Man, I must be PSYCHO to do this one. And to do it with a freakin' crossover... and to think: BLOOD AND VIOLENCE. Don't say I didn't warn you. PostPP and postMGS: Twin Snakes.

Scene: Battlefield. Bad things are happening. Amity is a war zone. Enough said.

Hah. I can't possibly want to own Metal Gear Solid, so back off with the lawyers.

Challenge by purrbaby101

18. Exhilaration

Feel the rush... the rush of something you've always felt in battle.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he growled, loading his gun up and standing against the wall.

Phantom was ready to offer a rather well placed retort before more gunfire came across the way. He stayed against the wall and swore angrily under his breath, watching the soldiers on their side topple like trees in the wind. Blood burst forth like a geyser, and the teen felt his stomach threaten to throw back up his lunch again. War made him feel queasy, and this was just not one of the better things in life he had ever planned on doing. Getting up close and personal with some of the scariest machines on the planet- the Metal Gears.

His companion lit another cigarette before firing off more shots and receiving more gunfire in return. Phantom grimaced. "Do you always smoke, Snake?"

Solid Snake shrugged and leaned out once again, firing and hitting a man to the lung. He turned back and shook his head. "I smoke when I'm under pressure."

"You're disgusting sometimes. Smoking is bad for you!"

"So is war, kid," the war veteran replied grimly. He cocked his weapon and sighed. "How old are you again?"

Phantom crossed his arms before floating out and shooting multiple ghost rays. The bombardment created a small dust cloud, and the enemy fired blindly at the allies behind the barricades. He turned back to Snake and sighed. "Nineteen. Why?"

Snake gave a small chuckle before firing and hitting another man. Blood poured from the leg wound. "Just wondering. You never have really seen war until you've lived through it. And trust me when I say that."

The shots stopped coming, and both men looked out at the battlefield. Phantom covered his mouth with his hand and turned away from the scene. Snake just stepped outside and put his gun away for a moment. He turned back to Phantom, who looked about ready to throw up. "Let me guess," he told the hybrid dryly. "First time on a battlefield?"

"How'd you guess?"

Snake blew out a stream of smoke. "Judging by the fact you're acting as if you're about to wet yourself and see your lunch again… don't worry. I think it's happened to everyone before."

Phantom crossed his arms again, walking back into the alleyway and looking sick still. "Yeah. Everyone but you. You were born to fight in wars, weren't you?"

Snake was silent at this, and he took this as a 'yes.' The teen sighed and looked down at his torn-up jumpsuit, leaning against the wall. "So… about being in a war. What's it like for you now, Snake? I mean… well, you've been in so many."

"Exhilaration."

The teen blinked. "Excuse me?"

Snake turned his head and nodded towards the soldiers now moving out of the area. The bodies were strewn in the streets still, the stench of blood nearly overpowering Phantom's smell, but it seemingly unaffected the war vet's own senses. "You get a sort of rush when you're out in the field. A feeling of euphoria. After doing so many things and living through Metal Gear nearly killing me, watching my best friend die and Meryl nearly dying in my arms…"

"You feel excited during war?!" Phantom couldn't believe what he was hearing.

The man shrugged. "You gotta feel it some time or another, kid. Don't tell me you've never had adrenaline pumping through your blood when you've been in battle. I mean, c'mon. You tell me about all these fights you had with Plasmius- or whoever it was- way back four years or so ago. You had to have felt something."

Phantom felt sicker then ever. He knew Snake was telling the truth, but he just didn't want to admit it to himself. "What if I did?"

"We all feel something in the midst of a fight some time or another, Phantom. It's only natural." Snake snuffed out the cigarette. "If you can't handle this stuff, why don't you go home or something?"

Phantom gestured around angrily. "Hello?! This is my home! Or should I say, was my home."

Snake let out a long sigh before taking out his weapon again. "True. If you're going to go and blame someone, don't do it to me. I've got enough over my head right now. And besides, I'm the one who's trying to destroy Metal Gear, remember?"

"Says you," Phantom muttered.

There was a sudden hail of gunfire out of nowhere. "Damn!" Snake swore angrily, ducking into the alleyway again. "Those bastards found us out in the open and were trying to lure us out!"

The teen looked sick yet again. "Now what?"

The other man was too busy locking, loading and firing once again. Screams erupted in the distance, and Snake kept shooting. Phantom could have sworn he saw a sort of twinkle in his eyes. Snake really was enjoying this 'exhilaration,' as he so aptly put it. More blood poured out into the streets, and Phantom looked down at his hands. Green energy bore out of them. Destruction- could he really destroy the people that were invading the city in which he lived and protected? Amity Park?

Snake reloaded and cocked his gun again. "Are you going to stand there and be useful, or am I going to have to shoot you for being in my way?!"

Phantom snapped out of his gaze and looked out the way, his hands now flaming. Once again, he shot ghost rays and felt a slightly tingly feeling going up his spine- the same feeling he felt when he fought Vlad years ago… before the Disasteroid. Was this the sort of feeling Snake was talking about? And if it was, how come he didn't really notice it before? He shot more ghost rays. Did Snake feel this all the time?

More clicking, and Snake fired away, his face free from emotion. His sole intense expression was enough to let Phantom know that he was feeling the rush, but he wasn't allowing it to really overtake his very being. "So, you're used to this?"

Snake lit another cigarette. "Yeah. You sure you don't want one?"

"Naw. Like you said, it's kind of like war."

The man gave a chuckle before firing and getting one guy in the thigh again. The blood spouted forth like a geyser yet again. Snake got him in the arm twice, and the soldier fell. He looked back at Phantom. "Kind of like war?"

Phantom shrugged and fired more ghost rays. "It's bad for you."

Huh. Well, that was an interesting experience for me. I'm not going to divulge how I did this, because I somehow DO NOT HAVE THE GAME. But I watched the thing on YouTube… I love Snake. XD