Before anyone says anything I know I have a bunch of other fanfics to be working on, it's just that this idea wouldn't leave me alone and after I found only two fanfics that mention Jetstream Sam in the summary and the fact that he's not even listed in the character drop down bar I knew this fic needed to be written.
Well not much else to say other than I hope you enjoy.
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Deep within the frozen tundra of the South Pole there stood a figure. Clad in a white exoskeleton, save for his cybernetic arm, Samuel Rodrigues, otherwise known as Jetstream Sam, ran a hand over his well trimmed facial hair in thought as he looked around.
"Hmm…" Sam pondered aloud "I was hoping the afterlife would be warmer but this will have to do." He finished slightly shaking his head, causing his short ponytail to wave back and forth, and lightly shrugging his shoulders.
Seeing something black in the corner of his eye Sam turned to see his customized sword sheath lying on the ground with his blood red high frequency Murasama blade.
Smiling Sam picked the sheath and blade up and inspected it while saying "Hello old friend didn't think I'd see you again."
"You're welcome."
Calmly turning around, while attaching his sheath to his side, Sam saw a man standing there calmly with a smile on his face as it began to rain.
The man was balding, with slicked back white hair. He was wearing glasses and a dark green sweater, with black gloves and combat boots. But the most unusual feature he had was the trail of blood that was coming from his left eye.
Unfazed by the man's sudden appearance Sam casually stated "If you're responsible for this" holding up his sword and waving it slightly for emphasis "Then you have my thanks…although I have a feeling it wasn't just a nice gesture."
The man continued to smile while saying "And you'd be right. Tell me...where do you think we are right now?"
Sam looked around and said "Somewhere really fucking cold."
The man chuckled "True enough but my point was you think you're still dead…That is false."
Subtlety Sam's eyes narrowed as he wondered what the strange man was talking about. This had to be the afterlife right? He clearly remembered Raiden killing him.
"Yes you were killed by Raiden and yes I did just read your mind." The man said clearly amused as Sam's eyes narrowed even further.
The man began to pace casually back and forth as he started to speak "You see the afterlife is like a gateway. And this gateway leads to other worlds, other times, places neither you nor I could possibly imagine."
Clearly skeptical Sam questioned "Where are you going with this?"
"You see" Began the man "At this moment you and I are in another world and you in particular are here for a reason."
Quirking an eyebrow the Brazilian man said "And just what would that be?"
Crossing his arm behind his back the man explained "Not too long ago the soul of a man, who has been dead for some time now, somehow managed to cross from our afterlife to this world along with a few other people. The powers that be in this realm have decided that this people, could, and most likely would based on past actions, upset the balance of this world."
"And who are they?"
"Regrettably we only know the name of one...George Sears."
Sam raised an eyebrow again "The president?"
The strange man nodded his head "Yes, He is a rather talented and dangerous man, One who wants his legacy to be remembered at any cost, which is the basis of the spirits worry. And you have been chosen to stop him and whoever else may join him."
"Alright" started Sam "Let's say I believe all this; other worlds, dead presidents coming back to life…why me?"
The man's smile grew slightly larger as he explained "Because of two reasons; the first being that you are a warrior at heart. You crave challenge, hunger to test your skills against the best there is, and in this world there are people who can bend the elements to their will. The second reason…Your sense of justice."
Hearing the first reason Sam had to admit it was right on the money however he snorted at the second. "Listen I lost my 'sense of justice' a while ago."
"Ah but that is where you are wrong. True your belief in justice may have faded, but it did not die. Your fight with Raiden renewed it, maybe even made it stronger than before, and that is why, above anyone else you were chosen. Your sense of right and wrong combined with your willingness to end life if necessary makes you a very special individual. So will you do it?"
Sam pondered it for a few minutes, his eyes closed deep in thought, before he sighed and smirked saying "What the hell, can't really think of a reason not to." Smirk still on his face he opened his eyes and looked at the man before asking "Where do I start?"
The man merely pointed to his right and said "Over the hill next to me is a compound containing the new Avatar, the keeper of balance of this realm. She will undoubtedly attract trouble and maybe even the attention of those you seek."
Sam sheathed his sword before walking in that direction before stopping and turning to ask the man "By the way…you know who I am but I don't know who you are."
The man just continued to smile and said "If you have to call me something, then you can call me The Sorrow." And then he faded away along with the rain.
"The Sorrow huh?" mused Sam before he shook his head and started to walk away "Didn't seem all that sad to me."
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Not long after Sam began walking he saw the compound The Sorrow was talking about. It was surrounded by walls of thick looking ice with a large metal gate on one side with watchtowers near it.
Sam lazily walked up to the gates before being spotted by a guard in one of the towers "Halt!" Called out the guard "State your business!"
Holding up his hands disarmingly Sam answered back "I'm just a weary traveler seeking shelter and food for the night." A charming smile plastered on his face.
The guard stared at Sam his eyes lingering on the sword at his side, before telling his partner to go fetch someone and then telling Sam "A member of the order will speak to you shortly."
'Order?' thought Sam before just deciding to roll with it.
Not too long after that the gate opened some and an elderly woman walked out. She had white hair that had two strand braided at the front and connected to the back of her hair. She was wearing a blue parka with white fur on the edges and a blue choker with a medallion on it. The medallion had a wave design to it.
Sam however noticed something else about the woman; her stance. To the un-trained eye she seemed like she was completely relaxed, to Sam's eyes however he saw she was ready to strike at a moment's notice.
Still willing to give it a try Sam repeated what he told the guard "I'm just a traveler looking for food and shelter for the night."
The woman smiled gently and said "Well it would be terrible of me to turn away a traveler in need" Suddenly her face hardened "but you're no traveler."
Sam just smirked and said "Guilty as charged…what gave me away?"
The woman glared and said "Everything, the sword, your clothes, the lack of gear to survive in this place, all in all your attempt was rather sad."
Letting out a light chuckle Sam spoke "Yeah Stealth never was my style."
Still glaring the woman questioned "What do you want?"
"Straight to the point hmm? Well then I'm here to see the Avatar." Stated Sam with amusement in his voice.
This made the woman tense even more "And what purpose do you have with her?"
"Relax I don't want to hurt her." Calmly reassured Sam "If anything I'll be helping her."
"And what do you mean by that?"
"I'm looking for some people" Sam started to explain "These people might want to cause some trouble, and I hear that the Avatar is a magnet for trouble. So I figure they'll eventually have their sights on her, and if they don't then I'll move on and find some other lead."
After watching the woman debate with herself for a few minutes Sam's patience gave out and he said "Look, if you're going to attack me can you just get on with it already? It's cold out here and I can't feel my face."
The woman watched him carefully for a few moments before her body relaxed and she sighed. "Fine you can stay, but I'll be watching you." She said with a stern look on her face.
Sam just chuckled slightly "Thank you miss…?
"Katara." She replied evenly as she signaled the guards to open the gate "And you are?"
Smiling Sam said "You can call me Sam." Before he followed her into the gate which closed behind them.
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After letting him eat a late meal Katara had some guards escort Sam to his room before turning to face the clearly irritated leader of the White Lotus.
"How could you let a strange man like that into the compound?!" angrily questioned the leader.
Katara sighed "An experienced fighter carries themselves in a certain way" she began to explain, much to the confusion of the leader "even I'm not immune to it. When you've fought long enough you're always subconsciously positioning yourself to attack or defend at a moment's notice."
Her face hardened slightly "This man, Sam, wasn't like that. His stance was completely relaxed, perfectly at ease, and I might have written it off as him not being a fighter or an inexperienced one, but then I saw his eyes. Every movement I made, every twitch, was seen and analyzed with in a second. The moment I made a move he didn't like he could have cut me down before I could react. In my prime I might have been able to dodge, but even then I'm not sure.
Katara's gaze softened once more "Yet he didn't. And if he truly wanted to hurt Korra then he could have gone other ways about it." The elderly woman shook her head "No this man doesn't have any ill will towards Korra or us, though we should still keep an eye on him none the less."
The leader just nodded before the two went their separate ways for the night.
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The next morning Sam awoke from a rather pleasant slumber. He quickly went through the process of cleaning and donning his exoskeleton before leaving his room, his sword once again attached to his side.
He wandered around aimlessly, taking in the sights until he heard the sounds of fighting going on. Making his way outside Katara and some other people watching two men in protective gear throwing fire balls at a younger girl in similar protective gear.
The girl had dark brown hair in a ponytail with bright blue eyes and tan skin. Like the two men she was fighting she was shooting fire from her hands and feet.
'I guess that's what The Sorrow meant by 'bend the elements to their will'.' Thought Sam as he moved over to Katara and the others.
"Well what's this all about?" he asked as he moved to stand by Katara.
Without turning her head from the fight Katara responded "That is Korra; the Avatar, and she is taking her firebending test."
Sam just hm'ed in response as he proceeded to watch the fight. The more he watched Korra fight the more he realized something was off about her fighting. He may have known nothing about bending, but fighting was his life, and thus he could tell something was off. It wasn't till the end of the fight and Korra's victory that he realized what it was.
He was pulled from his thoughts as the girl began to speak "Why all the doom and gloom people? Three elements down, one to go!"
Sam only paid half his attention to the rest of the conversation, hearing that Korra had passed her test, which had caused the girl to start celebrating before he decided to speak up.
"Frankly I'm unimpressed."
This caused Korra to instantly stop her celebration and for Katara and the others to turn to look at him.
"What? And just who are you?" asked the now visibly irritated Korra.
"My name is Sam, and like I just said; I'm not impressed."
"So what, you think you're a better firebender than me?" Korra said while crossing her arms and frowning.
"No, because I'm not a bender. But" Sam began as he saw Korra open her mouth to speak "I have been fighting for quite some time, so it was rather easy to see the flaws in your fighting."
Korra's eye twitched a little as she said "Why don't you put your money where your mouth is and show me these 'flaws'?"
Sam just smirked as he removed his sword sheath and placed it against the wall. He then grabbed a nearby broom and asked Katara and the others "Is anyone going to miss this broom?" Getting no as his answer he broke the brush part of it off and gave it a couple test swings before saying "Yeah, this will do."
Korra's eye twitched again as Sam walked towards the middle of the arena. She was incredibly insulted by the fact this guy thought he could beat her with a broom. Well she'd show him a thing or two; after all she was the Avatar.
As Korra walked to face Sam the leader turned to ask Katara if they should allow this, only to stop at the serious look upon her face, carefully watching what was about to happen.
As the two opponents stood across from each other Sam taunted her with a mocking grin on his face "Ladies first."
Korra growled and shot a fireball at him which he casually side stepped. Korra began to send multiple fireballs at the man, who had calmly, began to walk towards her as he dodged them.
"Your first flaw" said Sam as nonchalantly tilted his head to let a fireball fly past "is that you telegraph your moves too much, which makes them easy to dodge."
"I'll show you easy to dodge!" Yelled a frustrated Korra as she sent a man sized wave of fire at Sam who flipped over the wave and brought the stick down on Korra's head, sending her face first into the ground.
"If this was my sword, then you'd be dead." Deadpanned Sam as looked down at her.
Korra quickly jumped back to her feet before rushing in close and shooting short streams of fire from her punches and kicks, all of which Sam effortlessly bobbed and weaved around.
"The second flaw is that you rely too much on power to win instead of skill to win." Sam continued as Korra threw a blast of fire with a punch that over extended her balance. Sam quickly capitalized on this by grabbing the outstretched arm and easily flipping her in the air before striking her in the stomach mid flip with the stick sending her flying a few feet back.
"That would be your second death."
Korra panted and winced as she got up, she had never been hit so hard in her life, she was getting tired and Sam wasn't even breaking a sweat, if anything he looked bored! Deciding to change tactics, Korra stomped on the ground causing a large pillar of earth to rise from beneath Sam's feet, launching him into the air though he seemed unfazed by this.
Before Korra could do anything else Sam threw the stick at her while he was in the air, causing the end to strike her in the head and her flipping backwards and landing on her face once again just as Sam landed on his feet and said "That makes three deaths." Sam began to approach the girl who was struggling to her feet "You have talent, don't get me wrong, but talent isn't skill. You seem to be a jack of all trades but the problem lies with one thing. If someone's better than you at one aspect of fighting then you're either at a severe disadvantage or doomed."
Sam crouched down to look at the girl who was now on her hands and knees, glaring tiredly at him and panting heavily. "Since you rely so much on your speed or strength rather than your skill if someone's better than you at either of them you have nothing to fall back on. For example I'm stronger and faster than you and I'm quite skilled" Sam said with a smug smirk "And I destroyed you."
Sam finished his little speech as he stood up "Well guess my little lesson's over, hope you take it to heart kid." And with that he started to turn and walk away.
Korra's eyes widened with rage 'He's…He's turning his back on me!' a roar of anger escaped her mouth as she forced herself to her feet and put all her considerable strength into a punch, which she aimed at Sam.
However before the blow landed Sam spun around and casually caught it, much to Korra's shock. She then felt nothing but pain as Sam unleashed a lightning fast combo with the stick, striking her so many times in such a short time that she lost count.
After what felt like an eternity the blows stopped and she collapsed to her knees, her vision blurry. Despite the pain she was in she still heard Sam's words make it through the haze that was her mind.
"I guess some people just don't learn unless you beat it into them…"
Then she knew no more.
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Sam looked down at the unconscious girl before sighing and picking her up bridle style and carrying her to Katara and the other spectators.
Sam noticed with some amusement that besides Katara, who was looking at him with an unreadable expression, everyone else was wide eyed and the leader was even slack jawed slightly.
"She definitely has potential." Said Sam once he reached Katara "Hopefully she'll take my words to heart."
Katara just sighed before turning to the leader and asking "Would you mind fetching me some water so I can fix the poor girl up some, oh and don't forget to contact Tenzin to let him know it's time to begin Korra's airbending training?"
Snapped out of his stupor by the elderly woman's words the leader of the White Lotus gave a nervous look towards Sam before nodding and hurrying off along with the other people with him leaving Sam and Katara alone with the knocked out Avatar.
Setting Korra down against the wall Sam grabbed his sheath and reattached it before facing Katara "Well unless you need me for anything I think I'll go grab some food, haven't had anything to eat this morning after all." And with a lazy wave, Sam wandered off leaving Katara with Korra.
Katara just sighed.
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Later that day Korra awoke to find her herself sore and lying in bed. For a moment she was confused before the memory of the fight rushed back to her. Korra slowly sat up, wincing slightly as she examined some of her bumps and bruises. They didn't hurt as much anymore but she thought that master Katara would have healed them by now.
She was so deep in her thoughts she almost didn't notice the door to her room open and for Katara to come in.
"Ah good, your awake." Said Katara with a smile as she approached the edge of the bed and sat down "I managed to fix your wounds some but I left a few as a reminder of what happened."
"Master" began Korra hesitantly "I…I messed up today didn't I?"
Katara blinked "Now what makes you think that?"
Looking down Korra explained "I let my ego get me into a pointless fight, one that I lost without so much as scratching my opponent. Now you and the others have probably decided I'm not ready to learn how to airbend."
"Korra" began Katara "Tenzin is still coming to teach you airbending."
Korra's head instantly shot up, the shock evident on her face "W-what?"
Katara chuckled slightly and said "The others and I have decided to look at your fight as a learning experience, assuming you're willing to heed the lessons that were taught to you?"
Korra started to franticly nod her head only to flinch and stop at the pain. Korra thought for a minute before asking Katara "Master…the man, Sam, where is he now?"
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In the same arena where he fought Korra, Sam was practicing his swordsmanship, so as not to let his skills become rusty. Just as he was beginning to finish up Sam heard a voice call out to him.
"Hey!"
Recognizing the voice as Korra's Sam stopped what he was doing and turned to face the approaching girl. When Korra stopped in front of him he waited for her to say something but she just stood there looking embarrassed.
With an amused smirk on his face Sam asked "Yes?"
His question seemed to snap Korra out of her embarrassed stupor and she looked him in the eye and said "First I want to apologize for earlier."
Sam raised an eyebrow at this "Ok…but you do realize that you have nothing to apologize for right?"
At his words Korra faltered a bit saying "Well…I was rude and, uh, I let my ego control my actions and-"
"Kid" interrupted Sam "I was the one who provoked you and I was rude to you first. So your ego got to your head it's fine, your only human after all."
Korra stared at him wide eyed for a moment before Sam brought her out of it "What was the second thing?"
Korra gained a serious look in her eyes before dropping to her knees and loudly proclaiming "Please teach me how to fight like you!" before bowing at the waist so her head touched the ground.
This time both of Sam's eyebrows rose. "…What?"
Rising back up into her kneeled position Korra looked at him "I learned something today, that while I may know how to bend, I don't really know how to fight. Until today I didn't even know there was a difference." Korra looked down at the ground "I know that fighting isn't the only thing the Avatar does" Here her head shot back up "But I know that if I keep acting and fighting like I did today then I'll never be able to protect the things that are important to me if they're threatened!"
Taking a deep breath she continued "You said that I lack skill, that I rely too much on my strength and speed. I want you to teach me so that changes! I want you to train me so that…so that...I'm never so helpless again!" Korra finished, practically shouting the last part.
Sam was deep in thought, his hand placed on his chin. He had never taught anyone, though he had been trained by his father and had watched him train his disciples. Sam decided to voice a few things before he made his decision.
"Tell me do you know what my style's name is?" Sam questioned. Getting a no from Korra he continued "it's known as Satsujin-ken otherwise known as the murdering sword." Sam paused to inspect Korra's face, seeing her eyes widen, before continuing "The goal of this style is to harm your opponent. When you use this style you are aiming to hurt your opponent, when you use this style you are aiming to maim your opponent, when you use this style you are trying to kill. Your. Opponent." Sam held up his sword for emphasis, the crimson blade glinting in the light.
"Are you sure this is something you can learn? If you learn this style your sword will bathe in the blood of your enemies, eventually staining it and your hands red no matter how many times you clean them."
Korra gulped before taking a deep breath "Knowing what I do now…I can't promise that it will be my go to method of fighting, but I can promise you that when I use my sword it will be on something or someone that I believe needs to be stopped…at any cost." She finished, taking in another deep breath.
Sam just nodded his head "Very well I'll teach you, but in return you must pass on this style to whomever you feel is worthy, and keep it alive."
Korra nodded and Sam smirked before he said "Well then with all the serious stuff out of the way go get yourself fixed up cause we're starting tomorrow."
Korra jumped to her feet before running while yelling "Thank you!" over her shoulder.
However as Korra ran off she didn't notice Sam's smirk become, what could only be described as a shit eating grin as he thought 'Oh your thanking me now but I guarantee you won't feel that way tomorrow.'
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The next day Korra woke bright and early, eager to start her lessons. She met Sam out at the arena where they first met. Sam was standing there with two sticks, both obviously broken brooms, before tossing her one Sam told her to "Show me what you got."
Korra rushed Sam, the stick held in both her hands. Once she was close enough she reared back the stick, winding up for a powerful swing, only for Sam to quickly step inside her range and slammed the tip of the stick into her abdomen, making her retch some while sending her flying back before her backside slammed into the ground.
As Korra laid there writhing and clutching her stomach while gasping for breath, Sam began to speak as he approached her "First while not instantly fatal, the blow I just landed would have, at the very least nearly crippled your fighting ability, if not outright cause massive internal bleeding, causing you to bleed out, had I been using a sword." When he reached her, Sam easily hefted Korra to her feet with one arm before asking her "So what did you do wrong?"
Still taking deep breaths Korra replied "I ran in without thinking, I telegraphed my move and I wasn't paying enough attention to what you were doing."
"Good" praised Sam "at least you're a quick learner. Now again." He said as they walked back towards their starting points.
This time Korra let Sam make the first move. The Brazilian man charged at a relatively normal human speed, despite what he could actually achieve, when he reached the Avatar he made a feint to the left, which Korra fell for. Sam then struck her right side sending her stumbling, as she tried to right herself, Sam struck her across the head sending her stumbling again. This time however he didn't let her recover and swept her legs out from beneath her and, using the momentum slammed the stick into her smacking her into the ground.
Just like last time Sam began to speak to Korra, who was groaning and spasming some from the pain "Every blow I dealt there was a fatal one. Two of them would have split you in half while one would have removed the top of your skull from your body."
Adopting a serious tone of voice Sam said "If you want to quit I won't hold it against you, because right now I'm going easy on you, and it's only going to get harder from here on."
Korra glared at the man before painting out one word "Never." And forcing herself to her feet shakily.
Sam's smirk returned and with approval lacing his tone asked "Alright what did you do wrong?"
"I fell for your feint and couldn't react in time, and I didn't recover fast enough when you struck me."
"Good, now again."
This is how the next few hours of Sam's day was spent. Knocking Korra down, telling her how bad of she'd be if he was using a sword, making her realize what went wrong and then repeating the process.
She had actually lasted longer than he had been expecting before she passed out. He then took her to her room where Katara was waiting and Sam then Watched as the elderly woman fixed his new pupil.
According to Katara they only had ten days until her son Tenzin arrived to begin to teach Korra airbending, and he wanted to cram as much practice and learning as possible into the girl before she had to divert her studies between the two.
However seeing that Korra was currently out cold there was nothing to do at the moment but wait.
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Hiroshi Sato awoke with a start. He frantically looked around and tried to move, only to see nothing but a shadow filled empty room with the only source of light being a dim lamp above his head, and to feel himself tightly bound to a chair.
Before he could do anything else he heard a clicking noise and then saw a small flame appear in the darkness before moving under and appearing to light something causing it to glow.
There was the sound of someone inhaling, causing the glow to become much brighter for a second before dying down. Hiroshi could then hear someone clearly exhale causing a cloud of smoke to drift into the light above his head.
"What do you want?" demanded Hiroshi "I'm a very important man with very powerful friends and if you don't let me go then-"
"Calm yourself Mr. Sato, We don't mean you any harm" spoke a calm man's voice "All we want to do is talk."
Angry Hiroshi opened his mouth to start ranting again but the mysterious voice beat him to it.
"You see, Mr. Sato my associates and I recently discovered that you have been manufacturing weapons for the Equalists" Hearing this caused Hiroshi to tense "and I've seen the schematics and I find myself…underwhelmed."
Hiroshi bristle at that comment, seeing as he was so proud of his works, to hear them belittled angered him.
"However" began the voice, drawing Hiroshi's attention again "I believe that with the proper tools and guidance you can create something much better."
Sneering Hiroshi spat "And what makes you think I'll listen to you?"
"Two things Mr. Sato, the first is that those who side with me shall be rewarded greatly, and the second is that the punishment for deifying me is more terrible than you could imagine." The voices tone dropped menacingly low towards the end.
Though he was afraid Hiroshi maintained a defiant look, due to his strong belief in the Equalists cause.
After a few moments of silence the voice sighed "Fine if you want to play it the hard way then we'll play it the hard way."
The voice snapped his fingers and for amount nothing happened. Before Hiroshi could ponder this a large hand gripped the back of his head tightly. There was a loud noise that Hiroshi couldn't place…
And then his screams began.
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Ok now before anybody goes up in arms Saying, I made Sam too strong or benders too weak let me explain.
Sam was capable of going toe to toe with Raiden in his black cyborg body, and before Raiden got that he was capable of picking up Metal Gear RAY and throwing it into the air. This means that Sam is at least that strong.
As for speed Sam can use zandatsu just like Raiden and my interpretation of that is that the user is attacking at a ridiculously high speed and everything is moving in slow motion in comparison.
And Finally (Spoilers in this part for those who haven't played or beaten the game skip to the next paragraph if you don't want to read them.) Sam's HF blade. Seeing as how it's a HF blade and an incredibly sharp one at that, since in Sam's hands it cut off Armstrong's hand and killed him in Raiden's despite his nanomachines. There won't really be any blocking from Sam's opponents, well at least not the ones that know better or aren't really expendables.
However despite his advantages Sam does have a few weaknesses which will be revealed the farther we get into the story.
Also I hope no one minds the direction I'm taking Korra. I'll try to keep her personality as close to canon as possible with some slow changes due to character development of course.
Well with that out of the way there's really only one thing left.
Pop Quiz!
What Metal Gear characters do you think came to the Avatar world?
And
Who was your favorite character in Metal Gear Rising Revengeance and why?
later