ShardclawK: I just want to thank DarkFusion for editing the grammar mistakes I made during the revision of these chapters, not to mention doing some editing of his own, I'd appreciate the help. Here's revised chapter 3 for all to enjoy.
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ShardclawKusanagi proudly presents:
Metal Gear: Soldier X
Chapter 3: Never Trust the Blond Bombshell
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Greg woke up in what appeared to be the darkness within his own conscience. The last thing that he remembered was collapsing just outside the hot springs as his body suddenly weakened. Despite that, Greg obviously knew what was happening to him as of now.
(Tell me…why is it that you still come here?) A voice called out to him from the darkness.
"I…don't know…why I'm here." Greg replied to the darkness.
(Do you wish to be forgiven?) The voice asked suddenly.
(Forgiven? What have I done to be forgiven for?) Greg asked, confused and weak.
(Don't give me that, Greg. You of all people should know about that.) The voice replied. (Go ahead then. Keep on blaming yourself for leaving your family to die all those years ago while you still live on…tell me, isn't that what's keeping you back from accepting who you truly are? That is from accepting your true nature?)
"You know that's not true!" Greg replied.
(But you know for certain that it is. You don't need to deny yourself of the truth.) The voice lamented.
"Was I really responsible for letting them die?" Greg asked himself. "Is this my just punishment for disregarding my own father at such a time?"
(Maybe it is, maybe it's not. Who knows?) The voice said to him. (Then again, that's part of your lovely nature to give certain impressions about people.)
"I don't want to listen to you anymore…let me go back home…" Greg said in a low tone.
(Ahh, but you are home, Greg. It won't be long till you realise that it is. Just give it time.) The voice replied.
"Why do you do this to me every time I go to sleep?" Greg asked.
(Why, you ask? I thought you already knew.) The voice said to him. (In any case, they are waiting for you, so I won't keep you here any while longer. But be assured that I will be seeing you again.)
Before long, Greg began to feel his body move again, but he was still immobile as he felt his body was now lying on a bed. His eyes steadily opened and all he saw was a ceiling above him.
"So, you're finally awake." Nanvel's voice said as Greg turned to see her sitting at his bedside. "You know, Greg…you've got to be more careful if you're relying on the nanos alone just to heal some of your wounds."
"Nanvel? What happened?" Greg asked getting up. He clearly found out now that he was half dressed, but the bed covers were conveniently placed over his body. He also saw his right arm was covered in fresh bandages.
"You must have blacked out again, I guess." Nanvel said with a near sad look in her eyes. "Maya and I found you outside near the springs and found out that the nano colony you had currently had then were dying out and needed replacing."
"I'm surprised you didn't assume it was another 'attack' now, wasn't it?" Greg said as Nanvel's face looked even sadder. "Wait; don't answer that if you don't want to."
"I'm sorry, Greg…I should have asked to check up on those before it happened…" Nanvel apologized, but suddenly felt Greg's right bandaged hand touch her chin and lifted her head up.
"Ah, Nanvel, what would I do without you?" Greg simply replied with a slight grin now. "Even if you had done this thing late, it would be better than never, right?"
"I don't understand, Greg…" Nanvel said as Greg moved to the side to sit on the bed.
"I meant that you were always there to help me cope with this whole nano thing with my arm, while Naomi's the second best person in the field capable enough to give me limbs to use differently than certain average people. I'm thankful, at least, for you being around to pull my chestnuts out of the fire." Greg explained while rubbing his head as Nanvel grinned.
"Well, as long as you're happy with the whole thing, but just remember not to push yourself next time…those nanos aren't really 100 percent reliable for uses in combat, especially if it revolves around the FOXHOUND type." Nanvel advised him.
"That's why I should focus more on certain defence and counter offensive techniques based from my Marine MCMAP training, not to mention from Seishiro's teachings." Greg said as he lit a cigarette close by. He wasn't a serious smoker, but he would often do this to clear his head of the strange dreams he normally has now and again.
"MCMAP?" Nanvel asked, being curious.
"Simply put, the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program. I thought you'd remembered where I trained for that, Nanvel…you were the one who helped me sign up for it, after all." Greg said as he exhaled some of the smoke.
"It really seems like a long way since we've known you, Greg." Nanvel said with a smile. "A lot of things have happened since you came to us."
"Indeed." Greg said as he looked out to the window. "Is it morning already?"
"Yeah, you slept like a baby through the night. And looked quite cute as well, I wouldn't mind babysitting you again if you're not feeling any better." Nanvel joked.
"Stop kidding, Nanvel." Greg said, already putting out the cigarette on a nearby ash tray. "Besides, I say we should use this day to get to the bottom of this whole thing with Lilica missing and Mantis being back on the scene…we have to get some clues to this."
"You're right…I'd say we should start knocking on some doors for answers." Another female voice spoke as Greg and Nanvel turned to see Rio dressed in her Police Town uniform and her extremely long golden hair let down, covering most of her back area.
"Sensei? Shouldn't you be in bed?" Greg asked, noting the few apparent wounds on her head that were covered by a few bandages.
"Oh, these? You got nothing to worry about…most of the serious affects from Mantis's attack are healed, thanks to Nanvel's nanos." Rio said, getting into the room.
"That's not the issue here…you were badly hurt and you really shouldn't be moving about like this." Greg said to her as Rio huffed at him and stood closer to him.
"Now, listen here, Greg! I'm just as worried about Lilica as you are and I won't let some stupid concussion caused by a psychic at least ten times stronger than you stop me from finding out why this happened." Rio said in a stern tone. "This no longer involves your group, but now, its become WARRIOR's business. Mantis was wrong to step into our turf like this."
"Normally, Rio, I would back you up with your opinion, but let's be sensible about this, okay?" Greg said as he stood up and stopped for a moment. "Ahem! Some privacy, please, ladies!"
Greg found out that he was wearing only boxers and was about to dress and he had no time to play model in front of Nanvel and Rio, who turned their backs away from him as he talked.
"In any case, we have to take this one step at a time before we jump into anything major. Anyone of you do anything on your end that helped while I was out of it last night?" Greg asked as he got into his jeans.
"Well, I called Maki last night and told her that you were here." Nanvel answered. "She said that she had arranged a meeting for us with a friend who knows about what could help us find Lilica. This friend of hers is supposed to have arrived in Police Town already."
"Yeah, but I wonder if it would be alright to even trust her friend once she knows of the situation?" Greg asked.
"Maki said she was trustworthy. If there's anything Maki can say to believe and trust her by, I'm going for it." Rio said.
"Well, we have no other options at the moment. We have to listen to Maki's friend then." Greg said as he put on a simple dress shirt and then a pair of shades over his eyes. "Okay, where are Yuji and Maya?"
"They're in the kitchen having breakfast by now. Don't worry; we made sure to get your favourite made as well." Nanvel asked.
"You can't possibly mean…spicy ramen noodles?" Greg's eyes lit up as he suddenly dashed out of the room.
"Damn, I didn't get to see him move at the time!" Rio exclaimed. "If only he'd move that quickly during our sparring matches though…"
"Hey, I heard that!" Greg called out, causing the two women to giggle. As they left his room, Nanvel touched Rio's shoulder.
"Hey, Rio…you think we can get Lilica back safe?" Nanvel asked.
"Why are you asking that? Of course you know we will get her back!" Rio said. "And now that Greggie's here with us, this should be no problem for him to help us out, especially if family is involved."
"I don't know too much about that, Rio." Nanvel said. "We can't get too over our heads with this…I mean, look what happened when we interfered with hacking into Arsenal Gear. You got hurt badly, Lilica gets kidnapped and now Greg is willing to bring himself into this. Is it really worth it?"
Rio stayed quiet for a bit as she thought of what Nanvel had said could be true. What if things don't go according to their plan? What if things went from bad to worse? The thoughts of these things happening started to bother her.
"Hey, Rio…you okay?" Nanvel said to her as Rio smiled at her gently.
"Ah, don't worry yourself, girl. I'm fine." Rio said as she patted her friend's shoulder. "Come on, we should go join Greg and the others for breakfast before we head to Police Town."
"Yeah, I'm starving for ramen myself." Nanvel said as they headed to the kitchen where Greg was having a second bowl of ramen as he sat with Yuji and Maya. Yuji was impressed with Greg's eating skills.
"In record time again." Yuji said as he was still on his first bowl as he saw Rio and Nanvel enter. "Rio, you already discussed to Greg about what's going down today, right?"
"Yep, all we need to do is listen in to what Maki's friend has to say, while I go around and bust open some skulls for clues of my own." Rio said as Greg started to shake his head hopelessly.
"You really sure you want that?" Greg asked as he slurped the contents out of the bowl. "I say we should take this one step at a time and figure out what to do according to who we're dealing with."
Rio stayed quiet as she smiled at her surrogate son before wrapping an arm around his head. "Well, I guess we'll go with your way first, Greg, since you're the calmest about this whole situation."
"I'm not really calm." Greg said as he looked at his empty bowl. "I'm just having trouble trying to express the right emotion for this situation. Should I be worried, or angry? Confused or be high of expectation for the best?"
"You have a weird way of worrying, Greg. Be more like me and take it easy." Rio said as she took the bowl of ramen and started to act strangely. First, she gasped and moaned in ecstasy before she licked her small and soft, glossy lips as she let out a moan. Then, she began to rub her long legs together as her moans kept getting higher, as if she was going to climax. Greg could only shake his head and try his best to shrug off the stiffness between his legs.
"Do you STILL always eat your ramen like that, Rio?" Greg asked really embarrassed.
"Only if you're the one who made it." she licked her lips one more time while looking at Greg.
"You're starting to scare me, Rio." Greg said as he shook his head as he played with his chopsticks. "I hope that Maki's got some kind of plan for all of this."
"Hopefully, that friend of hers can give us the details we need on what we can do to get Lilica back." Rio said seriously. "And..."
"And then?" Greg asked.
"We make our move and attack wherever he's hiding. So far, we have no idea what he's plotting, much less if this kidnapping was for a ransom or something..." Rio replied. "All we can do is wait and hope for a miracle that Lilica isn't in any serious danger. If this is some kind of trap to draw you in, Greg...you have to be careful, especially when the time comes when you face Mantis."
"I know, I know that. This is a crucial moment where everything I learned has to be utilized." Greg said seriously
"Don't you worry, Greg. Everything will work out just fine. Let's just hope for the best, okay?" Maya patted him as she got up.
Greg smiled slightly before he stood up to stretch himself. (I hope the others in Tokyo-3 are alright as well...) he thought to himself.
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"So...that's what's been happening with Greg..." Garland said, with a smile on his face. He had been told about the details about Greg's past from Michael as it was told by Naomi the night before. To his surprise, it turned out more interesting that he thought it would.
"Yeah, and now Campbell wants to make sure that nothing happens to him while he's taking care of his personal affairs." Michael said, as they were walking about in the hallways of NERV.
"Roy can't help but worry about it, huh?" Garland said. "But after what Greg went through, you think he needs to be watched?"
"No, but I know Reese would say otherwise." Michael replied. "The Colonel was worried that someone with Greg's talents could be targeted, but Greg's just acting as if it was a normal routine."
Just then, they met Linn in the hallway. She had an extremely happy look on her face, the kind that would seem as if one were intoxicated by a powerful drink. Her time with Greg the night before was one of the best experiences she can ever hope for since she got to Japan.
"Hey, guys, good morning." she smiled happily. Michael and Garland saw the look on her face and chuckled a bit.
"Let me guess...you and Greg went at it again before he left last night, huh?" Garland joked. A red shade covered Linn's face.
"Well, you can say I did kind of bring it on myself." she said. "He does have a weakness for sweetness..."
"Linn, Naomi told me about Rio and her friends last night." Michael said. "And I was wondering...aren't you at least worried about the women that Greg has for a family?"
"Yeah, seemed that he has an unfair advantage if you ask me." Garland asked.
"Why don't you ask him yourself, hmm, Michael?" Linn smirked. "I trust Greg. Even though his surrogate mother's chest size beats mine by only two inches, he would go crazy over me and still want to take advantage of my body the moment he gets his hands on me."
"The way you two are together all the time, it's as if you're trying to help Greg forget his current troubles." Michael spoke.
Linn's face turned serious for a moment. "Well, I guess that's why we're still together after what's been happening, isn't it?" Quickly, her lips curled back into a grin. "Anyway, we have a big day ahead of us. Aren't we supposed to go to Arsenal to recover the corpse of Gendou Ikari?"
Garland nodded. "Yes, it's about high time that happened, though Snake was to oversee that. He's still busy with that Evangelion business. Let's get going, since Scorpion has been put in charge of seeing the body being removed."
Meanwhile in Arsenal Gear...
Scorpion, Kari and Mana were standing near the doorway of the cell where Gendou was killed. They can see the fresh blood spilled across the wall and the floor, some of it was even starting to dry, along pieces of what was left of Gendou's skull and brain that littered the floor. Kari tried her best not to let the breakfast she had just eaten come back up after seeing the gruesome sight. Scorpion calmly examined the room and the corpse once more before he told the coroners to take the body out.
"Damn...that was quite a number on him..." James said. "But still… after learning all that guy did in the past to make everyone's life miserable, I would have gladly put one in his skull."
"Scorpion...what a thing to say." Kari shook her head.
"The kid's right...I should have been right here when it happened." An older male voice said from outside, surprising the youngsters. It was Snake's.
"Snake...why are you here?" Mana asked.
"I came to see for myself just how exactly this would have looked if I was here. The bastard certainly got what was coming to him..." he grunted. "I would have taken greater satisfaction in knowing he got his 'just desserts' by getting a front row seat to see how it happened."
"Gosh, you boys are all alike..." Mana rolled her eyes. "Well, we have the rest of Arsenal Gear to scout, so Kari let's get a move on."
"Give me a minute to catch myself first." she said, catching her breath, as she saw the corpse being wheeled away. Grabbing her mouth, she ran out. "Oh God, that's really gross!"
"Guess she's still has to get used to the more graphic and gross corpses..." Scorpion said with a shrug. "Fine then, Mana, you come along with me."
Mana smiled, taking up her Beretta and walked out with Scorpion. Snake took out a cig and lit over the blood stained floor of the room. His thoughts went back to what he was told about Gendou's involvement with the Patriots and how he had treated his son, Shinji.
As some of the ashes fell on the spot he stood on, Snake muttered to himself. "The Patriots...they would control anything they touch...and they had control of Gendou Ikari to the very end of his life...I wonder what other pawns they will have control of before they get their gain..."
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Later that morning, back in Neo Tokyo city in the building called Police Town...
"Hey, it's Greg!" shouted a police officer. "He's come back to Japan!"
Greg happily waved at the officer and his partners, as if practically all of Police Town was popular with Greg. Dressed casually to kill, he walked through the hallway of one the largest police stations in Japan with his surrogate family of Team WARRIOR to his side.
"Yo, Greg, you finally decided to leave FOXHOUND to join us now?" asked another who happily shook his hand. Before he came to the city though, Nanvel made sure to give Greg a modification on the skin regenerating nanomachines for the prosthetic hand, so he would be able to fully conceal the appearance of it while he was among the general public.
"I'm afraid not. I'm just here on business." he smiled nervously. "And to see Maki."
"Maki, eh? Well you can find her as usual in her office." the officer replied. "She'll be happy to see you're back, Greg."
Rio stepped from behind Greg, in her trademark sexy police uniform. "Come on, Greg. We can't keep her waiting." she said. He nodded as Yuji, Nanvel and Maya walked with them. As Greg walked with Rio, he noticed he was just a few feet taller than her. As a matter of fact, he was taller than all the people who were with him. A small smile curled on his lips.
(I'll never forget the day I met you, sensei Rio.) Greg thought. (Not to mention that was the day you saved my life and I was eternally grateful to you since then…)
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The date was December 19th 2001. Half of Tokyo had already been under water from the Second Impact. The bustling ports where the ships come in to export and shipping goods was a perfect place for the rowdy and ill mannered street children to gather and make their hustle, it was their way of living.
Some of these children had other approaches for gaining what they need to survive for the day; they would use threats and force to intimidate others.
"Hey, what do we got here?" one of the teenage boys said as he picked up someone by the collar. It young dark skinned boy, wearing a hood over his head and face, his clothes almost tattered and the right sleeve covered in rags, and a stump made of metal was covered over the right hand. He looked nearly malnourished and his pupils were dilated.
"Looks like a foreigner to me." One of the boys said, leering at the young dark skinned boy, who was too confused to understand their language. But there was one thing he clearly understood…the look in their eyes. They were like predators and they've found some fresh meat today.
"Let's see if he has any money!" the boy who was holding Greg said as he stared to frisk him, as did the other boys followed in as well. It was total humiliation as the only clothes he had were torn away from him and he was practically getting stripped by the street children. He was too weak and confused to defend himself.
"What the hell…? He has nothing on him!" the boy said as he threw a punch at Greg's face, suddenly swelling his right cheek. Before he fell, Greg felt a boot kicking into his stomach as he fell to the ground.
"Dammit! Let's beat him up for wasting our time!" the other boy said as three others ganged up on Greg, who balled his body up to absorb the punches and kicks and hid his face from the blows. The boys jeered on as this went on, until…
"Hey, what the hell's going on here?" a young woman's voice said as the boys turned to see an attractive young Japanese woman in her early twenties dressed in a casual outfit, her semi long blond hair hanging behind her neck. She was holding onto a tonfar and the look on her face was dead serious as she saw what was happening. "Wait a second…you're not from Gasoline Town. Why are you doing this to him?"
"Heh, that's none of your business, you bimbo." The boy spoke back to her. "This kind deserves it because he's black as dirt!"
"Lame excuse for beating up a little, defenceless kid." Rio said. "Now, get out of here before I have to get rough with you, even if you are just a bunch of punk kids."
"Oh, we're scared of the busty bimbo cop. What can she do to us?" the leader of the group said.
BANG!
That was the only reply she needed as Rio's superior marksmanship skills had aimed directly just inches near the boy's groin area, causing him to wet his pants out of fright. Anywhere closer and he would have lost his jewels.
"My next shot won't miss. Now, if you value your lives and your freedom, I suggest you get as far away from me now, got it?" Rio said, as she aimed her pistol at him, causing the boys to run away, leaving the battered body as it is. "Dammit…I knew I shouldn't be so rough with them, but I can't stand to see one of their own taken advantages like this."
As she got closer to the boy who was beaten up, she could see those boys had beaten him to unconsciousness. It was too much for her that it nearly broke her heart. Sighing a bit, she threw her coat over his back and took him up as she cradled him in her arms. She looked at his dirty face and saw he was crying in his sleep as tears rolled out his shut eyelids.
"Hey, it's okay now. No one's going to hurt you anymore, I'll make sure of that." Rio Kinezono said as she started to walk out of the port with him.
Later that evening, Rio carried Greg back to her apartment where she had laid Greg to rest on the couch and contacted Maki, the only person she can trust at a time like this. After telling her of the details on how she found Greg, Maki agreed to visit her at once to help her out. However, she wasn't the only one who had came to Rio this evening, a Japanese male in his late twenties with black shoulder length hair and eyes was with her dressed in casual clothing.
"Maki, thank goodness you came as you did." Rio said letting Maki and her male friend in. Rio got a good look at him first before speaking again to her friend. "And this is…?"
"He's an old close friend of mine, Rio. We can trust him." Maki said. "This is Seishiro Takeda. I thought of bringing him along, since you mentioned this boy you found is not from this country. He won't be able to understand our language once he wakes up, but Seishiro here is fluent in some languages and one of them happens to be English, so I figured he can be of great help."
"Please, Maki. I'm only doing this to see for myself what Rio had done to make her bring home someone like she described to her own abode." Seishiro lamented with a light smile. "In any case, Maki has told me much about you, Rio Kinezono. I do hope I can help you to the best of my ability with this child you found."
"Thank you. It's just that…I couldn't bear seeing him live like this…he looks so alone and abandoned, there's something about him that was calling to me to defend him from those street children who were picking on him." Rio said. "Please, we both can't speak his language and I'm sure he will just panic when he sees us."
"I'll assure him that he is among friends." Seishiro said as he and Maki followed Rio into the living room where the young, Greg was still sleeping soundly. Maki and Seishiro have seen that even though Rio did her part to cover most of the bruises he got from the beating, most of his other wounds were still showing.
"Oh my God…this is cruel. He's been asleep since you found him, Rio?" Maki said, seeing the heartbreaking sight.
"Yeah, for about three hours now, but he only started sleeping soundly a short while ago." Rio said. "He kept crying out for his parents in his sleep like he was in a nightmare or something. If only I had an idea of what he's been through…"
"It looks like he's starting to come out of it." Seishiro said as before long, Greg began stirring his body and slowly his eyes opened to see the strangers around him. He suddenly pulled back the covers that was over his body and started to scream in terror.
"Now, now, son…you don't need to be afraid." Seishiro started to speak in fluent, English so that the boy could understand, though his shaking body told otherwise that he was still frightened as to what would happen to him next. "We won't hurt you, you're with friends now."
The boy huddled back as Seishiro extended a hand towards Greg, as Rio and Maki stood behind him. The boy only looked at the two women first who nodded silently at Greg with welcoming smiles on their faces, then back at Seishiro as he opened his arms for Greg.
"It's okay…you're safe now." Seishiro said. "Come, we'll take good care of you from now on."
The boy's response was when he removed the cover and suddenly from the couch leaped at Seishiro, using his left arm to wrap behind his back as he buried his head into his shirt to start crying. Seishiro returned the embrace as Rio and Maki looked on, noting the missing right arm he had.
"You can cry as much as you want, young one, there's no shame in that." Seishiro said to him. "Please, can you tell us your name? Do you remember it?"
"It's…Greg…Matthews." The boy replied stuttering. "Yes, that's my name…"
"Okay, Greg. I'm Seishiro Takeda." The man said. "These two lovely women are Rio Kinezono and Maki Kawasaki and Rio's the one who found you."
"Hi there, we meet again." Rio said as she waved to Greg.
"Can you understand what she's saying, Greg?" Seishiro asked which got the obvious shake from Greg's head. "Well, she and Maki are both Japanese, meaning that you're in Japan. How did you find yourself here?"
"I…really can't remember…" Greg said as his eyes were still wet from tears.
"Its okay, you don't need to force yourself to remember right away." Seishiro said.
"Ask him for me if he's hungry." Rio told Seishiro.
"Okay." Seishiro said as he asked Greg if he was hungry and he replied fervently with several nods of his head.
"Well, that settles it…I'll get something nice and warm for him to eat." Rio said, coming closer to him that she can pat his head before she and Maki went to the kitchen.
"Rio, you're seriously considering taking care of this boy, aren't you?" Maki asked.
"My minds already made up…he is not adjusted to life in this country and whatever he's been through has surely messed him up." Rio said as she started to prepare some ramen noodles.
"If you're set out to help him get back on his feet, you know Seishiro and I are willing to help out and besides, Seishiro seems to have gotten Greg attached to him already." Maki said.
"I know…I want to help out as much as I can. I see some worthy potential in him, we just have to help him cope with his problems if you are to bring that out." Rio said.
"Shall I get arrangements made for adoption papers to be made by tomorrow?" Maki said.
"There's no need to rush things…he has to learn to speak our language among other things." Rio said.
"I was wondering if it would be alright for Seishiro to stay close to him so he can learn Japanese first if you have no problems." Maki said. "You are a police officer after all and after awhile, Greg may be worried about the line of work you're in."
"I guess it wouldn't hurt for Seishiro to stick with Greg for awhile, though I'd better be around with them since Greg may end up trusting me after I rescued him." Rio said. "Also, I can't help but not think that he was hurt for no justification…"
"Well, until he's ready to talk more of himself, we just have to be patient with him and see what we could do to up bring him." Maki said.
"I agree with you on that." Rio said. "He's going to turn out just fine."
The two women looked on as they can see Seishiro still in the process of comforting Greg by consoling him, which was quite the heart-warming sight. Greg looked peaceful and relaxed as he felt safe once more.
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"Greg...hey, Greg." Nanvel called out to Greg who was distracted for the moment. He turned around as he was being called and saw her.
"Oh, sorry. I was just remembering old times..." Greg replied.
Nanvel smiled slightly and asked Greg. "How long have you been with Rio as her student, Greg?"
"I actually lost count." He answered with a nervous smile. He was obviously lying; Greg knew he had been under Rio's wing for almost fourteen whole years before he left Japan to pursue his goals in America.
"Well, it's strange enough that you are taller than all of us in the Warrior group." Nanvel said cheerfully. "Guess all the training you had with Rio made that build of your body so...dangerous to look at."
"Nanvel, please don't get any weird ideas." Greg addressed her. Just then, they found themselves at the door of the police chief's office. Rio opened the door and she entered along with Greg and the rest of Team Warrior.
"GREG!" an older woman's voice called out to him from behind the desk in front of him. She was tall, and just as good looking as the other women in the room, wearing a green, skin tight uniform, a pair of rounded tinted glasses over her eyes that gleamed sunlight off them and her short blue hair made her more appealing. She also had on skin fitting green stockings that covered her legs well. She stood up from behind the table and embraced Greg in a long hug. Greg felt like his strength went out of him as Maki Kawasaki held onto Greg. "It's been too long, Greg." she said, moving her glasses to wipe a tear from her eye. She then planted a warm kiss from her glossy red lipstick on his cheek.
Greg only blushed at Maki and smiled. "Yeah, it's been a while, aunt Maki."
(If any of the older male friends from FOXHOUND found out that I have women this good looking for a family, they would kick my tail around for holding out on them!) He thought to himself.
"Come on, Greg. You know you don't have to call me that..." Maki said. "And I see that Rio is doing fine as well.
"Well, it will take more than Psycho Mantis's power to try and stop me." she said. "Now, Maki, right to business...who is this person you wanted us to meet?"
"Yeah, just how much does this guy knows about Mantis and what he's up to?" Yuji said.
"Actually, our friend is a 'she', not a he, Yuji." Maki said calmly. One of the reasons Greg respected Maki highly was her approach to panicking or desperate situations. She was always calm and calculating about those things, and during the time he spent with Rio, he learned most of these qualities from Maki herself. It proved useful, especially when he had a slim chance in accomplishing a lot of his missions in FOXHOUND in the past, no matter how damned the chances would look.
"Huh? A woman, you say, Maki?" Maya asked.
"Yes, I'll call her in now. She has been in Japan for about a week now and she heard about what has been happening." Maki explained. "And she has been an old friend of mine since I myself was an active part of Team Warrior, before Rio took over. But time passed, we went our own ways, and now she's here to help us out."
As Maki called to her phone and told her secretary to invite this mysterious woman in, as Maya leaned over to Greg. "Who do you think she's talking about, Greg? Could she be someone from FOXHOUND?"
"No way, practically everyone except Mei-Ling is in Japan by now or on a mission." Greg said. "Maki, the last thing we need is to trust anyone outside of either Philanthropy or FOXHOUND with information like this. Just who is this character anyway?"
Maki stood up and walked to the door. A woman entered, who was about the same height as Maki. She had short blonde hair, but it seemed to be growing quite a bit since anyone who knew her saw her last. She had a cigarette in her mouth, and she had on a casual dress uniform. On her breast pocket, marked the symbols, 'UN".
"Greg...Team Warrior...meet the weapons specialist and nuclear analyst of the original FOXHOUND mission of Shadow Moses..." Maki introduced the woman to the group. "Nastasha Romanenko."
Greg and the rest of the group stared wide eyed at the woman as she simply smiled at them.
"Greetings, Gregory Kinezono." she said in her sultry Russian tone.
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"Is that Ebett girl still alive?" asked a male voice over a cell phone.
"Yes, she is still unharmed as part of your orders." replied a raspy voice from the other end. It was Psycho Mantis' own.
"Keep it that way, the same goes for that Hattori girl. Until she is strong enough to challenge Panther, keep her under your guard."
"My brainwashing on her personality has done its job, but she tends to regain control of herself when she is around her new friend." Mantis spoke. "I have to make sure that it doesn't happen the next time she is using Seraph's powers."
"Be wary of Seraph as well. She is a separate entity by herself..." the man stopped. "There will be no doubt that 'she' will be searching for her 'host' soon."
"What of Panther?" Mantis asked. "I take it that he hasn't come back to FOXHOUND?"
"Yes...it was just as the Patriots predicted." The man answered. "They knew that he was going to come running to his surrogate mother and her friends once he heard that she had been hurt."
"Heh, he actually puts the lives of the people he cares the most for over everything else. Such logic makes me disgusted in one such as him..." Mantis retorted.
"Just remember that it is because of that, he is able to become more powerful. You on the other hand, were and will always be the most powerful, much more than Panther will ever be. When the time comes for you to confront him, Panther will be easily smashed to dust by your newly increased powers."
"Ha, just thinking of that time makes this little game of ours more enjoyable." Mantis said. "So what is Campbell trying to do about this...or could it be that he has no clue as to what we have in store for Panther?"
"Not a single inkling. Besides, the fun has just begun. Let's keep toying with Kinezono for the time being..."
"Just don't let this get to your head. He is smarter and more dangerous than he appears, and he has support outside of FOXHOUND. I would be wise not to take him too lightly if I were you." Mantis warned before he disconnected.
The phone hung up, and the man smirked to the trap he had set. He turned on the monitor for his laptop and examined the file of Psychic Panther. From the glare of the light the laptop was revealing, it was none other than Matthew Reese himself.
(You just keep playing the goody two shoes Samaritan for as long as you can, Kinezono.) He thought to himself. (Soon, I'll show the world the ugly truth that you've been hiding and then I'll have everyone of your friends turn against you...)
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"Maki! You never told us that you were friends with THE Nastasha Romanenko!" Greg said in shock.
"It seems that I'm quite famous around the recruits of FOXHOUND." Nastasha smiled at Greg, who shook his hand.
"Are you kidding? Almost every one of my friends has read your book, 'In the Darkness of Shadow Moses' about three times from cover to cover before we joined the group as part of the initiation exercise." Greg said.
"So, you're the famous analyst from Shadow Moses...I didn't think Maki would even have stood near you." Nanvel smiled as she greeted herself to Nastasha.
"Yeah, Maki. Why did you hold out on us?" Rio asked, folding her arms.
"There's an explanation for that..." Nastasha sat down next to Maki behind the table and blew out some smoke. "We had been old friends since we were teenagers. She helped me as volunteer when she was in the cleaning up of the mess made by Chernobyl in the late 20th century. That's when I met her. She swore to payback the favour one day; because she was the one person who helped me coped with the loss of my family."
Greg nodded in agreement. When he had lost his family, he had no one to pour his heart to, and to add to the fact that his right hand was gone forever would have made anyone else go mad. He felt that the world had abandoned him and he had to keep that feeling of resentment and bury it deep in his heart, until that fateful day he met Rio, Team WARRIOR and Seishiro Takeda.
"Shortly after the cleaning up of the nuclear refuse was finished, we separated and went our ways. We didn't hear from each other for a while, and it was only until after the Shadow Moses incident." Nastasha continued. "When Maki was part of Warrior herself, I was assigned to FOXHOUND to assist Snake in that mission."
"I had no idea that Nastasha had been working for the DIA or the Defence Intelligence Agency since she left her country to work in America. At the time, you were still a teenager, Greg." Maki explained.
"Maki has told me a great deal about you, Greg...how special your abilities are. And that you are using them for good is making the Defence department proud." Nastasha smiled. "Harasho, Greg!"
"Please, Miss. Romanenko...I'm not worthy of such praise..." Greg nervously smiled at her. Rio simply got up and squeezed (much to his displeasure) Greg's head to her chest.
"That's my Greggie! He never disappoints me when he's out there kicking ass!" Rio cheerfully said. Greg almost passed out again from being pressed onto Rio's body, if he didn't get himself out of her hold in time.
"Sensei Rio! Cut that out! I'm too old for that!" Greg growled.
Rio and Nanvel chuckled together as Maki spoke on. "Well, ever since then, Nastasha has been elusive from the public, since her story had caught the attention of the Patriots. They have been trying to stop anti Metal Gear activities like Nastasha's for years...but failed. Then things blew over right after the Big Shell."
Greg, Rio and the rest of Team Warrior got silent. The mention of the Patriots and the Big Shell in one sentence would certainly grab everyone's attention. Greg in particular remembered only when he joined the group...just a year after the said incident. The organization was now reformed thanks to Roy Campbell defending the group when it underwent a trial, after the U.S government blamed it for having an agent intercept the Big Shell under FOXHOUND's and Campbell's orders. That agent was the 'White Devil' himself, Raiden. When Raiden explained that the Patriots themselves used Campbell's image to fool him throughout the mission to Campbell himself, Roy could not let the good name of the group get rubbed down, thanks to the Patriots. He and Meryl, and Mei-Ling reformed the group under Snake and Otacon's support and have been welcoming recruits to it ever since.
"I thought after the Big Shell, the Patriots had given up controlling FOXHOUND." Rio said.
"Yes, that is true...but not entirely." Nastasha said. "That is why I must tell this to Greg especially. He must learn the truth...about why Mantis is still alive and why all of this is happening."
"I'm ready for anything, Nastasha…even if the truth would be kind of hard to bear." Greg said seriously.
"I uncovered this information sometime ago while I was doing research back at my home in California." Nastasha said, lighting another cigarette. "Aside from the leaking intelligence about the going-ons in FOXHOUND, and Philanthropy, I ran into something that I thought could prove helpful to all of you."
The Russian woman exhaled from her cigarette before looking at Greg seriously.
"Greg...when Shadow Moses was now under the current FOXHOUND's control after the destruction of REX, didn't they do an excavation of sorts for evidence to prove themselves innocent, even after the disbandment?" Nastasha asked.
"Yeah...it was just about a month after Snake made himself famous there. I read most of the dated records on the events that took place on that island after the incident. My guess is that it was Roy who had several agents comb the area in order to find the corpses of the Genome soldiers. I even found out one of our own, a female recruit was sent there for a reconnaissance mission of sorts around the same time, though it was never revealed to who it was really." Greg said.
"Wait...didn't that part of the island sink after Second Impact?" Nanvel asked.
"No...For some strange reason, the sub zero temperature and climate stayed the same, because the island wasn't a 100 percent affected by the Impact." Greg explained. "Strangely enough, it was the only part of Alaska that wasn't endangered by the effects Second Impact had caused and it was deemed safe for all kinds of nature. I think it took the island several years before it totally went underwater."
"Anyway, I have revealed one name in reference that was in charge of removing the corpses." Nastasha said.
"Who was it then?" Greg asked.
"Lt. Matthew Reese." the Russian replied.
Greg could only stare in disbelief. "What did you say...FOXHOUND's own Reese was part of that? How is that?"
"I'm afraid that's not the worst of it...Reese had discovered Mantis before he was removed from the island. At that time, he was still alive with a weak pulse. So, secretly, Reese returned Mantis to life...under the Patriots orders." Nastasha said.
Everyone in the room gasped in horror to this, as did Greg. This came as a total shock to him to find out there was a Patriot spy in his own group.
"Reese...he's working for the Patriots!" Greg said as he held his head. "I knew he was bad news from the get go, but..."
"And what happened afterwards?" Maya asked, cutting in.
"Mantis...had his last memories erased from his mind, causing him to become corrupt once more as he was when Snake confronted him the first time." Nastasha spoke. "Reese and the Patriots were responsible for this act, stealing the moment of peace and the purpose of his powers that Mantis discovered too late at his death and returning the twisted psychotic and evil behaviour as his current reason for continuing his existence."
"Did you say the Patriots did that?" Yuji muttered.
"This is sick, even to what they did to Mantis!" Nanvel said angrily.
"And what does this have to do with me and Team Warrior?" Greg asked.
"I guess they are after Greg for obvious reasons." Nastasha said. "One of them that would be the most obvious reason is him being the son of the assistant who stood by Dr. Clark's side. Your psychic talents could possibly the thing they are after if they are willing to go so far to track you, or even worse, bringing you out in the open."
"No...You can't be serious..." Greg was in total shock. "But that doesn't explain why I have to be the one whose family has to be targeted, or why Mantis is doing what he did! He's supposed to have at least known how good it feels to help people with his powers! And you're telling me that he has totally forgotten that because of him being manipulated?"
"It seems that Mantis has been a pawn for the Patriots, and also Reese's, for quite some time. He has been seeking out other psychics for their own needs from the corners of the planet." Nastasha said.
"What the hell's going on here?" Greg asked. "Reese managed to do this because he has influence from the Patriots and I didn't see this coming?"
"Greg, you don't have to blame yourself because you couldn't have known this was going to happen…" Maki said sadly.
"I got a good reason to…do you have any idea how many times that man has caused nothing but misery for me and my pals back in FOXHOUND?" Greg asked. "Now that I think about it, the clues and signs were obvious…he was doing this for the same enemy we were chosen to fight against. Our secrets, our weaknesses…this man must have told the Patriots everything he knows about FOXHOUND."
The room became silent as Greg got to sit down and place his hands in front of his chin. Maki started to contemplate for a few seconds as she began to speak again.
"Greg, I know you must feel betrayed right now, but don't go thinking irrationally about taking any actions that you may regret." Maki said. "This man may have done things that we can call horrendous crimes, but you don't deserve to be the one to deliver justice to him in your sense of fashion."
"I know, I know, Maki." Greg said while his hands weren't moving. "But it's not him I'm worried about…Lilica's in the hands of some dangerous people and we should focus on what we can do to get her from Mantis' clutches."
"But, is that even possible?" Rio asked. "We are talking about Psycho Mantis after all…he's not really a pushover when it comes to psychic combat, he has experience."
"More experience in a lifetime and more than I've ever had. This is pretty one-sided considering who we're up against." Greg said. "Maki, we've got to think this over severely…"
"Of course, Greg…we need a more direct and safe approach to rescue Lilica, but at the moment, even I'm at a loss of what we should do right now." Maki said with a sad tone.
"We need more time to make up a plan that should get Lilica back safely, not to mention get to the bottom of this whole Mantis mystery." Greg asked. "I for one want to know just what Reese is trying to gain from out of this."
"We all do, Greg." Rio said as she placed one of her hands on his shoulder. "You're not the only one at loss of answers right now."
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Outside the Police Town building, Greg and Team Warrior was waiting at the transport van, taking a breather to relax from the news they were told of. Nastasha had told the group that she will be staying in Neo Tokyo for a while to assist Maki in this matter. Greg himself was now muddled with emotions as he was trying to figure what he should be doing next.
Nanvel and Maya only looked on at Greg as they sat near the open door of the van. Rio and Yuji was paying attention as well. Greg's mind was somewhere else as he had a dead serious look in his eyes as he had his hands covering his mouth still.
"Take it easy, Greg. We will eventually get to the bottom of this." Rio said, drinking from her can of soda. "Just be patient and soon we'll figure out a plan to get this set for when we face Mantis."
"She's right, Greg. Don't take it so seriously." Nanvel said. "We'll eventually find a way."
"I may not know much about Reese, but from what Nastasha said about him, he's bad news. He has been feeding Mantis information about the growing psychics in the world right now, or anyone with superhuman abilities and turning them into tools for the Patriots own uses." Maya said. "I won't be able to forgive them for that. Haven't they ruined enough innocent lives already?"
Greg stopped to think for awhile, before he turned to the group. "Look, we can't let this get to us...the Patriots had planned all of this from the beginning of when I first got these powers to use them for their own needs...no, make that when I lost my family. They must be trying to provoke me into taking action against them, play at their game, but I won't do that. I have to focus on finding a way to get Lilica back of all things."
"That's very heroic of you, Greg. But it's actually harder than it sounds." Nanvel stood up.
"Tell me about it." Greg simply replied. "This really is not going to be so simple…"
"We can use a miracle right about now." Rio said as some silence came over the group.
"AHHHHHH!" They all heard a woman's scream somewhere close by in the area. Greg perked his head behind him and looked back.
"Hey, someone's in trouble!" Rio grabbed her tonfars. "And right around Police Town too! Oh, the nerve...!"
"It came from that alley!" Greg shouted, leaping into action. Rio gave chase after Greg, as did Maya holding unto her handgun.
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"Please...leave me alone..." a young woman's voice was heard at the alley's corner. She had long blonde hair; her black body fitting suit was decorated with crosses on her arms, chest and legs. She was on her knees, cowering back into the wall from three strangers which had on dress uniforms, holding unto small custom handguns.
"Sorry, babe. You brought this on yourself." an Irish accent spoke behind the trio of men. The woman looked up and saw a tall, young man in his early twenties standing on the railing of the fire escape, his skin pale and decorated with scars over his face and body, earrings covered the majority of his ear lobes. With white bleached hair, he had a left eye patch and an evil smirk was on his face. His clothing was a tight vest and long dark jeans and the vest had straps of knives across his chest and stomach as well as a long, thin sword sheathed. On one of the holsters, was a handgun.
"If you hadn't come, we wouldn't have bothered to come after you after all the warnings we sent to you, concerning your little Yuina." the man replied. "But you just had to interfere, didn't you, Seraph?"
"So...it's you! Farfarello!" The woman cried out in shock.
Farfarello smiled as he simply signalled the trio with a raise of his hand. "Correct, madam. Now knowing my identity shall earn you a swift death. Men...make it really bloody."
Before they did anything, they saw a small flash grenade land in front of them, followed by a shout to the woman.
"Cover your eyes!" Rio shouted, as Maya Jingu fired some shots to keep the armed men busy during the bright flash, while Greg dashed in suddenly to take the woman into his arms and carry her away from the danger, as he met back with Rio and Maya.
"Are you alright, ma'am?" Maya asked the somewhat beautiful woman, who was a bit tad nervous from what she had just seen.
"Yes, I am. I'm not hurt, if that's what you're concerned about." The woman replied as she saw Greg and Rio step up to the four armed attackers.
"How dare you interfere with my business?" Farfarello said, snarling at Greg and the women with him, who were more concerned about getting the mysterious woman to safety. Rio stared at them before speaking to Greg who was standing at her side.
"Last time we checked, attempted murder is a crime." Rio said to Farfarello. "Mind telling us why you're so bold to try something like this to a pretty woman, perhaps?"
"Heh, let's just say she's gotten to close to some affairs that lays heavily on the foundation of me and my allies." The Irish knife thrower said.
"So, you're not alone, then?" Rio asked. "Who are you working for?"
"I'm afraid the time for me to give any more answers is over, pretty blonde. You and your friends can die now for getting in my way." Farfarello said as he took out his sword and licked its edge.
Rio threw two spare tonfars that she was carrying to Greg behind her and got into a fighting stance. "Come on, Greg! Use those to defend yourself!"
"Hey, Rio…you sure you really want to fight in your condition?" Greg asked as he caught them and getting into a particular stance of his own once he equipped them. "You're not totally well from what happened just a few days ago, remember that?"
"True, but at least we can fight together like we did in the old days." Rio said. "Use this as a chance to show me how much you've improved in combat."
"For once, I do wish you looked at these kinds of fights more seriously…" Greg said, as his eyes were fixed now on Farfarello. (In any case, I have to be careful around this guy since he's carrying weapons. I'd better focus most of my attacks on the offensive while keeping a distance using my training and evasive manoeuvres. Not to mention keeping the usage of my powers to a minimum.)
"Attack them!" Fafarello shouted as the fight between him and his followers, against Team WARRIOR's point leader and FOXHOUND's guardian psychic begins…
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ShardclawK: Just wanted to say that these revisions are coming out far better and a bit faster than I expected and how I appreciate everyone whose helping me with them are enjoying the rewrites, not to mention the new and different Greg I'm currently portraying. Also, I want to thank GreyWolf4 for helping me with his one of his OC's, Seishiro Takeda for the flashback section of this chapter, I do hope you liked with what I've done with him so far.
Next Chapter: More surprises abound as the crossover with Weiss Kreuz and DarkFusion's story, 'Dragon, Crow and Rabbit' begins with guest appearances abound, not to mention more revelations. Hope you enjoy the next revised chapter.
Collis aka ShardclawKusanagi.