Chapter 4

Snake was crawling along in the ventilation duct. He looked through a vent into the room before him, it was Lucario's room. He carefully unlatched the vent and crawled out, setting the vent back in place. In Lucario's bed, Snake could see him sleeping under the covers. Now, where to start. Snake thought to himself, he peeked under the bed and found nothing. He then wandered into the bathroom, finding nothing in the bath or shower or towel closet. He snuck out of the bathroom and looked around the room, nothing was behind the dresser. He was crawling on the floor, looking for any kind of clue.

He then heard the sheets on the bed shift, and he rolled under the bed, concealed by the bottom sheet under the mattress. He heard light footsteps go into the bathroom, and heard the door close. Snake was silent. He didn't move until he heard the bath start filling with water, and stuck his head out from beneath the bed for some fresh air. He then noticed the closet, he had not yet checked there. When he was sure Lucario wasn't going to come back out of the bathroom, Snake rolled out from beneath the bed and snuck over to the closet. He opened the door silently and peered into the dark walk-in closet. In the back corner, he saw two figures that weren't moving, slumped against the wall. He crawled closer, moving out of the light so it shined on one of the figures, it was Roy.

Snake went up to him and checked for a pulse, he found a weak one, Roy was unconscious. He saw one of Roy's thighs bent slightly, one of his legs was broken. Snake noticed that this was the only serious injury, no other breaks or bumps, so Roy wasn't in a coma.

Snake then turned to the other figure, which was still veiled in shadow. He saw that the figure had a tail. Moving out of the light that was glaring in his eyes, he saw who the figure was.

"Guys," he whispered into his radio. "We've got trouble."

……………

Dr Mario was holding the radio when they heard Snake speak into it: "Guys, we've got trouble." Everyone gathered around the radio.

"What is it?" asked Dr Mario quietly into the radio. "Did you find Roy?"

"Yes," said Snake, barely audible. "He's injured and unconscious, but alive. I also found someone else."

"What are you talking about?" asked Zelda. "Roy was the only one we know that went missing. We need to get him to the registration for the new game."

"I'm not a doctor," said Snake. "But I think his leg's broken." Zelda gasped, Link and Toon Link both cringed, Marth felt faint, and Ike grimaced. Dr Mario sighed heavily with pity.

"How bad is it?" Dr Mario asked.

"His thigh seems fractured," reported Snake.

"I was afraid of that," said Dr Mario gravely. "Broken femurs take months to heal."

"Femur," piped in Toon Link. "I thought Snake said his thigh was broken."

"The femur is the thigh bone," explained Zelda. Then she turned to Dr Mario. "So what does this mean doctor?"

"He's going to require a leg cast and crutches," said Dr Mario. "In other words, he can't be in the game." A chill ran down each of their spines, despite the warmth of the room. A tear ran down Zelda's cheek. Marth and Ike both hung their heads in defeat.

"But…" Toon Link started, breaking the silence. "But what about the other person Snake found?" The others started up with recollection.

"That's right," said Dr Mario. He brought up the radio. "Who was it that you found Snake?"

……………..

Snake was about to speak into the radio, when he heard a slight groaning sound from behind him. He turned around and saw Roy coming to, groaning in pain.

"Aaah," Roy groaned. "Where am I?" He grabbed his leg. "Ow, my leg…" He looked at Snake. "Are you Snake? And… where are we?"

"We're in a closet," answered Snake. "Your leg is broken, so don't move it, I'm going to put it in a splint." He opened his medical bag, and then spoke into his radio. "Roy is awake now, gotta go now." And with that, he turned off his radio. He then took two small sticks and some bandages and set to work on Roy's leg.

When he was finished, he motioned for Roy to stay there and crawled to the closet door and closed it.

"We need to get you out of here," Snake said to Roy. "We're going to have to crawl through the air duct." Roy was still slightly dazed, but he nodded in understanding.

"But what about him?" he asked, motioning towards the other figure in the corner.

"We'll have to come and get him later," said Snake. "But we need to get you out of here now." Roy nodded again. Snake then opened the door ever so slightly and peeked out. The bathroom door was still closed. Snake opened the closet door and snuck over to the vent and worked the vent off. He then went back to the closet and helped support Roy as he limped over to the opening. Roy managed to crawl in on his own and was able to crawl through the duct without assistance. Snake went back and closed the closet door, and crawled into the duct after Roy, carefully placing the vent back in place before following.

…………….

The others in the lounge heard someone crawling through the air duct. They looked and saw Roy stick his head out of the opening about seven feet above the floor, his face pale from the pain in his leg.

"Roy," said Zelda, relieved. "You're okay." She turned to the others. "Someone get a ladder." Ike brought one back, set it against the wall and started climbing it.

"Be gentle getting him out of here," said Snake, peeking from behind Roy. "His leg's broken." Ike nodded and helped Roy out and over his shoulder. Then he gently sat him down on one of the sofas where Roy closed his eyes. Dr Mario examined Roy's splinted leg carefully.

"Mm-hmm, just as I thought," Dr Mario said. "He's going to need a cast for it." Roy then opened his eyes and lifted his head.

"What about the registration?" Roy asked. Dr Mario paused a moment before answering.

"You'll not only need a cast for it, you'll also need crutches," he answered. Roy's eyes showed little understanding. "It won't heal for months. I'm afraid you won't be able to compete in the game in your condition." Roy lowered his eyes and laid his head back down. He closed his eyes, but no tears came to his eyes, no crying sounds escaped from him; he didn't cry at all.

"It's okay though," Roy said. "At least this is my only injury, and I'll be able to walk on it again. At least I'm alive." Everyone smiled back at him. "Besides, there's always next time," he added with a grin.

"But what about Lucario?" asked Toon Link. "We just can't do nothing about this." Roy's grin faded.

"Allow me," said Snake from inside the duct. He then disappeared into the duct. Everybody was silent for a minute until Zelda's eyes lighted up with curiosity.

"So who else was in the closet with you?" she asked Roy, kneeling down by the sofa.

"Lucario was," answered Roy. Everyone in the room did a double-take.

"What?!" everyone except Link blurted out.