Chapter 10: Dirk

The elevator slowly opened. Raiden rushed out. The area was completely silent. As Raiden got closer, he could hear footsteps. The White Soldier appeared in front of the door leading to Otacon's office. Raiden jumped back in hesitation. The White Soldier slowly walked towards him. No gun drawn, no weapon out. The soldier stopped a few feet in front of Raiden.

His breath was weary and bloody. "Let…me….pass. I'm….not here to fight you." The man suddenly slid an object towards Raiden's feet. It was Raiden's blade. "Your….friends….dropped this."

"Who are you?"

"A ghost." The soldier walked towards the elevator like a zombie. "Hurry. Save Otacon. He's still alive." Suddenly, the soldier began coughing uncontrollably. He turned away and removed a bit of his mask. Blood splattered on the floor from his mouth. "Ugh…" The elevator finally came to the floor. He rushed in without giving Raiden a chance to see. "Go." The elevator closed.

Raiden picked up his sword. The hallway of Grey Fox's slaughter was perfectly clean. Not a stain or cut on the wall existed. The door to the office opened. Otacon was face down on the ground with a knife in his shoulder. "Otacon!" Raiden rushed over to him. He was out cold.

"He told me not to kill him. I can't turn against the request of respectful man." Mr. Green slowly walked around the room. In both hands were two daggers. "In all honesty, I don't want to kill anyone."

"Then why are you on their side?"

"I was promised a duel. A duel with the great scout that assisted the famous Solid Snake. Honestly, I would have preferred a duel with Solid Snake himself, but I cannot be so lucky.

Raiden drew his blade. "Do you have a name?"

"My codename is supposed to be Psycho Manta Ray. However, call me by my former assassin name. Dirk." The man pulled off his green outfit, revealing a black outfit with a jacket covered in knives.

"A little obsessed with knives? Reminds me of a certain 'immortal' that I killed."

"You must mean Vamp. No. I'm nothing like him. I don't kill. I enjoy the sport of battle." Dirk bent over and bowed. "It truly is a pleasure to meet you." Dirk toss two daggers. Both barely missed and stabbed the wall behind Raiden.

Raiden smiled in triumph. Dirk laughed. "Take a second look kid." A string was attached to each dagger. Dirk pulled the string to return the daggers to him. Dirk spun the string around him, causing the daggers to fly across the room with the string connected.

Raiden pulled out his sword and cut the strings of both daggers. Dirk smiled as he pulled four daggers in each hand. He spun around and laughed while dancing with the strings. The knives spun around him. Raiden rushed past Dirk and cut every string. The daggers flew away from them both.

Dirk stopped. "I never took off my mask, did I?" He still had the face of Psycho Mantis without his mask. Dirk removed his mask. His face was that of a rich, middle age bachelor. "No more strings. It's getting foolish." Dirk opened his palms. Two massive machetes launched out from his sleeves. "Raiden. Would you have issue using two different types of blades?"

"Depends on the blade."

Dirk slid one of his machetes to Raiden. Raiden took it. Dirk unleashed another machete into his hand. Dirk had two, Raiden had one and his katana. "That's more like it."

Blades slammed together as the two fought. Each countering each other's footwork perfectly. There was only one time they stopped. It was right next to Otacon's sleeping body. Dirk cried out. "Stop!" Dirk looked toward the ground. Otacon had pissed himself in his sleep. Dirk was standing in a puddle of urine. "That's disgusting. Oh well." The two went back to fighting.

Raiden, in one large slash, swiped both blades from Dirk's hands. Dirk fell to the floor, then slowly looked up towards Raiden. "Nicely done, mate. I can't believe you outdid me like that. Unfortunately, I don't want to die right now. On the other hand, you most likely want me dead. So I'll make a deal with you." Dirk slowly got up and removed all his weaponry. "You take your little scientist friend. You pretend that you killed me."

"Why? Why are you doing this?"

"I have way too many things I want in life."

"Like what? To kill more people?"

Dirk laughed. "Sonny. I haven't killed anyone. Ever. Like I said, I fight for sport."

"What about the millions who died from the bombs that your team planted?"

"That was Ms. Orange's doing. She has a firm grip on the outer world." Dirk sounded a bit regretful. "I should have done something about it, but in doing so, I would have ruined my cover."

"Your cover?"

Dirk smiled. "I have no intention of helping them. I don't give a damn if they fail or succeed. All I care about is achieving my dreams. One of them was to fight you. Not to win or lose, but to fight."

Raiden felt odd. "I…guess I'm honored?"

"Sir Dirk Fortesque III. British agent and assassin."

"You're a British agent? And you let them get away with the bombings?"

"If the Zombie Squad found out I was an agent, they would have killed me! I joined this place to keep find out what they were doing. I found out the day of the bombing." Dirk walked over to Otacon and removed the knife from Otacon's shoulder. "I'll bandage him up while I speak to you."

"They kept you uninformed?"

"No. She did."

"Ms. Orange?"

"No. The White Rabbit. She was my informant. I was kind of a 'newbie' to the crew. So they kept me under the White Rabbit's wing. Luckily for both of us, she turned out to be a defect too. She made a deal with me. If I helped her escape, I would get the chance to face you. I agreed."

"What are her intentions?"

"To help the White Soldier."

"Who is he?"

Dirk finished wrapping the last of Otacon's bandages. "If I tell you, will you let me go?"

"Yes."

"Remember when I first said that it was my dream to face the scout that assisted Solid Snake? Remember how I mentioned it was a pity that I couldn't fight Snake himself?"

"Yes. Because he's dead."

"I can't fight him. Not because he's dead, mate. He's alive. There's just not very much to fight."

"What?"

Dirk stood up and slowly walked towards a nearby air vent. "Consider that…" Dirk reached into his pocket and tossed him a wad of cash. "and THAT…my payment. Adios." Dirk rushed up the air vent and left.

"Snake is alive? Impossible."