AN: Alright, now this chapter is mostly just boring filler/explanation crap for those of you who have never played a Metal Gear Solid game. The actual mission will start not next chapter, but the chapter after that. Don't worry; the action is coming up soon.

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

Chapter Four

Sora, Donald, and Goofy struggled to keep up with Raiden and Snake as they scaled the blue cliffs on the outskirts of Radiant Garden. The older men seemed to have no problems, climbing the rock face with ease. Donald grumbled as he pulled himself up onto a small ledge.

"How much longer 'til we get to this hideout?" the small duck asked, clearly irritated with Snake and Raiden.

"We're almost there. Now stop complaining and get a move on." Snake snarled, shooting a glare over his shoulder. The duck gave a silent yelp before quickly scrambling up the mountain.

Sora grunted and his arms shook as he tried to pull himself up onto a ledge. He slowly opened one eye that had been clenched shut only to be met with the sight of a pair of boots. He looked up to see Raiden standing on the ledge before him, holding a hand out.

"Need some help?" the blond man offered, and Sora grabbed his outstretched hand with some difficulty. Raiden pulled Sora up onto the ledge with little effort and the young brunet glanced around.

"Why are we stopping?" he asked in confusion. There was no sign of any sort of hideout anywhere around them. Donald and Goofy pulled themselves up and noticed that simple fact as well.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Donald asked with his hands on his hips.

"Quiet down. We're here." Snake told them as he crouched down in front of the rock face.

"Huh? Look!" Goofy said and he pointed to a crawl space that led to the interior of the cliff that Snake was crouched in front of.

"A long time ago, these old cliffs used to have volcanic activity in them. Because of that, there are spaces where the center of the cliff is hollowed out. This crawl space used to be one of the volcanic tubes that led to the surface. It leads straight into an empty pocket in the middle of the cliff. That's where your friends are hiding out." Raiden explained. Snake nodded.

"Yep. Now come on. You wanna leave your friends waiting?" the older man asked before slipping into the crawl space and disappearing into the darkness. Raiden followed suit. Sora glanced at his companions.

"Well…I guess we better follow 'em." the young boy said. Donald and Goofy nodded and Sora crawled through the hole with Donald and Goofy following close behind. The hole was dark and Sora could barely see two inches in front of him, but after a few minutes of crawling he noticed a dim light. Crawling slightly faster, Sora wiggled his way out of the hole and found himself in a sort of cave. Lighting the darkness were floating fires lining the walls, probably created by magic. Donald and Goofy then also popped out of the hole and stared at the cave in wonder.

"Wow…" Donald muttered and Goofy nodded in agreement.

"Hmm? Sora, my boy! And Donald and Goofy too! Is that really you?" Sora, along with Donald and Goofy, glanced towards the voice and grinned.

"Merlin!" the boy called out, feeling a wave of relief wash over him with knowing that one of his friends was alive. Merlin smiled under his beard as he took a few steps closer.

"There's no doubt about it! It is you!" the old wizard said.

"Where's the rest a' the Committee, Merlin?" Goofy asked. Merlin nodded.

"Ah, yes. Mustn't forget about them. They will be happy to see you as well! Mr. Emmerich has also been showing some interest in meeting you as well, after all the stories he's been told." he told them. Sora tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"Mr.…Emmerich?" he questioned. It was then that Snake spoke up.

"Friend of mine. He's here too." the older brunet said. Donald kept himself from trembling, fearing that Snake's friend was just as intimidating as Snake himself.

"Well, then, let's go meet 'im!" Goofy said cheerfully with a grin plastered on his face. Snake nodded before turning to Merlin.

"Come on. Let's go tell everyone that the kid's here." he said.

"Of course." Merlin replied, leading everyone off deeper into the cave. The group followed behind. Sora glanced around the cave as they went in deeper. The torches seemed to get brighter the deeper they went into the cave and frightened townspeople stayed over to the side, sharing nervous glances as the group went past.

"How deep does this thing go?" Sora asked out loud.

"Not sure exactly, but I'd say about…100 meters. Maybe more, maybe less." Raiden replied. As they walked further, Sora, Donald, and Goofy started to hear familiar voices and the spiky brunet's eyes widened.

"…Guys…?" he murmured to himself softly before running ahead of the group, surprising Donald and Goofy.

"Sora?" they both questioned before running after him. Snake crossed his arms across his chest.

"Hmph. That kid's way too hyper for his own good…" he muttered. Merlin nodded, smiling slightly.

"Yes, that would be Sora." the bearded man replied.

"…Kind of makes me wonder how prepared he'll be for the mission." Raiden said.

"If he isn't ready by the time we start the infiltration, he'll be sure to grow up on the battlefield. They all do." Snake replied, glancing at the blond. Raiden's eyes darkened slightly before turning his head down towards the ground, away from Snake's gaze. Meanwhile, Sora had run forward just to be met with the sight of the Restoration Committee, all alive, although looking battered and beaten, covered in dirt and grime, along with some crusted blood from a few minor wounds. The major wounds they had taken were wrapped in bandages.

"Guys! You…you're all okay!" Sora said, feeling as if a huge pressure had been removed from his chest.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy!" Aerith said in slight surprise, still managing to smile despite the situation they were in. Leon smirked slightly.

"So…you finally made it." the man muttered, closing his eyes.

"Hmm…so you're the infamous Sora." a man said, tapping his chin in thought. Sora turned to him, his sapphire eyes blinking in confusion. The man had dark grey hair and blue eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses. He wore a white lab coat over top of a blue shirt along with a pair of blue pants.

"Huh? You must be Mr. Emmerich!" Sora said. The man smiled and gave a light chuckle.

"Please. Call me Otacon." the man replied. Donald studied him carefully.

"So…you're Snake's friend?" he questioned slowly. Otacon nodded.

"That's right." he confirmed. Donald let out a short breath of relief. This guy didn't seem so bad…nowhere near as intimidating as Snake.

"How…how did all this happen? Just a few months ago this place was so peaceful, and now…" Sora trailed off, not quite sure how to finish that sentence.

"I think it's best if Snake explains that one." Raiden said, approaching the group from behind, along with Snake and Merlin. Snake glanced at Sora, his grey blue eyes narrowed.

"You remember the thing that attacked you back in town? The giant robot?" he asked. Sora rubbed the back of his head.

"How could we forget…?" the young boy asked, glancing over his shoulder at Donald and Goofy.

"Right. That thing is called a Metal Gear. A Metal Gear-REX model, to be exact." Snake explained.

"Metal…Gear?" Sora muttered in confusion. Goofy tapped his chin with his finger.

"Well…what exactly is a 'Metal Gear'?" the lanky dog asked.

"I can answer that one. A Metal Gear is a bipedal nuclear tank. It was created to serve as a link between man and machine on the battlefields of war: men are mobile yet their weapons aren't as effective as people would like, and machines such as tanks are packed with heavy artillery but lack the mobility that soldiers have. A Metal Gear combines both of these factors, being equipped with nuclear weapons and being able to traverse large distances even better than humans can." Otacon explained.

"So you're saying that someone brought a Metal Gear here to attack Radiant Garden?" Sora asked. Donald crossed his arms.

"But you and Raiden already took down the Metal Gear, so what's the problem?" the duck asked.

"The problem is that the invaders didn't bring just one Metal Gear." Cloud spoke up from his spot against the wall.

"He's right. The terrorists brought an army with them. An army of Metal Gears and man alike." Raiden said.

"But…who? Who are these terrorists?" Sora asked.

"They're a group called 'The Sons of Big Boss'. There's six of them that are in charge of the whole army: Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf, Decoy Octopus, Vulcan Raven, Revolver Ocelot, and then the one in charge of the whole group…Liquid Snake." Snake said, muttering the last name with distaste.

"Wait…Liquid Snake? But aren't you Snake?" Sora asked in mild confusion.

"'Snake' is only a codename. His is 'Liquid Snake', mine is 'Solid Snake'." Snake replied. Sora nodded in understanding.

"Oh. I get it. But…why? Why would the terrorists attack here?" he asked. Raiden shrugged.

"Even we don't know the answer to that one yet. But we are aware of their plans." the blond said.

"They're planning on manufacturing a Metal Gear to surpass all Metal Gears…Arsenal Gear." Otacon said. Sora, Donald, and Goofy gasped and shared looks of shock.

"Wait! These guys are making another Metal Gear? One stronger then the army they already have?" Donald quacked, eyes wide.

"That's right. We got a tip saying that it's already in the process of being made." Snake said.

"A tip? From who?" Sora asked. Snake shook his head.

"Didn't say. But it's the only info we've got to go off of, so we've got no choice but to trust them." the brunet man replied.

"Gawrsh, what're we gonna do?" Goofy asked, eyes filled with fear.

"Between Otacon, Snake, and I, we've managed to form a plan. And it involves you three." Raiden said. Sora, Donald, and Goofy nodded determinately as they stood, ready to listen.

"According to the tip we got, Arsenal Gear is being made underneath the castle. Arsenal Gear is being made using programming that's been installed in the computer they have down there." Snake stated.

"Wait. You mean…Ansem's computer?" Sora question.

"Yep. What we need to do is infiltrate the castle and neutralize the program that's making Arsenal Gear." the brunet soldier replied. Sora grinned slightly.

"Is that all? No problem!" he said. Raiden shook his head.

"Not exactly. To destroy the program, we need an anti-virus. One that can destroy the virus programming that's creating Arsenal Gear. The only problem being, we have no idea what the anti-virus is." he said.

"That's not to say that the anti-virus hasn't been created yet; it just means that we don't have the anti-virus in our possession. In fact, according to our tip, the anti-virus does already exist, but it's located somewhere in the castle. Where, though, we aren't sure." Otacon added.

"So lemme see if I understand so far…we're going to infiltrate the castle, find the anti-virus, and then use it to stop the program from finishing Arsenal Gear? Is that right?" Sora asked.

"Not only that, but we need to eradicate the terrorists. Letting them escape would be too dangerous. There's also the possibility of Arsenal Gear being finished before we can install the anti-virus. If that happens, then we need to destroy at all costs." Snake replied. The trio nodded in understanding.

"Now, Raiden and Otacon are going to stay here with the Restoration Committee, just in case of any issues coming up. You three are coming with me to infiltrate the castle and stop Arsenal Gear. But first…about your weapon, kid…" Snake trailed off, glancing at Sora. The brunet boy tilted his head in confusion and summoned his Kingdom Key.

"Yeah, what about it?" he asked.

"You're gonna need a new one." Snake said bluntly. Sora's eyes widened.

"What? Why?" he asked. Snake sighed.

"Listen, kid. You aren't going up against the darkness in people's hearts this time. You're going against living human beings. The worst your key is gonna do is give the terrorists a concussion." he said. Sora's heart sunk in realization.

"You…you aren't saying…" he muttered in disbelief. Snake grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck uncertainly.

"I normally wouldn't be telling a kid like you to do this but…you need to leave the key behind and take up a gun. It's the only way you'll be able to fulfill the mission." the brunet warrior said lowly. Sora gulped as he felt his hands shaking. Donald and Goofy shared looks of disbelief.

"…Are you sayin' you want Sora ta…ta kill…?" Goofy whispered, shaking at the mere thought.

"Snake's right, you guys. It's the only way to stop the terrorists' army." Yuffie said, trying to get them to understand. Donald clenched his fist and growled.

"No! There's no way! Sora would never-"

"…I'll do it." Sora spoke slowly, cutting off Donald. The two animals glanced at Sora in shock, never thinking that he would agree to such a thing.

"…B-but Sora…" Goofy tried to reason with the boy.

"They're right. The only way to stop these guys is to…kill them. And if that's what I have to do to save my friends, then fine. I won't like it, but…" Sora stopped, sighing as his closed his eyes and lowered his head.

"That's a good thing, kid."

Sora glanced up and looked at Snake, who had a far-off expression on his face. His gray-blue eyes had softened, and they reflected a look of aloofness. Sora made a small noise of questioning.

"No one should enjoy the killing. I'm not asking you to like it, but sometimes…there's just some people out there who need to be stopped. People who do enjoy the bloodshed and pain that they bring upon others. Those kinds of people can only be detained by death." Snake said. Without another word, he brushed past Otacon and over to a couple cases and some sort of electronics that Sora hadn't noticed before. The brunet teen watched as Snake opened one of the cases with a light 'click!' and pulled out a gun of some kind. He then reached over got a piece of the electronics equipment. Once he was finished, he walked back over to Sora and placed the two items in the boy's hands. Sora started at them in slight confusion.

The weapon that Snake had given him was a gun. Although being lightweight, it was slightly bulky looking, with a large grip and long trigger. The weapon felt foreign in his grip, never having held a real gun in his hands before.

The other item was a communication device of some sort, Sora guessed. It was a leather strap with something that looked like a speaker or microphone attached that could be fastened with Velcro. Attached to the microphone was a wire that had a bud earphone attached to the end of it, along with another wire attached to some kind of tuning device, looking like a black box with a small screen an two knobs on it.

"Your gun is a Mk.23 SOCOM. It's got a Laser Aiming Module built in, along with an O-shaped ring around the barrel to prevent it from wobbling. Not only that, but it's lightweight and easy to use when taking out lone targets. The only problem is that we don't have a suppressor for it, meaning if you fire it before we find you one, it'll make a noise loud enough to tip off any guards nearby." Snake explained, sounding like an expert in the field of handguns.

"Okay, but what's this other thing?" Sora asked, referring to the device in his hand.

"That's a Codec, and it'll serve as you communication device for the rest of the mission. The strap is fastened around your neck and the frequency tuner¾that's the little black box¾is placed somewhere on your person that feels comfortable enough, seeing as you may need to change frequencies often. When you need to make a call, just adjust the frequency to the one you need to call using the right knob and then turn the Codec on with the left knob. When someone calls you, the Codec will beep, stimulating the small bones of your ear. No one but you will hear it. To answer a call on the Codec, just switch the frequency to 000.00 and turn the Codec on. We'll be using the Codec to keep in touch with each other in case you need any information. My frequency is 141.12." Otacon explained. Sora slowly nodded, not really understanding all the technical stuff, but understanding the basics of how it worked.

"Alright, kid. You ready?" Snake asked Sora.

"Hey! Wait a minute! What about us?" Donald shouted angrily, but he was quickly silenced by Snake's unnerving glance.

"You two are free to come along, but you'll need to stay out of sight. Nothing'll tip off the enemy more than a bipedal duck and dog. Plus, we don't have any weapons left over for you. So if you think you can handle it, I'm not stopping you." Snake said.

"Well, weapon or not, I'm not gonna let Sora go off and do somethin' as dangerous as this by himself. I'm comin' with ya! What about you, Donald?" Goofy asked, turning the small duck. He shivered slightly, still slightly scared of Snake, but then shook it off and nodded.

"Yeah! I'm coming too!" he shouted determinately.

"Then you'll need Codecs of your own. The Codec is also capable of three-way conversations, so you'll all be able to communicate with each other if you happen to get separated during the mission." Otacon said before retrieving two more Codecs for Donald and Goofy.

"Now, in case you do get separated, Snake's Codec has a frequency of 102.11, Sora's Codec has a frequency of 140.48, Donald's Codec has a frequency of 140.96, and Goofy's Codec has a frequency of 141.52." Otacon informed them.

"Got it." Sora said with a nod.

"We're all familiar with the plan?" Snake asked one last time. The trio nodded.

"Alright then. We're wasting time standing around talking. Let's go." he said before turning and walking off towards the crawl space at the end of the cave, with Sora, Donald, and Goofy following. Raiden watched them leave before sighing.

Good luck you guys…you're gonna need it.

AN: Okay, boring filler/explanation crap is over. However, I guess you could say that there was a little bit of character fleshing out in that chapter, so I suppose it wasn't a complete waste of time. Also, to those of you who have played a Metal Gear Solid game, you'll notice that I'm sort of mixing the plot of MGS1 and MGS2. That's just to keep everybody on their toes with a healthy dose of plot-twists.

R&R!