Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction / Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Tragic Heroes ❯ Guardian Angel ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Tragic Heroes
a Magic Knight Rayearth/Metal Gear crossover
Chapter 9: Guardian Angel
10-19-2003
by Grey Fox

Disclaimer: Solid Snake and Metal Gear are the creation of the gaming genius Hideo Kojima and the property of Konami. Hikaru Shidou and Magic Knight Rayearth are the creation and property of the talented ladies of CLAMP studios.

*****

For the second time that night, Hikaru awoke to find herself sprawled out on a cold metal floor. As she staggered in an attempt to get up, she looked around, trying to figure out where she was. This time, she found her location to be even less desirable than before. This was an extremely small, enclosed room, about two meters by three meters, and on one of the 2 meter sides, instead of a wall, was a thick, mechanical sliding door, with only a small window - about 30 centimeters by 30 centimeters - with which to look outside.

However, instead of looking through the tiny window, Hikaru took the time to examine the door blocking the way out of her cell. Hikaru guessed it was at least twenty centimeters thick, and was made up of an extremely strong metal; it would probably take more than just one of her fire spells to bring it down. Hikaru was able to try and do just that, but then, she realized something very, VERY strange....

She had just ascertained all that information about the door - without even touching it! It was as if she somehow KNEW how thick and how strong it was! Hikaru quickly tried to recollect what she had just done, and came to the bizarre conclusion that - improbable and impossible as it sounded - she had reached out and touched the door with HER MIND!! As if she could somehow SENSE the strength and thickness of the metal door. Metal.... She looked all around her, at the metal walls and ceiling, discovering that she could 'feel' them too.... Yes, that was it, she could actually reach out and sense the walls and ceilings around her with her mind. Not only that, it all 'felt' the same, like the walls and ceilings were all constructed of the same metal as the cell door.

Being the bright little girl that she was, she soon realized it all must have something to do with her newly surfaced power. Metal is an excellent conductor of heat, and her new powers were based upon heat. Her new power was not only that her body could absorb and redirect thermal energy, but also let her reach out and sense anything around her that could conduct heat. *Well, that could certainly be useful. Once I get out of here, that is.* Hikaru backed away from the door, preparing to blast her way out of her prison. But before Hikaru could call upon her magic, a sharp, biting voice rang in her ears through a concealed intercom.

"I would advise against trying to free yourself, my dear. If you do, the consequences could be... messy," came a woman's voice - one with a heavy British accent.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Hikaru demanded angrily.

"I'm right here," came the voice again, this time followed by a tapping sound from the other side of the window on the door. Hikaru turned to look through the glass to see who she was. At first glance, Hikaru could have sworn it was Fuu, as the woman had blonde hair and glasses. But upon closer examination, it was clear that this wasn't her dear friend Fuu. She had short, cropped hair, and her hair was a bleach-blonde color, unlike Fuu's sandy blonde hair. And instead of deep, emerald-like eyes, this woman's eyes were a very dark brown. Almost black.

"I see you've finally recovered," said the mysterious woman. "Good to see I wasn't too hard on you when I rendered you unconscious."

Hikaru then remembered how she had sensed someone approaching her from behind after that previous battle, right before blacking out. But how was she able to take her out so quickly and so easily? Uncertainty and her nervousness considering her present situation conspired to make Hikaru unable to think of anything to say.

"Well, anyway, since you're awake, you can answer a few questions for me," she continued, looking at Hikaru in such a way that it unnerved her slightly.

"Like what?" asked Hikaru. She didn't like where this was going. It was obvious that this woman was about to pump her for information, and Hikaru had a bad feeling she had methods to get what she wanted out of her. Hikaru realized that she would have to play along, but was determined to only give her the bare minimum of what she wanted.

As the woman replied, it was evident that Hikaru was right about her intentions to interrogate her. "Well, for a start, just who the bloody hell are you, what are you doing with Snake, and who sent you here to the Sierra Outpost?"

Uh-oh. Those were questions that - despite being quite basic - were very tricky ones to answer. And that last one, well, even if she gave her the truthful answer, there was no way she would actually believe her. *Better start with the first two,* she thought. Aloud, she said, "The name's Hikaru. And as for me and Snake, well, we're... old friends." She hesitated before saying those last two words, unsure if they really would apply to someone she had only known for a few hours. But then, she remembered how she had instantly bonded with Umi and Fuu after knowing them for only a short time. Hikaru truly felt as if history had repeated itself when she met Snake.

"'Old friends?'" she repeated with disbelief. "Snake certainly has some unusual friends," retorted Hikaru's interrogator. "A vertically-challenged teenage Asian girl isn't the type of person I'd figure a man like Snake would be friends with, let alone have accompany him on a mission to destroy a Metal Gear." She paused briefly, looking at Hikaru's disgruntled expression. "But then again, you aren't any ordinary girl, are you? I was observing you when you fought that mini-Metal Gear, and I heard Piranha's account of her battle with you. Such extraordinary abilities.... where did you get such awesome power?!"

How was Hikaru supposed to tell this woman her fire magic had been bestowed upon her by a master sorceror from another world, not to mention she had just gotten an entirely new set of powers? Hikaru simply said, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Refusing to tell me your little secret, eh? Well, naturally you wouldn't want that sort of knowledge getting out. No matter, I've already gotten a fairly good idea about the source of your power. If you'll kindly observe...." she replied, and then turned and walked away from the window. Hikaru walked up to her side of the window to get a good look at what she was talking about. Now Hikaru could see that she was wearing some sort of white coat, which swayed as she walked over to some sort of table. A table that had a computer monitor on it. And on that monitor, there was a graphical design being displayed. She instantly recognized what it was: the model of a DNA double helix.

"This," said the woman, turning back to face Hikaru and waving her hand over the computer screen, "is you. Or at least, a representation of your genome. I took the liberty of taking a cell sample from you while you were unconscious so I could study your genes," she continued to explain, as if she was giving a lecture to a college class, and clearly enjoying flouting her intellectual prowess. "After doing so, I noticed some interesting irregularities in your genetic makeup. To be specific, the genes encoded with the information about how your body handles energy. Namely thermal energy."

Hikaru just stared blankly at the rotating double-helix model. This didn't make any sense. She got her powers from Clef, and magic doesn't get encoded in your DNA, does it? Or maybe it was a side-effect of her receiving fire magic in the first place, altering her DNA afterwards. That could be why she now had a second set of powers. Didn't Future say that she would help bring a dormant power of hers to the surface? Maybe she somehow activated dormant genes that got altered when Clef gave her the gift of fire magic.

"So as you can see, I don't need you to tell me where you received your powers. By studying your genetic makeup, I'll eventually disciver the answer myself." She then giddily chuckled to herself, as if her greatest wish had just been fulfilled. "Actually, it's quite fortunate that you've come here. Study of your cells may allow me to overcome the greatest hurdle I've encountered with my latest project. A project which you're quite familiar with already."

"Huh?!" cried Hikaru in a confused tone. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about those two men you fought earlier," she replied. "They were Black Arts Viper and Pyro Bison, in a sense. They were clones, created from DNA samples taken of the members of Black Chamber years ago. I had them battle you to once again test your abilities, as well as test the effectiveness of my cloning process."

Hikaru was aghast. She had taken the DNA of dead soldiers and made clones out of them, for no other purpose than to fight her?! "How could you?!" demanded Hikaru. "You made clones just to fight me, knowing very well they might get killed?!"

"Don't you dare get all 'holier-than-thou' with me, little girl!!" her captor snapped harshly, irritated about being accused of moral wrongdoing. "It's not like they were actually the genuine article - a clone without the mind of the original is only an extension, a mere shell of its former self. And besides, it was you and Snake who killed the Cyborg Twins, was it not?!!!" Hikaru looked away in shame; she was right about that. She continued on with her explanation. "I needed my clones to engage you in combat to discover if my hypothesis about the way your cells absorb heat was correct, and to see how severe the problem I have with my cloning process was."

"What problem?" asked Hikaru, suddenly a bit interested.

"Their cells have an extremely low tolerance to extreme heat, causing them to break up and destroy themselves. That's what I hope to fix by researching your DNA; hopefully my research will yield some method of correcting that flaw," she explained, a broad grin forming on her face.

Oh great. Now she was going to involuntarily play a part in having her enemy perfect her research. "Just who are you?!!" yelled Hikaru.

"You don't know?" the woman asked calmly. "I thought Piranha had told you and Snake all about me. My name is Gertrude Nolan, but please, just call me Trudy," she said, smiling with mock friendliness.

The warning bells instantly went off in Hikaru's mind. That was... the name of the person that she and Snake came here to the research facility to find, after hearing from Piranha that she'd reveal to them information if they managed to defeat her. And Piranha also mentioned that this Trudy was extremely dangerous. *Well, for what it's worth, I found her,* Hikaru thought to herself. *Now to get out of here and take her down.* Again she backed away from the cell door - the only thing standing between her and Trudy - and prepared to call upon her fire magic to blast it away.

Her actions did not go unnoticed by Trudy, who said contemptuously, "Didn't I tell you that it would be a bad idea to try and break out of that cell?"

"Why not?" asked Hikaru defiantly. "I don't really see anything preventing me from trying."

"Oh dear me, how could I have forgotten?" said Trudy. Hikaru was about to ask what she was talking about when she heard an electronic buzzing sound, then several clicking sounds from above. She looked up to see ventilation ducts had now appeared, and some strange, transparent, pink gas was seeping into the room. Fearing that it was poison gas, Hikaru quickly sucked in her breath and held it, but Trudy spoke up once again. "Don't be alarmed, my dear. That gas is not poisonous. It merely serves to keep you from using your powers and breaking free."

Hikaru didn't believe her and kept on holding her breath, but she couldn't hold it for too long, and eventually took an instinctive deep breath. The gas had a funny smell to it, but it wasn't making her sick or dizzy, so maybe Trudy had told the truth. But before she could try breaking out, Trudy spoke up again. "If you will look through the window again, I shall demonstrate why using your powers would be a foolish course of action." Hikaru grudgingly decided to see just what Trudy was talking about. Peering through the window, she saw that next to the computer, Trudy had set up some sort of sealed glass jar. Inside the jar, there was an electric wire, along with the same transparent pink gas that her cell was now filled with.

"Observe," said Trudy, "as I create a spark within the jar." Hikaru saw the wire make a spark, and then the jar exploded in a blinding flash, forcing Hikaru to cover her eyes and look away. Then she heard Trudy's sardonic voice over the intercom again. "This is a highly volatile gaseous substance that will be set off by the tiniest spark. If you attempt to blast your way out of there, all you'll accomplish is blasting yourself straight to hell." Hikaru's heart sank. Trudy had her completely trapped; without her fire magic, there was no way she could free herself. And that meant she couldn't force any information out of her about Metal Gear or just what was going on at this base....

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Hikaru. *But maybe I can still get her to say something. She seems like the type who would gladly brag about anything and everything,* she thought. Putting her plan of reverse psychology into action, Hikaru spoke up and said, "It's pretty obvious that you and the others aren't part of the U.S. Army. Care to tell me just what's going on here?" Trudy turned around and walked up to the cell door's window, a disdainful look on her face. *Good,* thought Hikaru, *it looks like my plan's working.*

"Well, since you're not going anywhere anytime soon, I might as well tell you," said Trudy with a sigh. Hikaru had to fight to keep from grinning. "The U.S. Army was once indeed in charge of this base, run by Chief of Staff Parker's loyalist goons. But that all changed a week ago, when WE arrived and took over the base. Now all the personnel that were running the place are locked up tight, deep in the lowest basement level of this building. That leaves the Metal Gear Gander for us, to do with as we please. And now we intend to put it to some good use." Hikaru frowned at that last part. What good use could there be for a weapon that launches a nuclear strike from anywhere on Earth?

"So, you're a terrorist group," stated Hikaru sourly.

All this did was make Trudy look even angrier, and her voice reflected her bitter emotions. "How easy it must be slap the label of 'terrorist' on any group you disapprove of. So much like the governments of this world, who carry out campaigns of death and destruction on a global scale for the most asinine reasons. And when dissenting voices rise, they dare to cry out 'terrorists'?! You must be naive, little girl, if you're so blind to all the evil and injustice in the world around you." Hikaru looked away from Trudy's accusing eyes. "We are nothing like Big Boss's Zanzibar or Black Chamber. We seek to change this world, to set it in a better direction. A better way. Our way," Then Trudy uttered a final phrase: "The New Way."

"Let me get this straight: you and this 'New Way' intend to change this world for the better with a weapon capable of murdering millions of people?!" asked Hikaru angrily.

"We will do whatever it takes!" snapped Trudy acidly. "This world is a putrid cesspool - full of devastation, suffering and injustice brought about by the corruption, greed and tyranny of those with power. I and my comrades have pledged to make this world a better place, and using Metal Gear is an important first step in our plans."

"So you will use it to murder millions," said Hikaru, having to suppress her outrage.

"I never said that, now did I?" retorted Trudy. "Perhaps our initial plans involve only threatening to use it, bluffing the world superpowers and putting the first steps of our scheme into motion..." Trudy then paused. "But I believe I've told you enough! You're the one who should be giving me the answers I want, not the other way around. Again I ask, who sent the two of you here, and how did they discover the Sierra Outpost has had a... a 'change of management', when hardly anyone even knows of its existence?!!"

Hikaru looked away again. She still had no way of answering that. So she just said, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I see. Well, if you aren't willing to talk, I suppose I'll have to get the information I seek from your friend Snake instead," said Trudy coldly.

Hikaru's heart almost skipped a beat. *That's right!! Snake is still out there!*

Trudy spoke up again. "I'm sure he'll come looking for you, and when he does, he's mine! Piranha told me how he was coming here for me anyway. And now that I have you in custody, he's sure to come. Hell, he's probably already infiltrated the facility and is looking for you as we speak. It's only a matter of time before he finds this room, and then..." Trudy let the sentence dangle, knowing full well Hikaru could guess what she would have said next. Hikaru remembered how Piranha had said Trudy was even far more dangerous than her. Sure, she didn't look particularly tough, but after seeing what the Cyborg Twins and Piranha could do, and judging how Trudy had snuck behind her and knocked her out so easily, Hikaru was beginning to wonder just what this member of 'New Way' was capable of. Hikaru leaned against the wall of her cell and slumped down to the ground. Snake was her only hope now, and she was terrified about what would happen should he come for her.

****************

Snake waited patiently, hunched over in an uncomfortable position inside a cardboard box. A few more seconds, and that moving surveillance camera sliding along the wall of the hallway would pass over him, while he was safely hidden away underneath his cardboard box. Four.... three.... two.... one.... NOW. Snake started moving again, still under his cardboard box. Eventually, he reached the end of the hallway, which had an elevator heading back down. Snake got out from under the box and hit the 'Down' button, and the elevator doors opened automatically. Probably because no one else had used it since he arrived on the third floor.

*Just great,* Snake thought, irritated. *I spent the last two hours searching every nook and cranny of all three floors of this place, and didn't find a damned thing!* Well, he did find a few things. Like several laboratories and computer stations and rooms with plenty of scientific equipment and other supplies (wow, that last one was a big surprise) . And he found a cardboard box, which he was currently using. But he hadn't found what he really wanted: Hikaru. Well, in one of the big rooms, a battle involving Hikaru had clearly taken place, since there was damage that only someone with her abilities could have caused. But there was no sign of Hikaru herself. That, and having to evade all those surveillance cameras and guards sure didn't help his mood any.

*Well, they must be holding her in one of the lower levels,* Snake figured, pressing the 'B1' button on the elevator controls. Soon enough, the elevator opened up and Snake walked out cautiously, silenced handgun at the ready. Thankfully, the coast was clear, but Snake wasn't willing to just rush out. So he once again got under the cardboard box, which had fooled just about every single guard he'd come across tonight.

The B1 level of the research facility was just like Snake had anticipated: a bunch of winding, maze-like hallways. But Snake was used to navigating areas like this, so he proceeded to make his way throigh the B1 level, undaunted. Thankfully, so far everything was going alright. No telltale hums and buzzings of security cameras or the footsteps of any guards. Which was a bit confusing for Snake; if they were keeping Hikaru prisoner here in the lower levels of the research facility, surely they'd have more security on this floor....

"Hey, what was that?" came a voice. No doubt it was one of the guards. But what had alerted him? He had been so careful to not make any noise. Then Snake looked down, and realized his mistake; he had been walking on metal grating. "Oh, just a box," he heard the guard say, and soon he heard him walk off.

*Damn! That was too close,* thought Snake angrily as he continued on, this time crawling on the grated floors instead of walking. So there were guards on this lower level; Snake could soon hear more loud footsteps reverberating off the floor. Before Snake could dwell on that fact, he spotted something of interest through the peephole of his cardboard box: an elevator, and it wasn't the one he took down to the B1 level. Since he saw only one elevator on the top three floors, Snake was certain that this elevator led down to an even lower level. Snake decided to go check it out. After quietly sneaking up to the elevator, he got out from under his box and hit the panel, and soon enough the elevator opened up, allowing Snake to get inside. Just as he suspected, this one led down to the B2 level.

But once the elevator opened up, a very unwelcome sight greeted Snake. Stretched out before him was a long hallway, but instead of surveillance cameras and security guards impeding his progress, he saw something much worse - the floor was electrified. No way for Snake to get through. But from past experience, he knew of one possible way to overcome this nasty hurdle, and that was aiming a guided missile at the flooring's power source.

Unfortunately, Snake didn't have any guided missiles. Or a guided missile launcher, for that matter.

"Damn!" cursed Snake out loud. Now he had to go back and look for one. And since he had searched everywhere on the top floors and came up with nothing, the only place left in the building that might have what he needed was the B1 level, which had metal grating for floors in several places and was swarming with guards.

Muttering even more unmentionable phrases under his breath, Snake rode the elevator back up to the B1 level. However, this time he didn't bother using the cardboard box, since there were no cameras and he had a good mental picture of the labyrinthine layout and the guards' positions. Instead, he took out his pistol, just in case he ran into any trouble.

There were several doors he hadn't really noticed earlier because of being under the cardboard box, and Snake began checking them out, hoping that one of them contained what he desperately needed. But after searching three such rooms, Snake was still empty-handed. *You'd think with all the storage areas on this damned base there'd be at least ONE missile launcher among them,* thought Snake, extremely frustrated.

Needless to say, Snake's optimism level was starting to take a serious nosedive. So much so that when he reached the fourth and final room on the B1 level, he pessimistically expected this one to be a no-go as well. But upon opening the door, he saw in plain sight on a crate in the center of the room was a Nikita missile launcher, and plenty of ammunition to go with it. Without wasting any time, he snatched up the missile launcher and headed back to the elevator.

But in his haste, Snake had forgotten about the grated floors, and the guards all around that would heard him if he ran across them.

Soon enough, Snake heard a cry of "Hey, I heard something!" from around the corner. This immediately snapped Snake out of his absent-mindedness. Reacting with lightning-quick speed, he turned back and opened up one of the other doors that was thankfully close by. Once inside, he ducked behind some cargo crates and waited for about a minute, figuring the guard would go away by then.

As Snake got up, prepared to leave, he suddenly heard the door hiss open. He immediately ducked back down again, drawing his weapon in case the guard should decide to search the room thoroughly. Fortunately, the guard decided that everything was fine and left, and Snake heard metallic clanking sounds on the grated flooring in the hallway, which were growing fianter and fainter.

Snake let out a big sigh of relief as he got up and left the storage room. *That was too damn close,* he thought, angered by his carelessness. If he screwed up here, the mission would be over, and there'd be no telling what would happen to Hikaru. Snake put his concern for her in the back of his mind; he had to concentrate on the task at hand if he had any hope of rescuing her.

Finally, after taking a MUCH more cautious course of action, Snake made it back to the elevator and promptly returned to the B2 level. Wasting no time, Snake got to work, shooting a guided missile down the hallway and using the viewing mechanism to try and find the power source. After plenty of searching, he finally found it, and immediately guided the missile right into the power conduit, blowing it to pieces and rendering it completely useless.

****************

Hikaru had no idea how long she had just sat there in her cell. IT had been over an hour, and there was still no sign of Snake. Then again, she somewhat dreaded what would happen to him if he made it this far.

Suddenly, she felt a tremor rock the walls of her cell. This snapped her out of her delirium. "What was that?!" she thought aloud.

"It means that your friend Snake is finally on his way here," replied the voice of Trudy. "Soon, my dear Hikaru. Soon, the battle will begin...."

****************

That did it. The electrified flooring was now deprived of its power source, meaning Snake could finally go down the hallway. Snake sprinted down it, Nikita missile launcher still at the ready should he encounter any more electrified floors. But he didn't run into any others; apparently, that one power conduit he knocked out supplied all the power to all the electrified flooring on the B2 level. *Idiots,* thought Snake disdainfully. *They should've taken a cue from the research facility back at Galuade.*

Most of the B2 level appeared to be made up of mazelike hallways as well. But when Snake finally found an electronic door and went through, he saw a wide open room, around 100 x 200 meters, and had two levels to it, with ladders leading up to to the upper level. And, of course, all around were storage containers, about five of them, but these were huge metal storage crates, with dimensions around 6 x 12 x 9. Also, there was a huge metal door, big enough for tanks and large trucks to pass through; obviously big vehicles came through there to deliver these huge containers. It had 'LVL 8' marked on it though, so there was no way for Snake to pass through there.

But still, there was no sign of what Snake was really looking for. Then he saw another door on the far side of the room. He immediately ran to it, opened it and stepped inside, with missile launcher and pistol out, ready for anything. It looked like some sort of command center in there. Rows and rows of computer terminals, screens displaying surveillance readouts, electronic equipment, filing cabinets (no doubt filled with some sort of research notes) and scientific research devices.

All of a sudden, a voice cried out. A woman's voice, with a British accent. "So, Legend, you've finally made it all the way here. Actually, it didn't take you as long as I expected. I estimated it would have been another hour before you discovered this room."

Snake turned to his right. There, seated at a desk, was a middle-aged, blonde-haired woman, around 5'9", and wearing a white-lab coat, and a black sweatshirt and pants. "Oh really?" retorted Snake acidly. "If you knew I was coming, you must know what I came for. Where is she?"

"Oh, your little friend?" she asked in a cruelly teasing manner. "Well, she's been waiting for you too." She then pointed to a large metal door on her left, which had a small window. And in that window, Snake could make out Hikaru's face pressed against it, looking out from the other side. Snake's lips curled into a hideous snarl. "Doubtless you'll demand her release. However, I need her for something important, and cannot relinquish her to you," she went on in a detached tone.

"And you know if you don't release her, I'll have to use force," replied Snake threateningly, barely able to contain his rage.

"Oh yes, I know," she said, not sounding the least bit intimidated. "Fortunately for me, I'm fully capable of resisting such force. I may not look particularly formidable...." She paused as she got up and walked up to a computer terminal. Snake kept his gun trailed on her, ready to fire if she tried anything. "But looks can be very deceiving!!" With that, she dug into the metal casing of the terminal with her bare hands and pulled it up from the floor. Snake barely got over the shock of the impossible thing he just witnessed to jump backwards, avoiding being hit by the terminal the woman had effortlessly tossed at him.

*What the.... how did she rip that out from the floor?!* thought Snake, trying to make sense of what he had just seen. But he was rudely snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a thump next to him. He turned to see her crouched beside him, as if she had just landed from a jump. Snake didn't even have a chance to react; her hand shot out and clamped down on his neck. To Snake, it felt as if his neck was caught in a vise. Acting with just as much speed, she effortlessly threw him through the open doorway and back out into the wide-open storage area.

Snake landed hard on the ground and skidded painfully to a halt, about thirty meters away from the entrance to that woman's lab. He managed to hold onto his pistol, but he dropped his Nikita missile launcher. He looked up to see where he had dropped it; it was halfway between him and the doorway. However, his assailant was now standing over his dropped weapon, looking down on it disdainfully. She then picked it up and threw it up onto the upper level of the room, putting it effectively out of Snake's immediate reach.

She turned back to face Snake, who had recovered and was back on his feet, ready for battle. A most malicious, vile grin crossed her face. "Oh, that's right, did I mention my name's Trudy Nolan? Piranha wasn't kidding when she said I was far more dangerous, was she? I've strengthened by own body with genetic engineering techniques. That's why some mercenaries know me as the Geneticist."

****************

In Chapter 10 we have the latest 'boss battle': Snake vs. The Geneticist. Stick around to read it. You know you want to.

So long,
Grey Fox