So I turned 20 years old Monday. Feels really weird, but it's cool. Anyway, here's a chapter to celebrate that.
Luigi sat down with Fox and Krystal at a small outpost. While he had finally reunited with his love Daisy, he wasn't ready to retire just yet. He still had a lot to offer in terms of helping people. Daisy supported him, and even felt the same way about herself, given how she's currently ruling over a kingdom.
"Any word on Snake?" he asked the other two.
"Yes, he said he was on his way back. He's bringing a couple of friends with him, along with some important information." Krystal informed him.
"Great. So how long until he gets back?"
"About a day and a half." Fox estimated.
"Isn't there a way we could get them back faster? What about that car you two found and used to pick up Caeda? Can we use that?"
"As useful as that would be, we cannot." Fox answered.
"That car is one of a kind, unlike anything we've ever seen. It's back at the lab with Rosalina and Robin, and no one is laying a finger on it until they figure out how it was made." Krystal added.
"I see. They're trying to find a way to produce more of them. Now that would be very useful!"
The three remained quiet for a minute, just to be vigilant of anything suspicious. There was nothing to be seen.
"So Luigi, how's Daisy been?" Krystal kindly asked.
"Very well. She's been great at taking Peach's place of watching over the Mushroom Kingdom. She's really enjoying it."
"Yeah I must say, Peach couldn't have picked a better candidate. The transition was perfect. You wouldn't be able to tell that there was a change of ruler ship. It's also great that the people of the Mushroom Kingdom are quite fond of her, so there were no debates about the change." Fox said.
"Gotta say I'm still shocked that Peach decided to take a more militant type of life. I've known her for a long time, and I could never imagine her picking up a gun and going on missions." Said Luigi.
"Well she did, and she's doing a very good job too." Fox replied. "She's really showing the results of Snake's training."
"I heard she took down a huge mutant the other day. If she wasn't there, the squad that was with her would've suffered major casualties." Krystal recalled.
"Hey, I'm sure Daisy could be a good soldier too. Just let her train a few months with Snake." Fox joked.
"I'm sure she could." Luigi chuckled. "Anyway, I'm going back to see her. I'll talk to you two later."
"Alright. Later."
"Say hello to Daisy for me!" Krystal waved.
Snake, Bayonetta and Wolf had finally set up their campsite. Wolf ate some food and went to sleep, feeling rather tired from the walk. He joked that he's no longer in shape after being holed up in that factory for months. Snake and Bayonetta stayed awake a little longer, sitting at the campfire.
"Hey?"
"What's up?" he asked.
"That thing you said to Wolf earlier, that rhyme or motto or whatever it was that made him trust us…"
"What about it?"
"What does it mean exactly? It must be something significant to the two of you."
Snake laughed a little as memories came back to him.
"It was during the third season of Smash. A team tournament took place and we were all randomly assigned a partner. Wolf and I got paired up. A lot of the others laughed, thinking it was funny that two guys with the name of an animal happened to get paired up. They also didn't think we would get along. We didn't think we would get along either. But then we started talking and found out that we had a lot more in common than we thought, since we were both mercenaries. A common term for a mercenary is 'Dogs of War'. And that's what we chose for our team name to be. That phrase was just our motto. Kind of stupid huh?" He grinned.
Bayonetta smiled at the tale.
"Not really. It's kind of charming."
They took a moment to collect their thoughts. Then Bayonetta brought up another topic.
"So tell me. When we get back to the U.R, what happens then?"
"Well first I'll get scolded by some of the others for taking off by myself without any notice before hand."
"Playing lone wolf are we? What a naught boy you are Snake!" she teased.
"It's hard not to, I'm used to doing things alone. But they're right. We are a team now, so it's better if we work together." He admitted. "Besides, it seems every time I try to go alone I end up coming back with a group."
"Either that's irony, or the universe is trying to tell you something."
"Yeah, no kidding. Anyway once that's done I'll give them my report, most of which you've been a witness to. Pit and Palutena's current state, Crazy Hand's notes and all that."
"Of course."
"And then there are some political matters that we'll need to resolve."
"I can tell that you don't like that word."
"What? Political?"
"Yes. You don't really strike me as a political man."
"Trust me I'm not. If it were up to me, I'd choose to have no say in the U.R's political affairs. I know that I could trust Zelda, Peach, Link and the others to make the right choice in that department. But it turned out that citizens would only give the U.R the greenlight if I was involved."
"I see. So what's one of the hot political topics right now?"
"Well, New Smashville hasn't had a leader ever since I killed Marth."
"Do you have anyone in mind to fill the spot?"
"Yeah. Caeda."
"Who's that?"
"She was Marth's wife."
"Oh…"
The conversation went quiet for a moment.
"I didn't know he had a wife."
"It was a surprise to a lot of us. I don't think he talked about her very much."
"Poor girl. I do hope she's alright."
"She's getting better."
"Glad to hear it." She said and then looked up to the bright moon in the sky. "Oh look at me, talking my damn head off! We should be getting some sleep. We'll need it for the trip tomorrow. Anyway, goodnight Snake."
"Goodnight."
The sun rose and Snake and his group awoke from their sleep. They gathered their gear and went back to traveling. They traveled quickly not wasting anytime on returning back to U.R territory. By the end of the day, they had made it to the Hyrule sector. Fox, Krystal, Link, Zelda, Ike, Lucina, and Peach were there waiting for him at the entrance. There was also soldiers of the U.R military, who saluted Snake upon arrival.
"You're back!" Peach cheered.
"I am, and look who I brought with me."
Bayonetta was standing at Snake's left side, waving to the fighters she had not seen in years. And then Wolf was at Snake's right side, his arms folded. While Snake had radioed in that he found Bayonetta, he kept the discovery of Wolf a secret.
"It's been a long time hasn't it, pup?" he said to Fox.
Fox and Krystal had their jaws drop in disbelief.
"Wolf! You're alive!" Fox managed to say. He wasn't sure what to do after saying that. Wolf looked at him and rolled his eyes.
"Are you just going to stand there and catch flies in your mouth or are you going to come over her and shake my hand?"
Fox quickly snapped out of his shock, pulling himself together. "Yeah! Yeah of course!"
On the other side, Bayonetta was greeting with the others.
"Where have you been all this time Bayonetta?" Lucina asked.
"Oh you know…around." She said jokingly. The others rolled their eyes at the answer, "Hey if I had a better answer I would give it to you."
Snake then walked up to Peach and Zelda saying "All right. Get it out of your system."
"What do you mean?" Zelda asked with a smile.
"What do I mean? I took off. Just left without a warning. I was wrong to do that."
"Snake, we've gotten used to it by now." Zelda laughed.
"All that we care about is that you made it back safe." Peach said.
"Heh…all right. Sorry if I made you worry." He apologized. "Anyway I've got one hell of a report, and you all need to hear it."
"All right then. Let's go inside." Ike suggested.
"Palutena?! She really thinks that?!" Zelda gasped after Snake and Bayonetta finished telling everyone about their altercation with Palutena.
"I'd like to tell you no, but all signs point to the answer being yes." Snake answered.
"I never thought she could be such a…" Peach struggled to think of the word.
"Let's just call it like it is! She's a god damn bigot!" Ike cut in with anger in his voice.
"Ike!" Zelda scolded.
"He's not wrong Zelda." Link said.
"An angelic goddess with a 'holier than thou' mindset. What are the odds?" Wolf joked.
"What else do you have Snake?" Lucina asked to get the discussion back on track.
"I want us to establish communication with Green Hill Zone. It's a small town I visited during my travels, populated by Sonic's friends."
"Oh wow! I don't think we've seen any of them for years! Where'd you find the town?" Fox asked.
"It's pretty far to the east, but the road there is pretty safe. Shouldn't have a problem getting there. They're good people. I think they deserve some support."
"Got it. What next?"
"Chaos Emeralds. Have you all heard of them?" He asked to which they all nodded. "If you find any, destroy them and hide them."
"Uh…okay, is there something wrong? Is someone dangerous trying to collect them?" Link asked.
"I don't know."
"Well then why destroy them?" Krystal questioned.
"It's just a precaution."
"We do what he says. If he thinks that they need to be destroyed than that's good enough for me." Ike said to the others.
"He's right. We'll do it." Peach affirmed. "By the way Snake, have you thought of who we should appoint as governor of New Smashville?"
"Yeah. I want it to be Caeda if that's all right with all of you?"
"No arguments here. I think she'll be great" Zelda smiled. "Is there anything else?"
"One last thing. I've been investigating something over the last month and had been keeping it a secret. But the three of us finally came across a clue, so I think it's time I shared this with all of you. It's about Crazy Hand. Take a look at these." He handed the journal entries to the group. As the others read and then passed it around, Snake explained how he had become curious about Crazy Hand's whereabouts.
"Man…to think that he still might be out there…" Fox thought.
"Where did you find these?" Peach asked.
"They were at an abandoned factory where we found Wolf. Snake tells me that they used to create Smash Balls at that factory." Bayonetta answered.
"And there's more than one of them, and Crazy would visit each one. So I have the feeling that the rest of the journal entries are scattered in those factories." Snake said.
"How many factories are there?" Zelda asked.
"I remember there being four. So that means we have three more to search."
"One of the Nomad Sqauds and I were at a factory the other day. We eradicated all the mutants there. Though I'm not sure if it was a Smash Ball factory." Peach mentioned.
"Wouldn't hurt to check. We'll go there later." Snake said. "So that's the end of my report."
"All right! With all that being said, I think we'll call it a meeting." Link concluded.
"Let's keep up the good work everyone!" Lucina smiled.
After the meeting, Ike went and approached Snake. There was something he wanted to ask him for quite a while, and now that he was back he had the chance.
"Hey Snake."
"Hey Ike."
"You had quite an adventure while you were gone, huh?"
"Yep. Seems I have a streak of having trips become much more complicated."
The two shared a brief laugh at that.
"So Ike, how's your sister?"
"That's actually what I wanted to talk with you about."
Snake's eyebrows raised, showing his curiosity.
"Would you like to come and have some dinner with Mist and I? I've told her about you, and she really wants to meet you."
"I'd be happy to. I'll swing by later."
"Great! Thanks man."
Meanwhile in an unknown location.
"Hello Master."
"…"
"Um…the scout is back with his report."
"Good. Get out and get him in here."
"Right away Master!"
…
"Reporting in sir!"
"Tell me what's going on out there. I haven't been out there in two months. I'm sick of hiding from those Committee bastards."
"Well then you're going to want to hear this sir. The Committee is no more."
"Really?!"
"Yes, and two of their top bounty hunters, Captain Falcon and Samus Aran were killed as well."
"Fantastic? Who's the magnificent bastard that did them in?"
"You may remember him. A lot of people call him the Nomad."
"Ah yes. Solid Snake. He's the perfect example of what people need to be like if they want to survive in this world. A world of kill or be killed…the world I've always wanted. I'm guessing with the Committee gone things are starting to get chaotic!"
"Uh well…that's where the bad news comes in sir."
"What?"
"I have it all detailed in my written report if you'd prefer to read that."
"Yes! Hand that to me and get out!"
"…"
"Now let's see…hmm…United Republic?"
"Oh Snake…you disappoint me. You killed the people preventing the world from reaching its perfect form, and now you're one of those people yourself. Making the world a safer place…pathetic. The Catastrophe was a clear sign that the world is ready to change, to take a dive into hell. It should be a world where chaos reigns supreme and only the strong can survive. The only person you can care about or trust is yourself. If anyone gets in your way, you kill them. I thought somebody like you would appreciate that kind of world. I guess I was wrong. So if you won't help to make that world, then I'm going to step in and do it myself. All of the hard work you and your friends have done to build this 'United Republic'…I'm going to destroy it."
"However, I am feeling grateful after hearing that you killed Captain Falcon. That fucker broke my arm. So I believe I can wait a little bit before I put my plan in motion. So enjoy your little moment of peace...while you still can…"
I'll let you guess who that man talking is. I'll let you know it isn't obvious. One hint I will give you is that it's not Liquid Snake.