Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction / Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Tragic Heroes ❯ Into the Lion's Den ( Chapter 12 )

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

Tragic Heroes
a Magic Knight Rayearth/Metal Gear crossover
Chapter 12: Into the Lion's Den
12-31-2003
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.

*****

Slowly, gingerly, Snake began to open his eyes, finally regaining consciousness after.... well, he really didn't have any idea how long he was out. The last thing he remembered was one of the Hind D helicopter snatching him up with some sort of net launcher, and then how he blacked out all of a sudden. He reasoned there must have some electric current that ran through the net to knock him out. However, as far as he could tell, they only went after him and not Hikaru. These terrorists had shown a lot of interest in Hikaru and her powers, so why did they go through all the trouble of capturing him and leave Hikaru behind? This didn't make any sense at all....

As he pondered this fact, Snake's senses slwoly began to return to him. The first thing he noticed was that it was cold. Not 'Alaska in winter' cold, with driving snow and slicing, piercing winds. It was just cold, as if the room he was in was barren and prosaic, and basically just had a feeling of lifelessness. That, and something cold was pressing against him. More specifically, he felt something cold pressing against his forearms and legs. Snake warily looked down, and saw his arms were positioned at his sides, encased in some sort of metal harness. His legs were encased too, and there was also some sort of metal housing around his.... err.... crotch area. Then Snake realized why it felt so cold: they had stripped him down. Obviously, they didn't want to take any risks with him.

"So you're up," suddenly came a flat voice. Snake looked up to see who it was. At first, the sight made him shudder inwardly. A white-haired man with an eyepatch and wearing a soldier's camouflage uniform.... no it couldn't be. Did that psychotic scientist clone HIM too?!!

Upon further inspection, Snake could see it definitely wasn't him. The patch was covering the wrong eye, for one thing. And this man looked like he was in his forties, way too young. Plus, his opaque, white hair was all frizzled and wavy, and that wasn't the way Big Boss kept his hair. "Who are you?" demanded Snake. "And where am I?"

The man just stared back at him, with a look that made Snake think he didn't want to talk to him, or even be here at all. *Definitely a change of pace. The people I end up fighting against are usually all too happy to mouth off at me.*

A loud clanking noise, like that of a reinforced steel door being opened, snapped Snake out of his thoughts. It caught the attention of Snake's unwilling companion as well, turning his head in the direction of the sound. Then came another sound, the voice of a man with an Arabic accent. "He is Wolfamite, one of my most trusted lieutenants. Don't expect him to say anything though. The art of conversation is somewhat lost on him."

The second man began to step into what light there was in the room, and Snake got a good look at him. Like the other one, he was wearing a soldier's camouflage uniform. But he looked much younger than the first man, and long, black hair, and was wearing a red bandana that covered the top of his head. "And you?" Snake asked irritably.

"I am known as the Wayfarer," he answered in an effusive, almost cheerful, tone.

"Wayfarer...." Snake repeated softly under his breath. Then it dawned on him. "So, from the name, I take it you're the leader of this little operation, huh?"

"Exactly, Snake," he replied. "Indeed, I am the founder and driving force behind New Way."

"Pleased to meet you," Snake spat sarcastically.

"Now now, no need to be so belligerent, Snake," chided the Wayfarer. "It won't do you any good anyway, especially since we have much to discuss."

"What the hell is there for us to talk about?!" Snake shot back. "If you're wondering who the girl and I are working for, it's like I told your other lieutentants, the answer is 'no one'. We're here on our own. And you can forget getting any information about Hikaru. I'll die before I tell you anything about her."

"I figured as much. I know the legendary Solid Snake is not the type to betray a comrade," replied the Wayfarer. "Fortunately for both of us, I am not here to press you for information."

Now Snake was getting really agitated. Here was the leader of the terrorist organization that had overrun the Sierra Outpost and seized Metal Gear, and he had the gall to come and talk to him as if they were old friends?! Just what kind of game was this Wayfarer playing with him?! "If you're not here to interrogate me, then just what the hell is it that you want?!" demanded Snake.

"I just wanted to talk with you, Snake," came the Wayfarer's cool reply. "Man-to-man, that's all. Just two battle-hardened soldiers, warriors who have seen their fair share of combat." Snake just snorted disdainfully. Wayfarer ignored him and continued. "We're a lot alike, you and I; we've seen a lot of warfar. You, you've had to fight the wars of pencil-pushers, always getting caught up in some sick power struggle. Me, well, I grew up in the battlefield too. As you may have guessed from my ethnicity, I grew up in the Middle East. I was always caught up in the bloodshed and violence and terrorism that plagues the region to this day. A lot of the suffering I saw was caused by the U.S.-backed Israel and dictators propped up by America, but also...."

"Oh yeah, now I see," cut in Snake carpingly. "You're nothing but another disgruntled Arab. Bet you were one of the ones cheering when those planes crashed into the World Trade Center."

In an instant, the Wayfarer's amiable demeanor vanished, and his face contorted into an expression of pure rage. "HOW DARE YOU!!" he cried, running up to Snake and giving him a sharp rap on the side of the head. "You couldn't be more wrong about me. I was sickened as much as any American by 9-11. In fact, it was that event that opened my eyes, convinced me to begin the New Way."

"Oh really?" Snake asked, trying to show mock curiosity, but in reality, he was now a bit intrigued.

"Yes, it was," continued the Wayfarer. "If you must know, yes, I actually WAS a member of al-Qaeda, suckered in by Osama's dogma. I grew up thinking the Western and developed world were to blame for all the world's problems. But on that day, seeing all that destruction, I learned there was no one party to blame. We were just as responsible. In fact, ALL organizations with a stake on the world stage bore some responsibility for all the world's problems.

"So I left al-Qaeda and started my own group, with a new goal. I gathered around me people from across the globe who had realized the same thing I had, whose lives had been ruined forever. You've heard the life stories of my other lieutentants: how the Cyborg Twins' lives were destroyed by the barbarism of bigoted Americans, how Piranha's family was murdered by greedy, corrupt politicians, how Trudy's sense of self was shattered when she found out her research was used for ill. And Wolframite bears his own private pain, but I won't discuss it here."

Snake turned to look at the other soldier present, but he remained mute, his expression now unreadable. So he turned back to the Wayfarer and asked, "Okay, just WHAT is it you and the others 'realized'"?

"That as long as things continue this way, the cycle of war and suffering will never end," Wayfarer said. "The Western world and their allies will continue to play chess with lives and nations, and there will be those who rashly resort to violence to resist them. Not only that, there will always be the unscrupulous that prey upon others, like the ones that had Piranha's family killed. And so many are too foolish to see past petty differences, like race and religion. Conflict breeds conflict, brutality breeds more brutality.

"But.... if a major power, a third party, were to enter the fray, and begin to work toward change, they perhaps the world could be reformed. That's why we seized this base, and Metal Gear. With that, we'll have the power we need to start putting our plans into action."

"What a load of crap!" snapped Snake, not buying a word of what the Wayfarer had said. "You say you were sickened by the 9-11 attacks, yet you're willing to use a weapon that can cause something much worse?!"

Wayfarer bit his lip. "It is my hope that we never have to actually USE Metal Gear. I only plan on using it as a means to bluff the world powers, to merely begin the first stage of our plans."

"And what if they call your bluff? Huh? What then? Will you use it?" Snake demanded harshly.

"Only as a last resort," was the Wayfarer's quick response. "I do not wish to launch any nuclear weapons, but I will threaten to use them to further the cause of New Way. I want nothing less than to stop the madness that plagues the world. You, of all people, should understand that."

"Shut up! You don't know ANYTHING about me!!" cried Snake vehemently. "Just why did you bring me here anyway?! What can you possibly gain from me? I thought you'd go after Hikaru again, especially after how the Geneticist was so interested in her."

"True, the girl could be useful," admitted the Wayfarer. "But I was more interested in you. Like I said, you and I are a lot alike, even if you're not willing to admit it."

"You still haven't answered my question," said Snake. "What do you want from me?"

"I was hoping I could convince you to join us, to take up the cause of New Way," answered the Wayfarer at last.

Snake just stared at him incredulously. "Hell. No," he said in a flat tone. "Besides, I got four of your closest friends killed. Why the hell would you want me as part of your group after I did that?"

"I have my own reasons," the Wayfarer said nonchalantly. "I see that you're not in the mood to even consider my offer, but perhaps in time...." He turned to leave, but then suddenly turned to Wolframite. "Stay here and watch over him. The girl disabled my Hind D, and she's still on the loose. No doubt she'll come looking for her friend. If she makes it all the way here, you'll have to face her."

Wolframite simply nodded, and then the Wayfarer left. Snake could hear the heavy steel door shut loudly. Wolframite turned to look at Snake again with his expressionless stare, then turned and walked away. It wasn't long before Snake lost sight of him; the dim lighting in his surrounding area limited his vision considerably. So now, once again, Snake was all alone.

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

The cargo elevator continued its steady, rhythmic hum as it headed downward. Down into the heart of what was known as the Sierra Outpost. On it were two New Way soldiers and a whole bunch of crates and boxes, carrying all sorts of equupment needed for New Way's operations in the underground area of the base.

"So the little girl managed to escape the Wayfarer, I hear," said one of the soldiers.

"Yeah, the little brat busted his Hind," answered the other guard. "But at least we got Snake."

"Doesn't really matter that she got away anyway," said the first soldier. "Sure she's got that crazy voodoo magic or whatever, but she doesn't know about the underground base. And even if she did, there's dozens of guards armed with foam packs up there around the entrance. No friggin' way she'd make it past them."

"Uh huh. The little twit doesn't know jack about tactical espionage," replied the second trooper.

Soon the freight elevator reached the bottom and the two guards left for their new assignments. Then forklifts came and hauled the stacks of crates and boxes to a nearby storage area. There they were left, and once no one was around....

On top of one of the stacks of crates that had been brought down rested a single cardboard box. And from that cardboard box, out came Hikaru Shidou, with a look of indignation and rage upon her face. *So they think I wouldn't find this place? They think I can't play their little game the way Snake can?* she thought angrily to herself. *They'll regret underestimating me!!*

It had taken her over an hour to finally make it to where the damaged Hind D had landed. It had landed right next to the area that housed the large cargo elevator that went down into the underground base. And it had taken another half hour to sneak past all the armed guards, get into a cardboard box and make her way into the next load of cargo headed down to the base. But she had finally made it. From what she had overheard back on the surface, this was where Snake was being held. And now, it was time to get to work.

Hikaru quietly climbed down from the stack of crates and made her way to the large doorway that was the only exit out of the storage room. The large door had a big number 4 on it, but fortunately, Hikaru had come prepared. She pulled out a security card she had managed to find before coming down here. It had a number 4 on it as well, just high enough to get her out of the storage area. She promptly slid it through the electronic lock and the door hissed open.

And on the other side of the doorway was another guard who had been about to unlock the door from the other side. Hikaru looked up and stared at her unexpected guest, who just stared back at her with a dumbfounded look of his own.

Hikaru knew she had to act fast, or everything would be ruined. Before the guard could get over his shock, she reached out and grabbed his head in her hands, and sent a surge of heat energy right into his brain. The guard was unconscious before he hit the floor.

"That was too close," Hikaru thought aloud as she began to slowly drag the guard's limp body into the storage room. She got the cardboard box she had used to sneak onto the freight elevator and, with some difficulty, stuffed him into the box and closed it. Now no one would find him until he managed to regain consciousness, and by then, Hikaru planned to have already rescued Snake and reduced Metal Gear to cinders.

It had taken her a while, but Hikaru knew she had to take the time to hide that guard's body, or she'd risk letting the others guards know she had made it to the underground base. She wanted to rescue Snake as soon as possible, but knew it was necessary to be patient and handle things the right way. In her short time with Snake, she had quickly learned the finer points of the art of tactical espionage, and she was going to use her newfound knowledge the best she could.

But finding Snake was easier said than done. After walking around the interior of the underground base for a few minutes, she quickly learned that this area was just as labyrinthine and mazelike as the other areas in the outpost she had been to. So she treaded with extreme caution, gradually working her way around and making a cognitive map as she went along. Soon she had a fairly good idea of the layout of the floor she was on. Fortunately, there were no security cameras, and she had managed to swiftly evade the handful of guards that were patrolling the area.

Soon enough, Hikaru stumbled onto an elevator that only lead down. Having seen no other way off her level besides the big freight elevator, she hit the down button to call up the elevator. The elevator door opened up almost instantly, and after stepping inside, Hikaru saw why. It only went down one floor. If this was how the entire underground base was set up, this was going to take even longer than she thought.

When the elevator opened up, a long hallway stretched out before her, about thirty meters long, with a door on either side of the hallway, and another door down at the other end. Hikaru quivkly ran to the other side of the hallway and opened the electronic door.

Again, she was greeted with another rude surprise; as soon as she opened the door, a weird, sallow gas came out of the doorway. Was this that gas the Geneticist had used to trap her in that cell? No, it was the wrong color. Hikaru deduced that it must have been poison gas - another enemy trick Snake had told her about. She could just rush in and hold her breath until she found her way out, but since she had no idea how big the room was, it would be foolish to try. She would have to go back and find a gas mask.

Hikaru decided to try one of the other rooms in the hallway first. When she went in the one on her right, she noticed it looked a lot like that wreck room area she and Snake had seen in the first building they infiltrated. Hikaru immediately went to work, rummaging through all the stuff in the room trying to find a gas mask.

Eventually, she found one. In one of the storage lockers, there was an M-16 assault rifle, a small pistol, a bunch of grenades, some magazines titled 'Playboy' or something, and a gas mask. Hikaru quickly snatched it up, relieved she had finally managed to obtain such a crucial piece of equipment.

Hikaru turned to leave, but then went back to the locker again. She reached in and timidly picked up the handgun, half-believing something would go wrong just by touching it. *Should I take this too? Will I need it?* she thought to herself. If her experiences in Cephiro and here at the Sierra Outpost had taught her anything, it was to be ready for anything, to expect th unexpected. After fumbling with the heavy weapon for a few seconds, she put it back in the locker. Guns weren't her style anyway; better to stick with her sword and her fire magic. Besides, she had caused enough death already; if she ran into any more guards, better to render them unconscious with bursts of heat than to kill them.

She turned to leave again, but just as she was about to make it out the door, she heard voices - and they were coming closer. Panicking, Hikaru ran back to the lockers and shut herself in one of the empty ones. Her quick thinking saved her from an ugly confronatation. Peering through the ventilation slits of the locker, she saw three fully armed guards stroll into the room and seat themselves at the table, chatting among themselves. Hikaru saw they were also carrying gas masks, so she reasoned they had just come from somewhere beyond the gas-filled room.

Hikaru wasn't sure just how much time had passed, nor was she really listening to what the guards were saying. She was too busy concentrating on breathing as quietly as possible and standing absolutely still. Nervous sweat began to form on her brow. Then she remembered how she had been in the exact same situation only hours earlier, only that time, Snake was with her too. *Snake.... Just hold on, Snake,* she thought desperately. *I'm sure I'll be out of here soon. I'll get you out of here, I swear it!*

Then one of the guards said something that almost gave Hikaru a heart attack. "Hey, why's this locker open? The gas mask is gone. Stevie shouldn't be back here for another hour." It took all of Hikaru's self-control to keep from letting out a nervous yelp and continue staying absolutely still and silent.

"Forget it, man. No big deal. Let's go, we're due back on the surface," said another one of the guards. And with that, the three of them left.

Hikaru remained in the locker for another minute or so, just to be sure they were gone and weren't coming back. Once she was certain they had left for good, she let out a huge sigh of relief and opened the locker door. "Another close call," She said aloud to no one in particular. She had had a lot of close calls in the past few hours, and it was starting to take its toll on her. But she'd put up with it, for Snake's sake.

She prepared the leave the soldier's wreck room yet again, but before she could, she heard something else that stopped her in her tracks.

"Hikaru. Hikaru, are you there?"

Another voice, and it was calling her by name! This time though, it was a voice from INSIDE the room. The voice sounded staticy, so it must have been coming from some sort of radio. Hikaru turned around and followed the source of the crackling static, and there, at the far end of the room, was a walkie-talkie.

Again the mysterious voice boomed. "Hikaru, are you there? If you are, pick up the radio, please." Hikaru could better make out the voice now. It seemed to be a woman's voice, but it wasn't anyone she'd heard before. Yet, somehow, it sounded familiar....

Hikaru knew it would be best to just get out of there and go through that gas-filled chamber now that she had a gas mask. This was probably some sort of enemy trick. But some instinct told her that she should answer whoever was on the other end. With a trembling hand, she picked up the radio. "T-this is Hikaru," she stammed nervously. "Who is this?"

"Never mind," said the woman. "Listen, when you come out of that gassed room, there's a hallway with auto-guns embedded in the walls. You can't destroy them, and you can't get hold of whatever it is the guards use to switch them off."

"Why are you telling me this? Just who are you?" Hikaru asked queurulously. How did this woman know she'd be here, and that she was about to go through a gas-filled room?

"Just listen!" she demanded. "You'll need chaff grenades to get through that hallway. There's some in that locker you got your gas mask from. Take them and go. You need to hurry if you want to save Snake."

How did she know all this, and who was she?! Was there a hidden camera in the room, watching her every move? Had they been watching her from the moment she entered the underground base? What was going on? Before Hikaru could ask any more questions, the voice spoke up again. "Oh, one more thing. You'll soon she what Piranha meant about there being more than one Metal Gear. Brace yourself; it's gonna get ugly."

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Hikaru screamed in a commanding tone, having had enough of this woman's cryptic advice.

All she said was, "One of your fans," and then the radio went dead.

Hikaru just stood there, staring at the radio. What should she do now? If this woman was one of the enemy soldiers, then they knew she was coming. She could be walking right into a trap. But then, Hikaru realized that she was probably already doing so by coming here to rescue Snake in the first place. And she was going to go through that gassed chamber anyway, since that was the only path she hadn't gone down yet. Hikaru decided that whether or not New Way knew she was coming, she'd keep going all the same.

And might as well take this woman's advice. She went back to the locker and took a sack of chaff grenades and slung it over her shoulder, then headed out the door. She looked both ways before stepping out to make sure the coast was clear, then ran the the door that led to the gas-filled room. She promptly put on her gas mask, made sure it was fastened tightly, and rushed in.

*****

Hey, I actually got two chapters done in one month! And I bet all these new twists are already making you anxious to read the next chapter, huh? Well, stay tuned!

So long,
Grey Fox