Disclaimer: The stories within this collection contain characters and concepts that are not the property of the author. They are the intellectual property of Nintendo, Konami, Sega, and their associates. This work of fanfiction is not endorsed by the original creators and is not in any way meant to insult the original work. The author has received no monetary benefit from this posting.
Beta read by Herr Wozzeck.
Plan A
Wolf cracked first.
"You won, okay? Just let us go. We didn't come here to hurt anyone. It was just fun and games. C'mon, you're one of us. A—"
"Killer?" Solid Snake double checked his work and decided to lash one last belt of C4 around his three targets. Hard experience had shown him it was better to err on the side of overkill in such situations.
Bowser snarled his words to hide the fear behind them. "You've proved your point. Now untie us and let's sort this out. We can give you money, weapons. Women! …Men?"
Snake said nothing.
"His masters have already recompensed him adequately, it would seem," said Ganondorf. A necklace of fragmentation grenades and duct tape hung around his neck. The metal shells clacked as he twisted his head around to leer at Snake. Ganondorf expected to survive this, and that assumption made him more haughty than usual. Snake hoped to disappoint him. Unknown to the sorcerer, each grenade in that grisly collar contained shavings from the Master Sword. "He will kill us in one deft stroke. How I envy him."
"But why do it?" asked Wolf. "Tell us who put you up to this. Bowser's right, we can pay you more."
"Not doing this for money," Snake said.
Wolf's eyes widened to their white rims. "The other competitors sold you their sob stories and made us out as the villains, didn't they? At least listen to our side of things. Everyone here has their own agenda. You'll come to find out we're simply misunderstood."
Snake shrugged, finally sick of it. "No one put me up to this. I saw it in their eyes. Heard it in the words they weren't saying. Slowly, I learned what they fear, and why. Your victims live each day looking over their shoulder, watching the shadows. Mario, Link, and the others grow old wondering which of their loved ones you'll take next. I decided to end the vicious cycles on my own. Now their kingdoms will be safe, their hands will remain clean of your blood. I'll do what they cannot—what I've failed to do for my own world. It's the only reason I became your friend."
Snake retreated behind the sandbag pile, traced the detonator's trigger with his thumb. "Here goes plan A."