A/N: Long ass time, I know, been busy, and maybe a little lazy. Anyway, onward.
Chapter 12: Dead Cell
"Quatre Raberba Winner." The female voice sounded out again.
"Dorothy..." Quatre trailed.
She strode toward his front, never lowering her gun. She now pointed it in his eyes.
"Dorothy, why are you here?"
"All sorts of reasons." She coyly answered.
"But why Dorothy, why join Solidus?!" He practically screamed.
"Don't you dare yell at me!" She cocked the hammer of her gun. She suddenly lowered it a little, shocking Quatre. "I didn't come here to make an enemy of you."
Quatre's eyes were full of questions with the shock.
Trowa leapt to diffuse the second bomb that Fatman had planted. It was on top of one of the shipping containers. He aimed the coolant spray and sprayed until he heard the clink. Suddenly, Fatman came speeding up to Trowa and fired his weapon, Trowa back flipping over him and the hail of gunfire.
Yes, being in the circus did have its advantages.
Trowa rolled and aimed his M4, but Fatman was already out of his sight, screaming a number as he planted bombs.
"It's time to get back to bombs!"
Trowa showed slight frustration and followed his radar to the nearest bomb.
"All sorts of reasons." Dorothy answered again.
"No!" Quatre suddenly grabbed her shoulders with the gun now planted into his abdomen. "Why?"
Dorothy jumped back and pointed the gun at his face with a smile. "This is where my heart takes me."
"Dorothy..."
"Let's take a break from bombs!" Fatman cried with glee as he fired at Trowa, who rolled for cover.
Trowa then climbed up onto a shipping container and jumped down at Fatman, firing his rifle into his thick coat. Fatman fell down. Trowa back flipped and fired the M4 in the air. The rounds pierced Fatman's coat and he gave a bloodcurling scream.
"You think you've won..." Fatman smirked. "The party isn't over yet. I'll go down in history as the greatest bomber of them all...the man who beat Peter Stillman."
"What do you mean?" Trowa asked, somewhat annoyed.
"There's still the biggest bomb in the entire place. I assure you it isn't far." He began to laugh. "Laugh, and grow fat!" He coughed as his life left him.
"Trowa! You have to diffuse that bomb!" Lady Une called to him over the Codec.
"Roger that. I think I know where it is."
He checked his bomb detector one more time; he was seemingly right on top of it. Trowa grabbed Fatman and grimaced as he struggled to move the tub of lard's body. He saw the rather large C4 and froze it.
"Trowa here, the bomb is taken care of."
"Dorothy...but why here? Why Solidus?"
Dorothy's coy smile did not retreat. "We have a mutual cause. That's all I will say for now."
"Wufei, I want you to go over there and find Otacon's sister. Duo, I'm sending you in to relieve Trowa and Quatre." Lady Une instructed. "Duo, you need to cover Wufei."
Duo and Wufei immediately went in to gear up.
Heero slammed his fist into the wall. "I want in." He commanded.
"You will go when Snake and I are ready for you." Lady Une stated in a flat voice.
Heero growled. Otacon looked at him with sympathetic eyes. His tone softened...Otacon had a personal motive to be in there, too. "We're going in together, Heero. Just wait a little while, ok?"
"Hn." He said with a nod.
The door slid open. Quatre's eyes darted toward it while Dorothy's smile grew as the man she sought to speak with entered.
"Solid Snake. It is a pleasure to finally meet you. The legend arrives in the flesh!"
"Dorothy Catalonia...?" Snake trailed as he pointed his M4 at her. "What are you doing here?"
"Ah." Her smile widened even further. "I am so honored that the legendary Solid Snake knows my name."
"A legend is usually bad news. There isn't much of a difference between a legend and a madman."
"Don't degrade yourself. You have made the lives of all the people of the Earth-Sphere much more interesting."
Snake scowled.
"Snake, I really should like to duel with you." Dorothy suddenly lowered her gun from Quatre and produced two fencing sabers, throwing the second at Snake.
"No." Snake said with finality, never lowering his M4 from its aim at Dorothy's center of mass.
"Hmph. It is not befitting that a brave knight such as yourself turn down a challenge."
"I'm no knight." Snake answered coldly.
"There once was a soldier named Big Boss." Dorothy continued on, turning her back. "This man was the most powerful warrior of his time. In a somewhat misguided effort to create warriors like him, the Alliance took his cells. Out of that project came three terrible children. Two of those children wished to continue their father's dream. One of them was disobedient and killed his own father. The one that committed patricide went on to supplant his father and take his place as the world's most powerful warrior. Yes, he was the Zeus in the world of fighting-men. This man went on to commit fratricide to stop his own brother from creating his father's dream. He posed as being dead, but a god can never die. And now he returns...to commit another fratricide for the same reason." (A/N: Zeus supplanted his father Cronus and took his place as the ruler of all gods and men.)
"So you've retold my life's story." Snake answered calmly. "Listen lady, what do you want?"
"You, who commit fratricide...to stop you're brother from achieving the same goal you have as well." Dorothy made no attempt to answer.
"And what would that be?"
"The same reason I came here: THE END OF THE PATRIOTS!" Dorothy screamed, finally showing some emotion.
"Dorothy..." Quatre trailed. "This isn't the way to do it!"
"How would you know?" She eyed him angrily. "You can't know! "I came to take revenge on the Patriots! They took everything from me! They killed my grandfather, all for their little pet project! My grandfather served them loyally, and suddenly Relena shows up and he becomes a liability, so they arrange for his death! I thought he had died as a warrior!" She spat. "He was just set up, it was just a damn hit!"
"Dorothy, please. Let me help you." Quatre's eyes began to water.
"You can help by leaving me be. This is where the end of the Patriots happens. Outer Heaven! Warriors will take their rightful place, free of the Patriots' meddling and controlling, and I will have my revenge."
"Outer Heaven was nothing more than Big Boss's delusional fantasy!" Snake spat.
"You call it delusional, and I always respect the opinion of the world's greatest warrior. But I think it's right. It is what we need now, to shake off the Patriots. We do not need the total pacifism of the Sanc Kingdom, we not the hardened warriors of Outer Heaven."
"I'll tell you what I told Liquid-I don't want that kind of world." Snake spat.
Dorothy laughed. "Just what I expected, I greatly admire your independence. But my challenge remains. Snake, I wish for you to fight me. Accept my challenge! Stop denying yourself and be the warrior you are!"
"No. Lady, get out of here, I know you are better than this."
Dorothy smiled. "Show me who's better. Am I worthy to fight the most powerful soldier that ever was born? SHOW ME! SHOW ME THAT MY LIFE STILL HAS WORTH!" Dorothy ran toward Snake with her saber drawn.
Snake was having none of it. He broke out his M9 and shot Dorothy in her forehead, tranquilizing her.
"Dorothy. I'm so sorry." Quatre sadly said as he moved over her unconscious body.
"That girl has issues." Snake observed as he reached for a cigarette.
"She's gotten worse..." Quatre said. "I should have been there for her. I'm so sorry I ever stopped seeing her, it was all just a big misunderstanding."
"I won't pry into that." Snake stated. "Get her out of here. You're relieved, help her out Quatre. I'll cover your exit."
Quatre cradled Dorothy and made his way outside. He waved at Snake as he entered the Kasatka, Trowa already sitting beside him. They took off toward the ship. Now that that...distraction was out of the way, Snake got back to work.
"Duo, Wufei. Where are you and what's the situation?" He asked over the Codec.
"I'm here to provide cover for Wufei, he's going into the Shell 1 Core to observe the hostages. Apparently there's someone named 'Ames' who was taken that knows Emma's location."
"I'm heading to the Shell 1 Core now. I've already taken a uniform from one of the terrorists." Wufei reported.
"Ok." Snake affirmed. "I assume you know how to deal with the retinal scan down there?"
"Of course."
"Right. Keep me posted, I'll hang around here for a while and see if there's anything I can do."
"Roger." Both ex-pilots said at once.
Wufei made his way past the claymores using the mine detector. He tossed a chaff grenade to dull the cyphers and made his way across the bridge leading to the core. He had already geared up in the uniform the terrorists and snagged an AK from the warehouse, in contrast to the AN-94 that the rest of the terrorists were using, he had learned that the terrorists in the core were using AKs.
Wufei quietly made his way to the elevator, appearing just like one of the terrorists and not raising any ruckus. The security camera by the elevator did not sound an alarm as Wufei pushed the down button. He got into the elevator and went down to level B1.
Wufei quickly got a call on the Codec. Otacon's voice sounded through his ears.
"Wufei, you'll need a directional microphone to find Ames. The only thing we know about him...or her, is that this person has a pacemaker. Unless you can find a directional microphone to listen for the beep of the pacemaker, there's no way you'll be able to find Ames."
"And where can I find one of those?" Wufei growled in annoyance.
"I think you'll find something on level B2. According to the layout of the Shell, there's a lot of technical equipment down there." Snake cut into the conversation.
"All right, it can't hurt to try." Wufei grunted as he pushed for the elevator. Once it came he headed for B2. Wufei found that there were no guards on the level and quickly found a directional microphone on a shelf. Wufei headed back upstairs to B1. He hugged the wall and waited for one of the terrorists to be near the retinal scan. When one came near, Wufei swiftly grabbed his victim in a chokehold and moved him over to the scanner, shoving his face into it.
The door slid open and Wufei went inside after making sure his latest terrorist victim was unconscious. The Codec rang with the frequency of '141.12.'
"Now remember Wufei, Ames has a pacemaker, use the directional microphone to listen in when you get the chance. But remember to hold your AK and look like one of them when a patrol is coming nearby; use the Soliton radar."
Wufei started to get to work, holding his AK and walking slowly, looking like a terrorist on patrol within the room. He walked toward the less populated area of the room first. Waiting for the terrorist on patrol to pass, Wufei broke out the directional microphone and pointed it toward the first hostage's chest. No pacemaker. Wufei scowled and moved on to the next hostage. No such luck. Wufei was about to examine the next hostage when he saw that the terrorist was approaching him. In response, Wufei broke out his AK and proceeded to walk slowly, averting suspicion.
"Reporting no problems in the hall on B1, in the Shell One Core." The terrorist said as he walked away.
Wufei examined the next hostage and came up empty-handed. The former Altron pilot scowled. This was getting very annoying. Wufei walked over to a lone hostage leaning against a table. He pointed the directional microphone at the man's chest and heard the sound that he had been looking for: a beep with the heartbeat.
"Hey, you. Are you Ames?" Wufei asked bluntly as he ripped off the man's blindfold and the duct tape covering his mouth.
"Wha...what's going on?"
"Take it easy, I'm not a terrorist." Wufei assured. "I came to ask about someone who works here...Emma Emmerich."
"...Switch over to nanocommunication."
After the beeping that signified an incoming Codec call, Wufei spoke up. "So, I hear that you're the chief of security of this place."
"No. I'm just a messenger of the la-li-lu-le-lo."
"The Patriots?"
"What? You must not be with the Preventers or Unified Army..."
"I told you, I'm not a terrorist." Wufei repeated in an annoyed tone.
"I guess I have no choice but to trust you. Solidus has used his nuclear football to punch in a code to launch a nuclear strike."
"Nuclear strike?!"
"Yes...a high-altitude detonation. The electro-magnetic pulse from the blast will fry all electronics in Manhattan. He plans to take it offline...turn it into some kind of a republic. A nuclear strike was his plan all along."
"Outer Heaven..." Wufei muttered.
"Yes. To stop the nuclear strike, you'll have to find Emma Emmerich. She's the designer of the system; she'll know how to disable it."
"And where do I find her?"
"You'll find her in the Shell 2 core, level B1 in Filtration Chamber Number Two. She is hiding from the terrorists."
"Wait, do you know where the'yre holding Vice Forei-"
"Here comes Ocelot." Ames cut him off. "Quick, get your AK ready and look like a terrorist!"
Wufei held his AK and slowly began to pace when he was stopped by a voice.
"You. What are you doing?" Ocelot spoke as he walked towards Wufei and looked him in the eyes. "What squad are you a part of?"
Wufei did not answer; his voice would give him away. He knew he was in deep shit; this was only confirmed by the sounds of rifles clicking and additional terrorists strolling towards him.
"Do you know this fellow?" Ocelot spoke to one of the other terrorists.
"No. He's not one of mine." He answered in a heavy Russian accent as he yanked the ski mask off of Wufei. The terrorists raised their weapons to fire at the newly-discovered intruder when something seemingly fell from thin air to stop them. Everyone was shocked, even to Wufei's greater shock, Ocelot.
"A...ninja?!" Ames asked in disbelief, gazing at the ninja's exoskeleton-like armor. "Wait...now I understand! Ocelot!" He screamed and squirmed as he suddenly seemed to die of a heart attack.
The ninja slashed with its sword, splattering the blood of the two terrorist nearest to the blade and allowing Wufei to make a break for the staircase leading back up to the door. The ninja covered his retreat.
"Go! I'll hold them off!" It shouted at Wufei, deflecting bullets with its sword. As Wufei was about to exit the room, Ocelot reached out and touched him. A bullet pierced his side-just below his right ribcage. Wufei grunted in pain as he hobbled out of the room, the Codec showing the word 'ALERT' in red.
"Wufei, you have to hide." Otacon told him.
"I've been hit." He grunted, holding his side.
"Damnit." Otacon muttered. "Ok, there's a locker room down the hall and to the right, go in there."
Wufei hobbled as best he could toward the locker room, hearing the elevator coming down which without a doubt housed an assault team. Wufei made his best attempt at a sprint and got into the room and inside a locker just as he heard the elevator click down to level B1. Blood was pooling inside the locker, and Wufei's hand was getting a crimson soaking.
"Otacon, I'm bleeding bad." Wufei said through clenched teeth as the Codec went from 'ALERT' to 'EVASION.'
"I know. Snake and Duo are already working to get you out, just keep calm."
"Wufei." Snake came onto the Codec. "Once things cool off head to the Strut E helipad. I've hijacked an enemy Kasatka. Duo, secure the Shell 1-2 connecting bridge, I'll have to fly through there."
"I've got bad news though, the enemy Harrier isn't on the Helipad." Duo called in.
"Great, our chances with a Harrier after us are next to nothing." Snake muttered. "Duo, where are you now?"
"Im in Strut D, heading to the connecting bridge now."
"Right...I'm putting the Kasatka an auto pilot on a course for the helipad; just...make sure no one will be shooting at me when I come by."
"Gotcha." Duo replied as he snuck past the guards and went through the sliding door to the Shell 1-2 connecting bridge. Duo peered around the corner and saw that the coast was clear. Duo heard the rumbling of a helicopter and saw Snake in the window, who gave him a salute and went on his way. Duo then spotted a man with gray hair and an eye patch that was wearing a velvet cape at the other end of the bridge.
"Gundam Pilot 02, I'm surprised you made it past my guards."
"So, I hear you're the boss around here." Duo played along with a smirk.
"No, I'm not just the boss; I'm the boss to surpass Big Boss himself."
"No! Duo, get away from there!"
Duo looked up in wonder as Snake had his helicopter hover in mid-air as he unloaded his M4 at Solidus, who dodged his first shots. His cape flew off and revealed his hard black power armor.
"Haven't you figured it out by now brother? I'm a whole different game from Liquid!" He boasted as he jumped onto one of the large pipes below the bridge.
Snake glared at him and loaded a grenade into his M203 grenade launcher. Snake launched the grenade. It exploded and sent Solidus flying downward toward the water.
"Did I get him?" Snake asked to himself as the smoke was clearing. Snake got his answer with a loud screeching sound.
"The world needs only one Big Boss!" Solidus declared, striding toward the cockpit of a fighter jet. "I'll drown you fools for interfering!" He said angrily as the cockpit closed.
"Damn! It's the Harrier! DUO!" Snake called down. "This is the Stinger missile launcher." He said as he threw down a large case toward the former pilot of Deathscythe. The Kasatka can't stand up to the Harrier! You have to shoot the Harrier down!" He called out as he threw Duo extra ammo. I'm counting on you!"
Duo took the launcher out and loaded it as Snake got back into the cockpit of the helicopter and attempted to steer clear of the Harrier. Duo aimed toward the Harrier, but it was fast approaching, firing its cannon, and Duo had to take cover by the staircase. It screeched through the sky and turned around, releasing its chaff and flares to disrupt Duo's shot. The Harrier came over the building that led back to Shell 1 and released a cluster bomb.
"DIE!" Solidus yelled as Duo ran under the platform, the many bombs exploding in fire and rocking the bridge to its foundation.
Wufei's breathing became labored as he made his way on the Strut D-E connecting bridge, holding a torn piece of his shirt over the wound, since it was black one could not see the stain, but it was festering, and painful. The Shell shook as explosions were heard in the distance.
The Harrier fired a couple of missiles at the bridge; twisted metal singed in heat was left after the smoke cleared. Duo had to give credit where it was due, Solidus was an excellent pilot. Duo climbed up the staircase and aimed the stinger at the Harrier, which was currently strafing. Finally, Duo got a lock on to the Harrier's right wing and fired the Stinger. The missile slammed into the wing, causing an orange glow with a split-second view of a blue tail behind it.
"Damn!" Solidus shouted as his Harrier began to go down.
Snake watched the seen suspiciously from his Kasatka.
Suddenly, a high-pitched roar erupted and something sprang from the water. The Harrier was being held in the mouth of a mobile suit.
"Metal Gear!" Duo called out.
Snake's eyes widened as Metal Gear RAY's feet hit the water again, causing a huge splash. RAY roared and unleashed cluster bombs into the air, causing fireworks. Duo took cover. The Kasatka was hit in the tail. Snake grunted and made a mad dash to the helipad. Not good, Wufei had no time for repairs.
"Otacon, you and Heero need to get over here faster than we thought, this Kasatka's been hit and Wufei doesn't have time for repairs. Sally, go with them so you can fly Wufei back." Snake ordered over the Codec.
"Right, c'mon!" Otacon called to Heero and Sally as they made their way to their own Kasatka.
"Vamp, GO!" Solidus called.
Vamp exited the other seat of the Harrier and jumped down to the water.
Duo got up and peered down at what was below him. "What the hell?! That thing's running on water!"
Vamp ran across the water and up one of the pipes-vertically.
"Duo, get back to the Strut E helipad, you're getting out of here." Snake called over the Codec.
"Good." Duo muttered as he went back into Strut D.
Wufei made his way up the stairs and collapsed onto the ground as Snake's Kasatka landed. Snake immediately got out and proceeded to check the wound of the panting Wufei.
"That Ocelot is a good shot." Wufei grunted with a semblance of humor.
Snake smirked. "You're not hit in any place important, but we've still gotta get that wound treated, and fast. Unfortunately, this chopper was hit, Otacon is coming with our own, Sally will be there to treat you, and Duo's on his way back here now."
Wufei's eyes began to flutter, obviously trying to lose consciousness from the blood loss.
"Wufei! I need you to stay with me!" Snake lightly smacked his cheek.
"Damn, I hate that woman seeing me as such a weakling!"
Snake smirked as he began to bind Wufei's wound to the best of his ability.
"Snake...you're not gonna believe this, but I saw some guy decked out like a ninja, he held the terrorists off in the room with the hostages."
"A ninja...?"
"Yeah." Wufei winced as Snake tied the gauze he was carrying around Wufei's side quite tightly. "Hard exoskeleton armor and some sort of fancy sword. He...it deflected bullets with the blade."
"Hmm..." Snake thought as he saw Duo running toward them. "Good job shooting taking that Harrier out."
Duo grinned. "I'm pretty damn good aren't I?" Duo's grin grew wider, if that was believable. "Solidus was a pretty good pilot, but nothing to Duo Maxwell, God of Death." When Duo opened his eyes he was greeted with a glare from Snake and Wufei angrily spitting out his last name.
The tension was cut by the sound of a helicopter landing nearby. Otacon jumped out of the Kasatka and walked over to Snake. "Duo, Sally is waiting to take you back. Bring Wufei to the chopper."
Duo nodded and picked Wufei up, to Wufei's slight embarrassment, and brought him over to the Kasatka, Sally immediately taking off to head back to the ship.
"I dropped Heero off on the KL connecting bridge; he's heading to go get E.E..." Otacon trailed, knowing he would see his long-estranged sister again soon.
Snake nodded. "You're not going to believe this..."
"What? I've seen it all, like you Snake. Lay it on me."
"Wufei said he saw some guy decked out like a ninja..."
"A ninja? He wasn't delirious was he?"
"I don't think so."
"But he can't...Fox is..."
"I know. Let's get started repairing this kamov. After that we'll make the necessary preparations in the computer room down in the core. Then I'll see if I can't find out who this ninja is..."
Otacon nodded and got to work.
Heero easily made his way down to the B1 level of the Shell Two Core, into Filtration Chamber Number One. He saw a figure sitting in a meditation position in the water. The figure smirked evilly and licked his lips.
"I've been waiting for you..." He declared in a low voice as he withdrew a knife and dragged it across his chest.