A few miles south of the slave camp, a Hylian rescue team had set up a post under Link's orders, and they were to be prepared to take in refugees from the slave camp. However, many of the soldiers were skeptical as to whether that would happen. Two soldiers were at the front scouting to see if any refugees were coming their way.

"You think he can do it?" One of the soldiers asked his partner.

"You mean Snake?" The other asked.

"Yeah."

"I don't know man. I mean the guy has done incredible things. But attacking an entire slave camp? No one has ever tried that. I don't want to say he can't do it but…the odds really aren't in his favor."

"I hear you. Even the Captain sounded unsure about whether he could do it, and he knows him better than any of us."

"Yeah, but what if he does pull it off? Can you imagine how many people would be coming our way? It'd be-"

"What's that!?" The other soldier cut him off as he saw something.

"What is it?"

"Give me those binoculars!" He told his partner. After getting the binoculars, he looked straight ahead through them. He saw a massive crowd of people. Over 50 refugees dashing their way.

"Holy shit…he did it…" The soldier said in awe and dropped his binoculars.

The news spread throughout the Wasteland fast. The tales of how the "Nomad" stormed into a high security slave camp, killed numerous slavers, freed the slaves, and blew the place to the ground was told not just by the refugees, but by the slavers who had fled from the battle. The story both established Snake as a heroic legend, and struck even more fear into those who were against him. Snake's plan worked, and he felt one step closer to finding the people that want him dead.

Snake's codec began to ring. He was getting a transmission from Link, so he put him on.

"This is Snake."

"You never cease to amaze Snake."

"I'll say!" Zelda and Link said respectively. Snake rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be sure to pat myself on the back. Is there another reason you called?"

Link "Well yeah, what happened?"

"What do you mean "What happened"? I did what I said I was going to do."

Link "Ok I get that! You succeeded. But did anything you weren't expecting happen?"

"I didn't have specific events mapped out in my head, but in general it went the way I expected it to go."

Zelda "Wow…so you were that confident that you could do it?"

"There's no room for doubts in life or death situations. However something interesting did happen afterwards."

Link "What's that?"

"I got attacked by a bounty hunter, someone we know very well…Ike."

Link "What?!"

Zelda "Ike! He tried to kill you?"

"Pretty much."

Link "I can't believe this. How could he betray you?"

Zelda "Snake, don't feel bad, you had to kill him. You had no choice."

"What are you talking about Zelda? I didn't kill him, and he didn't betray anyone."

Link "What? Then how'd you get out alive?"

"I beat him in a fight and then left."

Zelda "Why? He tried to kill you."

"He tried to, but I could tell he didn't want to. He wanted the money cause he's got people he needs to take care of."

Link "I see. Still, why did it have to come down to killing your old friend?"

"I don't know the circumstances, but I do know that he wished it didn't come down to that."

Zelda "So you left him alive. Don't you think he'll be following you and try to kill you again?"

"No I don't. Ike's no assassin. And besides, I gave him what he needed after we fought. He told me something interesting though. The name of the organization that's after me is the Bladesmen's Committee.

Zelda "I can't say that I've heard of them.

Link "Me either."

"Well then that makes three of us. Link? Do you think you can do something about that?"

Link "I'll get my scouts to look for any information on them."

"Thanks, I'll be looking for info as well. Update me if you find anything."

Link "By the way, is there a way for you to allow us to hear what you're hearing out there? Not to intrude on your privacy on anything but we want to be updated on what's going on so we can help you as best we can."

"Sure thing, I'll turn the monitor on. Snake ou-"

Zelda "Snake wait!"

"What is it?"

Zelda "Peach wanted me to tell you…"I've been practicing."

Snake let out a small smile before ending the call. "Good for you Peach. Good for you."

"FALCON-" A voice roared behind him. Without hesitation, Snake swung around and struck the person with a wicked right hook, knocking him to the ground.

"Even after all these years you're still calling out your attacks, huh Falcon?" Snake mocked. Falcon got back to his feet and looked angrily at Snake. "So what are you planning on using that bounty for?"

"It's not about the money. You are becoming a false idol to the people of the wastes. You are no hero, the Swordsmen Committee has deemed you a criminal so I do too." Falcon explained.

"You're a bad liar Falcon. What's the real reason?"

Falcon smirked at Snake. "Yeah you're right. I don't care about what that group has against you. I just want the money. And I want to be known as the one that defeated the Nomad."

"You're in this for fame? Pathetic."

"Shut your mouth and fight!"

Falcon sprinted toward Snake and the two began to fight. Falcon was still as fast as ever but Snake could still keep up with him. They were evenly matched, both of them waiting to land a good strike. Falcon managed to shoulder bash into Snake, knocking him on his back. Snake immediately retaliated with a leg sweep, putting Falcon on the ground with him. They both got back up, glaring at each other. Falcon quickly leaped high into the air.

"FALCON KICK!" He screamed and began to plummet towards Snake with a fire kick. Snake safely back dashed away from the kick, and then countered with a CQC slam.

"Again, calling out your attacks doesn't have any practical use in battle."

Falcon returned to his feet and hit Snake with a roundhouse kick.

"How about that?!" Falcon boasted as Snake clutched his ribs.

"Better. I didn't see that one coming."

Falcon leaped at Snake and prepared to hit him with his electric knee, an attacked feared by many in the Smash tournaments. He was in for a surprise, as Snake managed to catch him in mid-air and body slam him.

"How?! Impossible!" Falcon shouted as he writhed in pain.

"That's supposed to be one of your finishing moves isn't it? But you tried it while I was prepared. You're letting your hubris get in the way."

"Don't lecture me!" Falcon shouted in anger and began attacking. Falcon was relentless in his assault. He was throwing punches at the rate of an assault rifle shooting bullets. Snake could only block, but he was not helpless. He knew that this would drain Falcon's energy, so he just needed to take as little damage as possible. Soon enough, Falcon was out of breath and ceased his attacks, gasping for air. This gave Snake an opening for a 5 hit CQC combo. As Falcon got back up from the attack, he smashed his fist against the ground, making his frustration very clear.

"Let's try something different!" He laughed. In an unexpected move, Falcon pulled out his blaster and began firing at Snake. He had always carried it during the tournaments, but people always forgot he even had one because he never used it to due tournament rules.

"So that's where we're going with this huh?" Snake muttered as he found cover behind a boulder. "Fine by me."

Pulling out his SOCOM, this fist fight had now become a pistol duel. Snake peeked his head out of cover to get a visual on his opponent, and he did. Falcon saw him too however, and fired a barrage of shots at him, forcing Snake back into cover. Snake then ran towards another boulder to take cover behind, with Falcon blasting shots as he went. With an evasive roll, Snake made it to cover without taking a hit.

"Give it up Snake! You've got those primitive weapons. You've got a limited number of shots." Falcon boasted. "I on the other hand have a blaster! No need to reload. Infinite ammo Snake!"

"Infinite ammo is good and all…" Snake rolled out of cover, dodged Falcon's shot and fired back, hitting Falcon in the stomach. "but it means nothing if you can't hit me."

"You bastard!" Falcon muttered in pain and clutched his wound. He was about to take cover, but out of nowhere, Falcon was hit directly with a small missile, sending him flying back from their battle zone. Snake looked to where Falcon landed, and saw that he was missing limbs, notably his head. Rest assured he was dead. Snake held up his gun and pointed to where the missile came from.

"Alright! Show yourself!" He demanded. A woman in a power suit came out of hiding. Snake of course knew who that was. "I was wondering when you'd show up here Samus. So, did you have a vendetta against Falcon, or are you just that competitive of a bounty hunter?"

"He was weak. The only one who's going to kill you is me. I've been waiting for this moment, and I won't allow anyone to steal it!" She said.

"Alright, I'm genuinely curious. Why do you want me dead? I can't assume it's for the money."

"Of course it's not something as trivial as money. No! I want revenge."

Link "Revenge? What the hell is she talking about?"

"I'm not sure Link." He whispered into the codec. "Care to elaborate on that Samus?"

"Seven years ago, you and several of the others abandoned me in my fight against Master Hand and the other fighters corrupted by the Smash Balls. You all couldn't understand that we were being oppressed, and just left, acting like I was the bad guy!"

Snake began to laugh at her explanation.

"What the fuck is so funny?!" Samus roared pointing her arm cannon at him.

"How the mighty have fallen…" Snake said confusing Samus. "You've actually convinced yourself that you were justified in your actions. You're not bullshitting me Samus. You were just as guilty as the rest. You had such a lust for power because of those Smash Balls. I remember people saying you broke Pit's nose for asking if something was wrong with you. And then you played your part in destroying the world in that final battle."

"The hell would you know about the final battle? No one saw it!"

"No one but me."

"You got any proof of that?"

"Master Hand was the "bomb"!" Snake said presenting the evidence. Samus lowered her arm cannon in shock, remaining silent. "I saw that, and I saw you level an entire city with that cannon of yours."

"No…that was…"

"WAKE UP! You've been living a lie for these seven years, now snap out of it!"

"You're wrong!" Samus screamed and shot a fully charged Plasma beam at Snake who dodged it and went behind cover.

Zelda "Snake! Are you okay?!

"For now, yeah. I don't know if I can say that after this fight."

Link "So you…really think you have to fight her?"

"I'd rather not, but she's not giving me any other choice."

Zelda "Fight her if you must, but try to negotiate with her. Help her return to her senses."

"I'll try, but I can't promise anything." Snake ended the conversation and readied for battle.

"Look at you! You look like a demon with all that blood on you! What gives you the right to judge me! You're a murderer." Samus shouted as she fired at Snake, who dodged the attacks. Snake drew his pistol and took three shots at Samus. They made their mark, but merely dented her powersuit.

Link "Damn! Snake that armor looka more durable than my shield. Looks like you need something much more powerful to damage her."

"I was afraid of that." He replied and continued dodging.

Zelda "Actually, it's not so much the armor itself. Her armor uses energy shielding to protect her. Strangely, it's not very resistant against physical attacks…"

"So CQC? Got it! Thanks Zelda." Snake said and began closing in on Samus as he dodged. He finally closed the distance between them, and Samus attempted to strike him with her arm cannon. He parried it, smacking her arm away and then striking her with a kick to the leg followed by a punch to the face. Samus went into morphball form to roll away from Snake, then went back to her normal form. She dashed towards Snake and began combatting him with her fists.

"Do you know how much you've been hurting the bounty hunting business over the years?"

"Do tell."

"So many high profile targets dead, and they were always killed by you! Bandit leaders, Crime lords!"

"Really? I just came across them by coincidence. Sorry if I'm getting rid of criminals for the price of nothing." He snarked to further anger her. She managed to punch him in the gut and then kick him to the ground.

"You do it because you like the killing! Isn't it!"

"I won't even bother having that stupid argument with you. I've heard it enough as it is. Let's just say my reasons for killing don't involve money."

Samus blasted him with two small plasma shots, hitting him in the chest. Snake grunted in pain from the burning sensation that they left.

"Seriously Samus, enough of this. Just accept what you did. I won't think any less of you, and neither will the others." He said trying to convince her as he dodged her strikes.

"The others? The ones that abandoned me too? When I kill you, I'll go after them next."

"Like hell you will!" Snake said with anger and hit her with a fierce uppercut, knocking off her helmet. Samus was shocked at by the strength suddenly coming from him.

"What happened? You use to be such a jaded, cynical asshole. Why now do you suddenly care about these people? They've done nothing for you." She pressed on as she struck him with punches.

"You really think that? That we shouldn't fight for others just because they don't reward us? Are you really so far gone that you forgot what you used to fight for?"

"You're a weapon Snake! You were made to fight for the interest of whoever owns you!" She reminded him.

"That may be true, but I'm not bound to the intention of my creators. I can choose my own path…we all can. You can get off the wrong path you're on, and begin walking on the right path. It's your choice."

"Right path? What's your idea of the "right path"? Enlighten me, Mr. Hero!" She rudely said.

"Fighting for a cause, a cause that you believe in. I believe that the good people of this land deserve peace, but there are forces that want to take that away. When those people can't fight back, I'm the weapon that will fight for them. I will fight and kill so that others don't have to. I will suffer for the sake of others. I'll do whatever it takes to allow those people to live a peaceful life…even if it means I can't live one!" Snake explained. Samus looked confused, as though she was contemplating. "What about Adam? From what you told me he fought for his beliefs, don't you think?"

Samus snapped out of her thoughts upon hearing that name. Her face grew red with anger. She fully charged her cannon. "DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM! YOU DON'T KNOW HIM!" She screamed and pointed her cannon at Snake.

Samus…I'm sorry…

As she was about to fire, Snake drew Murphy's special revolver out at lightning speed, aimed at Samus and fired. The shot pierced through her suit, and her body. Her power suit fell apart, reverting her to her Zero Suit. The blue colored suit had a blood red stain on the torso area, and it was getting bigger. She collapsed and fell on her back.

Link "You did it Snake…but…"

"I couldn't get through to her…"

Zelda "Do you think you can…"

"I can't save her. She's lung shot. There's nothing I can do."

Snake walked over to the dying Samus, and kneeled over her.

"You…you were right Snake. I'm sorry." She apologized.

"…"

"I…I think I lost sight for what I was fighting for…a long time ago. I thought…that when I avenged Adam and my parents that the pain would go away…but it never did. Since then I felt…like I've always been…been looking for…something. I guess I won't find out what it was."

"I know that life wasn't easy for you. Whenever we suffer, or we lose the ones we love, naturally we want to find something to blame it on. Whether it be a god, karma, fate, or people, it's always easy to blame it on something else. But none of them are responsible, it's just the way the world works. Life is not fair. It sounds like a callous thing to believe in, but it's the truth. We usually learn things from the struggles we go through, and those lessons could help us make a better future."

"You're right…I know you're right. I just wish I figured that out sooner. I let that stupid power consume me. I lost my friends because of it. They must hate me for what I've done."

"Don't worry. You made mistakes, but all of your friends will remember all the good you did during your life. Even me."

"Thanks Snake..." She smiled. "Snake…this wound…it really hurts. Can you please…"

"I know." Snake answered knowing what she was thinking. He pulled his pistol out of his holster, and pointed it at her head.

Goodbye Samus…

With a pull of the trigger, Snake released Samus from her misery.

Snake continued walking the rest of the day, finally setting up a camp in a cave. He then received a call.

Link "Snake…"

"…"

Zelda "Snake I'm so sorry…for all of this."

Link "Snake, can I ask you something?"

"…"

Link "Snake?"

"Go ahead."

Link "How do you do it? You've gone through more hardships than anyone should endure. I couldn't of done what you did today. How are you able to do all this without being angry at the world when you've got every right to be?"

"Because it's my role."

Link "Huh?"

"I don't want anybody to have to go through the pain of killing a friend. So I'll go through it instead."

Zelda "Snake…thank you. I'm sorry, I really thought we could've gotten through to Samus."

"I know. But not every story can have a happy ending…and this one's no exception. Snake out."