METAL GEAR SOLID: RESURRECTION
by Rookie's Eyes (based off of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake)
Disclaimer: the Metal Gear series and their characters are property of Kojima Productions and Konami
Chapter 27 Friendly Foes
"Sleeping late as usual, eh, Snake?"
Snake's head throbbed, pounding with every beat of his pulse. He groaned, his eyes fluttering open to see the blurred silhouette of his addresser. He took a moment, but recognized the voice. "Fox?! You're still alive?" Snake sat with his back to cold iron, and looking around, he saw that the two former allies now stood between the inanimate legs of the prostrate wreckage that was once Metal Gear Demyan.
"It's going to take a lot more than that to take me down." Fox stood with his arms crossed, holding a small bundle underneath his elbow. He was bare-chested, with nothing but his Zanzibar Land bandana on his upper-body.
As Snake stood, he realized that he was stripped while he was out cold, and his backpack was gone along with his shirt. He stood facing Fox, his opposite yet his equal. The kindness which Snake was once accustomed to seeing in his eyes was gone, nothing but indifference lay within his steely gaze.
"I'm not doing this! My fight isn't with you! It's with Big Boss!" Snake made his way to leave, but Grey Fox interrupted-
"I wouldn't do that if I were you…" Grey Fox held up the bundle, it was all of Snake's gear; his guns, his rations, the cards, and… The Disk!
"Fox! Give me back my gear!"
"I can't do that, Snake. If we're going to fight, I want to make sure it's on my terms."
"I'll be back for that disk!" Snake growled in frustration, continuing to exit the ring made by Metal Gear's legs, intending to face Big Boss, until he heard a thud. Snake turned to see the pack sliding across the concrete floor, exiting the gap between Gear's feet and 'BOOOM!' erupting into flames.
"Nooo! The formula!"
"I warned you, Snake." Fox held up a small black CD, spinning it on his finger as he spoke, "While you were napping, I took the liberty of searching your pack. I found quite a few gadgets that must've been useful while you were causing mischief along with the formula disc. The mines were good, but I never could've kept track of all those mines if I didn't have this," he pointed to his belt. The small glowing green screen of Snake's mine detector showing brightly. "I figured I'd have to force you into this… So let's make a wager… if you can beat me in combat I will give you the detector and you'll be able to safely navigate the mine-field, and I'll even throw in the formula disc as a bonus."
Fox pulled something from his back-pocket, dropping it on the floor and kicking it over to Snake. It was his cigarettes, with his lighter inside. "I just thought you'd want to have one last smoke before you die."
"No…" Snake declined, "Let's just get this over with…" pocketing the cigs. "Rules?"
"No rules… Anything goes, but no fighting dirty." Fox added, pulling off his bandana and ripping it in two.
"Why Fox? Why join Big Boss' scheme? Didn't you know what he planned to do?"
"Maybe I'll tell you… But only if you can beat me." He said, wrapping the strips of cloth around his hands. He assumed fighting stance, gesturing for Snake to do the same.
Snake raised his hands to protect his upper body, his hands balled into tight fists, knuckles white in anticipation.
Fox's machete rang as he removed it from it's sheath. "Have at you, Snake!" Grey Fox shouted, rushing at Snake.
Machete drawn, Fox charged, slicing the blade diagonally from his left. Snake slid to his own left, crouching as the blade passed above his head. Snake attempted a strike to Fox's abdomen, only to be parried by the flat end of his enemy's blade. Fox kicked Snake across the chest, placing his foot on Snake's shoulder as leverage to bring his other foot around. He spin kicked, the force of the blow sliding Snake back on his heels.
Snake rushed, but Fox jumped, landing farther back onto the wrecked hull of Metal Gear. In a flurry of motion, his machete slashed at the iron, detaching a large piece from the chassis. Using his sword, he sprung the piece into the air, spin-kicking it with sufficient power to send it flying in Snake's direction. Snake flipped, using his hands to vault his body over the massive shred of metal, only to land on his back when the initial threat had disappeared.
Frank Jaeger jumped down, pressing his machete's razor edge against the concrete. He ran toward Snake's supine body, his blade sparking as it ran along the floor. Snake rolled forward as Grey Fox drew his blade to within two centimeters of the agent's head, narrowly avoiding the machete's edge. Snake followed the roll with a swiping kick, knocking Fox out from under his feet.
Frank caught himself with his hand, going into a somersault and landing back on his feet. As Snake came in for another hit, Fox spun, anticipating Snake's action. What Fox didn't anticipate was Snake jumping high in the air, clearing the sickle.
Snake prayed that his timing was right, and as the blade passed beneath Snake's feet, his feet came down with the rest of his body, bringing the machete down with him. The machete contacted the ground, shattering to pieces when the blade could bend no farther. Snake ducked, bringing his elbow up to Fox's face, slamming into his jaw. As his adversary was disoriented, Snake flipped horizontally, his foot forming an arc before slamming into Fox's back with crippling force.
After heaving for several moments, Snake held out his hand, offering it to Fox. Fox glared warily, but took Snake's hand, who pulled him to his feet. "You're pretty good…" Fox complemented, revolving his arms to stretch them out. He cocked his head from one side to the other, his vertebrae sounding with a crack from the released tension. "Good move breaking my machete like that… Now we may fight as warriors. Hand to hand. It is the basis of all forms of combat. Only a fool would dare trust his life to a weapon!"
Grey Fox made his move for the first strike to resume the fight, testing Snake's reaction. He blocked the fist with his upper arm, and his adversary retracted, following the strike with a swipe at the agent's head. Snake ducked, thrusting his fist at Fox's gut. His foe slapped the blow away with his fist, retaliating with a spinning kick below the ankles.
Snake rolled as Fox's foot passed, and he tried to land a punch in Fox's midriff, but was met with a palm blocking his hand's path. Fox pulled Snake's arm away, punching him three times in his belly. Ignoring the pain, Snake brought his own fist to Fox's head. Fox met Snake's strike midway, pulling on his arm to bring Snake close, and slamming his head to Snake's. "ARrrgh!" Fox ducked, swiping his foot along the floor to trip up the agent.
Snake jumped back, avoiding Fox's foot and reacting as it came around once more. Fox's next kick was headed toward Snake's abdomen, and Snake prepared to block. Fox jumped at the last moment, his foot colliding with Snake's head instead, whipping his body back onto the concrete.
"Can you feel it? The feel of battle? The clashing of bone and sinew, what a thrill! I must admit, I haven't had a challenge like this since before my FOXHOUND days." Grey Fox stated, holding out his hand for Snake to get up.
Snake staggered to his feet, and Grey Fox asked, "You ready?"
He nodded his head to Fox, who warned, "I'm coming." Fox kicked, and this time Snake was ready. As the foot came around, Snake gabbed on, maintaining a firm grip on the ankle. Snake twisted while maintaining his grip, thrusting his free fist hard into Fox's torso.
Fox was thrown out of the ring formed by Metal Gear's legs, into the treachery of the minefield. As Fox tumbled to the ground, he shifted his rolling position to avoid contacting any mines.
"Fox!"
Fox struggled to his feet, heaving as he rose. Without a word, Fox unclipped the mine-detector, tossing the gadget to Snake. Snake hoped that Fox had had a change of heart. Maybe he wouldn't have to incapacitate him to get to Big Boss. No such luck was possible, however. When Snake looked at the screen, a single path lead him safely through the minefield, but to get to the end he first had to face Fox in a small clearing within the field itself.
Snake made it to the inside of the clearing, assuming the combat ready position as Fox rushed toward him. Fox thrust his fist toward Snake's head, who deflected the hand and countered with an elbow to Fox's face. Before his arm made contact, Fox back-flipped, Snake's arm just barely missing it's mark. Snake punched Fox across the face as he landed from the flip, and he fell back in pain. Snake follows with a round-house kick, only to be blocked by Fox.
The agent spun, kicking as if he was aiming for Fox's head, who raised his hands to his head in anticipation. Snake redirected his kick, instead contacting Fox's torso and hitting him above the knee. Snake follows with another kick, this time Fox ducked below the blow, avoiding it entirely. Grey Fox leapt above Snake, vaulting over his shoulders to land behind his adversary, proceeding to strike Snake in the back of the head with his arm. Before his arm could hit Snake's skull, Snake parried, thrusting his knee into Grey Fox's gut. "Aargh!"
As Fox hasped for air, crumpled over in pain, Snake walked behind, elbowing the man in the spine. Fox stood in a daze, his arms flailing weakly as he struggled with the throes. Snake grabbed Fox's arm, forcing his adversary over his shoulder and throwing Fox, using his own body as leverage.
Fox's body collided with the wall of the hangar eight meters away, "Huurgh!" and his limp body fell to the ground, "Ghah!" Snake navigated the minefield to Fox's prone body, bloodied and beaten where he lay. Fox hacked and gagged, blood flowing from his mouth and nose as he crawled to his knees. He stared at Snake emptily, as if only dimly aware of Snake's presence. "Snaaaake…."
"Fox!"
"Finally… It looks like it's finally time for me to give up the title of "Fox"."
"Fox… Why?"
"I'm not like you Snake… my situation is more… complicated. Big Boss might just be a traitorous CO to you, but he saved my life twice before I had even joined the unit…I was a half-white living in Vietnam… It was after the war… and half-whites were being sent into forced labor camps. We were forced to work like dogs… Boys were beaten, raped, killed… Big Boss saved me from that hell hole called Vietnam… Just like he's saved the children here in Zanzibar Land… Later I was in Mozambique, being tortured as a RENAMO soldier. They had cut off both my ears and part of my face by the time Boss came in to rescue me…"
"And this is your idea of paying him back?"
"No Snake, you've got it all wrong… I hate war… just like all the kids here… Yet, I cannot live without it. War is the only way of life I know… I would never make it in a normal life …Big Boss gave us a place to fight… To achieve that goal of relative peace… Conflict is in our blood, Snake. You and I, we were born to fight, there is no denying it … And I fight in the hopes that someday, even though I will never belong in it, the world won't need war anymore… I was born on the battlefield, and thanks to you… I can die on the battlefield. Making other's happy, raising a family… I tried that… it never worked out… It never worked out, not even with Marcova."
Gustava!? "Fox… Why'd you help me if you were with Big Boss?"
"Consider it payback for being so selfish… Snake… fighting is… was the only thing… the only thing I was good at. At least I always fought for what I believed in…. Snake… Farewell." Grey Fox shuddered, and his breathing became shallower and shallower until Snake could no longer see it. Fox had stopped moving.
"You won't be alone Frank… Gustava is waiting for you." Snake closed Fox's eyes, searching his ally's body and finding the PlayStation disk. He pocketed the formula, and a voice resounded from behind, "SOLID SNAKE!"
Author's Note: And there you have it folks! The fight you'd all been waiting for, the conflict between The Fox and The Snake. I can't say much about this except that I am most proud of the result. Another chapter comes to a close, and with only Big Boss left, I hope you guys will wait for just two weeks for the conclusion. I hope the fight wasn't difficult to imagine? Anyway, another chapter up! Up next, Chapter 28 Sins of the Father.