No more BS, let's get on with the show! I hope you guys aren't squeamish because there's a bit of real violence in this one.
Thanks for reading,
-Jack Knights
He'd underestimated the ninja's craftiness. When he made his break for the door, Sheik appeared from the smoke and tackled him to the ground. Apparently ventriloquism was also a part of his repertoire. Now he was flat on his stomach, arms pulled back as a rope was hastily wrapped around his wrists, going up to his elbows. Growling, Snake bucked him off his back and struggled to get to his feet.
Sheik skidded to a stop, low on the floor as Snake came after him. Even though his arms were indisposed, he flew into a flurry of kicks, forcing the ninja back against a wall in the narrow hallway. Before he could worm his way out, Snake drove his shoulder into Sheik's chest, crushing him against the wall. He heard him gasp as the tiles cracked under the force of the blow and saw the droplets of blood spray from his mouth and stain the scarf around his neck.
Before he could recuperate, Snake ran down the hall, the stairs blocked by the fire leaping out from the kitchen. He wracked his mind, trying to remember the layout of the building from the blueprints he memorised. He knew there was a second set of stairs somewhere to his right, but he couldn't remember which turn to take and the smoke was making his head spin.
A fist came out of nowhere and grasped his neck from behind, lifting him from the ground as he struggled to break free, fingers choking what little air he could breathe from his throat. The remainder of a body materialised and Ganondorf stepped from a portal of swirling black, hidden by the smoke, his expression deadly.
Undeterred by the pain growing in his head, he swung his body forward, using the backward momentum to thrust his feet into the Dark Lord's stomach. He doubled over, dropping Snake back to the floor, his grip on barely loosening on his throat.
Snarling, his eyes glowed dangerously and the high shriek of wind passed Snake's ears as it was sucked in behind him. There was a sudden increase in the temperature of the fist around his neck before the energy detonated. He was sent flying, the black magic obscuring his vision as he was flung through a wall, crashing into the furniture beyond the room.
Vision swimming, Snake rolled on to his back and struggled to sit up with his arms bound behind him. Ganondorf help Sheik to his feet, who clutched his ribs in pain. Snake stood shakily as they rushed after him and he tried to run. A fist slammed into his back, sending in crashing to the floor again and he swore. Heavy chains dragged across his body, spikes at each end flung with enough force to pierce the floor and pin him as he was.
Bound and injured, he still struggled as Sheik came around to stand in front of him, eyes narrowed. There was no joy in having captured him, only an intense hatred.
"Finally caught you," the ninja said, wiping a smear of blood from his face. "You're going to tell us everything, now. What you're up to, who you're working for and what you want with us."
Snake spat on the ground, a mad grin revealing blood stained teeth. "And if I refuse?"
Ganondorf approached him and put his foot on his head, forcing his face into the unforgiving tile.
"I'll crush your skull," he snarled. Snake chuckled.
"You won't kill me," he muttered, glaring at Sheik out of the corner of his eye when the ninja didn't order Ganondorf to let up. "You want answers and you won't get them if I'm dead."
"I'll take my time," Ganondorf promised, grinding his boot into the back of Snake's head. He swore, the pressure growing intense.
"Enough," Sheik said mildly and Ganondorf lifted his boot from Snake's head. The ninja dropped to crouch in front of Snake, eyeing him, thinking. "Don't test us, David," he said icily. "If Ganondorf can't get you to talk by breaking your body, I'll break your mind instead."
With a flick of his wrist a spark of magic burst from the blonde's fingertips and danced across his palm, beautiful and menacing. "I'd rather not have to use such methods, but if you won't cooperate, I'll leave you catatonic, trapped in your own mind."
"So, how's about you start at the beginning?" Sheik offered when he stilled.
"How about you got to hell?" he snapped. Sheik nodded at Ganondorf and he felt the large man bend over his body, grabbing his hand in a tight grip. Without warning, he snapped Snake's forefinger. To his credit, Snake managed to keep from crying out, grunting as his hand was shot through with lancing pain.
"There are two hundred and six bones in the human body, Snake," Sheik muttered. "I'm sure Ganondorf will take his time bending and twisting them in all manner of lovely ways they were never meant to be."
"Fuck," Snake growled, glaring at the ninja. There was no doubt that the princess had the stones to do him in. He dropped his gaze to the ground and closed his eyes. He felt Ganondorf close his fist on another finger and he shouted.
"Stop!" his eyes flew open to send daggers at the ninja, who had a smug look of satisfaction on his face. He breathed heavily, working his way through the pain. "What do you want to know?"
"Start with how you managed to worm your way into this tournament, because we both know you didn't get an invitation," Sheik said, righting a chair and dropping into it, arms crossed. "And work your way from there."
She had followed the path of destruction, just managing to dive through a plume of flames coming from the door on her left. She glanced inside, shouting for anyone who might have been trapped within. With reluctance, she back away from the inferno, knowing that if anyone had gotten caught in that, they were most likely already dead.
There was a loud blaring noise and the numerous small vents lining the moulding near the ceiling opened, sucking out the smoke. Behind her, the fire in the kitchen dissipated as a pneumatic hiss signalled the doors as they swung shut, depriving the flames of its oxygen.
As the air grew clean and the lights blinked back on, Samus breathed a sigh of relief. The situation momentarily contained, she turned to leave when she caught sight of a streak of black smudging the floor, and several ashen footprints following it. Following the trail, she saw the broken tiles on the walls, cracked as though someone had been thrown at it with incredible force. A small spattering of blood speckled the ground and she glanced down the hallway as it turned left.
Something else had happened besides the fire, someone was bleeding and she wasn't going to leave until she found out just what it was that Zelda had seen in her vision.
"I gather information," he said, met with silence. Sheik tapped his foot and Ganondorf shifted behind him. The silence was all encompassing and Snake felt the sweat begin to drip down his neck.
"But you're a soldier," Ganondorf grumbled eventually and Sheik shot him a withering look.
"Tactical espionage," Snake explained. "They send me in to get intel and deal with the situation once it's understood."
"Yes, we know," Sheik muttered, waving his hand. "Why are you here, and who sent you?"
He fell into silence until Ganondorf put pressure on his fingers and he gritted his teeth. "I'm the guy who stops a war before it starts. I ferret out secrets, plans and weapons that would turned the world on its side."
"Stop dancing around the matter or I'll break your face," the dark man behind him threatened. Sheik shot him a red eyed glare, scowling.
"Go on" the ninja said, turning his attention back their captive. Snake narrowed his eyes. It seemed like Sheik was in charge while Ganondorf provided the muscle. The big man wasn't stupid, but he was the less informed and more easily distracted of the two. He could work that to his advantage, at least for a while.
"You really have no clue? Seriously? For what other reason would someone of my profession hide out amongst a gathering of some of the most dangerous and unaligned individuals in existence?"
"You've been spying on us?" Ganondorf muttered angrily.
"Somebody give the Dark Lord a prize," Snake mumbled as he face was forced into the floor.
"We know that! But why, goddesses be damned are you doing it?" Sheik shouted, his patience thinning.
"I told you," Snake said. "I'm the guy who finds the matches that would set the world on fire."
Sheik and Ganondorf exchange a look he couldn't quite see from his position on the ground and he felt the big man's grip on him loosen slightly.
"So once you found the matches, then what? You said you prevent wars from starting, so what were you planning to do with us?"
Ganondorf seethed, grinding his knee into Snake's lower back with enough force to cause the man to gasp. "We've done nothing, really, in the many months since this tournament's started. There's been some infighting, but was bound to happen. There wasn't even a hint of discord during the previous two iterations. So why are you toying with us?"
"There's only one thing you do with matches you don't want lit; you douse them before they can be used," Sheik muttered. Snake said nothing and he stared at him in horror. "That's really it isn't it? We're a threat. With so many of us all in one place, someone out there got scared. So they sent you in."
"To assess the situation," he groaned, the pressure on the back increasing.
"And then what, you'd kill us?" Ganondorf shouted. He refused to respond. He'd hoped that he could stall long enough for someone to come along and stop this from going any further. Surely the fire would have attracted someone's attention. But no, they were alone and no matter what he said now, he was damned.
"Every conversation we've had, every match we've fought," he hissed, stepping closer to him. "You've been analysing them down to the last detail. You've been studying us for half a year, like insects. You've been looking for weaknesses, some way to take us down if we suddenly turned out to be dangerous."
Samus was frozen in place, her heart beating so hard she thought it was going to burst through her chest. She knew who Snake was, she knew he had been a soldier, that he dealt in espionage he'd told her himself. She also knew he was among the best in his field, a celebrated man known throughout the world, with admirers in every army and country.
She cursed herself. Why had she ever let him get close to her? The lingering doubts, Zelda accusations, they were all right. Since the day one, he'd seemed shady, suddenly showing up announced. Breaking into the opening ceremony to shock and dazzle the crowd, having it played off as all a part of the festivities, it all made sense now and she hated that it did.
But in the back of her mind, a small voice told her something wasn't right. Things didn't add up. The shift in his behaviour, his sudden openness and desire to set things right, to help her… She refused to believe that all of that had been an act. But the evidence was there, she'd heard it first hand, straight from his mouth.
Pushing her circling thoughts away, she leaned in closer, listening intently.
"Looks like you've got me all figured out," Snake growled. Sheik shook his head, unable to believe what he was hearing. Ganondorf was furious; he could feel the magic begin to roll onto his body as the King of Evil let his emotions get the better of him.
"Just say the word, and he's dead," Ganondorf snapped, waiting for Sheik to say something. The other man seemed to consider it for a minute, then ultimately shook his head.
"No, not yet. He's done a good job of diverting our attention without actually answering anything. I've still got a load of unanswered questions. What was in cold storage?"
"My bolt hole," Snake said and Sheik narrowed his eyes to red slits.
"No shit. What was in there that you wanted? What were you doing?"
"Wrapping things up," Snake muttered. He string them along for as long as he could. Someone had to be looking into what had happened by now.
"Oh really? And where might I find whatever it was you were wrapping up?"
Snake took a chance. "On the tablet you destroyed trying to pin me in the kitchen. If you hurry, you might be able to salvage something from the charred mess before the clean-up crew gets there."
Sheik nodded at Ganondorf and another finger was broken. His eyes began to water as his hand thrummed in pain. "Do you think I'm stupid? Why would you risk it, using it to try and find my position then? If it was that expendable to you, then that means that there was nothing on it for me to find in the first place."
He dropped to a crouch and studied Snake's face. His expression was neutrally defiant, one that he'd worked on for years, completely unreadable. "A smart man, and you do strike me as quite intelligent, would have a copy. Or multiple copies. Even if the destruction of that tablet was a critical loss, you'd make sure to have backups.
"But we'll find out about those later. I'm more interested in what is was you were doing on that thing. And since we know you've been gathering data on us, it's logical to assume you were reporting to your employer, correct?"
The blonde appeared smug in his deductions, but Snake wouldn't allow a trace of emotion to cross his features. He had said nothing of importance so far, hadn't given them a scrap of information they hadn't already figured out for themselves.
"I wonder how he thought he was going to get away with this," Ganondorf asked maliciously. "Did you think you could notify them when your mission was completed? Maybe you were asking for backup?"
"Whatever his plans were, they're inconsequential now," Sheik muttered. "He never had a chance of getting out, nor did his friends have one of getting in."
This startled Snake and he just barely hid his surprise. Yet another unforeseen and unpleasant development had arisen. "What makes you so sure my escape is foiled?" Snake asked, switching tactics. They had information he hadn't come across and he wanted it.
"Well, we've got you in chains at the moment and you don't seem to be going anywhere at the moment," Ganondorf pointed out. Sheik said nothing; apparently his prodding had been a little too overt. The ninja was confident, self-assured and had a bit of an ego. Ganondorf knew nothing; he'd have to try to exploit the other man's vanity if he wanted answers.
"How did you find me?"
"Did you think this was a chance encounter? I didn't just stumble upon you acting suspicious down here and decided to take you down for the hell of it. I'll admit, it wasn't easy. You've got quite the ability to lose people, Snake. I've been following you for months, watching where you go and what you do in your spare time.
"You kept losing me for the longest time. I nearly gave up, but your behaviour, the way you kept trying to keep where you were going a secret, the extents you went to keep others from finding out where you were going kept me coming back. And today, you didn't do so well, David. You weren't as careful as you usually are. Today I was able to follow you, no problem. Now we're here."
He stopped his monologue and his expression turned deadly serious again. "But enough about me, explain to me, in vivid detail, what you last missive was about."
When Snake remained silent, he sighed. "I'm tired of playing your little games, spy. We'll find out one way or another. I'm done humouring you, so now you either tell us exactly what we want to know or Ganondorf will dispose of you.
"You wouldn't, you need me," he said.
"Don't insult my intelligence. Even if you didn't have a physical copy on you, we'll just sift through your supposedly unregistered communications. Oh yes, we've been monitoring them for quite some time now. I simply wanted to hear it straight from the horse's mouth, but if you won't talk, that's fine too. We have what we need, Snake, and we don't need you."
He cursed himself silently. No one was coming to his rescue and he'd run out of options. He'd seriously underestimated the two men and overestimated his own abilities. He'd believed the measures he took, standard procedures given the mission, to be enough. But he hadn't understood the entire situation.
"This will hurt, quite a bit I imagine, but you'll live. You won't be going anywhere though, even without the chains." He glanced up at Ganondorf and nodded. "Break his spine."
The Dark Lord dropped most of his weight on Snake's back and he heard a vertebrae crack, the pain searing his mind white as his back involuntarily arched then went limp. A wordless shout tore through his throat, his legs going numb.
The pressure on his back faded along with all feeling and he gasped, trembling. He collapsed as his energy left him, his cheek against the cool tile, eyes squeezed shut as he tried to bury the pain, fighting off the unconsciousness as it threatened to consume him.
When he opened his eyes, his vision hazy, he saw her. Her face was pale, her eyes wide in shock. She was crouched by the hole in the wall he's been blasted through, her Paralyser in hand, looking ready to jump in. But she didn't. She just stared mutely at him, his stomach knotting as a wave of nausea rolled over him.
"Samus," he breathed and Sheik and Ganondorf turned to see what he was looking at. He heard the ninja curse as Ganondorf got to his feet. He saw the big man's lips move, but he couldn't hear what he was saying as he slowly approached her. Snake shouted her name and she snapped out of whatever trance she was in. She scrambled to her feet and ran, Ganondorf giving chase.
"Now look at what you've done," an ethereal voice spoke, sounding like it was underwater. A bright flash of light blinded seared into his eyes and Snake finally loosened his grip on consciousness.
Samus heard Ganondorf shouting her name, telling her stop, among other profane things but she never did. She rounded the corner and pressed herself up against the wall, clutching her Paralyser to her chest, cranking it up as far as it would go. Time slowed as the King of Evil rounded the corner and she narrowed her eyes, glaring at him coldly as she extended her arm.
A look of surprise crossed his face and his mouth opened to say something to her but he never had the chance. The minute his head lined up with her weapon, mere inches away, she let go of the charge the weapon had been storing. There was a small burst of orange light and the fizz of electricity as the discharge arced from the gun, sinking into his temple.
His eyes rolled back in his head and he shook horribly, crashing to the floor where he twitched and then was still. Her chest heaved as she breathed heavily, her racing heart having nothing to do with the short dash down the hall she just took.
As she ascended the stairs, she refused to think, counting the breaths she took then the remaining steps until she was out of the nightmare. But as she exited on to the first floor, it didn't end. Captain Falcon had been leaning up against a wall, looking impatient with his arms folded across his chest. He spotted her, saw her face and rushed after her.
"Samus!" he shouted, going to grab her as she stumbled, dropping her weapon.
"Don't touch me!," she snapped, glaring at him as stood hunched over, poised to pick her up. He flinched, as if she had slapped him. "Sorry, just… I'm fine, just give me a minute."
Her first thought was to question just what in the hell she had overheard. She focused on what she knew. Someone thought they were a threat, they wanted intel on the fighters at the Smash Bros Tournament and they'd sent Snake in. Snake was a spy, he'd been analysing their fights, their moves and abilities and he finished his scouting just hours ago. His last report had been on her.
She couldn't hold it back anymore and her stomach heaved. Despite telling him not to, Falcon drew closer, putting a hand on her shoulder. He waited for her to finish vomiting and when she'd calmed down, he gently guided her to her feet.
"What happened down there?" he said as a cold sweat broke out across her skin. "Zelda said there was a fire and to stay up here."
She found she couldn't answer him as he led them inside, kicking the door shut. He dropped her into a chair, his face etched with concern. He disappeared into his bathroom, coming back a moment later with a glass of water. He passed it to her, sitting on is bed and waited while she drank.
"What did you see?" he asked eventually. "Is someone…"
She shook her head at his unfinished question. "Snake's down there. He's with Sheik and Ganondorf."
He frowned. "What are they doing down there? Did they start the fire or something?"
"I don't know, maybe. Yes?" He looked puzzled but remained patient, waiting for her to explain herself. She didn't know where to start, trying to get it all straight in her head. Taking a deep breath, she told him everything she'd seen, every bit of the conversation she heard.