I HAVE THE POWER!!! And the internet connection to back it up! (The lights are back on here in my corner of Canada, sorry for the delay in posting this.)


It was almost sundown now, and Snake was almost ready to give Otacon his final exam. They had some more time to kill though. Snake wanted the programmer to be good and tired, and thanks to the cup of coffee he'd snatched during the afternoon, Otacon was awake. Not as awake as if he'd had his usual pot, or even as awake as if he'd had a decent morning's sleep, but not as tired as Snake wanted.

Otacon needed the real deal, and that meant he had to be exhausted, a bit hungry, a bit thirsty, and, if Snake's experiences were anything to go by, slightly hung-over.

But what to do while they waited? It wasn't time for the exam yet, and he was going to have to knock Otacon out before that. So... combat! Could be fun to bring Otacon down another peg or two. He would have to be careful not to hurt the scientist too much though.

Luckily, Snake had some things that they could use. It was a good thing he'd kept them for his own use. He left Otacon in his newest hiding spot, went into his room, and picked up the paintball guns. He checked them to make sure they were still in good shape, then picked up the ammunition. He loaded it into the guns, then walked back out into the main room.

"Otacon, you're in the shower. I can see your outline in the curtain." Otacon gave a sigh, then came out. "I'd tell you to catch, but you're probably not coordinated enough for that."

"Why are we trying to do everything in one day, Snake? Surely even you didn't master everything that fast."

Snake shrugged. "You've got something to prepare for. Here," he said, handing one of the pistols to Otacon. "These work just as simply as the M9. You don't have any extra paintballs, so you don't need to know how to reload them. We're going to go outside and fire them at each other. Use everything you learned today, and see if you can hit me even once. It's not too likely, but you might be able to do it if you try."

"Come on, Snake. We both know I wouldn't be able to hit you unless you decided to let me."

Snake shrugged. That was pretty much the case. "That's no reason not to try."

Otacon looked despairingly at Snake.

"I'll give you a head start. Go outside, see if you can find some cover. I'll come out, and you can try to hit me."

"Is this really necessary, Snake? Couldn't we pick up tomorrow? I mean, it's not like I'm going on a mission tonight, right?" Snake stared blankly at Otacon. Otacon's face was starting to get a slightly panicked look that was quite amusing to Snake. "Snake?"

"I'll give you thirty seconds, starting now." He pulled his paintball gun up to point at Otacon who stared at him blankly. "Twenty-five..."

Otacon pulled the door closed behind him as he ran out of the house. Snake put his gun down. I didn't think Otacon could run that fast. He must have been holding out on me while we were running before.

Snake opened the back door and walked out, surveying the area around him. Just as he'd suspected, Otacon didn't have the experience to do anything but stare at the front door.

If he'd gone through those VR simulations on anything but the easiest mode, he might have at least noticed the back door. Snake smirked. And this was a place that Otacon ought to know, after living here for over 4 months. Snake walked casually towards the front of the house, only to spot Otacon reaching for his gun that was somehow on the ground.

What is he trying to do, annoy me to death? Snake walked to Otacon, who was still fumbling in the snow for his gun. "This isn't something I taught you, but showing the enemy you're so incompetent that you can't even hold onto your gun might work if you're lucky."

Otacon looked up. "Snake, you know I can't do this..."

Snake shrugged. "Your point?" Snake pointed the gun at Otacon's leg and pulled the trigger. The engineer squeaked out a protest, and Snake smirked. "You've been killed at least five times, but I think you should pick up your gun and try running into the trees before I shoot you again."

Otacon grumbled, but got up and ran off into the trees. Snake shook his head impatiently and walked casually into the trees himself. He walked around a little, prolonging the exercise, when he finally heard a shout from Otacon and painballs started flying towards him.

Snake ducked behind a tree, counted to three, then jumped out of hiding, shooting Otacon in the chest. "Ow!" shouted the engineer.

"Ow?" Snake shook his head. "You didn't even splatter me. Let's try that again."

"I think you've proved your point Snake, I'm no good at this!" Otacon looked almost in tears from the frustration.

Snake shook his head. "We're done when I say we're done." Otacon stared at him. Snake frowned. This is no good. He shot Otacon in the arm.

"What the hell was that for? You're not supposed to shoot me until I've gone somewhere!"

"I'm not training you to fight members of Greenpeace. I'm training you so that you have a chance against real soldiers who don't tell you they'll give you a head start."

"You're not training me at all, you're slaughtering me!"

"Matter of opinion." Snake took aim again, but didn't fire. Otacon ducked behind a tree.

"This isn't fair!"

"Because you're losing?"

"You've done this for years! How am I supposed to win?"

Snake grinned. "You're not."

"Oh yeah? Fine then."

Oooh, he sounds angry. Good. Might finally get his adrenaline pumping and make him stop whining. Snake put his back to the tree Otacon was hiding behind and slowly began making his way around it.

Just before he got to where he felt Otacon would be though, he heard some pounding steps away, then saw a paintball fly by him. "Suicide attack!"

Otacon was charging him, paintballs flying everywhere but at Snake. Snake took aim and shot Otacon's arms and legs, but Otacon's momentum was too great to break with that, and he crashed into Snake.

At this point, Otacon hadn't a clue on what to do next. Snake did, and was no longer amused. He flipped Otacon so that the code-warrior was under him, then delivered a quick jab to the back of his head.

"Lights out, Otacon."