"Actually…I guess I could say I'm a widow now. The Marth that I knew, that I fell in love with…he died some time ago…" Caeda teared up.
"So you know about what he and his group have been doing?" Snake guessed.
"That's right…though I didn't find out until recently. I had my suspicions, but I had found out when I ease dropped on a conversation between him and the other chairmen."
As she spoke her voice began to shake, and she started to cry. Snake grabbed a handkerchief out of his bag and gave it to her. He put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
"Thank you." She replied to his kindness.
"So what happened that caused the Committee leader's wife to be on the run as a prisoner?" Luigi asked.
"I confronted Marth about what I heard. I told him it was wrong but he tried to convince me that it was only temporary and that "sacrifices had to be made for the greater good". I didn't buy any of it, so I told him I was leaving…"
"Let me guess…he wasn't going to let that happen?" Snake filled in the blanks.
"That's right. He had me confined within New Smashville's prison. He told me that I just needed time to think so that I'd understand."
"When did you escape?" Luigi asked.
"Two days ago…and that's what brought me here to you two. I'm glad it turned out that way. I knew you weren't the horrible men that the Committee had painted you out to be." She gave a small smile.
"Well, we're not perfect, but we behave." Luigi joked. Snake's face looked very grim on the other hand. Caeda noticed it.
"Is something wrong Snake?"
"Tell me something. Do you get the impression that Marth and the chairmen honest to God believe that they are helping the world?"
Caeda frowned at the question. "I do…I was Marth's wife. He loved me. He would always at least consider the things I would say. But this time, he was absolutely insistent that I was wrong."
"I was afraid of that."
"Yeah…I got the same impression from Robin."
"Robin? You met with him and you're still alive?"
"Yep."
"How?"
"I killed him." Snake bluntly responded. Caeda gasped in surprise.
"Killed him! Then why are you two staying in this area! They'll be tightening up security, they'll be coming after you personally now!" Caeda explained sounding frightened.
"That's the idea." Luigi answered cryptically.
"What do you mean?"
"Caeda…we're on a mission…a mission to stop the Committee. Unfortunately, diplomacy seems to be out of the question. We may have no other choice then to kill them." Snake said. "What I'm getting at is…"
"You'll eventually have to fight Marth…and you'll kill him?" She finished for him but asked for clarity. Snake sighed at the idea.
"I'd really rather not…but like I said, I don't think he'll give me a choice. But please…tell me right now if you think that I can convince him that what he's doing is wrong, and we can stop it without bloodshed. Or is he too far gone?"
There was silence in the cave for a solid minute. Caeda thought about the question intensely. She wiped a tear away from her eye and spoke. "No. You'll have to kill him." She finally answered. Snake lowered his head and sighed again. He had a feeling that would be the answer.
"I'm sorry." He apologized, unable to imagine how she must be feeling after having to tell him to kill her husband.
"Don't be. It's not your fault. Like I said, the Marth I knew must've died a long time ago. With all the things he's been doing, he has to be killed."
"I'm glad that you understand."
"Can you at least answer something for me? If you don't mind." She asked a favor.
"Anything." Snake assured.
"You said you're on a mission. Who hired you for this job?" She asked.
"Oh! No you're mistaken. Nobody hired us. We're not getting paid for any of this." Luigi chimed in. Caeda looked wildly confused.
"Then why are you two doing this? You're going up against the most powerful force in the wastes for no reward. Why you?"
"Well for one, we're the only ones who can." Snake began. "I mean anybody can go and try, but they've got so much to lose. Civilians usually have families to take care of, and settlement leaders can't fight them unless they want a war waged on their cities. But we're nomads. We have no home, family, designated roles, and you can even say we have no real name. We answer to no one, and no one answers to us. Whatever we do, we chose to do it by our own will."
"So what made you choose to do this?" Caeda asked the golden question.
"Because we believe it's the right thing to do. We may sound like we only live for ourselves, and that may have been the case at some point. But then we realized that living for the purpose of survival is just delaying the inevitable. So instead, we'll use our skills to help the people of the wastes. Whether it's stopping raiders, freeing slaves, or stopping an organization from creating its idea of a utopia through bioweapons and coercion, we'll do it or we'll drop dead." Snake explained to the woman, who could see the fired determination in his eyes. She looked to Luigi who simply stated…
"Same thing that he said." And smiled.
"That's incredible noble of the two of you." Caeda smiled at the two nomadic warriors.
"Thank you." Luigi happily replied. Snake just remained silent. Snake suddenly received a call over the codec.
"This is Snake."
"Snake, it's Fox. I heard that you've got a civilian that needs an escort."
"Hmm…don't know if civilian is the right word. She's actually…"
"I'm kidding. You do remember that we can hear what you hear through this thing don't you?"
"Oh…right. Anyway, you said you can escort her?"
"Just give us your location and me and Krystal will be there in the morning."
"The morning? That's pretty damn fast. Where will you take her?"
"To Hyrule of course."
"Fox! That's a hell of a walk!"
"Don't worry, we won't be walking. I've got a surprise. Just give us your location."
"Alright…"
"Just got a call in from a friend. Caeda, tomorrow two friends of mine are coming to pick you up and will escort you to Hyrule. There you'll be under the protection of Princess Zelda and Link. That is if you're okay with that?" He asked.
"It's okay. I trust you." Caeda responded.
"Ok. Don't worry, they're nice people. They'll treat you like one of their own. You're safety is assured. Luigi and I will continue with our task."
"Will I ever see you two again after tomorrow?" She asked.
Snake turned to her and wasn't going to lie. "It all depends on whether we succeed or not…" he stopped and caused her to frown. "however if we succeed, I'm planning on taking a nice long break back at Hyrule. What about you Luigi?" He smirked.
"Sounds damn good to me. Been dying to see my friends again."
"Good. Alright, let's try to get some sleep."
The other two began tucking in to their sleeping mats. Snake was getting ready to, and he took off the upper part of his suit to cool off. Caeda saw his upper body and was unsettled by the amount of scars that littered his arms, chest and back. Not to mention taking into account the shrapnel in his head.
"You look like you've been through hell…" She said to him feeling pity for him.
"I have. You could say that I came from hell, or that I'm a demon." Snake responded with dark humor.
"Well if you are a demon, then you really suck at it!" Caeda laughed.
"Yep! Snake the Friendly Demon they call him. All the other Demons pick on him for it too." Luigi joined in.
Snake couldn't help but laugh along with the two of them. Laughter, joking, feelings that Snake wasn't too familiar with. When he felt them it was always refreshing. Moments like these, are moments he believed everyone should have. Moments like these…are what he fights for.
Snake woke up early the next morning and kept watch for Fox and Krystal's arrival.
Make it here in the morning. How is that possible? Even if they sprinted non-stop, it would take two more days to get here.
Snake then heard a familiar sound roaring in the distance. Familiar, but a sound he had not heard in seven years.
Is that…a car running?
His question was answered as he saw Fox and Krystal approach from the distance in a running, fully operative vehicle. Fox parked in front of the cave.
"Here's that surprise I was talking about." Fox grinned.
"Where the hell did you find it?"
"Some abandoned garage in a town of mutants. Surprisingly it was practically untouched. Everything was working, and the keys were nearby."
"Well that's great and all, but it's only a matter of time before that thing runs out of gas."
"That's what I thought too." Fox said.
"It turns out, the fuel of this car isn't oil. Whoever made it was able to make some sort of self-sustaining fuel device. It'll never run out, because it makes its own." Krystal explained.
"Incredible…" Snake thought.
"You got the VIP?" Fox got to the reason they were here.
"Yeah, let me go wake her up."
Snake woke Luigi and Caeda up. Luigi and Fox were joyed to see each other again. Other than that, there wasn't much to be said. Snake and Luigi said their goodbyes to Caeda, hoping to see each other again. Fox and Krystal took off with Caeda, and Snake and Luigi resumed their mission. Several hours passed, and they finally arrived at Gaur Plain. It was no longer bright and colorful, but more drab and dilapidated. Burnt trees, dead plants and dead grass.
"This is it. We're here." Luigi said.
"You were right, this place really is just a plain. We should keep walking, see if we can find Shulk. Shouldn't be too hard since there's no place to hide. The same goes for us however, so let's be cautious." Snake instructed.
"You got it."
It only took them a couple of minutes before they found why Shulk was really here. In the distance they saw a building, and Luigi was shocked.
"That wasn't here before!"
"I figured. It looks like it was constructed not too long ago. And due to the fact that I see the Committee's goons guarding it, I think it's safe to say I think we found where our target is." Snake concluded, scouting the area through his binoculars.
"What kind of place do you think this is?"
"No way to tell from out here. There's only one way we can find out."
"Right! Let's sneak in there!" the man in green readied himself.
They slowly and quietly made their approach. Snake and Luigi stopped when they were nearing the front door.
"That's the only entrance, but it looks like there's only two guys guarding it. I'll shoot the one on the left, you shoot the one on the right." Snake planned and attached a silencer to his pistol.
"Gotcha." Luigi responded and did the same with his weapon. The two aimed for their respective targets.
"On my command…fire!" Snake whispered. With their synchronized shots, the two guards went down at the same time. The two proceeded and entered the building. Looking around they saw what this place was.
"It's a laboratory!" Luigi realized. "This must be where all their fancy tech is made."
"And their bio-weapons…" Snake further deducted and pointed to a room with vials of the bio weapon being stored. As they moved further and killed guards in their way, the came across a large room where other weapons were being developed. And in there they found who they were looking for, Shulk.
"That's him Snake!" Luigi identified the target.
"That's a strange looking blade…that must be the Monado." Snake observed.
"Alright Snake, how do you want to do this?"
"Well after seeing this place, it's become clear to me that we can't just take him out. We have to take this whole place out too."
"I was thinking the same thing. Got any ideas?"
"You go ahead and sabotage the place. I'll attack him."
"Alright. You better not take too long though. I'm going to make sure this place crumbles, and I don't want you in it when it does."
"I know. Don't worry about me, and do not wait for me. When you finish, you get out. Hopefully I'll meet you out there."
"I hope so. Good luck!" Luigi said and took off with his weapon in hand. Snake jumped down and approached Shulk and his guards from behind. He removed the suppressor from his pistol and shot a guard dead. In the process, he got the attention of everyone in the room. They guards all readied their weapons and aimed at Snake, who put his weapon away.
"SNAKE!" Shulk shouted. His British accent along with the blonde hair reminded Snake of his dead brother and arch-enemy Liquid. Snake simply glared at the swordsman. An arrogant smile grew on Shulk's face. "I was told you were an expert in stealth. Yet here you are, revealing yourself to me and all of my men."
Snake continued to be silent, just standing where he was.
"Not up for conversation? Fine by me. Open fire!" Shulk ordered to his men. Snake pulled out Falco's reflector and activated it, surrounding himself with a barrier. The volley of bullets were returned to their senders. His plan had worked. Every guard in the room was eliminated in an instant, clearing the room with just him and Shulk, who was visually shocked.
"You kids are more arrogant than I thought." Snake finally spoke to him. "Robin only had four guards, yet it took me less time to kill all twenty of yours than it did to kill them."
Shulk clenched his fist and it shook. As if this wasn't enough, suddenly an explosion went off in one of the labs, followed by another. "You son of a bitch! What's happening?!"
"We're putting an end to this. The world was already destroyed once…I won't let you and you're group make it twice." Snake pointed at Shulk as he explained. Shulk grew furious and grabbed the Monado.
"SPEED!" He shouted and activated the art. An aura surrounded his feet and he ran at Snake with incredible speed. He swung at Snake, who pulled out the Elemental Machete to block his attack. Shulk attempted to disorient Snake by constantly moving, but Snake's focus would not be broken. "You can't understand! What we're doing is to save the world! These mutants will eliminate the criminals of the wasteland. Our actions may be morally gray, but sacrifices had to be made." Shulk explained his reasoning while clashing blades with Snake.
"I understand the "ends justify the means" mentality, but that doesn't work when the means are wrong! Those monsters are killing civilians!" Snake retorted.
"That's not true!" Shulk angrily shouted and his attacks became fierce. The tip of his blade caught flesh, and grazed Snake's stomach. Snake kicked Shulk away from him, but Shulk charged towards him. Snake used Shulk's momentum against him as Shulk ran right into a CQC slam, putting Shulk on his back. Shulk rolled away before Snake could follow up, but the pain was stinging.
"I caught Robin trying to infect a tribe of innocent Pokémon with the mutant strain. Care to justify that to me?"
"Like I said, sacrifices have to be made."
"Why don't you just go out and kill the bandits personally? Now you have monsters and bandits to deal with!"
"We can't leave the people to go out on hunts! We need to govern and protect them, they'd be vulnerable while we're gone!"
"You underestimate the strength of the people! They're tougher than you believe. They can handle themselves. They don't need a group of kids to decide what's best for them!"
They exchanged attacks, both blocking the others'.
"Besides! Killing bandits is not the solution to saving the world."
"That's rich coming from you! All you know is how to kill!" Shulk attempted to anger Snake with that taunt.
"No…killing is not the only thing I know…I'm just very good at it." He admitted. Snake swung his machete and caught Shulk in the left arm. Shulk cried out in pain as a gash appeared on his limb. "I may be killing you and your group, but I know that there's much more to be done to help people once I finish. Killing you four and your monsters is just the first step."
More explosions occurred, and the mutant strain lab was destroyed, along with all the vials.
"NO!" Shulk screamed as the creations were annihilated. Snake landed a right hook to Shulk's face, and slashed his other arm. Shulk unexpectedly pulled out a gun and shot Snake in the chest. The Kevlar on his Sneaking Suit caught the bullet, but the impact felt like a massive punch and staggered him. Shulk fired again but Snake activated the reflector, making the bullet go through Shulk's hand, forcing him to drop the gun.
"I don't know what happened to you and your group, but you all lost track of an important lesson regarding heroism."
"And what's that supposed to be!" Shulk asked and grabbed the Monado with one arm. Snake dodged Shulk's attack. Shulk swung again, which would be a fatal mistake. Snake parried the attack with his machete and sliced Shulk's arm clean off. The swordsman fell to his knees, his body entered a stage of shock.
"It takes more of a man to save a life…" Snake paused and thrusted the machete through Shulk's chest and into his heart. "Then to take a life…" He finished with a sigh of disappointment. He pulled his weapon out of Shulk, who fell to the ground dead. Seeing that the destruction happening around him, Snake knew that Luigi had succeeded. Snake ran to the exit and escaped the lab before it came crumbling down.
Snake and Luigi met up on a hill, and overlooked the destroyed lab in the distance.
"You got him?" Luigi asked.
"Yeah, confirmed kill. What a waste…" Snake lamented. "Him and Robin, they were still young. Marth and Roy are too. Yet their wasting their youth."
"Yeah. I can't help but imagine the good they could all do for the world if they were still on our side. I mean what went wrong? What happened to them to make them think what they're doing is right?" Luigi wondered aloud.
"I really don't think it matters anymore. Even if we find the answer to that, it won't take away the pain of seeing what they've become. It won't even lessen the pain. They made their choice…we just have to accept that." Snake advised.
"I guess you're right."
"Well…now to hunt for Roy's location." Snake said clearly not looking forward to the intel search.
"Actually, we don't need to." Luigi said.
"What?"
"While I was destroying the place, I heard guards talking about where he is. I squeezed the info out of one of them to make sure."
"And?"
"The ruins of Mushroom Kingdom…"