"How're you holding up?" Snake asked Mewtwo as he helped him up to his feet.
"Do not worry. My wounds are not fatal. They were trying to take me alive after all." Mewtwo explained. He looked to at the corpses of his fellow Pokémon and sighed grimly. "If only the same went for my comrades."
Snake put Mewtwo's arm over his head so he could assist the legendary Pokémon with walking, as he was too weak to do so himself. "Where do you want me to take you?"
"Take me into the village. There is an infirmary there. They will be able to heal me." Mewtwo requested to which Snake nodded and they began moving to the village. "I owe you a great deal of gratitude. How lucky I was that you showed up when you did."
"What happened here?"
"For months, the members of the Committee had been trying to convince me to give up our freedom as Pokémon and work for them. They said they would offer "protection" and "great benefits". The fools should know I am psychic. I know when somebody is lying. And even then, you don't need to be psychic to know that they're bad liars."
"So I take it that "convincing" turned into "coercion"?"
"Correct. They came to enslave us. I had gathered our village's strongest warriors and we would defend our people with our lives. But their strength was just too much, not to mention they used a weapon that weakened Pokémon."
"Another bioweapon besides the mutant strain."
"Yes. They used this weapon to weaken and neutralize us. They wanted to take me back to their horrible lab and use the mutant strain on me. Thank you for not allowing me to be part of another experiment."
"Well…we failed experiments should help each other out don't you think?" Snake chuckled.
"What do you mean?" Mewtwo asked unsure as to what Snake meant.
"Just like you, I was created in a lab. I'm a clone that was created to be a weapon for the organization that created me. And like you, I failed to do what I was created to do."
Mewtwo let out a small laugh. "I see. How amusing that a human and a Pokémon have so much in common."
"I agree. But it's not how we were created that defines who we are. It's what we do with our lives."
"Wise words human."
"Go ahead and call me Snake."
"Oh…right! My apologizes, Snake. We're getting close to the village. My people will be uneasy upon seeing a human enter, so just let me do the talking." Mewtwo advised.
"Alright."
Snake entered the village with Mewtwo at his side. As Mewtwo had predicted, the inhabitants were not welcoming him with open arms. They all began hollering and getting into defensive positions, looking ready to strike at any moment.
"Do not be alarmed my friends! This man is not an enemy!" Mewtwo announced to his Pokémon brethren. "Quite the opposite in fact. This man just saved my life, and saved our people from enslavement!"
The Pokemon withdrew their defensive positions and stood at ease. They were quite surprised by the news of a human defending their kind.
"I declare this man to be a friend to all Pokémon, and you will all treat him as such!" Mewtwo ordered and the locals all hummed in agreement.
Snake handed Mewtwo over to the village's medical center, two Chanseys put Mewtwo onto a bed.
"The treatment shouldn't take too long. Until then, would you please stay for a little while? I have much I'd like to discuss with you." Mewtwo requested.
"Sure. I'll hang around"
"Thank you. Please feel free to relax in our village. And don't worry, my people will treat you kindly."
Out in the village, Snake found a campfire was set up and no one was around it. He sat down near it and relaxed himself. Suddenly an Eevee crawled up to him and nudged against his leg.
"Oh…hey little guy. Sorry if I got in your way." He kindly said. The Eevee brought a fruit with it and offered it to Snake. "For me?" He questioned to the creature, whom nodded in response. "Oh! Well thanks." Snake graciously said and took the fruit. He petted the Eevee as a means to express his gratefulness, as he couldn't speak with the creature. Though the fruit was unfamiliar to him he didn't hesitate to eat it. He wasn't that picky of an eater, and he was sure that the Pokemon were smart enough not to hand him food that was bad for him. Taking the bite into the fruit he found that it actually tasted very good and ended up finishing it. Afterwards he pulled out a cigarette and his lighter.
I haven't had a smoke in a while. Guess now would be as good of a time as any.
With the cigarette in his mouth he began flicking the lighter. To his frustration, it wouldn't produce a flame.
"Damn it! Stupid thing must be broken." He sighed. A Charmander saw his predicament and somehow knew it had a solution. It gestured to Snake to hold out his cigarette. Charmander then grabbed its tail and used the flame on the end of the tail to light the cigarette. Snake was amazed at the Pokémon's intuition, and thankful as well. "Thanks pal." He smiled and gave the creature a thumbs up gesture.
It didn't take long for Mewtwo to get healed up. Mewtwo invited Snake into his hut to speak.
"I hope that my people treated you well."
"Very well. They seemed to warm up to me immediately, despite me being human." Snake complimented.
"I'm glad to hear that." Mewtwo said as they both took a seat. "So, you are on a mission to assassinate all the members of the Committee?" He began.
"That's right."
"Are you aware of how dangerous of a task that is, and the power of the force that you're up against?"
"I am."
"I see…then why did you hold back in your fight against Robin?" Mewtwo questioned.
"Huh?"
"I could sense that you were not using your full power during that fight. You could have finished that fight sooner, but you held restraint. Why?"
"Guess you really are psychic. Yeah I held back. I try my best not to kill opponents if I think I have a chance of reasoning with them. Looks like I wasn't right in this case."
"I see. However you did start using more of your power after he struck the fragment lodged in your head."
"Yeah, I don't know what happened there. I felt like I was having a migraine and a nightmare at the same time. I lost my temper, and I did feel stronger. It was a similar feeling to an adrenaline rush. You think it has something to do with the shrapnel?"
"What is lodged in your head is no ordinary metal. I cannot say what it is, but I do know it is what activates that sensation. It seems to be a source of dormant power." Mewtwo theorized.
"You're not saying this gives me super powers are you?" Snake joked.
"Don't be ridiculous. More just enhance your physical capabilities. Strength, resistance to damage, how much damage you can tolerate…"
"Whatever power it gives me, I don't like it! I prefer to have full control of my mind and body."
"I agree…it does not seem to be good for you. All I can say is don't get hit in that area."
"That as sound advice as any." Snake agreed.
"Also…do not hold back when you fight the other three!" Mewtwo said in a serious tone. "I'm sorry but they cannot be dissuaded from their plan. They truly believe what they're doing is right. You have to kill them."
"I was afraid that might be the case. Even with his dying breath, Robin didn't seem to regret what he did." Snake mused.
"Whatever the case, you have earned the trust of my people and I. We will help you as best we can in your ordeal. The fate of the world cannot be entrusted to the Committee."
"Thanks."
"There is something I wish to give you that will aid you. It is a weapon created by the Committee." Mewtwo explained and handed the weapon to Snake.
"A machete?"
"Sword fighting swordsmen with a knife doesn't seem very practical. This should be a more viable weapon. However it is no ordinary machete. It is an elemental blade. The element type is up to you. Fire, Darkness, Winds, the list goes on. It was designed as an anti-Pokémon weapon. I feel more comfortable if it's in your hands."
"Sounds like the Committee has some advanced tech."
"Yes, but I believe you can stop them. We have faith in you."
With his new weapon in hand, Snake bid farewell to his new Pokémon friends and headed back into the wasteland. On his way out, he came across Robin's corpse, with a noise coming from his person.
"R…R…Are…ou….arth…."
The hell? Is somebody talking? I'm hearing a bunch of static.
Snake investigated the corpse and found he had a radio on him, and he was getting a call. He retrieved the radio and held it to his ear.
"Robin! This is Marth! Pick up!"
Snake grinned upon hearing Marth's voice. He pressed the call button.
"You're not going to be hearing from Robin anymore." He said into the radio.
"What?! Who is this?!"
"You know who I am!"
There was radio silence for a good minute.
"…Snake…you bastard…"
"I'll give you one chance. One chance to end this in way that will make things easier for all of us. You lift this bounty off my head, you destroy that bio-weapon and eradicate any mutants you created with it. And finally, you disband this stupid club of yours." Snake laid out the terms. "So what's your answer?"
"Go to hell Snake." Marth responded coldly.
"I've been heading there my entire life…looks like you and your friends will be coming with me." Snake responded before crushing the radio in his hand.
Snake continued his trek through the wastes, running into a few mutants every now and then. They couldn't stop Snake, as they more or less just helped him practice using his new machete. Snake couldn't help but admire the blade and how effective it was.
Incredible! This things the weight of machete, but has the strength, durability and sharpness of a sword. Not to mention its elemental damage. Though I wonder…if they could create this, then what other types of toys does the Committee have in store?
Snake was brought out of his inner thoughts when Fox called him on the radio.
"This is Snake."
"Got some news for you Snake. Apparently you're not the only one out there doing vigilante work."
"Oh really? Do tell."
"There are two other vigilantes in that area with a bounty on them just like you. We don't have their names of course but I've got a good idea on who one of them is."
"Alright. What's their alias then?"
"First one is known as the "Green Missile". He's been seen wearing green, and he is said to mop up groups of thugs with a high speed headbutt."
"Luigi."
"Exactly what I was thinking. Now the other guy I'm not sure. He's known as the "Swordless Ronin". He's a drifter, kinda like you. But he clears out armed bandits with nothing but his hands and feet."
"Sounds like a serious martial artist."
"Regardless, I think it'd be good if you run into these guys. You could get some powerful alliance going on. I know you don't want us helping you since we don't want to have to worry about us, but these guys are in the same boat as you, so there's no reason for you guys not to team up."
"I guess you're right. Thanks for tossing that info my way."
"No problem. Fox out"
With the end of the call, Snake went back into his thoughts.
All right. I've spent enough time screwing around. I need to find where the next target is. If I can find one of those PSC guard posts I can probably get intel there.
"FREEZE!"
Son of a bitch!
Snake found himself surrounded by a gang of armed space animals.
"Well look who we have here." A cocky voice taunted. Snake knew that voice anywhere.
"So you decided to go back to the gang life Falco?"
"A guys gotta make a living Snake. With the world in ruins, clients in need of Star Fox's help became non-existant. And besides, we're not a gang! We're not in the slums dealing drugs and running from the police. We're bounty hunters, a job that'll always be available. Cause as long as there are people in the world, there's blood money to be made."
"From drug dealing to contract killing huh? Yeah, that's a much more dignified line of work." Snake sarcastically responded.
"Yeah, joke all you want, you're still the one about to get shot."
One of Falco's gang members got close behind Snake. In what looked like the speed of light, Snake pulled out his machete and decapitated the animal.
"SHIT! Kill him!" Falco ordered as he and his crew opened fire. Snake grabbed the corpse and used it to shield himself from blaster fire. He pulled out Wolf's blaster and returned fire before making it to cover. To his surprise, one of the gang was there waiting for him. He used the bayonets on Wolf's blaster to slice the animal's throat, and threw him aside. He looked out of cover to get a visual. He still had five gang members and Falco to deal with.
"You're not getting through this one Snake!" Falco taunted and threw a grenade where Snake was positioned. Snake saw as the grenade landed next to him.
"DAMN!" He cursed and sprinted out of cover to get away from the blast. As the grenade went off, he dove behind another piece of cover. During that time however, he took a blaster shot to the thigh. He ignored it, choosing to worry about it later.
Hope you still got that reflector Falco…
Snake jumped out of cover and shot at Falco. As Snake thought, Falco activated the reflector to protect himself. Falco did not expect that it would redirect the bullets to hit two of his crew members.
"You sneaky fuck!" Falco roared in anger and began unloading his blaster towards Snake. "Surround him!" He commanded his three remaining subordinates. They got up close to Snake, which proved to be a huge mistake, as he quickly slaughtered them with the machete. Falco did manage to shoot him in the shoulder during that time. "Whatever! I don't need them! Now I can at least have the bounty to myself."
With his arm injured, Snake couldn't aim his blaster properly, his shots continuously missing their mark. Fox had heard the entire situation playing out, and was distraught over hearing his former friend had turned to working as a hitman. He didn't want to accept it, but he swallowed the fact.
"Snake! You have to kill Falco!" He called out to him.
"I know that! But he's got the upper hand. I can't get close to him."
Falco pulled out a rocket launcher. He was ready to end this. But before he could aim it, he was hit from behind with great force. Snake looked to see that it was indeed Luigi, who hit him with his Green Missile. Falco landed face first in front of Snake, looking practically paralyzed.
"Snake! Finish him off!" Luigi called out to which Snake nodded. Snake pulled his machete out of its sheath and held it up.
"No! Please! I-I'm s-"
Swinging down the blade swiftly, Snake cut Falco's head clean off with one swipe. Snake cleaned the blade and sighed deeply, accepting the fact that he had once again ended the life of a former friend.
"Snake I..."
"Fox...don't...there's nothing to say. He was a friend, I fought him, I killed him. That's what had to happen. Let's just get back to the mission at hand okay?"
"Yeah...you're right...Fox out."