ShardclawK: Just wanted to take the time to thank all those reviewers out there, both old time and new ones, for your comments for the COE revisions so far, as well send a special big up to DarkFusion-san for taking the time from his own busy schedule to edit the chapters for this story and SX as well thus far.
Until SX gets its long anticipated revised update with a totally new and original chapter, loaded to the brim with lots of surprises, twists and revelations soon, here's chapter 3 of the COE story where things start to get interesting. Enjoy.
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Metal Gear Solid: Children of Evangelion
Chapter 3: Visitors
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"Snake, are you still there? Did you hear what I just said?" Otacon asked his friend who was distracted for a moment, while over the Codec. Now that the news of Snake and Otacon living next to the Katsuragi household had reached Snake's ears, he could barely concentrate on the mission at the moment. It was like things were just going from one situation to the next. It was then that Snake realized that his mind wandered off a bit from his original objective by Misato...to pick up the Children from school.
"Sorry, Hal, I was just caught off guard with what you just told me there." Snake responded with a slightly nervous smile. "Anyway Otacon, I've got to get a move on. I've just been told to get the pilots from school, so we'll meet later at our new 'home sweet home'."
"I sense that this is turning out great for you, but don't let your guard down. This is probably going to be where the real part of your mission starts." Otacon advised. "Anyway, you take care of yourself and I'll see you later."
At that, the Codec signed off. Snake sighed as he suddenly remembered that he had already left most of his equipment with Otacon, meaning all he really had on him in terms of equipment was his USP, before he made his way to the elevators that would take him to the exit of Headquarters. Along the way, he made sure to keep whatever information concerning key places that he walked by in memory as he started his walk to Shinji and co.'s school, which was situated at what was only a good walking distance from NERV.
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Meanwhile, in Central Dogma…
(I hope everything will be alright with Snake. While he tends to his role, I'll stick to mine and dig around for any possible information on the Patriots in the meantime.) Otacon thought to himself, as he was seated in the command centre of NERV, alongside Hyuga and Aoba. Hal had been making progress diving into the information access banks of the Magi so far without any problems, while at the same time, avoiding arousing any sort of suspicion among his new colleagues by helping with working on the installation data of the Dummy Plug system into Eva-Unit 01.
"Excuse me, Mr. Emmerich?" A young woman's voice said over his head. He looked up to see Lt. Maya Ibuki watching him, holding onto her clipboard.
"Uh, yes, Lt. Ibuki, wasn't it?" Hal said, almost caught by surprise. When he had first met Maya through Ritsuko a short while ago, she reminded him a little bit of Emma Emmerich in some ways, but he soon saw that she was actually quite different from her, as her personality was more gentle and self-determined than his step-sister was, along with the fact that Maya was bit more mature and feminine looking than Emma looked as she had been more like a tomboy.
(E.E…) Otacon thought as he was almost lost in Maya's brown eyes for a couple of seconds before he caught himself as she spoke again.
"Is the Dummy Plug system input data going well?" Maya asked seriously. "Dr. Akagi already told you about the procedures, am I right?"
"Yes, everything seems to be going fine so far. No problems detected here." Otacon said as he stopped to notice the look on Maya's face. It looked as if this issue was bothering her in some ways, so he took the stand to ask ahead.
"Hey...is everything alright, Lt. Ibuki?" Otacon asked. "You can go ahead and tell me what's wrong, that's why I'm here in the first place, to lend you guys a hand."
"Actually, what I was thinking about was the fact that the Dummy Plug system isn't even finished yet. To be honest, it's not even close to satisfactory working conditions because its emotional content can't be monitored or even predicted." Maya said with content in her voice. "I wish I could tell Dr. Akagi about this before she leaves for Matsushiro soon, but..."
"If that's the case, why are you guys still installing the program in the first place? Shouldn't we be looking things over in order to correct any possible mistakes before doing so?" Otacon asked. "Whose idea was it to have it installed like this in the first place if it's still that faulty?"
"You're right to worry about it being faulty, Dr. Emmerich. There's at least an 80 to 90 percent chance that things will go wrong once it's activated, and if that happens the results could be very dangerous. I wish we could have had more time to work on it, and also to give it a proper field test first, but it was the Commander who ordered the installation just some hours ago." Maya said.
"Surely, Dr. Akagi would have objected to this if she knew the Dummy Plug isn't even ready to be approved just yet, so why is the Commander in such a hurry to authorize an outrageous idea like that?" Otacon asked as Maya shrugged her shoulders.
"That's one thing about him you wouldn't want to rack your brains to figure out." Maya said as Otacon leaned back a moment and smiled at Maya.
"Hey, I wouldn't have to worry. From the looks what this program is designed to do, it's unlikely that there will be a time NERV will be even need to use it. Even so, I'm sure the program could still have some uses, we just need to work around the time constraints to correct its faults and make a new and better version of the program, but even I can't tell how long that will take. To completely rewrite the mapping for an AI that powerful, especially if it's going to be used in an Evangelion, would take more than just days…" Otacon said as he placed a finger on his chin. "Still, if things are as bad as you say, then I could make a bit of a 'safeguard' for it if that would make you feel better."
"Are you sure about that? I wouldn't want to add more to your schedule especially since it's your first day on the job. Also, if the Commander gets word that the system's been tampered with..." Maya said with a note of concern in her voice.
"It will be alright. I should be able to make a program like that pretty quickly and I'll make sure that this will be our little secret." Otacon said. "I've dealt with artificial intelligence rerouting before in my engineering days, so this is probably not too different. I just hope nothing will come up where this will need to be used."
Maya was surprised by Otacon's optimism. Still, she was relieved that at least for now she could work a little easier, now that someone like Hal could at least try to keep things in order. She nodded at him with a light smile.
"I'll try. Thanks for the encouragement." Maya said. "Now, let's run some more diagnosis programs on the Magi before we take a break."
As Maya returned to her own computer station, Otacon thought to himself for a moment about the Dummy Plug system and what Maya just told him.
(This is a lot more serious than I thought it would be...maybe my knowledge won't be just for Philanthropy's work during this mission after all.) He thought. (Once I get more intel on this, I'll have Snake know about it later. This stuff alone sounds like it could be crucially important.)
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Another day of classes had just ended for the Children of Toyko-3. Shinji had just come out from the end of the last class period with Asuka to check up on his two closest friends, Kensuke Aida, the military otaku, and Touji Suzahara, the sports jock, while Asuka went ahead to see her closest friend, the class representative, Hikari Horaki. They all gathered in separate groups in the school yard, one for the trio of boys, another for the two girls, to talk about the events which had transpired for the day.
"Hey, if it isn't the Shin-man himself. At least you're doing alright, that last Angel fight was something, I'd reckon. Oh, and hello to you too, Devil-girl. " Kensuke waved to Shinji, as he saw him on the premises, along with Asuka, who turned her head upon the sight of the two boys Shinji considered as friends.
"Kensuke, why da hell are ya talking to Demon-child over dere? Don't waste yer breathe trying to appeal to her." Touji expressed to his friend, his tone in his native Osakan accent as Asuka gritted her teeth at him.
"Hmph, mind your own business, you pervert monkey." Asuka warned him as she turned and headed towards Hikari's direction.
"Well, at least her personality's still as chipper as it always is." Kensuke said. "Anyway, what's with this thing I heard about you getting a new bodyguard for you pilots and Major Katsuragi?"
"I'm not too sure about the details myself either, Kensuke, the news came out all of a sudden to me recently from Misato." Shinji said. "NERV's also supposed to be bringing in a foreign group of specialists to help with the combat training soon as well. I think they call themselves FOXHOUND or something…"
Kensuke spat out the contents of his drink on Touji's lap in exclamation as he heard this.
"Hey, Kensuke, whadda hell do ya think yer doing?!?!" Touji shouted at Kensuke angrily, while the military nut grabbed onto Shinji's shirt collar as he ignored the tallest of the three.
"Did you just say what I think you just said, Shinji?" Kensuke asked, almost frantically, as Shinji replied by simply nodding his head.
"I did say it clearly, Kensuke. NERV's going to be retained under this FOXHOUND group, but knowing you, you'd probably know about them, huh?" Shinji said as Kensuke smirked, fixing his glasses. "Have you been hacking your dad's computer again?"
"Yes but that's beside the point, I mean who else in the military affairs wouldn't? You guys are going to be drilled and associated with what was defined way back in the late 20th century as an assemblage of some of the most lethal freaks that any army could muster." Kensuke explained. "Those FOXHOUND guys are considered to be the best of the best, in skills, technology, and resources."
"And NERV's enlisted these guys to assist Shinji and his work buddies dere soon, huh?" Touji remarked. "It still doesn't still sound too special if ya ask me."
"Maybe because you don't know the full requirements about how these special recruits are enlisted into that group, my friend." Kensuke added. "Considering the rigorous survival, physical, psychological, and intelligence training just to be selected alone, there are also the professional training courses they will have to undergo as well, not just any average person can be part of that group these days. I've even heard that group's got recruits with certain superhuman abilities over the years."
"Yer got to be kidding me…that can't be true." Touji said simply as Kensuke shook his head.
"Oh, it's very true, Touji. Even those without special abilities are unique in their own way in that they all ranged from knowledge and masteries of survival over extended length in bushes, jungles, and desert terrains, as well as maintaining skills in acute tailing, detonating operations, wireless communications, seizing and reusing enemy weapons, collecting information, various martial arts, emergency medical situations, linguistics and hi-tech or essentially anything being required as a hi-tech squad."
"Wow, Kensuke, I never knew that you did your homework on these guys, but then again, topics like these are what you're the most likely to know about." Shinji said with a wry grin.
"So, basically, Shinji, da albino, and Devil-Girl are going ta be schooled by some serious badasses later, huh?" Touji grinned. "Sounds like an idea that will finally do ya some good; it's about time ya got toughened up before the next Angel kicks ya around."
"Somehow, I don't feel too comfortable about the way you put it like that, Touji, but we'll see." Shinji said as he looked at the time on his wristwatch before asking him, as he knew what time it was.
"Touji, it's about that time, isn't it? Aren't you supposed to be…?" Shinji asked as his track suit wearing friend stretched his arms and spoke back as he stood up.
"I know, I know, I was about to get going anyway." Touji said, grabbing his bag-pack. "She's gradually gettin' used to da loneliness at dis time til I get dere, y' know?"
"Touji…" Shinji said as he was still sorry for causing the accident that hurt Touji's little sister, Mari Suzahara, during the first Angel fight against the Third Angel in his Evangelion Unit 01. Because of that, Touji had to spend most evenings these days keeping his sister company, but as Touji told him before, he didn't mind the extra time he had to spend with his sister, and also that he forgave Shinji for what had happened as he had realized that it had been Shinji's first time piloting the Evangelion in that battle.
"Yo, didn't I tell ya not ta bother yerself about it, Shin-man? I'm cool with ya now, so don't go beating yerself about it fereva, it's not like she was too critically injured, heh." Touji said as his face suddenly got back to its serious look when he turned around to start walking. "See ya guys later. Oh yeah, Shinji, I got sumthin' I'd like to discuss with ya in private, mind dropping by my place later this evening?"
"Uh, sure thing, Touji. It's not a problem." Shinji replied as Touji waved to his friends before leaving. (I wonder what that was all about just now.)
As Touji left the schoolyard, the two boys left on the compound looked at each other in silence.
"There he goes again, acting tough at times like this when he knows its killing him on the inside." Kensuke muttered quietly as Shinji lowered his gaze.
(And I'm guessing Ayanami hasn't come again today, even though I just got out of the hospital.) Shinji thought as he looked around. (Neither her nor father even came to visit me while I was there, could they be together again like the last time I saw them as always?)
Meanwhile from a distance, Hikari was a bit disappointed that Touji hadn't accepted her lunch today, especially with his mind heavy on his younger sister in the hospital. She remembered that he had said to her that it was alright for her to make his lunch for him just a couple days before, but today something was bothering him, as his thoughts were heavy on something else.
"Hey, Hikari, you alright? You don't look okay." Asuka called out to her friend.
"Huh?" Hikari caught herself. "Oh, Asuka, I'm sorry. I was just thinking about Touji and..."
"Gott in himmel, are you still worried about that dumb jock?" Asuka interrupted her best friend. "Just what do you see in him anyway?"
Hikari just turned to her side, to hide the redness that covered her freckled cheeks, as the mention of Touji's name made her blush.
"You're serious, are you?" Asuka gently tapped her forehead with the palm. "I don't believe this! This is the end of the world as we know it!"
"But Asuka, he's really a sweet and caring guy, you just haven't seen that as I have." Hikari said.
"All I know is that he's a mindless and perverted ape, without any sense of decency in him. What's so special about him that you had to fall for him?" Asuka asked as Hikari closed her eyes to think back on the reason she did start to have feelings for him.
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"Oh, it's raining today, huh?" Hikari muttered as she stood outside the entrance to the school a week before that day's events while there was a heavy downpour of rain. School had just ended as she, among several other students from her class, stayed back for class duty. Touji Suzahara was one of them.
"Luckily for me, I did have a spare umbrella in case of times like these…I'd better get home before Kodame and Nozomi say I'm coming home late today again because of Suzahara-kun." Hikari said to herself as she shook her head. "Why am I thinking about that guy at a time like this? Because of his loudmouth, he has to share the responsibilities of the class duties today too, why am I letting it bother me…?"
As she made her way out under the umbrella's cover, she stopped to hear a speeding car coming from the upper-side of the street the school was on. It wasn't the fact that she was on the street that matter, but a small, and wet brown stray puppy was in the middle of the car's path.
"Oh, no! That puppy's going to be run over!" One of the schoolgirls shouted as Hikari looked on with a horrified look on her face as she shut her eyes, fearing the worst to come.
SCRREECH!
Expecting a sickening sound to come afterwards, she didn't know that the next words would surprise her and the other students watching.
"Hey, watch yer careless drivin', ya speed freak!" Touji's loud voice spat out as Hikari opened her eyes to see a wet Touji holding onto the shaking puppy, bravely standing in front of the car which had stopped just inches in front of them. "Don't make me have to go and drag yer sorry ass out of dat car now, even if yer an adult!"
Without stopping to hear the driver complain at Touji as he drove off, the jock hurried past a stunned Hikari as she watched him carry the puppy off into the school.
"Wait, Suzahara-kun, where do you think you're going soaked like that?" Hikari asked as Touji looked at her.
"To da nurse's office, where else?" Touji replied. "She may not be a vet, but at least she could check out if this one's going to be okay. I may have gathered a few scrapes too just now, so…"
"Suzahara-kun…" Hikari muttered as Touji rushed off inside the school, leaving her to wonder about him as her heart started to beat faster when she came to a certain realization. (I may be wrong about you after all…)
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"He almost got ran over, trying to rescue a stray puppy without a care in the world what happened to him." Hikari said. "Sometime after that, I heard from the nurse that Touji took that puppy in as his own and even heard that he was going to give it as a present for his injured younger sister."
"It only sounds like he's getting soft if you ask me." Asuka remarked as she wrapped her am around her friend's shoulder. "I may find it strange you actually like that jock...but...if it makes you happy, I shouldn't really be complaining."
Hikari was all smiles for the moment, but quickly frowned. "Thanks, Asuka. That means a lot. But...I don't know. Maybe he has no idea how much I like him. For all I know, it's just a one sided affair between him and I…but I'm happy with the way things are now, even if he doesn't take notice of me seriously."
"Hikari..." Asuka could see how much Hikari was concerned about this, and wanted to help in her own way, but before she could say another word to her friend, she spotted an American male dressed in sharp, casual attire, wearing shades, heading their way. Asuka could have recognized him in an instant if he hadn't had on the shades he was wearing, but she began to recall the picture of the person Misato spoke of that they'd be expecting to arrive and pick them up today.
"Hey...isn't that the new bodyguard that's supposed to be picking us up today, Shinji?" Asuka asked, turning over to him and Kensuke, who had walked over to join her and Hikari.
Shinji, Kensuke, and Hikari turned to see Snake heading their way while Snake put up a straight, yet appealing face that would make the Evangelion pilots feel comfortable around him.
"Well, finally we meet, Second and Third Child, Asuka Langley Sohryu and Shinji Ikari." Snake said in flawless Japanese to the kids which impressed them, not expecting to hear a foreigner use their language so well. "I'm Iroquois Pliskin and I'll be your new bodyguard. Major Katsuragi had sent me to pick you up from school today as my first mission, so here I am."
Snake held out a hand to them, whilst Shinji was a bit nervous to meet someone new especially someone who was going to be his bodyguard. This was all a surprise to him and Asuka as well.
"Um... hello...I'm...Shinji Ikari. It's...nice to...m-meet you...Pliskin-san." Shinji said.
Snake only replied with a smile and patted his shoulder. "Don't you worry, kid. I may look like this all the time, but I'm generally a nice guy. Anyway, I've been hearing a lot about you, the legendary Third Child. You managed to even impress me with what you've been doing against the Angels, and that's no small feat. Good work, Shinji."
Shinji was a little surprised to hear this from a stranger whom he had just met. The last time he was complimented about his duty as an Eva pilot was from his father, who barely commended his work at all. Shinji couldn't help but feel a little good about even a total stranger complimenting him that way, so he felt a little shy about it, but managed to smile even more. One strange thing was that he felt as if he had seen this man before, but he really couldn't make out where or even if he actually had.
"Thanks. I'll try to do my best." Shinji said. Just then, Asuka stepped in front of Shinji and looked at Snake in an unusual look.
"Is something the matter, Second Child?" Snake said, almost unbothered by Asuka's attempt to grab some attention from the stranger.
"Hmm, he looks like he's capable enough, but I still think that it's unnecessary to have a bodyguard!" Asuka told Snake with a brave, fuming face. "Like I said, I think it's a stupid idea! And what kind of a name is Iroquois anyway?"
"'Iroquois' is a Francofied version of the Algonquin word for rattlesnakes." Snake said in German now. "It's what they called their enemies."
Asuka, who was surprised asked in an interested tone. "Algonquin?"
"The Algonquin Nation." Snake replied. "One of the many groups of Native Americans who used to call Manhattan Island their home. The majority of tribes in what's now the state of New York were a part of the Algonquin Nation."
Asuka continued asking since this appeared to have picked her interests. "So that would make it a shelter of -- snakes?"
Snake nodded. "That's right. By the way, 'Manhattan' means "island of hills" in Algonquin."
"That's interesting. Well, I was just testing you to see if you've got the smarts that would qualify you to be a suitable bodyguard for us." Asuka nodded in approval.
"Well, I did some reading up on your academic background before I came here and for a fourteen year old, you're more than just adequately educated. A graduate level is far more than just impressive to anyone who hears about you." Snake replied.
Asuka smiled as she then turned to Shinji. "See, Shinji. Even a bouncer type can have some brains. You know, you're an okay guy, Pliskin. But, don't think I'll be easy on you. I'll be watching your every move so as to make sure you don't slip up until my guardian gets here."
"And the same with me, kid." Snake said, smiled as he though to himself. (So this really is Garland's adopted kid, huh? How does he put up with a pushy attitude like hers? Well, I'll learn to adapt somehow.)
Shortly then, Kensuke and Hikari joined their friends to meet their new protector.
"Oh, these are our friends...Kensuke Aida and Hikari Horaki." Asuka introduced her other friends to Snake. "They're just hanging around us for no good reason until someone like you gets here. Hikari here seems to have a crush on this guy who's really undependable and..."
"Asuka! Don't say that about Suzahara-kun!" Hikari said, in an embarrassed outburst. "Sure, he wasn't himself when about getting his lunch today, but surely he meant it when he wanted to help."
(The same Touji who's going to be the Fourth that Misato woman was telling me about before?) Snake thought to himself as he looked at Shinji in silence. (This could complicate things.)
"Excuse me, Hikari, was it?" Snake asked, noticing the bento box she had. "Was that for someone by any chance? A boy you like, perhaps?"
Hikari blushed at Snake's correct interception about her plan to get close to Touji. "Yeah, but he was acting totally different today. He seemed as if he didn't want his lunch, even though he said that he would want it. But, maybe I should just give up."
"Maybe you shouldn't." Snake advised Hikari. "Sure, he must have had things on his mind, but don't let that discourage you. I can see in those eyes of yours that you care deeply for this guy. You should be more determined to be with him, pursue him further if you have to. If you try hard enough, he'll be yours."
Asuka spoke as she knew where Snake was coming from.
"That's right, Hikari. It's like what I told you the other day…we may never know about what tomorrow may bring for us because of the days we're living in now, that's why we've got to at least take the initiative in these matters before its too late. With your way of thinking, you won't be making any progress." Asuka said to her friend. "If you want to say how you feel, you'd better make it loud and clear, be bold and brave."
"Asuka, Pliskin-san…" Hikari nodded. "I...I'll try even harder, you'll see. Thanks, you two."
"I just thought I'd lend a hand to it, that's all." Snake said with a smile. "I wish you the best of luck, kid."
"If you two are done, can we go now?" Asuka tapped her foot, in annoyance. "Gosh, you Americans sure are weird."
"What, are you having love problems with your man too, Asuka?" Snake said in German this time around. This caused Asuka to glare at Shinji who was still blushing suddenly.
"What are you looking at, ecchi?" Asuka yelled at him while Hikari and Kensuke laughed, while Shinji blushed even more with embarrassment.
Snake only shook his head and smiled. (Well, at least these kids are harmless, despite the things I've heard about them. Still, to think that they'd be targets for the enemy, I'd better keep my wits about me until our guys from FOXHOUND eventually get here.)
"Well, kids, let's get going then." Snake said, as he started to walk, when suddenly, he stopped and he sensed an unfamiliar presence from among the shadows of the nearby school park.
"Hmmm?" Snake stopped and examined his surroundings. He didn't see very many people, except for the children with him as most of the other students had left. He made sure to look one more time before he reached for his USP.
(Someone else is here...with an intent to kill. I've sensed this feeling before…). He thought. The instinct he had gained from his years in war was useful, but this was definitely unexpected, as he was in no battlefield. Even though it was out of place he could still sense someone with harmful intent was close by and ready to attack.
The children stopped behind Snake and watched his movements. Asuka stepped up closer to Shinji and whispered to him. "What's up with this guy?"
Before Shinji could reply, Snake quickly turned around and shouted to him, "Get down!"
And that, the kids did, not knowing what was going on. And for good reason too. Snake pulled at his USP's trigger at a barrage of knives which were thrown at his direction. Even though there were a few of them, Snake took aim and shot at the barrage with precise accuracy, shooting each knife out of the air and making sure they never hit their marks. As the knives then fell harmlessly to the ground and Snake took a moment to examine them.
He recognized the size and the style of the knives and knew of only one person who could use them in such a way.
(It can't be…to think he's still alive after these years.) Snake thought as he got up and his guess was proven correct as he looked up and saw a pale skinned, middle aged man standing atop on one of the railings of the school's edge, with some rather unusual scars across his abdomen, a bullet wound on his right side and on the middle of his temple. He was wearing a strap which held his knife collection together and had a smile on his face that revealed fangs. (Vamp!?! What the hell is he doing here in Japan?)
"It's been awhile...Snake. I can see time hasn't been kind to you one bit." Vamp said, bowing to him, speaking in his deep accent. Snake didn't bother to let Vamp have his way and upon seeing an opening, fired several shots at Vamp, who easily danced away to avoid the bullets.
(Damn...he's still quick as ever.) Snake thought as he growled at seeing an old face from the Big Shell. But he had to get the children to a safe spot before he confronted him in battle.
"Shinji! You and your friends need to go someplace to hide!" Snake said to a now frightened Shinji. "I'll take care of this!"
"What?" Shinji was stunned, but Asuka grabbed him before he could stay in the same dangerous spot anymore.
"Come on, dumpkoff! Let him deal with it as he said!" Asuka shouted. "Those two mean business!"
With Kensuke and Hikari behind them, the two pilots ran for the inner compound of the school, and hid next to a window where they saw the action. By the time they did, Vamp had already landed on the ground in front of Snake. There was a stand-off between the two.
Shinji, who was still shaken up after another life-and-death experience, continued to hide in the background with the other children, Kensuke, Hikari, and Asuka, could only watch in fear as they saw their guardian point his gun at Vamp. Snake, meanwhile, held his aim on Vamp with his suppressed USP.
Kensuke was the first to see if Shinji was alright. "Shinji! You okay?"
"Y-yeah, I g-guess." Shinji said as the fear in his voice unwilling to leave. He remembered to gathered himself quickly, for his sake. "We'll be okay, I'm sure."
"What's going on, Asuka?" Hikari asked her best friend, with fear in her voice. Scared to even believe that this was even happening, all she thought about was Touji being next to her, protecting her from the man that could have killed Shinji before her eyes.
"I don't know, Hikari, but don't you worry. I think Pliskin's got things handled for now." Asuka held on to her friend and gave a nod of assurance as she thought to herself. (Misato was right when she said that we're being targeted. And that guy seemed to know Pliskin personally, but what's the deal with them, really?)
Snake continued to aim at Vamp, ignoring the fact that the children were watching him. "Why are you here? Are you under orders from a new employer?"
"Like I told your young friend back at the Shell years ago, Hell had no vacancies. I can't die twice." Vamp simply smiled as he pulled out another knife. "Speaking of which, I heard that same friend of yours has gone 'missing in action' not too long ago, am I correct?'
"What's it to you?" Snake asked. (Could he possibly know where Raiden is?)
"Not that it matters, I'm very certain that we'll meet each other again. He is the only one that can finally kill me, after all." Vamp said.
"What the hell are you implying?" Snake asked as Vamp smiled.
"Now, now, I can't give away too much of the grand presentation in store for you now, can I?" Vamp asked. "In any case, I'd like to see if your skills haven't grown rusty with age…I know about your already failing cloned cells, which explains your current condition. Do your new employers at NERV, as well as those children, those Evangelion pilots, know about that, hmm?"
(Dammit, so he has found out about those, huh?) Snake thought.
Snake then remembered how Raiden had told him in detail, after the Big Shell mission, about the fight he had in the Water Purification room in the Shell 2 core. Snake could see that even though he had an advantage in the environment, chances were that Vamp could still pull off the shadow-binding move again, considering that Vamp could use the sunlight to his advantage. But, Snake knew that he could and would find a weakness in Vamp.
"I don't know what is it that you're after, but if you want to harm innocent kids, you've got to deal with me first." Snake said with a serious face while ignoring the fact that Vamp knew beforehand about his mission. "I also haven't forgotten about what you did at the Big Shell, murdering those U.S Seals, as well as Emma Emmerich."
"Ah, Dr. Emmerich…the last time I was informed, her step-brother also tagged along with you, am I correct?" Vamp asked in a taunting tone. "I can imagine the look on his face when he learns that I've come back to haunt him for committing the heinous of crimes to someone he once considered his family."
"I was right; someone must have tipped you off." Snake said as Vamp smirked.
"Well, it won't do you any more good if you knew anyway." Vamp said. "I'm going to put you to the test and see if you can still dance like you used to."
Vamp was actually amused to confront Snake in battle after so long. He simply smiled as he leapt backward in a flip, then landing on his feet, he started to spin away, knives being thrown at Snake, who sprinted slightly to his left in order to dodge while firing shots that eventually threw Vamp off course and finally hitting him once at his scars on his abdomen. Some pale red blood sprayed out of his body, but it hardly slowed him down.
Quickly recovering, Vamp leapt to one of the nearby school walls, ran up a couple of feet upwards on the wall, before jumping off it, while sending a wave of knives at his enemy. Snake was quick to avoid his knives again and was ready to deliver some blows of his own against Vamp.
As Vamp landed on the ground, Snake was on him before his enemy could react. Snake knew that he had to be careful this time against Vamp, though, as he knew better than to underestimate his skills. Snake made sure to disarm Vamp before he could use his knives for close combat. Using his trademark double punch, then a spinning aerial kick move, Snake managed to knock out a knife from Vamp's left hand. Vamp was one to learn quick from his mistakes, though, as he saw an opening after Snake recovered from making the kick and countered by making a vertical slash across Snake's bare left arm.
The cut was a deep one, as blood started to trickle out like water from his open wound. Snake flinched slightly to this, but he had been injured worse before in battle, and pushed the pain aside as he knew he could keep fighting. In fact, he had received this same kind of wound before when he first confronted Vamp back at the Big Shell when he had first used the alias Pliskin.
"I see you haven't lost your touch just yet." Vamp complimented him. "It's just as expected from you."
"I've picked up some new tricks over the years as well." Snake said, as he grabbed one of the knives that Vamp dropped and armed himself with it while still holding onto his handgun.
(That style of CQC is…) Vamp thought as he looked at his opponent and smirked. (Well, this should prove interesting.)
Snake fired a few suppressed rounds at Vamp, who once again was able to evade the gunfire with ease, but didn't expect Snake to suddenly get up close and use his knife to defend from Vamp's reacted counter attack. At that time, Snake fired a close range shot at one of Vamp's legs, the bullet hitting its mark, as he then spun the knife's blade and wrestled Vamp's out of his grip as he dropped to his knee.
"Alright, who sent you?" Snake shouted, pointing the gun at the now disarmed Vamp and keeping his distance.
"Would it matter if you did know?" Vamp taunted him, blood trickling out of his mouth. Snake pulled out his gun and pointed it blank range at Vamp's head.
"I wonder...Would blowing your brains out finally send you to hell?" Snake spoke. "But before that, did Liquid send you?"
"That traitor…well, I won't be surprised if I was under his orders today, that is." Vamp said. "I've served my purpose for now, anyway. Now the stage has been properly set…we'll finish this some other time, Snake."
Vamp smiled once more, as he reached for his coat's edge. He flung it over Snake to block his vision, as he quickly fired through the coat at Vamp. But to his and everyone else's surprise, Vamp had suddenly disappeared as the children emerged from their hiding places to meet him.
"What the...?" Asuka said in shock. "Where did he go?"
When Snake realised that Vamp escaped using one of his new escape tricks, he simply cursed under his breath.
"It seems like Vamp has learned some new tricks too. But I doubt that's the last we'll see of him." Snake went across to Shinji. "You kids alright?"
The children nodded, Asuka in an emotion of curiosity and excitement, while Shinji was just glad that no one was harmed, though he and Hikari were still a bit shaken after witnessing a fight like that. They all nodded in unison, signalling that they were unharmed.
"Mein Gott, who was that freak, Pliskin?" Asuka asked. "He looked like an actual corpse with a death wish."
"That was Vamp, a former anti-terrorist member from a group known as Dead Cell." Snake smoked away, while covering his open wound with a bandage he was carrying with him that he found in his jeans' pocket. "As you all saw, he is a wizard with knives and it looks like he still has a taste for blood...but I didn't think it was Shinji's blood he was after. It was a good thing I was here in time or else..."
"Why would he go after you, Shinji?" Kensuke asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Asuka said. "Because he's a wimp, and he deserved a scare like that!"
"Asuka now isn't the time to say such things about Shinji. Or, in case you may have forgotten, that Vamp guy was probably after you as well." Snake warned the Second Child with a look that made her silent instantly.
"Uh, yeah. Sorry about that." Asuka muttered as Shinji hung his head slightly.
"Don't worry about what she said, Shinji." Snake said to Shinji. "If that guy comes back again, I can handle him before he tries anything else, okay?"
With that, Shinji just nodded with a nervous smile and went to sit with his friends to ease his fears a little. Snake sat on a nearby table and placed a hand on his left ear as he called Otacon's frequency on his Codec while keeping watch on the children.
"Otacon? Can you hear me?" Snake asked as their faces appeared on the monitors.
"Snake? What's going on? Did something happen?" Otacon saw the look on his friend's face.
"Yeah, I'm at Shinji's school right now, but you wouldn't believe what just took place. I just ran into an old face from the Big Shell..." Snake said as he breathed deeply to brace Otacon for the news. "It was Vamp. He just tried to attack the pilots and their friends just now."
"What did you just said?" Otacon shouted in anger. "Why is he still alive? Emma's murderer..."
"Take it easy. I managed to handle him before he could have harmed the kids, but he got away." Snake said. "Otacon, you don't think 'they' are active again, do you?"
Otacon took a deep breath to gain himself, then spoke. "I...wish I knew, but that seems unlikely. Did you get anything out of him that could explain why he would even be here?"
"No, the bastard took off before I got anything out of him. But it seemed that he knew about our operation." Snake paused for a while. "Otacon, we'd better be alert about this. Chances are that someone's been leaking information about us to him and whoever he's working for now."
"But…we made sure our traces were one hundred percent covered before we came here. The only people who know about us being here are ourselves, and some of our people in Philanthropy and FOXHOUND." Otacon said.
"Are you sure you haven't missed anyone in that regard, Otacon?"
"I know this means that there's a high possibility that there's a spy among us, but we can't rule out anything about it just yet. Don't worry it too much though. I'll dig around for clues that would probably help us identify the culprit, though it will take some time." Otacon said. "In any case, Snake, its best that you rendezvous back to NERV with the pilots at once and report to the Major on what just happened. Vamp may have retreated for now, but there's no telling what may happen the next time he would show up. He may even not be alone in this…"
"Let's just get ready for that next time then." Snake said. "Okay, I'll see you later when I get there. Snake out."
After the conversation, Snake pondered a bit about the situation. It was obvious that Vamp knew at least some of what was going on in Tokyo-3, but he also spoke as if he knew where Raiden could be.
(Something is going to happen; I can just feel it coming.) Snake thought. (But what the hell's going to happen next?)
Giving up the thought for now Snaked gathered his thoughts and spoke to the children. "Come on, you two, let's get back to headquarters. Misato is waiting for us. Will your friends be fine on their way home?"
"If anything, I'll take her home, Pliskin-san. You don't need to worry about us." Kensuke said in an eccentric tone, after having seen some action just now, while Hikari was a bit disappointed that it wasn't Touji walking her home.
"Fine, you just watch yourselves. Hikari, remember what I told you before, if you try hard enough, you'll thank yourself later for taking a step forward." Snake said to her.
"I will, Pliskin-san. Definitely, Touji will be mine for the taking." Hikari said, with a determined smile.
With that, Hikari and Kensuke said their thanks to Snake and good byes to Shinji and Asuka as they left to go their separate ways, unknown to them that a Cypher was watching their movements and sending data to another source
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Meanwhile, back in the United State, in FOXHOUND headquarters…
"And that's the report, Dad." Meryl said as she stood in front of Roy Campbell and another male of American decent, wearing a Lieutenant's clothing and smoking a small cigar, sat across the conference desk with Naomi Hunter. "Thus far, none of our operatives were reported to have been at the vicinity of the Nevada's NERV headquarters."
"Well, the worst of our fears may have passed, but with our recent team of recruits just heading over to Japan just hours ago, we have no reason to relax just yet." Roy said as the other male spoke while he smoked.
"Still, we're being asked to have this matter investigated even though we're under staffed as it is." The man said. "How about recalling our outside recruits to look into the affair, Col. Campbell, like that couple team consisting of Kinezono and Aramaki? I assume that they've completed their mission in South Africa by now?"
Before Campbell replied, Naomi suddenly answered. "Well, yes, but Lt. Reese sir, we have yet to get a report on their status, not to mention that Kinezono's still on sick leave after his previous mission that took quite a toll on his psychical condition…"
"End that sick leave as of today, Dr. Hunter. We need him to be fully capable of undertaking his mission in Japan soon anyway; this will be a good exercise for him." Matthew Reese said as Naomi thought in silence when he said this.
(That's mostly because of your indecisiveness and irrational behavior which placed him in that unlikely situation in the first place!) Naomi thought as Meryl spoke.
"I'll see about that, sir. If anything, they will have to act as escorts for when Evangelion Unit-03 gets transported from the Third Branch of NERV, since the chances of terrorist action after the loss of Unit-04 are higher than before." Meryl said. "It seems as if the enemy had started to move, knowing well of our soon to be presence in Japan."
"Alright, I'll leave that matter to you, Meryl. I'll notify NERV about this and tell them to expect assistance from Panther and Eagle within a day's time." Campbell said as he looked at Matthew Reese. "Now Reese, even though your idea for having those two being sent along with the rest of FOXHOUND coincides with the fact that they were assigned to be sent to Japan anyway, consider the well being of the recruits before you suggest orders like that next time. Because of your recent actions, Kinezono almost had his life endangered, along with several civilians during his mission. If it weren't for Venom's strategy and assistance at the last minute at the time…"
"I know, but at least the outcome was within tolerable conditions. Besides, both Drakken and his team, as well as Scorpion, are too far into their missions to be recalled immediately, so it's not like we have anything else." Reese replied as he stood up. "Well, I'll be expecting to hear about more on the development at NERV. I'll be in my office if anything new comes up."
As the man left the office, Naomi left out a sigh, relieved that he was gone for now as she couldn't tolerate his nasty cigar smoking habits, or his incompetence as a superior.
"I still don't know why he's still around here." Naomi said under her breath. "Roy, are you going to follow his order on having the recruits being recalled back immediately?"
"Not just yet, I'm certain that Kinezono in particular is still under the weather after that nearly disastrous mission, thanks to Reese." Roy said. "Still…"
"I know, we're under pressure as it is already, I guess it would be wise to call them back and give them new orders…" Meryl muttered. (I just hope we're calling the right shots like this until everyone is gathered in Japan.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Meanwhile, inside a darkened room….
"So, Vamp has made contact with Snake then?" A scrambled voice spoke from the other line of the phone's speaker. "Good, the plan is set in motion. All that we need now is to have the Beauty and the Beast unit on standby until we fully re-gather our forces."
The other end spoke in a scrambled voice of its own as the speaker responded.
"Yes, we will still need more data for the FROGS to also become fully suitable for combat use. Hopefully, our plan for the capture simulation in Tokyo 2 will also take off soon as well. One of our undercover operatives is overseeing it at the moment, there will be no interference."
The other voice spoke as the speaker smiled in the darkness.
"Yes, it's just as you said it would go, the meeting with Vamp was all part of the diversion and FOXHOUND has yet to enter the stage. I doubt the civilian girl will put up any resistance, even with her special abilities. That is why 'he' recommended we fight fire with fire. For the time being, we'll keep Tokyo-3 as our main point of focus; those fools from SEELE will not see even this coming."
The other speaker concluded with a click from the line as the speaker leaned back in his chair.
"Snake…your pursuit for the Patriots will no go so smoothly, that I can assure you…" The speaker said.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ShardclawK: Well, how convenient for me to keep Vamp in this revised chapter, since he's going to be in MGS4 as confirmed by the recent trailers, but how did everyone like the mention of the Beauty and the Beast unit and the FROGS in this chapter? They seemed to be pretty neat looking villains from what I can tell so far, just how many other bosses that we haven't seen yet that are waiting to be revealed when the game comes out?
Also, take note that I changed some of Touji's speech to the original manga dialect of the Osaka accent this time around, this so being that he retains his character and goofy personality, thus making him a bit of the comic relief for the Evangelion's side of COE, not to mention with him being one of my personal most favorite of Evangelion characters. Also, I hoped everyone liked that little flashback scene with him and Hikari I included as well, I was inspired by a similar scene from the sci-fi, high school, action anime, Sadamitsu: The Destroyer to do that scene for COE's revision
I also hoped I did a good job balancing out the original characters and the canon characters in this revised chapter as well to better tell the story so far, though things haven't really started as yet in terms of development not by much (though it seemed like an early prelude to Soldier X has already started at the end of this chapter).
Speaking of manga, haven't you guys read the newly released Evangelion AU fantasy manga novel, Records of Heaven's Descent as yet? I'd give that a read if you haven't seen it, it's a very intriguing, yet altered retelling of the Evangelion series with a bit of a fantasy twist and the character designs (although not Sadamoto's, sadly, but the art is still really good) give the already familiar Eva characters new life. I highly recommend it for a good read till the normal manga gets updated.
I for one can hardly wait for more info on MGS4, but man….getting that PS3 is tricky down here in Trinidad at the moment, though I already purchased an original copy of Devil May Cry 4 for that system some time back, since the gameplay and movie videos I've seen posted on YouTube convinced me to get that game and keep it in reserve by the time I get the system later in the year. Hopefully, the DMC player gods out there such as KAIL as the best example should be close to giving us combo and gameplay videos based on their mad skills for DMC4 sometime soon, which I'm really hoping would be good as the ones they did for DMC3: Special Edition. How I envy you XBOX 360 owners for getting to play the game before I do…
Okay, now to close off this chapter, how about another service filled omake till the guys from FOXHOUND arrive in Japan next chapter? (Don't worry, we'll get back to the Gendou and other wankster man bashing from the next chapter since he pretty much appears from that point on in the story.) Enjoy.
Omake 3: Shardclaw's Worst Fears Come to Life?!
Shardclaw: Yes, my revised COE chapters are coming off well just as I planned, but I still have a lot of work ahead to accomplish. This time around, I will need to be super alert and studious as not to be sidetracked by the simplest of tasks, but man, I did say I have a ton of manga and anime to read up on before, especially in the ecchi category. I just hope that I get enough time for all of that while still attending to my revisions, as well as to the girls in my current harem…
Mysterious females' voice: Then, how about we make sure you stay on the updating schedule by hanging around you in our new work uniforms?
Shardclaw: Who's that? Wait, that voice can only belong to…
On cue, Seras Victoria in her true to manga version and upgraded Ultimate Hellsing appearance, along with the hawt, adult, version of Evangeline A.K Mc Dowell of the Negima! manga, Morrigan and Lilith Aensland of the DarkStalkers series, Xenobia, Phacia, Royce of Lunar: Silver Star Story and Yuko Anekohji of Divi Dead entered the stage wearing white, skimpy tank tops and micro minis.
Seras: Shardclaw-sama, how come you didn't include us in your little omake last chapter? We were pretty hungry for you too.
Shardclaw, swallowing at the sight of Seras's increased 'proportions' of her bust and hip size as they bounce: (E, no, she's got to be an F-cup now)…well, Seras-chan, it wasn't like the bed wasn't able to hold you girls too, I wasn't expecting to see how many people would say so much nice comments for the last chapter, even though its was only the start of the COE revisions.
Morrigan: Even so, it still looks like you're going to have support throughout these revisions, doesn't it?
Shardclaw: Yes, it appears that way, it looks like no one has given up on the grand Kusanagi Flame and his fiction just yet. In any case, until the time comes that I can start progressing this story on a more regular basis, you'll girls will have to keep up your best in giving me the support I will need to make this year even uber for this revised story and SX as well, so I'm counting on each and every one of you to live up to your 'skills', especially you both, Seras-chan and Evangeline-chan, since I'm pretty much catching up to both Hellsing and Negima mangas at the moment to check out your levels of hawtness.
Evangeline: Just don't let your manga reading enjoyment interrupt your grand mission or else you'll know what will happen to you if you sidetrack.
Shardclaw: It can't be helped, after the recent and really awesome updates for both Gantz and Elfen Lied, I got a lot of the Mai-Otome manga to read up on till the next updates, and I am so looking forward to the fan service it has to offer in that one till more episodes for the series are released as well.
Lilith: Sounds like Shardclaw-sama is drifting to his own little world again.
Seras: Well, I guess we'll just have to convince you some more on how serious we are on helping you as well as keeping you in check of your revisions, Shardclaw-sama. Now, I'll be the first to feast upon your great presence this time around…
Evangeline: I guess I'll help myself as well. Once we've had a taste of your awesome, God-like writer abilities, it's quite hard for us not to stop until you've quenched our thirst.
Shardclaw: Wait, Seras-chan and Evangeline-chan…I don't think I'm quite ready to let you two have your meal just yet…can't you two wait till some more revised chapters are up soon?!
Seras and Evangeline: Too late. Ahhhmmm…
CHOMP.
Shardclaw: You two troublemaking chicks…why is that I always end up with the strange girls…I knew I should have paid more attention to Dark-san's warning about letting them team up together like this…auugh, passing out now.
With that, the author passes out from getting double teamed from Seras and Evangeline's passionate love-bites; there was a mini catfight amongst the group of girls.
Morrigan: No fair, I wanted to eat Shardclaw-sama first.
Yoko: No, I wanted to eat him too. But no matter, now it will be easier for us to toy with him until the next update. Let's do our best not to overdo it, ne?
Royce: See you fanboys in the next revised chapter, pray that your favorite, mighty author will live by then.