boxes. "You're good, very good, just as damn good as I was led to believe. I don't know exactly how good you are, but I think this challenge, this bet, will really test me." He laughed.

"I admit, you're good as well." He called. "You're good to spot me when I moved that slowly. Where did you train?"

"Trained in a secret, nameless facility from when I was two." I said. "Got out when I was ten by slipping the whole place with this stealth unit. No one saw me, and I got their training, and a few upgrades. I was trained to be better than you, but I realized that the money was better." He laughed for a moment before he moved away, back toward the boxes. "Time to see if I really am better." I ducked behind a box and swallowed hard. I was nervous, but I was also excited. I reached into my pack with the Bo-shuriken and smiled. There were dozens of them. They weren't cheap, but with so many of them, I was quite happy that I wouldn't need to worry, unless he wanted the bandanna back.

"Ready or not…" He called. I moved over the cover as he threw a flash-bang grenade toward me. I closed my eyes and moved my hand up, the cloaking device turning off just as it exploded. The sound was dampened by implants in my ears, though the light that got past hurt. I stumbled back and went off balance. "No!" He ran over as I opened my eyes. I fell slightly back but he grabbed my left arm with both hands. I looked down to see five stories. That would definitely hurt. "I've got you, don't worry." I looked up at him with a smile. The balance wasn't an issue. I had faked the stumble. He didn't know that my grip was enough that I could drop a floor, grab a ledge, and pull myself back on. I pointed the gun at his face and he looked at it.

"Bang." I said smugly. He stared before smiling as I put the gun away. "You owe me a hundred and fifteen grand." I reached up as he pulled me up slightly. I grabbed the ledge as he pulled me onto it. I laughed as I looked at him. "You should have seen the look on your face."

"You faked the balance?" He asked loudly.

"Hey, implants in the ears." I said. "I can hear and see just fine." He laughed as I smirked and looked up.

"Well, not bad, Pandora." He said. "I'll have someone contact you with the money, in unmarked bills." I stood up and he followed. "Minus the cost of the bandanna and my stealth device." He held out his hand, and I took it. "Sorry for taking your kill." I smirked.

"Just an excuse." I said. "Felt like challenging a legend, and I won." He laughed as I shook his hand. "Maybe one day we'll meet again, on better terms." He let go and walked away.

"See you around." He said. He suddenly vanished and I smirked. I had fought, and nearly truly beaten one of my heroes.

"See you around, Snake." I said calmly.
…

I walked into the room silently and saw her at her desk. She had her headphones on, and she was focused mostly on her books otherwise. I went over to my safe and silently put my equipment away, including the bandanna and my stealth unit. After I closed it and locked it, changing the combination quickly as a precaution for both her and any potential thieves. I stood up, turned to her, and walked up behind her.

'So sweet.' I thought. 'I don't deserve someone like you in my life, but I'd gladly die for you, especially if my death lets you live.' I quickly moved my arms around her and she yelped. She looked back and smiled as her headphones slipped off from how fast she moved. "How's goes the work Jenna?" She smiled a little wider and kissed my lips, or rather the scarf where my lips were.

"Great." She said. "I just need to finish one last thing and I'll be done. But I need to go down and check with the clerk about the hot water for the shower. We aren't getting any for some reason." I nodded and smiled. "What?"

"I met an idol of mine today." I said. "He works in the same line I do, kind of, and I wanted to see if I was as good as he is." I giggled. "I'm really close. A few more months and I'll be just a little closer."

"What's his name?" She asked with a giggle.

"He's really mysterious." I said. "They call him Snake, though some people think his name might be Iroquois Pliskin. I think it's a load of bunk." She giggled again as I looked at her book. "So, I think it may be cause to celebrate. What do you think?" She smirked.

"I've got an idea how to celebrate, if you'll wait up here for me." She said. I let her go and sat on the bed. She just laughed and went back to her work. I waited until she was finished and she walked to the door. "I'll be back in just a bit." She winked and I smiled.

"See you then." I said quietly. She walked out and I smiled. After a moment the phone rang and I looked at it. "Who knows this number? One of her other friends maybe. I'll let them know she'll be back in a second I guess, if it's them. Better not be my contact. No more contracts for the week, no matter what." I picked it up and held it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Pandora." A male voice said. I narrowed my eyes.

"Who is this?" I asked. "How did you get this number?"

"That isn't important." He said. "If you must call me something, call me Mr. Smith. How I got this number is not important, but why I called is. There are some events in motion that I would like you to avoid for a while. We will pay you to stay out of it."

"My prices are very big for doing things." I said. "But to stay out of something, you'll have to counter every offer made during the time for any jobs I decline."

"Done." He said. I raised my eyebrows. "Now, the reason is for me to know, but I would prefer you just pretend any events that seem out of place are normal, nothing out of the ordinary. Think of this as a vacation from the la-le-lu-li-lo." My eyes went wide for a moment but the door opened. "If you choose to get in on this, we will pay you to side with Snake, not Ocelot. Understood?"

"Got it." I said cheerily. "Thanks Mr. Smith, I'll be sure to remember that. Say hey to the others for me. Bye." He hung up and I set the phone down. "That was Mr. Smith from work. Good guy, and he just gave me a big paid vacation for a few months." She giggled and walked over and moved a hand to my chest, walking two fingers up.

"Now that's cause for more celebrating." She said quietly. I smiled as she gently took one end of the scarf. She was the only one allowed to touch it, and the only one allowed to see me without it. Anyone else would be dealt with accordingly. "Say, a few hours quality time, followed by a proper shower." I smiled as she removed the scarf slowly. I saw a look in her eyes that I hadn't seen in a few weeks. I came in late from a job and she was a little annoyed for a while, but she was apparently happy to let it go this time. "How does that sound?"

"Sounds nice." I said. "Very nice." She kissed me and moved my back to the bed.

"Ariel, I love you." She whispered. I moved my arms around her and smiled.

"And I love you Jenna." I whispered. "I always will."