| Sovereign Threads: The Spring Fanfiction Project |
April 2, 2004Mario vs Metal Gear: Chapter 1 For a strange and fleeting moment, the legendary courage of Mario faltered. The smiling sun was retreating quickly behind the mountains, and the shadows stretched long over the diminutive hero. With the sun went down his spirits. He was there, the border, the final crossing. Behind him was a road of many perils, but none matched what lay before him now. He stood, looking out on Bowser's blighted domain and shivered. The land was scorched and great rivers of flame flowed freely across the plains. The beaten path disappeared not far in, and only a winding strip of thin land stretched off into the distance, flanked by dark lands. The castle of Bowser stood erect like an outstretched obsidian arm in the far distance. Around it swarmed hundreds of small vehicles, patrolling the fiery shores...waiting. Mario hesitated. He knew in the back of his mind that he was going to have to brave the harsh terrain whether he wanted to or not. The fair Princess Peach was treasured by the masses, and Mario, whose boundless love for her continued to go unrequited, was expected to save her. She had been kidnapped by the evil King Bowser of the Koopas yet again (for purposes still unknown) and was being held in the refurbished castle. He whoofed a little sigh and took a few steps onto the cracked, blasted earth. A quake rippled across the ground sharply, and Mario thought he was already done for. His fear was replaced by wonder as a mammoth airship came soaring over the west mountains, its sleek black hull seemingly swallowing any light left in the sky. Its shadow covered the land completely, and Mario estimated in his awe that it must be at least a mile long. The emblem of Bowser was emblazoned on the side. Once out of the mountains, it turned and started straight for the distant castle. Once his flabbergasted state of mind had passed, Mario got to thinking. In a flash of cunning, he hatched a plan. He had to put it into action quickly however, or his opportunity would disappear. Leaping to action, he put feet to the ground at an unbelievable rate. He zipped off toward the mountains, always with his eyes locked upon the great airship sailing slowly away from him. Reaching the mountain base, he continued his sprint and started straight up the side. His stubby legs became a blur once again, and he quickly donned his Tanooki Suit. It would have seemed comical to any spectators, a small raccoon-man running up a mountain after a gigantic demonic looking ship, but to the squat plumber, it was all business. Coming over the snowy peak at last, Mario jumped with all strength, spinning the fuzzy tail of his suit like a madman. It gave him all the lift he needed, and he soared up and up, passing through the low gray clouds. The beauty of the night above it startled him for a second, but he quickly gathered himself and focused again at the task at hand. He could no longer see his target steaming along his vision obscured by the overcast sky beneath him, but he could hear its many propellers well enough, and he corrected his flight to make sure that he would land on it upon his return. Gulping softly, he stopped spinning the Tanooki Tail, and his descent back to earth began. Across untold distances, through the blank planes of space and time, past the borders of one reality, and into another… ~~~ The jungle symphony surrounded the man, it masked him; he was one of them. He smoked quietly behind the large tree, savoring his sweet vice. His real name was ancient history, replaced with one more meaningful: Solid Snake of FOXHOUND. He was young, but had a hardened look, blurring his age. He was clad in standard issue commando gear, his sole distinction being his signature blue bandana; the one all the boys gave him crap for. Taking a drag on the cig, he looked down at the patch on the left shoulder of his suit, a fox with a knife in its teeth, the FOXHOUND symbol. He patted it with reverence. Only the best, he thought, and wondered then why, then, he of all people was there. He stubbed out his cigarette and sighed. Although he had been with FOXHOUND for years, “Operation Intrude N313” into the South American jungles was Snake's first field mission. He tried to hide it but he had the look of a rookie all over him, from his clean appearance to his unsure trigger finger. Presently he was paused, considering his position. He was hiding near the entrance of a small prison encampment, guarded by a lone soldier. All around him was the military fortress now known as ‘Outer Heaven’. The place had been hijacked by a rogue band of mercenaries who were holed up and making demands of the American government. The base as a good stronghold, but its strategic value was not their only reason for creating Outer Heaven. Within the walls of the bases main building sat a weapon of immense power that had been under development for years in secret. It was this machine, a walking tank with a nuclear payload, which the mercs were after: Metal Gear. The mercenary leader, Vermon CaTaffy had contacted the American government not long after the hostile takeover of the base, dubbing it ‘Outer Heaven’ and making obscene demands of the president under threat of nuclear strike. With no one else to turn to, FOXHOUND was asked to step in. The first man in was Gray Fox, the highest ranking FOXHOUND operative under the unit commander, ‘Big Boss’. Fox had reportedly infiltrated the base, but all communication with him had ceased abruptly. That’s where Snake came in. He had parachuted in three hours ago, and had since been surveying the base quietly, watching and waiting, studying the guards and trying to get a hold on the situation. His mission objectives were to locate Gray Fox, neutralize Metal Gear, and eliminate CaTaffy and any other high ranking mercenaries under his control. So far he had completed none of them. The guard Snake had been tracking had fallen asleep at his post, leaned against the wall next to the door. Every door in the entire base was keycard-activated, and Snake didn't have a card yet. He wondered if the gently snoring guard had one. Not about to let this opportunity slide, Snake crept from his position behind the tree quietly. He went from cover to cover, eyes always locked upon the guard. He paused behind a parked jeep and threw a rock. It hit the ground a couple feet from the soldier, but it did not disturb his slumber. Content with this reassurance, Snake quietly made his way towards the man. Snake had gone into Operation Intrude N313 with no equipment or weapons other than his suit, his cigarettes (which he had to smuggle out) and his radio transceiver. The on-site procurement of items was pretty standard ops for FOXHOUND, and this operation was no different. Snake’s eyes drifted to the weapon at the sleeping soldier's side. It was a FAMAS rifle, and it would be very useful. Snake moved ever closer to the man, his snores becoming louder. Every footfall was deafening for Snake as his mind raced through what he would do if this man were to wake up. He was close enough. He extended his hand slowly, reaching for the weapon. He was almost upon it when the world exploded with sound. The door of the building slid noisily open and two new guards strode out, talking loudly with each other. The original guard was startled awake and his wide eyes stared into Snake’s. Snake froze as he realized it was all over. ~~~ “Well cowboy, you found me,” said an unknown voice. It ripped Snake from unconsciousness. “What?!” He yelled as his vision returned, “Who?!” “Keep it down, or the guards’ll come running.” The voice was cucumber cool, coming from across the room. Snake rubbed his eyes and looked around. The light was dim, but he could make out that he was in a small room with only one barred window and a single door—bolted from the outside. A prison. Snake’s earlier failure came back to him in a rush and he grimaced. In the low light, he could barely make out the source of the voice that woke him; a tall man in the corner of the cell. As Snake sat up, the man lit a cigarette and the flash of the lighter revealed a familiar face. “Gray Fox!” Snake said and stood. Pain rocketed through his shoulder and Snake recalled the beating he took from the soldiers. “The same,” Fox said and stepped forward. The two had met once before, during Snake’s FOXHOUND training, but they had never spoken. Snake’s training officer made it clear that he was the best, and that he should command the utmost respect. Fox moved in and shook his hand. Snake introduced himself. They sat down on the single bed and talked awhile about the mission. Fox filled Snake in on the details of how he was caught, and Snake did the same. Fox also explained what he had found out about the mercenaries, which was basically nothing new, but there was one interesting tidbit. “From what I overheard,” Fox went on, “I think these men are all following CaTaffy’s ‘dream’ of creating some sort of sovereign state here, using Metal Gear to defend it.” “What? That’s ludicrous,” Snake said, “They can’t do that with one base and a nuclear missile!” “They have one nuke that we know about. There are probably more, and Metal Gear could fire them anywhere on earth. Any pre-emptive attackers would pay dearly. I’m sure CaTaffy’s more than willing to go down fighting.” Snake thought on this. “Well what do we do? We can’t just wait around here to be killed. We have to break out.” Gray Fox laughed and folded his arms. “Then go for it, hotshot. Get us out of here.” Just as Snake began to wrack his brain for a plan, the world disappeared suddenly in the flash of immeasurable brightness. ~~~ Mario, a universe away, was engulfed by the same light and he reeled in the air, turning over and over in confused fear. ~~~ Fox and Snake fell to the floor as a million thunderclaps rippled through the jungle to accompany the blinding flash, their screams swallowed whole by the unbelievable din. If they had been able, they would have heard the same from everyone else in Outer Heaven and the Mushroom Kingdom; a collective cry going up to meet the abrupt apocalypse. Then, as quickly as it had started, the phenomenon vanished. For the next hour or so, people everywhere were recovering, their sight and hearing slowly returning…but definitely not to what they left. Chapter 2 The world slowly faded back into focus, and Fox and Snake righted themselves, shaking away the strange phenomenon. “What the hell was that?” Grey Fox said. He and Snake rushed to the small barred window of their cell and peered out into the night. The mercenary's floodlights betrayed the strange scene outside. Utter chaos was what they discovered in the jungle of Outer Heaven. The men were frantic, running, screaming, firing at unseen enemies. Small explosions rippled across the ground, spitting dirt and frightened guards high into the air. Many of the giant trees of the jungle were felled, and in their place were strange and irregularly shaped hills and what appeared to be…gigantic mushrooms. From the west side of their small prison-the side which they could not see-came the dull hum of some vehicle, apparently high in the air. There was also more gunfire and explosions from that area. Off in the distance, the main mercenary fortress, the core of Outer Heaven, had been torn asunder. The middle of the complex had been completely destroyed, and where it once stood there was now a great terraced castle. Giant pieces of the Outer Heaven complex were resting on the turrets of the castle and around the base and sides. It was as though the tower had sprung up from below, straight out of the ground. The small reports of far off rifles implied a great battle on and around the castle. Snake recognized the signs of the soldier's guns, but could perceive no other weaponry. Who were they fighting? Snake and Fox’s attention turned back to the clearing in front of their cell as a soldier ran by screaming and flailing his limbs. Something was attached to his back, but it could not be identified in the dim light. The man’s legs gave out and he fell to the earth where the two imprisoned FOXHOUND operatives could not see him. “Fox..."Snake began. “I have no idea, Snake,” He cut him off, “This is certainly new.” “Well whatever’s going on out there, it might be a good distraction. We’ve got to…” Before Snake could finish, the far wall of the cell disappeared in a deafening explosion. The night poured into the little space as Fox and Snake dug themselves out from under the rubble. “Well I guess that takes care of that problem.” Snake mumbled, brushing the dust from his suit. He helped Fox up and together they snuck tentatively into the clearing. The fighting was continuing around them, but neither could see the yet-unidentified third party. They ran quickly to a parked Jeep and crouched behind it, their wide eyes waiting for an attack. As Snake surveyed the situation around them further, Fox rifled through the Jeep for anything useful. Snake looked upwards and discovered the source of the low hum. A bulky airship hovered a few hundred feet above the ground, its many cannons roaring to life every few seconds. Snake deduced that a stray shell was what destroyed their cell. Fox jumped out of the back of the Jeep, two SOCOMs and some rations heavier. He handed one of the guns to Snake. Fox checked his new gun and flicked the safety off. “Well then, what do we do now?” Snake asked as he did the same with his pistol. Fox laughed at how green Snake was. "You're the one they sent in here to rescue me, Snake, so why don't you tell me?" The hardened soldier's grey eyes locked on his Snake's and an amused grin stuck on his face. Snake sighed.“We need to contact Big Boss, find out what the hell is going on.” “My transceiver’s out.” Fox said, tapping his ear. “Mine too,” Snake muttered, “Something’s jamming us. Let’s get over that hill there, see if it’s any better.” They got up and made for the hill, fingers on triggers. “We sure stepped in it now, didn’t we,” Fox chuckled. Snake smiled, “Yeah…whatever it is.” This kid's got it, Grey Fox thought to himself as he looked at him again, He doesn't even know it yet, but someday.... Mario came down from the clouds and saw what was most definitely not the world he left. The rolling, eyed hills of the Mushroom Kingdom were mostly gone, replaced by thick foliage. Many small buildings littered the forest, and off to the north was still Bowser’s Castle, but it seemed to have sprouted a lower, wider building around its base. There was a good deal of explosions and weapons fire about it now, and the airship Mario had been chasing in his Tanooki Suit was raining cannon fire onto a bunch of unidentified creatures below. From his altitude, Mario could make out nothing more. “Mama mia” he muttered and continued his descent. Something was definitely fishy in the Kingdom tonight, and Mario knew that if he didn’t take care of it, no one would. He sighed as he wondered what kind of monsters he would contend with tonight. Who would dare fight Bowser, anyway? Mario and his brother were the only ones he knew of to ever stand against the self-proclaimed King of the Koopas, and even Peach and the Senate were powerless against him. Not that the Koopas really did anything wrong in the first place. Aside from occasional covert Princess-napping missions, Bowser hadn’t really done much ill. There were reports of his barbaric nature toward his own people, and some even warned that he was secretly amassing troops and weapons to take over Mushroom Kingdom, but there was no solid evidence to support these claims. Whatever their intention, the Koopa Army was far too vast to merely threaten into submission, and being a peaceful land, the Mushroom Kingdom had no army of its own. “Aside from-a me and Luigi” he chuckled as the thin air whipped by him. He found himself wishing he had brought Luigi along on this one, if not only for the conversation. His thoughts were cut off as he crashed through the tree cover into the alien jungle below. He bounced to the earth and rolled to a stop, shaking himself. He wobbled woozily for a moment and then regained his composure. “Right, so…what am I-a to do?” He wondered aloud, looking around at the thick woods. He didn’t get a chance to answer his own question as a panicked creature came stumbling near Mario, panting hard. Mario had a hard time grasping what this thing was. It seemed human, like him or Luigi, but it was tall and thin, its head was smaller compared to its body, and it’s upper and lower bodies were proportional to each other. Its arms hung down to its waist and it carried a large, complicated item with a grip and a long barrel. Mario wondered if it was some kind of cannon. “Hey!” Mario shouted to the alien. It whirled around and yelped in fear, raising the machine and pointing it at the squat plumber. The thing made a loud noise and Mario felt a little cannonball scream by his ear. Not about to wait for the man to fire again, Mario ran and jumped at him. Giving an exuberant “Yahoo!”, Mario dodged the terrorist’s gunfire and twisted in the air, smashing the fuzzy tail of his Tanooki Suit into the offenders face. He took the full blow and spun awkwardly, flopping to the dirt and slipping into unconsciousness. Mario landed and gave a peace sign to no one in particular, satisfied with his victory over the creature. After further examination of the man, Mario determined that it was, in fact, a human being-albeit of a very strange sort. According to a small tag around its neck, its name was Johnny Sasaki, and his blood type was O. Mario wondered what exactly that meant as he removed his Tanooki suit. He had planned to steal Sasaki’s clothes in an attempt to blend in but soon found that they wouldn’t fit his four-foot three inch frame. Somewhat discouraged, he next picked up the man’s strange weapon. Mario soon grasped that when a small trigger was depressed, it spat out small missiles. He assumed it would be useful and strapped it to his back. After considering his situation for a moment longer, Mario decided that he should continue with his original mission-saving the Princess-strange men or no. By that logic, he struck out north, straight for the mammoth airship, where the final key to Bowser’s stronghold was kept. ~~~~~ As the infamous plumber bravely set out to assault the great ship, Solid Snake and Grey Fox climbed the steep rise in the heart of the forest. Snake frowned, “I’ve still got nothing. I’m going to get to the top of this tree and try again.” “I’ll stay here,” Fox said and squinted into the darkness, scanning the horizon for enemies. Snake slowly made his way up the tree, his sneaking suit masking his movements. About halfway up, he spied a queer sight just a few feet from the reach of the tree’s branches. What appeared to be a small cloud was hovering silently in the air, clearly not suspended by anything. A small, bespectacled man could be seen squatting in it, his eyes darting here and there. “What the…” Snake whispered and drew his gun. The creature turned and spied him among the branches. It made a loud chittering noise and the cloud zoomed here and there, trying to stay out of Snake’s reach. He tried to draw a bead on it, but it was moving to fast for him to hit with the SOCOM. Without warning, the angry little cloud-man lobbed something at Snake. It looked to be a red turtle shell with spikes sticking out of the back. Snake deftly dodged the projectile and its spines stuck into the trunk of the tree. Snake seized his opportunity and fired three shots at the cloud. Apparently, one connected, as the cloud and its rider exploded in a flash of color and altogether disappeared. Snake was understandably confused. “Watch out!” Snake called down to his companion, “Hostile…forces in the area.” “Copy,” Fox replied and crouched to the ground. Snake continued his ascent, now on the lookout for more unbelievable hostiles. He finally reached the very top of the great tree and took a good look out around him. The terrorists had now emptied their tank bays to combat the mysterious airship and Snake also spied many hummers engaged in skirmishes with the enemy. Although he couldn’t make out exactly what they were, the opposing force seemed to be largely alien, odd creatures of various shapes and sizes, most with natural weaponry. Any explanation escaped Snake. Despite the strange sights surrounding him and the dizzy height, Snake activated his transceiver. “Home Base, come in, this is Solid Snake. Solid Snake to Big Boss, do you copy?” Snake breathed a sigh of relief as a familiar voice came back. “Solid Snake this is Big Boss, we copy you. What is your status?” “I have located Gray Fox, but something is wrong here…” “We copy that, Snake.” “You already know?” Snake queried, confused. “Yes. We know the situation there.” “Well would you mind telling me? What the hell is going on? Has the mission been compromised?” Big Boss’ voice was calm as always, “Negative Snake. This was an expected development.” “What are you talking about?” “The creatures you are seeing are biological weapons working for another terrorist organization interested in obtaining ‘Metal Gear’ for their own gains.” “But how could anyone else know about Metal Gear?” Snake wondered. “We don’t know, Snake, but it has us worried.” “Is the mission aborted?” “Negative. Continue with the mission. Elimination of the new terrorists is not a mission objective, but it’s certainly not to be discouraged.” “Right,” Snake laughed, “Solid Snake out.” Snake sighed and began to climb out of the tree. In his secret office deep within the bisected main building of Outer Heaven, Big Boss deactivated his transceiver. He leaned back in his chair and smiled cruelly. “That’s right Snake, right into my hands.” Standing on his left was Wallace, his lieutenant. Wallace spoke. “An interesting story, sir. Will they buy it?” “They have no choice. They know as much as we do at this point.” Big Boss said and turned in his chair. He was facing a large panel of video feeds from across Outer Heaven, displaying sheer carnage. He looked to the five screens that showed only static. “Have the men locked down the complex?” “Yes sir,” Wallace said, “There’s no way for that thing to get in.” “Metal Gear…the hangar was in the center of the complex…” “It is intact, buried beneath the rubble.” Wallace reported quickly. “Send the pilots to go and get it. Use it to destroy that damned airship. It’s done enough damage.” As if to prove his point, another explosion rocked the fortress. “The Gear pilots are not responding to communications. They are believed to be dead in the rubble as well.” “Damn…then it’s either me…or you.” They looked at each other for a moment. “Yes sir,” Wallace said gravely and left. Big Boss smiled. ~~~ Less than a mile away, Mario was running at top speed through the jungle. All around him, Goombas, Koopas and Lakitus were engaged in an all out battle with these men. He dodged their small skirmishes and kept his sights set on the airship in front of him. Mario noticed as he drew closer and closer that it was slowly dropping altitude, as if to land. He knew that it would be his only chance of boarding the vessel. He leapt over the grisly scene of five or so Goombas chomping on a dead soldier and kept up his pace. The airship was dropping into a great clearing where a large outpost once stood but was now a smoking crater thanks to the ship’s cannons. As he neared the edge of the clearing, Mario ran blindly into a bad situation. As he slammed on the brakes, the contingent of soldiers heading in the same direction whirled around. “What was that noise?” one said. Another looked down and spied the conspicuous hero. “You there! Stop!” He did nothing of the sort. Mario slid along the ground and kicked the first man’s legs out from under him. As the cloud of dust billowed behind him, he quickly drew his newfound fire arm and sprayed ineptly, dropping only two of the soldiers. The other three took up their arms, but the plumber was already upon them. Making cheery little noises, Mario jumped between them. He landed on the chief soldier’s head, and the considerable untold powers of Mario’s boots were unleashed upon him. His skull cracked and he tumbled to earth, snuffed like a candle. Mario landed between the other two, who were understandably afraid of this super-midget. Mario capitalized on their hesitation and picked up one of the fallen men, swinging him around. After a few revolutions, Mario threw the man who sailed through the air and kayoed his hapless buddies. The first man began to get up, but he got a butt-stomp square in the face, and his head was drilled into the ground. Mario paused for a moment to adjust his hat and flash a thumbs up. Then he remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He looked up and saw the airship taking off again. It was leaving without him! “Let’s-a go!” he gleefully proclaimed and zoomed away at top speed. Slowly he gained on the escaping craft, and as he climbed a hill in his path he quickly donned the Tanooki Suit once again. At the top of the hill he leaped mightily, and the tail of his suit wagged frantically, giving him all the lift it could. For a moment it seemed he would miss the very back of the airship, but he sailed just far enough to grab hold of the deck railing. He hoisted himself up and breathed deep, knowing he had succeeded. A feeling of familiarity spread over him and he smirked. “Alright-a Mario, you know this-a routine!” With that he started climbing the outside of the hull, working his slow way to the cockpit. Chapter 3 “Biological weapons? A second terrorist group?” Gray Fox asked in astonishment. Snake nodded. Fox swore under his breath. “Well let’s get moving.” They started north, toward the Outer Heaven core. Safeties off, they stalked silently through the jungle, eyes darting about, ready for anything. Anything was what they got. The two men stopped dead, fixated on an object before them. It was a large green pipe about three feet high, sticking straight out of the ground. The opening was about big enough for a man to fit through. They walked over to it and peered in carefully. Blackness greeted them. “What do you make of this?” Snake asked. Fox frowned, “I don’t know…sewer access?” “Maybe. What do you want to bet it leads under there?” Snake motioned toward the base in the distance. “Only one way to find out,” and with that, Fox jumped into the pipe and was lost into the darkness. Snake yelled after him, but got no reply. He shook his head and did likewise. The darkness that swallowed him was unexpected, and after falling for a good while, he hit the ground hard and unexpectedly, aggravating his shoulder injury. “Fox?” he whispered into the black. “Yeah Snake, I’m here,” Fox said from directly beside him. The darkness was so thick he couldn’t sense him from but two feet away. “There’s a light down that way, let’s go.” The two agents ran warily toward the light in the distance and readied their weapons. While running with Fox, Snake got a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew what it meant, but he refused to acknowledge his fear. The source of the light was a large room at the end of the tunnel, lit by wan blue bulbs hanging from the ceiling. The two men dropped into the room from their small crevice and looked about. The colored light gave the room a surreal air to it, and a clingy silence sat eerily around them. Every surface of the room was made of brick, and it was entirely empty aside from two more green pipes, one on the floor and one on the ceiling. “Damn,” Fox muttered as he stepped into the center of the room. Peering into the floor pipe yielded the same inconclusive results. “Looks like we have to keep going down.” “I don’t know…” Snake cautioned, but he realized that they really had no choice in the matter. Snake doubted they could even get to the ceiling pipe, let alone climb its sheer sides up and out, and the way they had come was no different. Fox put his hands on the rim of the pipe, about to climb in when a small skittering started coming up from it. It gradually grew to an unnatural level, and they stepped away from it, drawing their guns. The disturbing noise grew louder than they could stand, and as though dam had burst, strange creatures started pouring out of the pipe. They were small and brown mushroom-shaped animals, nothing but eyes teeth and little feet on their bottoms. The hundred pairs of beady eyes locked on the two men and swarmed towards them, a chittering frenzy of voracious animal instinct. They were slow moving, and very small, but scores of them kept coming up out of the pipe. The first ones reached Snake and Fox and the two men opened fire. The monsters fell with one round each, screaming and flopping over. The two men kept shooting, backing up from the endless tide of creatures. The bodies piled up, and soon the men would run out of ammo. Their backs met the wall. “This isn’t working!” Snake yelled over the din, Fox’s wide eyes darted around. “We have to get back to the tunnel!” Unfortunately, that was on the other side of the room, through a veritable sea of the beasts. On three, they stopped shooting and sprinted through the middle of them. The things bounced around and clung to them with their tiny razor teeth, ripping pieces of clothes and flesh away. Pain flew up Snake’s legs and spots danced in front of his eyes, but he pushed through it and kept pace with Fox. Starting to get bogged down by the little piranha-mushrooms, Fox suddenly saw their weakness. “Just step on them!” he yelled to Snake. When stomped or jumped upon, they found that the creatures imploded into nothing with a little pop. Together, the two jumped around the room, frantically destroying the creatures by the load. Soon the waves of brown stopped flowing from the pipe, and the last of the little things were killed. Snake and Fox slumped to the floor, breathing heavily and checking their wounds. Both the men were torn up around their legs, Fox worse so, and he also had many of the small bite wounds on his upper body. He moved with great effort to the floor pipe and leaned up against it. “Ahh,” he groaned, “Let’s hope that’s the end of them…” Snake, who was considerably better off than his companion, got up and walked over to Fox. “Are you gonna be alright?” He asked. Snake prayed that he wouldn’t have to leave the one that really knew what he was doing behind—he didn’t think he could make it alone. “Yeah, just…give me a moment.” Fox said through clearly labored breathing. Snake turned away, wincing. He leaned against the wall and tried to recover. Reaching into a pocket on his arm, he retrieved a small bandage. Without warning, a shrill screech came from behind him, and Snake dropped the gauze. He whirled, drawing his SOCOM instinctively. Yet another horror, this one a huge Venus Fly-Trap, had emerged from the floor pipe. Its long stalk was curved downwards and its bulbous, speckled head was clamped onto Gray Fox’s left shoulder. Snake could only see the thin white beginnings of what were undoubtedly razor teeth—the rest of them were sunk into Fox’s flesh. Blood flowed freely off of the new wounds and onto the floor. Gray Fox screamed and struggled with the unrelenting beast as it lifted him off the ground. His pistol clattered to the floor. Snake ran towards them, but a large leafy tendril slapped him away. His world spun and he fell, and witnessing the rest from the floor. The ravenous plant dragged the flailing Fox up the side of the pipe and folded him in half, dragging him into the darkness. Snake watched the man’s outstretched hand disappear under the rim of the pipe, accompanied by the grisly diminuendo of him screaming Snake’s name. Snake rose and ran again to the innocuous looking green pipe and looked down into it. “Fox! FOX!?” Silence was the only response. Shock grasped Snake and he fell forward onto his knees. Alternating waves of failure and sadness washed over him as he knelt among the blood. Finally and with great effort he gathered himself up, wiping a single tear away. He tried to do what he had been taught; collecting his feelings and putting them away in a little place in the back of his mind, replacing them with a soldier’s cold efficiency. It was what he had been trained to do, but nothing could prepare him for something like this. Doing his best, he assessed the situation. The pipe on the floor was most certainly dangerous—at this moment Snake had to repress the grisly image of Fox’s hand disappearing—so the only way out of the room was through the pipe on the ceiling. Snake easily climbed the rough brick wall, stopping here and there to look for handholds. Once he reached the ceiling it became a little harder. He stuck his fingers into divots and held for dear life, his fingers screaming from the strain as he neared the pipe’s mouth. Finally there, he stuck a single arm into the dark void and experienced something he was entirely unprepared for: suction. His whole body was pulled sharply into the pipe and he yelped as he shot upwards in the dark, faster and faster. Just as he felt his heart was about to burst he was into the open air once again—quite literally. He was fired out of the pipe and into the jungle at an angle, flying like a cannonball through the night. Snake looked downwards and for a moment, his fright was replaced with a kind of wonder at what he was seeing. Hundreds of feet in the air, the view of Outer Heaven was incredible. Fighting between the two forces had intensified during Snake’s underground detour and it was obvious that the mercenaries were losing. The creature army of the Airship had received reinforcements; archaic looking tanks and jets were cruising around the jungle, decimating CaTaffy’s men with their cannons. Around the two fortresses, the battle raged the strongest, explosions and gunfire everywhere. Truly, it was an unbelievable sight. Snake’s mind snapped away from his interest in the battle and back to the undeniable fact that he was flying headlong through space at what would most certainly be a fatal rate. Barely missing flaming cannonballs and large jets, Snake came to the peak of his arc. His final descent began, and the distant ground approached all too quickly. Snake’s final thoughts drifted towards his incredible failure and he shut his eyes, preparing for impact. A mechanical hum started coming from beneath him, and he reopened his eyes to a startling spectacle. The giant airship of the terrorists was now under him, between his falling body and the ground. Snake twisted in midair and braced himself for collision. The half-mile long ship didn’t give an inch as Snake’s body slammed into its reinforced steel roof. He rolled, his side screaming, off the slanted roof and down the side. His arms grasped for some purchase as he neared the edge. He slid straight off and at the last moment his arm wrapped around a ridge in the black steel. He hung there, dangling in space for a moment, then commanded his injured body to hoist itself up. Bracing himself on the ridge, he flipped onto his back and laid there in the moonlight, confused, battered, his body and spirit inches from utter collapse. Numbly, he reached into his pocket and retrieved a cigarette. ~~~~~ Mario, on the other side of the great ship, dashed through the veritable obstacle course, of the craft’s defenses, trouncing every wrench-throwing gopher and Bullet Bill that was in his way. He smiled, comfortable to be back in territory he was familiar with, even if he was surrounded with alien settings. He spin-dodged a cannonball and kicked a gopher square in the face. Bounding away, he heard the satisfying squeals of his defeated enemy. His momentary distraction gave an especially cunning Bullet Bill the opening he need. The explosive creature blindsided him, exploding and sending Mario crashing to the deck. He rolled and fell through a glass porthole and suddenly found himself on the inside of the airship. The interior wasn’t unlike most of Bowser’s architecture, lots of dull grays and browns covering plain walls and high ceilings. Luckily, the long hall that Mario fell into was entirely empty, and he jogged down it, on the lookout for any Koopa Guards. Remembering the basic outline of the ship, he reasoned that he must be coming up on the cockpit. At the end of the hall he screeched to a halt and hid behind a corner. Peering carefully around it, he confirmed what he thought he had seen: two Hammer Brothers guarding a staircase leading up. Letters in the language of the Koopa were stenciled above it, reading ‘Bridge’. Next to it was another staircase, this one leading downwards. Above it read ‘Engine’. Mario turned back, closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths. “No-a problem,” he whispered to himself. He put on his game face and with a “Yippee!” he jumped out from around the corner, prepared for battle. Befuddlement grasped him as he stood staring at the two unconscious bodies of the Hammer Brothers. He walked forward, scratching his head. His attention on the unmoving creatures, Mario failed to see the hunched form creeping stealthily up the stairs. Chapter 4 After his cigarette, Snake had gathered up his courage and entered the ship through a window. He had a job to do. He dispatched the two guards at the stairs and ran up stealthily. After some time, he neared the top and hearing voices, he flattened himself against the stairs. “Nice shot! Get that guy! No, you missed him!” A childlike, yet raspy voice said. “Shutup, Lemmy! This things hard to aim!” Another, similar voice exclaimed. This one was a girl. A third, deeper voice piped up, “Pfff. It’s even harder to steer!” Many voices laughed at this. Snake counted seven distinct people, and those were just those who found that funny. He didn’t make much of it though, because their vernacular and mannerisms were those of a child. He figured he could take a few (slightly gruff) teens. He drew Gray Fox’s gun with his left hand and checked it over. Ok, Snake. Now or never. With that thought he sprung up the last steps and pointed his guns at...seven young dragon-creatures. They turned from their seats along the giant control panel which presumably drove the ship and stared at this funny man with a sort of befuddled amusement. “O-On your stomachs, arms spread!” Snake got out through his confusion. They chuckled cruelly and dismounted from their positions. They walked toward him slowly, their razor teeth showing on their gruesome smiles. Snake fired, putting multiple shots into each of them. All the bullets were stopped dead by the hard scales of their chests. Snake began to reload. As he did so, one of the dragons (who was balancing on a ball) leapt at him. Snake was knocked to the ground and soon the rest of them were upon him. Six of them held him up, their small but powerful arms locking his limbs in place. The seventh, whose face was split black and white stared into Snake’s eyes. “Well, whoever-you-are, you’ve sure got guts,” this large dragon-child said, “So let’s see what they look like.” The seven Koopa Kids roared with laughter. ~~~~~ Still in his control room, Big Boss sat watching the monitors. Just outside his door, he heard screaming and the great roaring of the beast. With a bark and a smash, the foot-thick reinforced steel door bent a bit. Another smash crunched it again…and again. Slowly and with each hit, the door was giving way to the monster. Big Boss calmly picked up his transciever and spoke a single word into it. “Wallace.” “Sir?” his lackey came back. “Have you done it yet?” “I’m there now, sir.” “Good, and when you’re done…hurry back, would you?” “Copy,” Wallace said and that was it. On one of the monitors, some rubble shifted a bit, then raised up. A huge form stood slowly, dust and concrete sliding off it. Big Boss smiled and stood up from his chair. He turned and faced the door, one corner of which had been smashed all the way in. Deep growling and breathing could be heard through it, and Big Boss could see one watery-green lizard eye, staring him down. It was as big as his head. The man of sixty-one years old threw back his overcoat, and with seemingly no motion, two silver plated Desert Eagles were in his hands. The door fell in. ~~~~~ Mario looked up the long staircase. It continued off into darkness. He knew what was up there—a whole lotta Koopa—but he fought back any fear he had and started up. “Here we goooo!” He cried and continued faster and faster, his stubby little legs pumping like never before. Halfway up, the great ship lurched forward, then righted itself. Mario kept running. Soon the top was in sight and then...just as he jumped in, it all came apart. Mario managed to get one split-second to see what was happening on the bridge before it was vaporized around him. The Koopa kids were all there, gathered around one of the strange men. They had ripped off his shirt and were poised to do something terrible to him. They never got around to it. The entire cockpit and bridge area of the ship was instantaneously destroyed. Everyone within was simultaneously surround by a blast of color and flying shards of metal and glass. Then they were thrown backwards, past where the back wall had once existed and onto the outside of the hull. Two of the Koopa Kids, Lemmy and Roy were thrown off the sides of the ship and fell screaming to earth. The other five dragons, Mario and Snake managed to stay on, the harsh wind whipping past them as they clung for dear life. Looking up, they saw the source of the explosion—the walking battle tank perched on the nose of the ship, directly in front of the wrecked bridge. Metal Gear. The lurch Mario felt earlier was the machine jumping from the ground and landing on the airship. The Koopas, too busy hurting Snake, failed to notice the behemoth leveling its many weapons at the bridge. Now, the seven beings hanging on the roof of the ship found themselves staring down the barrels of those same guns, utterly helpless. But it fired no shots. Over some sort of built-in megaphone, a man’s voice rang out. “Who do you work for?” the man within Metal Gear said. His only answer was Mario springing to his feet and running full speed at the mechanical monster. As he sped over the ruins of the bridge, his face bright with effort, Wallace aimed Metal Gear’s side cannons and fired repeatedly. Mario disappeared in the explosions around him. The smoke cleared and there was only the now wider crater of the cockpit, and the end of the stairwell leading down poking up like a broken bone. Wallace pushed Metal Gear's controls, and the walker lurched forward, towards its enemies. The Koopa Kids dropped one by one off the sides of the airship, handing their fate to the fall rather than the killer machine. Snake, however, stood up, body forward against the wind and remained in defiance of Metal Gear. “Go ahead! Shoot me!” He yelled at the behemoth, whose guns came to bear on him. ~~~~~ Big Boss opened fire as Bowser stormed in through the ruined entrance of his control room. The first bullets spanged of his carapace, but Big Boss kept shooting the same places, and eventually the bullets started to get through. Bowser howled and jumped at the man, who fell to the side and dodged the dragon’s assault. Bowser slid on his stomach across the floor, and he dug in his claws to stop. Big Boss stood up behind him and kept firing with his large handguns. “So you’re it then,” he said, “The King of these pitiful creatures.” Bowser stood up and turned. Big Boss ran out of bullets. Bowser stomped forward and released his fire breath. Big Boss ran and ditched the guns and his overcoat, which had caught fire. Bowser moved with uncanny speed after him. ~~~~~ Solid Snake fell sideways as a deafening explosion issued from the ship beneath him. The airship pitched sideways, and Metal Gear struggled to keep its balance. Wallace dug in with Metal Gear’s foot spikes and wondered what had happened. The airship’s level started to decline… Snake’s heart sunk as the airship started going down. He grabbed onto a handhold as the ship’s nose dipped and pointed at the great base. It picked up speed as it continued its fatal descent. ~~~ Big Boss sped through tunnels and secret escape routes, his mind racing. Every once and awhile, he would throw down a mine or grenade, and a few seconds later would laugh at the explosion and stream of cursing from the dragon. He radioed Wallace on the run to come pick him up. He turned off his tranciever before his lieutenant gave any answer. Big Boss finally emerged from the tunnels and ran out into the night air. The roof of the complex stretched out before him, as blank as a parking lot. Its flatness was interrupted by the towering spike of Bowser’s castle which seemingly continued up into eternity. He turned back and looked to his secret entrance. Bowser came through, blackened, angered. His eyes hungered for the man’s blood. Big Boss drew a long combat knife from his side. “Well come on then. Let’s get this over with.” They ran at each other and collided as thunder struck in the distance. Bowser grabbed Big Boss around the waist with his huge hand and lifted him upward. Big Boss slashed over and over with the knife, and Bowser howled with pain, refusing to let go. Bowser tightened his grip and heard much of the old man’s insides snap and crunch beneath it. Big Boss winced and last-ditch thrusted the knife into Bowser’s eye. Locked in their deadly embrace, neither took notice of the gargantuan, half-destroyed black ship crashing down upon them until the last second. Both their heads turned and saw their own death, a screaming demon about to smash them to bits. They laughed as the ship roared down on them. ~~~~~ The destruction that ensued in that moment is wholly indescribable. The explosion of the airship’s collision with the combined fortresses shone bright as the sun, and the shockwave issued forth, felling trees and people alike in its wrath. All of Big Boss’ base was destroyed instantaneously, being reduced to dust. Bowser’s castle, built of tougher stuff, weathered the near-nuclear blast and suffered minimal damage. Their respective owners fared similarly. Wallace and Metal Gear were destroyed on impact. ~~~~~ Mario awoke in a white world, quite unsure what to do. He felt perfectly fine. He recounted the last things he remembered: His ploy on the roof of the airship, rushing the mech and escaping down the stairs in the explosions. Heading down to the engine and destroying it with fireballs, casuing the ship to crash...using his StarMan at the last moment. The blast. He realized slowly that the whiteness around him was the great cloud of dust kicked up by the spectacular destruction. Sunlight shone through the engulfing white. Morning had come. He wandered around tentatively, stumbling on rubble every now and then. Soon, through the shroud of dust loomed a great shadow: Bowser’s castle. He made haste for it. As he approached its front, all Mario could think about was the Princess. Had she survived the hellish night? His pace quickened. A figure appeared before him and he screeched to a halt. An injured Bowser stood at the doors to his castle, apparently waiting for Mario. He said nothing to his nemesis, the looks on their faces speaking for them. Bowser harrumphed a little laugh and stepped aside, opening the doors for Mario. Mario smiled broadly and rushed through. ~~~~~ And so, Mario saved the princess once again, with Bowser giving him no trouble. Slowly, the world of the Mushroom Kingdom reverted back to normal, all the characteristics of the other world remaining but sort of fading into the landscape, becoming part of it. The ruins of the great fortress would ever lay about the sides of Bowser’s castle, a reminder of that uncanny day. The Koopa Kids survived their fall to earth and rejoined the ranks of their father, a little unhappy with the destruction of their royal airship. Bowser promised to build them another one. Bowser’s army hunted down the human soldiers and destroyed them, but some escaped, and now live a peaceful life among the residents of the Kingdom. Solid Snake and Big Boss were never found. Mario...continuing his hero’s life, would never forget that night, and wondered if the Mushroom Kingdom would have any strange occurrence such as that ever again…he hoped not… ~*Fin*~ Next Day Back |