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Tryout Fic 2: VillageThe disappearance, granted, had unsettled the nerves of many returning combatants. Of course, that isn’t too hard to understand. One of the few constant truths of last year’s tournament was the replenishing of the forest. Whether cut, shot, burned, or obliterated, the trees would return the next morning, and life would resume as normal. Likewise, the combatants had one guaranteed truth: No death in the ring should or would remain permanent. The evidence of this truth could be plainly seen: Pac-Man had survived Kefka’s brutality, Tidus had risen again, and Dante’s heart still beat strong. However, if the forest was gone, did this mean life was no longer a guarantee? Could the contestants actually disappear like their now-missed forest? However, the clearing had yet to affect one of the strongest-willed people in the contest. Solid Snake, in fact, enjoyed the clearing. Living a life in constant stealth is an unparalleled stress; at any point, his enemies could and would launch surprise attacks if given the chance. To survive, he had to return in kind, and the cycle continued throughout his life. With the clearing, though, he finally had a solace from stealth. He inhaled slowly on his cigarette, enjoying the nicotine as he watched the teen named Joe attempt to converse with CATS. The sound of a stick breaking behind him immediately peaked his attention. Surely, after his showing last year, no one was stupid enough to try sneaking up on him. Unless they were new, or arrogant…or both. Snake whipped his head around, not surprised by who greeted him. “Liquid…” “Hello, Brother. Glad to see me?” Solid took a slow drag from his cigarette. “Can’t say I’m upset, or surprised. They want the best of each dimension, might as well get both remnants of Big Boss.” “Ah, so you’re coming around to what I’ve told you all along: we are the best fighters back in our world. Our power is unmatched. Shadow Moses was but a small feat compared to what I could do if…” He trailed off as he looked into Solid’s eyes. Both had played this conversation out a few times before back in Alaska. Liquid would try to recruit Solid to join the Sons of Big Boss, Solid would refuse, and the debate would start again. “Brother, I know we have our ideological differences. You disagree with the aims of our organization, and I have not forgotten that. But we are stranded on an alien world now. This isn’t the world we came from.” Solid Snake grimaced as Liquid said the last phrase. “You don’t know the half of it.” “I know that. For once, I admit, you possess some knowledge of this world’s ways that, well, gives you a slight advantage over me. But I am the only one here who knows your full capabilities, who has seen you and fought with you for so long that, well, I know you better than you know yourself. I am the only one who knows how best to utilize you, how to guarantee our mutual success in this tournament. Think of how much we could change this place. When it ends, I know we shall be enemies once more, no matter how much I explain to you the necessity of our partnership. But here, where politics and militaries are gone, can we not try together to seek our mutual end?” Snake took another drag from his cigarette. “And what end would that be?” “Conquest, Brother. Defeat of our enemies. We cannot fight them outside the ring, but we can create the psychological damage, the plans, to dismantle them. Between the two of us, we can destroy whatever stands in our path.” “And when we finally face each other, Liquid?” “One more fight between us, of course.” Solid looked back towards Joe and CATS, mulling Liquid’s words. The notion of a partnership between the two was ludicrous, but he could see his arguments. The two were built to be the ultimate soldiers, both physically and mentally; they could surely find a way to defeat most anyone in the tournament, and with people like Sephiroth or Link, that extra help could be essential to their very survival. But the idea of partnership was completely contrary to the principles of the tournament…and of Solid Snake. Liquid continued to prod for a reply. “Well, Brother, what do you think?” “Look over there.” He pointed to Joe and CATS “What, at the two fools?” “Yes, and to the larger fool walking towards them.” *** Across the field, Joe was ecstatically conversing with the base-owning CATS. Of course, a conversation with Joe didn’t always include as much talking as it did listening. Especially when, as it was at the moment, the topic was superheroes. “I can’t believe that AWESOME cape you got there, man! You gotta be a legend back where you’re from! I mean, who wouldn’t totally look up to you? You got some serious villain-fighting style! Unless you’re the bad guy where you come from. I’d hate to hear that, you just seem so cool. Not as cool as Captain Blue, of course, but-“ It was at this point that CATS interrupted him. Processing CATS’s thought patterns was a little like writing a work of literature in binary; any semblance of beauty or logic is lost unless you understand how his mind works. However, the idea of this Blue Captain sparked ideas throughout the brain of the bomb setter. He could quite clearly see, in his warped mind, the captain of that ship, to which he had sent so many signals, gripping his blond locks in frustration at the schemes of CATS. He remembered the man’s uniform clearly, a royal blue that made him stand out from his crew. The synapses of CATS’s brain fired as they had never before. This Joe knew where he could find the Captain! He had to find his base before fighting the vile Link, lest he go in without a sufficient supply of Zigs! “What you say? Blue Captain know you of? Say so why did you not?! Him take now me to!” “Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy there, fella. I don’t think Captain Blue is here. I mean, it’d be awesome if he were, though. We could have adventures and team up to fight his enemies, like Gran Bruce or Hulk Davidson!” CATS smiled. He may not be able to find the Captain’s base, but this oddly speaking fellow had revealed enemies of the Blue Captain. With just a little more prying, he may even be able to find these people and end great justice throughout the universe… “Of this Bruce Gran and David Hulkson you speak, any more friends of enemies of Blue Captain you know?? “Well, Alastor, I guess, never was that big a friend of Blue…Oh! There’s Charles the Third! He’s a vampire, hard to find in the daytime, you know, but he’s certainly know friend of Captain Blue…” “Ha ha ha ha! With help of Gran Bruce, Hulk Davidson, and Third Charles, Blue Captain shall fall! He has no chance to survive you made his time!” “What?! You don’t like Captain Blue? That…that…rrrrrrgh, I hope Link sends you packing in the first round now! You gotta be a villain!” “Fun evil has with me. Ha ha ha ha ha!” Joe looked on in anger as CATS vanished. No one had yet seen CATS physically this year; he had chosen to send signals to various people from wherever he was staying. However, Joe did not see the large villain right behind him. Bowser hadn’t talked to Joe yet, but he hated him. Here was this completely normal teenager who was obsessed with some stupid superhero and had no appreciation for a real hero, like the leader of the Koopa Kingdom! What a lame loser! Bowser knew they weren’t supposed to fight before the tournament, but he knew there were ways around that rule. And to teach this Joe a lesson, he would use one of those ways. “Hey kid! You ready for the tournament?” “What? Oh, hey, um, Turtle-Guy. Look, I don’t talk with villains, all right?” “Villain? Oh ho ho, you got me all wrong, it’s that plumber who’s out to harm everyone! I’m just an innocent reptile looking for love that he tortures for his own fun.” Joe softened a bit as he heard this. Perhaps he had misjudged this guy; after all, he hadn’t done anything wrong yet. “Well, sorry man. Now, what were you saying about the tournament?” “Oh, well, you see, it’s SO hard, and I need to train SO much, and, well, I got no one to train with. Do you…do you think you could spar with a poor unfortunate Koopa?” “Well, certainly! I’ll won’t transform, though. You know, keep it light.” Bowser smiled to himself. Whatever “transformation” this Joe could do wasn’t going to put him on par with the Koopa King, and the loser would see how “light” Bowser would keep it. “All right, here I come!” Bowser dashed in, ramming into Joe full force with his shoulder. The teen flew backward, crashing hard onto the ground. He got up, holding his head. “Hey, now, that wasn’t very nice! Keep it light!” “Right, right, I’m SO sorry!” The King of the Koopas came crashing down upon Joe’s head with a heavy claw strike. Of course, he couldn’t kill the brat, so he only hit him with his palm. “And you can keep that LIGHT headache! Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Get it? Keep it light? Oh MAN I’m so funny!” Joe got up slowly, feeling the effects of all those blows. “That’s enough! Henshin a go-go, baby!” With the utterance of that one phrase, the t-shirt clad boy transformed in a flash of light. His body now was covered in a tight red suit, showing his bulging muscles. A matching red helmet with visor and large V covered his head, and a light pink scarf blew dramatically in the wind. “Now, slowpoke, see if you can hit me!” Bowser was not impressed. “That’s it? Your transformation is NEW CLOTHES?! Where’s the fireballs, or flying? Can’t you at least GROW?” “Hey, if I’m so weak, knock me out!” Bowser shrugged. “Seems like a good idea to me!” He swung wildly at Joe’s head with enough force to stop a freight train, but the blow never came close. In fact, Bowser felt like he was moving through molasses, as though time itself had slowed just so Joe could get out of the way of one blow. What a cheater! Bowser hated cheaters, except himself! He inhaled deeply, then exhaled a stream of pure flame. Again, the stupid kid just sidestepped as if everything around him has slowed to a crawl! “MACH SPEED!” yelled Joe as the flames diminished. Now, all Bowser could make out was Joe’s head, which stayed pretty still. The rest of the teen’s body became a blur of body motion, and the Koopa King felt blow after blow after blow, enough so that friction began to start a small fire. Joe ended his combo with an uppercut that sent Bowser onto his back. “Had enough, big guy?” Bowser got up slowly, rubbing his chin. “I…I think that’s enough sparring for…well, forever. But listen, kid, if I see you in the ring, don’t expect that little suit and your fast hands to stop me. Next time, I really won’t keep it light! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!!!” He walked off as Joe looked on in disbelief. “Cocky moron,” he uttered to himself as he reverted back to normal Joe. Liquid Snake had seen the whole fight, just as his so-called brother had shown him. A seemingly weak kid had been able to defend himself from a large, imposing reptile. Not only that, but this kid, whose time manipulation was nothing short of remarkable, wasn’t considered one of the strongest in this tournament. Solid broke Liquid’s train of thought. “They say Joe can not only dodge a bullet, but punch it right back at the gunman. He can dodge almost anything you send at him, too, and counter before you blink.” “You’ve seen him do this?” “Nope.” Solid put out his cigarette on the ground. “He’s a newcomer. That’s the first time I’ve seen him fight.” “If a mere teenager can put up that kid of fight, I can only imagine what the others can do. Brother, you must take my offer. I highly doubt you can beat these fighters without my help.” “Maybe you’re right.” Solid stood up, beginning to leave. “But, then again, you also thought that Joe would be destroyed by Bowser. Instead, you saw him fight back with remarkable power. Even more importantly, you saw him do it alone. If I’m gonna win this tournament, that’s how I’ll do it: alone.” Snake walked off, back towards the main village. Liquid peered off after him. As expected, the offer was rejected. No matter, he could always team with the less…savory types here. Someone would be willing to help him guarantee his success…and guarantee that he would be the one to send his brother back home. He would prove to everyone here just who was the stronger son of Big Boss… Next Entry Back |