Title: Metal Gear Solid: Elements of Destruction- Chapter 24: Guardian from the Shadows
Author: The Ice Goddess (FrozenBlueIce)
Fandom: Metal Gear Solid
Feedback: All feedback is welcome, whether it be negative or positive. I'm trying to improve on my writing so, please be honest: frozenblueice@yahoo.com
Pairing: The main pairing of this story is Snake/Otacon, which is obvious to anyone who knows of my fondness for Hal Emmerich, so therefore alright to disclose. There are others, but if I told you what they were, it'd ruin the story.
Series: No. There may be sequels in the future, but right now that is looking unlikely due to time constraints.
Rating: PG-13 for language. (this chapter only)
Disclaimer: All characters appearing in previous Metal Gear Solid video games are the property of Konami Computer Entertainment of Japan, and of their creator, Mr. Hideo Kojima. All new characters are the property of The Ice Goddess. This is a work of fanfiction, and in no way, shape, or form will I receive any monetary compensation for it. It is for entertainment purposes only.
Type: Action/Shounen-ai
Summary: This story takes place one year after the events of "The Big Shell." New information found by Otacon sends Snake back into action. (That's all I'm revealing!)
Chapter 24: Guardian from the Shadows
Mei Ling started up the engines of the boat she had just rented. It was small, but it would hold four passengers, and it was the best one she could find on such a short notice. She had shelled out a lot of money for it too, since the guy had already promised it to someone else.
She looked down at her watch, still set to Russian time: 10:05 p.m. That was exactly fourteen hours since she had last heard from Raiden. "Where could they be?" she thought to herself.
Mei stayed at the dock, engines running; ready to drive over to them at a moment's notice.
***
The waters of the Atlantic Ocean sped below the wings of Metal Gear Shadow. The sun shined brightly above, giving the otherwise unappealing, muddy color a sparkling sheen. They were flying at a relatively low altitude of 8,000 feet, allowing Raiden to watch the boats in the ocean below pass by.
"We're coming up on New York City," he announced. "Where should I put down?"
"Right over there," Dr. Raznov said, pointing off to the right. "That should be far enough from shore. Take Shadow to the bottom."
Metal Gear dove from the sky and into the ocean, making the transition from air to water with the grace of a swan. The massive tail swayed back and forth, propelling them deeper.
Otacon stood beside Raiden, leaning on the back of his chair to keep his balance as he watched the underwater scenery. The continental shelf blossomed with life. Fish swam through the jungles of green seaweed. Jellyfish bobbed along, minding their own business. And Crabs walked sideways across the now visible ocean floor. Raiden guided Shadow to a spot near some rocks and set it down.
***
"Welcome back, Mr. Skywalker!" Mei answered her codec cheerfully. "I'm glad everyone's alright."
"Hi, Princess. Where are you at?"
"I'm at the docks on the east side, ready with a boat," she replied.
"Great. Meet us at these coordinates in approximately ten minutes," Jack instructed, sending their position via Metal Gear's navigational computer to the information officer's laptop.
"Got them," Mei confirmed the transmission.
"I'll be seeing you real soon," Raiden told her.
"I can't wait. I'm so glad this mission's finally over. You all had me so worried. Laterz!"
"Bye!" he said, blowing her a kiss and ending the codec call.
Mei Ling looked at her watch again, sighing impatiently.
"Ten minutes…"
***
"Begin 'Self-Destruct' sequence. The code is: 19446LPA1087," Dr. Raznov told the pilot.
Raiden ran the commands to Metal Gear Shadow. "Self-Destruct sequence lock one released. Confirmation code needed for initiation of the countdown," he stated.
"Confirmation code is: 26301CWV0301."
"Code input complete," Raiden announced. "Setting clock at T-5 minutes……Done."
Anja disconnected the pilot from the mainframe. Jack felt the flow of information yanked from him, making him feel blind. His head pounded, trying to compensate.
"Agh! My head!" he cried out, pressing his hands against his temples.
"You alright, kid? What's happening?!" Snake asked.
"It's alright," Dr. Raznov said reassuringly. "He's just experiencing the normal withdrawal side effects from the sudden disconnection from Metal Gear's computer."
Raiden's temples pulsed. The pressure in his head was so great that tears began to squeeze out the sides of his tightly clamped eyes. He cried out again, "Aaaah!!"
The scientist dropped to her knees beside his chair and took his head into her hands. She began to run them through his hair in a soothing, circular motion. "Try to clear your mind," she told him. "The more you try to think, the worse it'll get."
Raiden breathed hard, blowing out large clouds of condensed moisture as he tried to regain his composure.
"Kid, can you get up?" Snake asked. "We need to get out of here!"
The young man nodded, pulling himself to his feet. He grabbed his head again, and a black curtain dropped suddenly over his eyes. Jack began to tumble.
"Shit!" Snake growled, lunging forward to catch him.
"He'll be fine," Anja stated. "Let's get him into the escape pod."
Solid Snake quickly hoisted the flimsy, unconscious form over his shoulder. He felt pain shoot upwards from his wounded thigh. He gritted his teeth. Blood was making its way through the bandages, which had already been redressed at least five times during their journey. He was going to need stitches.
His partner looked over at him in concern. The mercenary nodded in his direction to reassure him that he'd be alright.
Anja went over to the back of the cockpit and pulled on the manual release lever, opening the door to the escape pod. The inside was rather narrow, but they'd all fit. She went in and sat in the pilot's seat, activating the control panel.
Snake limped into the pod next with Raiden. The cold skin of his exposed torso lay against his hauler's cheek. It gave Dave an eerie feeling. He'd felt skin that cold before, but only on dead men. The only thing letting him know differently was the steady beat of his heart, pounding against his chest. It was just so unnatural. He lowered Jack to the ground, leaning his body against the wall.
Otacon was slowly staggering towards the doorway, still weak from his brush with death earlier. Snake went over to him, offering his shoulder. The engineer wrapped his arm around it and hobbled quickly into the pod. Hal sat himself in the corner, his knees drawn up under his chin, and his partner sat down beside him.
"Let's go, Doc!" the mercenary said to the woman in the pilot seat.
Anja finished initializing the systems, pressing buttons and flipping switches across the panel. "Ready to… Oh no!"
"Is something wrong?" Hal asked.
"My locket. I dropped it. I'll be right back," she said, getting up from her chair and heading back into the cockpit.
The door to the escape pod shut behind her.
"What the Hell?!" Snake growled.
"Auto-Pilot set. Launch in T-30 seconds," a voice announced.
"That double-crossing bitch!" he cursed, trying to get the door open. Dave turned to the engineer. "Can you stop this thing?"
"I'll try," he replied, limping over to the controls. Hal studied them quickly and carefully. He tried a few things.
"No good, Snake. She's locked us out of the system," he said in defeat. "There's no way I can hack us in within ten more seconds."
Snake charged at the door in a fit of rage, throwing his full weight into it. The metal didn't budge. "Damn!"
"Launching in 5…" the voice echoed throughout the pod.
"Snake, you'd better hold on!" Hal called back to him.
"4…"
The mercenary gave the door one last frustrated kick, then sat down.
"3…"
Otacon buckled himself in.
"2…"
"1…"
"Damn!!!" Snake cursed again, banging his fist on the floor.
The pod lurched forward as it jettisoned from its bay. It cut through the water like a hot knife through butter, traveling farther and farther away from Shadow. After awhile, it began to lose its momentum. It slowed to a halt, floating up to the surface.
A call was coming in on each of their codecs at frequency 141.62.
"Who are you?" Snake demanded harshly.
"I go by Anja Raznov when I'm out in the field, but I have many other names, just as you do."
"Are you with the Patriots?" Hal chimed in his query.
"I am one of your guardians. That's all you need to know."
"Guardian…?" the engineer pondered.
"How benevolent!" Snake hissed. "Sorry, but I don't need a babysitter."
"Why did you put yourself and us through all of this if you could have taken Shadow anytime you wanted?" Otacon asked, clenching his fists, remembering the painful events of the past few days. Tears welled up in his eyes.
Snake walked over to him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Hal reached up and clasped his hand in his. Dave gave it a quick squeeze.
"We did it to make you stronger. I anticipated Genesis' treachery so I sent you, Snake, in as a distraction. It was to be orchestrated that you would kill her for us, but it worked out even better. Dr. Emmerich gained a lot from his experience."
"I didn't want to kill anybody!" he protested, tears welling up again. "Even if she was a bad person!"
"I saw the way you held that gun. Don't deny that seeing your friend in danger didn't make you want to see her dead. You found a thrill in killing her."
"Shut up!" he sobbed. "I just want to forget this whole thing ever happened!"
"But you won't, so don't fight it. Learn from the experience."
"Leave him alone!" Snake snarled.
"Forgive me. I meant your partner no harm."
"Why didn't you just kill her?" Otacon demanded an answer.
"I couldn't reveal my identity or intentions. See, our organization runs on a similar set of checks and balances that the U.S. government does. There are many branches, one unaware of the other. There are most likely branches that even I am not familiar with. It's to help keep ambitious people like Genesis from trying a hostile takeover of such a delicately balanced organization. One watches over the other in an endless cycle."
"So why us? Why drag us into this? Why not send another of your lackeys to eliminate her?" Hal posed.
"Who better to take care of her than her genetic equal?"
"So I suppose that this was just another stupid exercise for your precious S3 program?" the mercenary growled, gritting his teeth.
"The information collected was invaluable. We appreciate your cooperation."
"Go shove it up your ass!"
"My, my! Such hostile language."
"So that's it then?" Hal spoke up. "You people are going to force us to live these nightmares again and again for some 'perfect soldier project'?"
"Your lives play an important role in the future of this world. It has been written into your destinies. All of you will see things in a better light when everything finally comes to order."
"I don't want any part in it," stated Otacon sternly.
"But you've already begun to play your part, Dr. Emmerich."
"Fuck you!"
Snake was shocked. He'd never seen his friend so angry in his entire life. He lay his other hand on top of their already joined hands, reassuring him with his touch.
"What about Jack? What part does he have in all of this?" the mercenary asked.
"His fate is the same as your own. Once you decided to show up at the Big Shell, and quite unexpectedly I might add, your lives were tied together. I suppose it was inevitable that the man we were trying to shape as Solid Snake would actually encounter the one he was modeled after. Life has a funny way of throwing in irony when you least expect it." She paused, letting out a sigh. "Anyways, I'll be leaving you now. Live your lives to the fullest, knowing how important you are to the future of humanity. I'm sure we'll meet again in the future."
"When that time comes, I will kill you," Snake assured her.
"I'll be looking forward to that," she replied, signing off.
The three were left alone again: Raiden in the darkness of his unconscious mind, Snake left to his own thoughts, and Hal's mind to break. He cried, unable to hold up the dam he had constructed to keep the tears back. Snake didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to deal with emotions. The only thing he could think to do was hold him, so he scooped his partner up into his arms and hugged him tight.
The pod drifted along the surface of the Ocean towards the shore.
Author's Notes:
Nothing much to explain here.