Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction / Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Tragic Heroes ❯ Relics ( Chapter 13 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Grey Fox 
Hikaru makes her way further into the underground base, and stumbles upon one of New Way's sinister side-projects....
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction / Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 01.31.2004 | Updated On: 08.23.2004 | Pages: 2 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 298 | Status: Completed
Hikaru makes her way further into the underground base, and stumbles upon one of New Way's sinister side-projects....
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction / Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 01.31.2004 | Updated On: 08.23.2004 | Pages: 2 | Words: 4.6K | Visits: 298 | Status: Completed
Tragic Heroes
a Magic Knight Rayearth/Metal Gear crossover
Chapter 13: Relics
1-31-2004
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.
*****
It was starting to get claustrophobic in that gassed room. All the narrow pathways and the noxious-looking yellow mist lingering everywhere were making Hikaru feel uneasy. And she knew her gas mask wouldn't let her breathe safely forever; best to find a way out as soon as possible. But she knew she still had to be cautious. Even in here, there could be guards patrolling, looking for....
Soft footsteps in the distance alerted Hikaru to the presence of someone else in the gassed room - no doubt a guard looking out for any signs of an intruder. And as luck would have it, Hikaru saw he happened to be blocking the door that led out of the room. *Time to dip in to my new bag of tricks,* thought Hikaru as she knocked on a wall. Soon enough, she heard him approach to investigate the noise, and Hikaru quickly ran down another path. Now that the guard had stupidly left the exit unattended, there was no one to stop Hikaru from sliding her security card into the elctronic lock and finally leaving the gassed room.
As soon as the door shut behind her, Hikaru leaned against it and ripped off her gas mask, breathing a deep sigh of relief. At least that was now out of the way. Hikaru then took a good look at what lied ahead - a really long and narrow hallway. *Wait a minute.... long hallway... just like she said!* Hikaru reached out with her power, trying to see if she was also right about the auto-guns hidden in the walls. Sure enough, she could sense a lot of metal constructs within the walls they didn't feel like they belonged there, and they were too indelibly embedded for her powers to affect them.
*Guess those must be the auto-guns,* Hikaru thought to herself as she dug into the pouch she swiped from the locker room and pulled out a chaff grenade. She promptly pulled the pin and chucked it down the hallway, and it bounced a few times before it went off, spewing tiny metallic strips everywhere. Hikaru dashed down the hallway, knowing from Snake that the effects of the chaff grenades didn't last very long. But thanks to her athleticism, she reached the end of the hallway before the grenade's jamming effects wore off.
*So she was right about the auto-guns, whoever she was,* Hikaru silently mused. The mystery concerning her anonymous tipster still rankled. Was she an agent of New Way wanting to make sure she got through, or maybe an ally she didn't even know she had? Whatever the case, Hikaru knew she couldn't dwell on it; she had to focus on the task at hand, and that was liberating Snake.
It wasn't long before she found herself in an area once again infested with armed guards and surveillance cameras. Fortunately, she still had a few chaff grenades, so the surveillance cameras wouldn't be as big of a problem as before. Sure, she could easily blow them up and permanently get rid of them, but she knew that that would arouse too much suspicion. Better to play it safe.
So Hikaru went down every hallway, checking out every room, in the hopes of finding where the terrorists were holding Snake. But almost after twenty minutes of searching that area of that floor, Hikaru was still no closer to finding out where he was. She had found a couple more ration packs and another pouch with plenty of fragmentation, stun, and chaff grenades (she decided to take the whole thing - just in case) , but no Snake. But she had come across a level 5 door that was impassable because her current card didn't have a high enough security clearance.
*I'll have to get a level 5 card, but where?* Hikaru thought as she prepared to round another corner, but abruptly stopped when she heard the rhythmic hum of a camera. Now she knew the stress of her adventure was really starting to get to her; she was coming too close to making fatal mistakes. *I've got to find him, and soon. I can't keep going like this.... not alone.* She wiped the nervous sweat from her forehead and then fished out another chaff grenade. As soon as it was safe to move, she bolted. But she didn't get far before she heard someone blurt out, "Hey, what was that?!" *Oh just great. Narrowly avoid one mistake just to make another,* thought Hikaru bitterly, mentally kicking herself; she had set off the chaff grenade while within the hearing range of one of the guards.
She had to find a hiding place and fast. Luckily for her, she was close to the locker room where she had gotten her rations and grenades. So she dashed for the locker room. Her trembling hands fumbled for her security card, and she barely managed to get it out in time - she could hear the footsteps of the guard, and he was right around the corner. Hikaru ran in and immediately hid herself in one of the empty lockers. *I'm REALLY getting tired of this,* mused an extremely agitated Hikaru.
For a couple minutes, there was complete silence, making Hikaru think the guard had went back to his post. But eventually, Hikaru heard the door slide open and someone walk in. Hikaru's heart beat accelerated as she heard him walk over to the lockers. Then he heard the lockers being slammed open. Apparently, this one actually had some brain cells. Panic threatened to overtake her, but Hikaru quickly came to her senses. *What am I so afraid for?! He's been lured to where no one else is around, so....*
Once the guard came to Hikaru's locker, she was ready. As soon as he opened it, Hikaru lashed out and grabbed onto his face. Focusing her stored thermal energy, she was able to render him completely unconscious. He never even knew what hit him.
*Hopefully no one will notice he's gone,* thought Hikaru worriedly as she put the guard's unconscious body in a locker. So far she avoided being discovered, but there was still the problem of finding a key card to get past that level 5 door. *Hold it.* Hikaru started rummaging through the guard's pockets and pouches. Perhaps....
She felt a thin, hard piece of plastic within the guard's front pouch. *Please be a 5, please be a 5,* Hikaru silently pleaded. She pulled it out, and sure enough, it had a big number 5 on it. "Yes!" Hikaru joyfully exclaimed out loud. "Hang on Snake! Here I come!"
Hikaru shut the locker and turned to leave, but something caught her eye. Hung up along one of the walls were what appeared to be weapon systems similar to Piranha's water-cannon backpack. Then it hit Hikaru; these were foam-spraying weapons they had used on her earlier. Obviously they had some down here in case she made it into the underground base. *Well, you're not using these against me again!* she thought angrily. She took the muzzle of the first gun in her hand and concentrated. Within seconds, the metal inside melted and clogged the gun. She repeated this process with all of them, rendering them completely useless. *If they try using these on me, they'll sure be in for a surprise,* Hikaru thought mischieviously. *This new power sure has been useful. I wonder just what else I can do now....*
Then something else caught Hikaru's eye: folded up on a table next to her was a bunch of thick, grey suits. Hikaru figured they must have been heat-resistant suits to protect the guards from her magic. This gave Hikaru an idea. Grabbing one of the suits, she drew her sword and began to cut away at it. Soon, she had a long strip of flame-resistant material, which she tied around her forehead like a bandana. "Just like Snake," Hikaru chuckled.
Having spent enough time in the locker room, Hikaru quickly exited and headed back the way she came. But in her haste, she forgot something - that pesky surveillance camera. And this time, there was no chaff grenade to jam it. By the time Hikaru realized this, it was far too late. "She's here! She's here!" came one nervous outcry. "Spread out! Find the little bitch!" was another.
*Oh no! Not now!* thought Hikaru panickingly. *Got to make it to that door. Have to run for it!* Hikaru darted off, running to where she remembered seeing the door. Now that she had been found out, there was no point in being cautious anymore. Might as well make a mad dash for her goal. Fortunately, she seemed to have avoided running into any guards. Turning a corner, she saw her goal - the level 5 door that had been inaccessable before now. (Well, she could've blasted through earlier, but she didn't want the guards to know she was even there.) She whipped out her new key card and reached for the electronic lock.
But before she could slide her card through the lock, she heard a flat, gruff voice from behind her. "Don't move." Hikaru turned her head to see that behind her were half a dozen guards who had armed themselves with the foam-spraying backpacks. No wonder she hadn't run into any guards on her way here - they had all armed themselves first. They all had their weapons pointed straight at her, and judging from the bloodthristy looks in their eyes, they wouldn't hesitate to fire.
*Those may have worked last time, but this time I think you'll find that things don't always go as planned,* Hikaru thought bitterly. Out loud, she mockingly said, "Go ahead, try and stop me," and turned around and slid her card through the lock. She heard one of them yell "FIRE!" And an instant later, she heard a loud bang accompanied by the burbling of a viscous material. As she walked through the door, she turned back to see the entire hallway overflowing with foam, and the six guards helplessly trapped in it. Hikaru couldn't help but to smile smugly and stick her tongue out at them before the door slid shut.
Hikaru then turned around to see just what it was that she she had gone through so much effort to get to. What she saw was the start of a long, winding staircase that led downward. Hikaru looked over the edge to see just how far down the stairway went. Thanks to the dim lightning in the stairway, though, it was impossible to judge how far down it went. *Well, guess I better start making my way down,* Hikaru thought to herself dryly.
Before Hikaru could move however, she heard the enraged outcry of several more soldiers from behind the door. *Great. Reinforcements must have been sent,* she thought morosely. Soon they would pour through that door.... but once again, Hikaru would have a nasty surprise waiting for them....
Hikaru took the grenade pouch and stuck her hand into it, and then waited for the guards to come through the door. The instant she heard one of the guards slide his card into the electronic lock, she pulled the pins from several grenades. An instant later, the door slid open to reveal a great number of angry-looking armed soliders, obviously displeased with Hikaru's earlier tactic of sabotaging their weapons. And an instant after they opened the door, Hikaru tossed the pouch their way. "Here, catch!" she shouted sardonically, then turned tail and ran down the stairway. A series of loud explosions and muffled screams of agony shrilled in Hikaru's ears, but she didn't stop for a second. She had managed to slow them down and now had to take advantage of that.
But it wasn't long before she heard the heavy footfalls on metal ringing from above, alerting Hikaru of the pursuit of even more enemy soldiers. *Just how many are there?* thought a thoroughly frustrated Hikaru. *It's like they're sending the whole base after me.* Hikaru then reasoned that they most likely would pull out all the stops to get to her, now that they had seen several examples of her incredible powers.
Hikaru decided she needed to do something else to slow her pursuers down. *Well, they can't keep chasing me down this stairway if part of the stairway is broken!* she reasoned. She thrust her outstretched hand above her and screamed "Flame Arrow!!" Her scorching fireball smacked into the stairs about two levels above her and immediately caused it to crumble. Several huge pieces of smoldering, twisted metal cascaded downward, letting Hikaru know that her spell had completely wrecked part of the stairway, and those soldiers wouldn't catch up to her any time soon. She also heard someone screaming "HELP ME! I'M ON FIRE!", letting Hikaru know she had accidently set one of the guards ablaze. But she didn't dare stop to think about that, or the guards she hurt or even killed with her little trick with the grenades. She forced her feelings of guilt and remorse down; she'd dwell on all that later, AFTER this whole mission was finally over with.
So she continued to run down the stairs, descending into the darkness - descending towards an uncertain future. But guards high above continued to try to stop her by firing their machine guns blindly downward in hopes of hitting her. Several times, Hikaru had had close calls, bullets striking dangerously close to her. But by staying close to the walls and moving as quickly as possible, she once again managed to thwart their best efforts.
After what seemed like an eternity, Hikaru finally made it down to what looked like the end of the stairway. Afraid that word had been sent to whoever was down here about her advance, she immediately made her way out of the sole door on the lower level. Once on the other side, yet another gloomy, empty, winding hallway strecthed out before her, the only sound to be heard being.... the steady hum of surveillance cameras. Hikaru automatically reached for a chaff grenade to use, only to find she had no more grenades to use. *Oh lovely,* mused Hikaru bitterly. *Guess I'll have to do this the hard way....*
Flattening herself against the wall, she slowly began to sidle along the wall. This way, she moved right under the first camera and stayed in its blind spot. Soon she would be safely out of the range of that first camera.... but then Hikaru saw a second one on the opposite wall. Hikaru patiently waited for it to pivot away far enough. Once it did, she sprinted to the other side and backed herself against the wall.
For a few minutes, Hikaru repeated this process over and over. *It's obvious that there's something down here they want to protect if the only way to reach it is through a hall with so many cameras,* Hikaru thought to herself as she reflected on her situation. Then she remembered what her mysterious informant said that she'd soon find out what Piranha meant about there being more than one Metal Gear.
She got so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice she had finally reached the end of the hallway. What was there at the end was a fairly large room, an electronic door, and one last camera overlooking everything. The only problem was that this one didn't move on a pivot like the others; it just stayed perfectly still, watching over everything.
*Like a buzzard,* thought Hikaru dourly. *Guess I don't have any choice this time.* She pointed at the camera and shot a small burst of superheated plasma through her finger. The impact caused the camera to explode instantly. Once that was out of the way, she went through the door, and was overwhelmed with awe at what she saw.
She had entered what was basically an enormous, underground factory, bustling with activity and the sounds of machines ceaselessly toiling. And what she saw was merely the very top; she was currently standing on the top overhanging level of the factory, basically a balcony overlooking everything else. She walked over to the edge and looked down below, and couldn't believe what she saw. An endless array of conveyor belts and assembly lines, all moving at a methodical pace. It made Hikaru recall the inside of a car factory. But these definitely weren't cars that were being constructed; just what was it New Way was creating here?
Hikaru looked around some more. Then she saw that directly underneath, about three levels down, was a blast furnace, which workers were using to make parts for their creations right on the spot. Then looked to the left side of the makeshift factory, and Hikaru couldn't help but to let out a gasp.
There were the finished products of New Way's endeavors here: small, bipedal armored units. Hikaru had no doubt those were duplicates of the original Metal Gear, the TX-55. She took another quick look at the rest of New Way's little factory - the whole place had a haphazard and thrown-together look and feel to it, as if it had been set up recently and very hastily. Now Hikaru knew what Piranha was talking about, and why she and Snake had come across so many caches and stockpiles of all sorts of machinery. It was all used for this factory to create a swarm of the older Metal Gears!!
Hikaru clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, totally overwhelmed with rage. It wasn't enough for New Way that they had control of the most powerful Metal Gear; now they were making an army of the older, littler ones! They all preened and postured as if they were working to make the world a better place, but here they were, making more of the deadliest weapon ever created!
"Pretty impressive, ain't it?" came a malicious voice from behind her. She whirled around to face whoever it was. There were two New Way soldiers standing at either side of the door she had come through, as if they had been waiting for her - no doubt they had been warned about her. And they had pistols drawn and aimed straight at her. "So long sweetie," said one of them, and they both fired a round.
Both rounds struck Hikaru's chest plating. They didn't penetrate her armor, but Hikaru still felt the sheer force of the bullets through her armor. It felt as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to her chest. Overwhelmed with pain, she staggered backwards and backed into the railing of the top platform. Hikaru tried to regather her wits and fight back, but one of the guards was already upon her; he charged at her and punched her in such a way that her body went over the railing. Hikaru desperately reached out and grabbed hold of the platform before she could fall, but the guard wouldn't give her a chance to pull helself up. "This is it, you little punk," he cackled, then slammed his foot down onto Hikaru's fingers. By some miracle, she managed to hold on. But then the guard stomped on her fingers a second time, and the pain was enough to cause Hikaru to let go.
*No, it can't end like this! I came too far to fail now!* Sorrowful thoughts like these were the only things running through Hikaru's mind as she plummeted three stories.
And landed in the blast furnace's vat of molten steel.
The two guards had leaned over the platform to watch Hikaru's fall and were quite pleased with themselves when they saw her body plunge into the molten metal. "Finally, that's over with," said one of them triumphantly.
"Yep. She won't be messing things up anymore," said the other. "Can't BELIEVE how one little girl could...." He stopped suddenly, noticing something strange happening below.
The New Way members working the blast furnace noticed something was wrong too, as the smelting process had been abruptly halted. One of the workers overseeing the vat noticed that it wasn't as hot anymore, and the surrounding area was actually getting cooler. A minute later, his eyes widened with shock when the molten steel in the vat suddenly SOLIDIFIED!
The weird turn of events didn't stop there. Cracks began to form in the now-solid metal, as if some powerful force was attempting to break free. Heat and steam began to pour out of the cracks.
Then, it was as if a volcano had erupted in the middle of the factory. An eardrum-rupturing explosion went off in the center of the vat, sending pieces of twisted, charred metal and broken machine parts everywhere, and had all the workers fleeing in horror.
And out from the shattered remains of the blast furnace stepped a solitary figure: Hikaru Shidou, still alive and kicking, her armor and clothes in perfect condition, and completely unharmed. And she was still mad as hell.
Previously she had wondered just what the extent of her new powers was. Now she knew. Her body's capacity to absorb heat was so great, she sucked in every last bit of energy from the molten metal in the vat. And it showed. Her body gave off a dazzling aura of white light that radiated all around her. Tendrils of heat and supercharged plasma lashed out all around her, incinerating everything that she came too close to. Even the metal platings of the floor she stood on began to liquify. And her eyes seemed to glow the color of bright, red blood.
But she had been pushed to her limits. The amount of heat energy she had absorbed was almost more than her body could handle. It felt as if every cell in her body, her ENTIRE BODY, was going to explode. Hikaru instinctively knew she couldn't hold on to all this power for long; her mind could only think of one thing.... RELEASE!
And she knew exactly what she wanted to release it on. All around her was equipment these terrorists were using to create more Metal Gears, weapons capable of causing unimaginable horror. She wasn't going to let this go on.... she now had the power to stop it.... she would destroy them.... DESTROY THEM ALL!!!!
With merely a thought, Hikaru sent a single bolt of charged plasma at the nearest machine used to assemble Metal Gear parts. Every part of the machine, the conveyor belt, the robotic arms, the motor, computer terminals.... everything was blown away completely, never to be used again. She turned around and faced the remains of the blast furnace.... that had to go too. Another plasma blast.... and nothing was left of the furnace.
Hikaru still hadn't released enough energy, but that was just fine, because there was plenty of machines left to get rid of. So she continued to vent her excess energy. And her rage. One by one, the assembly machines on the lower level were completely annihilated by Hikaru's power. And she didn't stop with the machines on the bottom floor. She directed her blasts upwards as well, leveling the monitoring stations and crane apparatuses on the second level, turning them into useless junk.
Bits of debris swirled around everywhere, fires roared out of control, puddles of liquified metal were forming all over the place, and the loud crashing of falling pieces of metal and machinery resounded all around her. But Hikaru took no notice. In her frenzied rage and driven by the overload of power, all she could think about was making sure the factory was completely destroyed. All the workers present were wisely fleeing; in her current overpowered state, even one of her stray blasts would incinerate a person in less than a second.
And so Hikaru continued carving a path of destruction throughout the factory. Then she came to the side of the factory and saw what had enraged her so much - the TX-55 Metal Gears New Way had manufactured, about a dozen lined up neatly in a row. This was it, time to get rid of them! She gathered the rest of her excess power, and then, in one tremendous burst, released it all upon the bipedal tanks. Every last one of them blew up with a thunderous roar and their small remaining parts flew about everywhere. But none of them ever even touched Hikaru, for they vaporized as they made contact with the supercharged aura of energy still swirling around her.
And so it was finished. Every last Metal Gear TX-55 was destroyed, and there was no way any more would be made here. The field of energy surrounding Hikaru gradually began to fade away and she slumped to her knees. She had cut loose enough so that her remaining stored energy was an amount her body could handle, but she still felt like she was in a state of frenzy, her heart still pounding in her chest. She looked around her and surveyed the carnage she had wrought single-handedly. Moments ago, she had reveled in unleashing all that anger and power and causing so much destruction, but now, she was absolutely horrified by what she had been capable of doing.
But then she remembered just why she was here: to save Snake and get rid of the biggest threat, the Metal Gear Gander. She looked around for an exit, but all the doors were melted shut. But for Hikaru, that wasn't exactly a problem.
"Ruby Lightning!" she yelled, releasing her magical blast at a nearby wall and punching a gaping hole through it. She went through the hole and quickly looked around to see if anyone was nearby. Thankfully, the hallway she had entered was vacant, probably because everyone in the vicinity had fled from her wrath in a wild panic. She sighed deeply, and then continued on her way into the heart of the underground base.
******
Wouldn't ya know it: I get two chapters done in one month, and then I don't finish the next chapter for EXACTLY a month. God, do I ever suck.
So long,
Grey Fox
a Magic Knight Rayearth/Metal Gear crossover
Chapter 13: Relics
1-31-2004
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.
*****
It was starting to get claustrophobic in that gassed room. All the narrow pathways and the noxious-looking yellow mist lingering everywhere were making Hikaru feel uneasy. And she knew her gas mask wouldn't let her breathe safely forever; best to find a way out as soon as possible. But she knew she still had to be cautious. Even in here, there could be guards patrolling, looking for....
Soft footsteps in the distance alerted Hikaru to the presence of someone else in the gassed room - no doubt a guard looking out for any signs of an intruder. And as luck would have it, Hikaru saw he happened to be blocking the door that led out of the room. *Time to dip in to my new bag of tricks,* thought Hikaru as she knocked on a wall. Soon enough, she heard him approach to investigate the noise, and Hikaru quickly ran down another path. Now that the guard had stupidly left the exit unattended, there was no one to stop Hikaru from sliding her security card into the elctronic lock and finally leaving the gassed room.
As soon as the door shut behind her, Hikaru leaned against it and ripped off her gas mask, breathing a deep sigh of relief. At least that was now out of the way. Hikaru then took a good look at what lied ahead - a really long and narrow hallway. *Wait a minute.... long hallway... just like she said!* Hikaru reached out with her power, trying to see if she was also right about the auto-guns hidden in the walls. Sure enough, she could sense a lot of metal constructs within the walls they didn't feel like they belonged there, and they were too indelibly embedded for her powers to affect them.
*Guess those must be the auto-guns,* Hikaru thought to herself as she dug into the pouch she swiped from the locker room and pulled out a chaff grenade. She promptly pulled the pin and chucked it down the hallway, and it bounced a few times before it went off, spewing tiny metallic strips everywhere. Hikaru dashed down the hallway, knowing from Snake that the effects of the chaff grenades didn't last very long. But thanks to her athleticism, she reached the end of the hallway before the grenade's jamming effects wore off.
*So she was right about the auto-guns, whoever she was,* Hikaru silently mused. The mystery concerning her anonymous tipster still rankled. Was she an agent of New Way wanting to make sure she got through, or maybe an ally she didn't even know she had? Whatever the case, Hikaru knew she couldn't dwell on it; she had to focus on the task at hand, and that was liberating Snake.
It wasn't long before she found herself in an area once again infested with armed guards and surveillance cameras. Fortunately, she still had a few chaff grenades, so the surveillance cameras wouldn't be as big of a problem as before. Sure, she could easily blow them up and permanently get rid of them, but she knew that that would arouse too much suspicion. Better to play it safe.
So Hikaru went down every hallway, checking out every room, in the hopes of finding where the terrorists were holding Snake. But almost after twenty minutes of searching that area of that floor, Hikaru was still no closer to finding out where he was. She had found a couple more ration packs and another pouch with plenty of fragmentation, stun, and chaff grenades (she decided to take the whole thing - just in case) , but no Snake. But she had come across a level 5 door that was impassable because her current card didn't have a high enough security clearance.
*I'll have to get a level 5 card, but where?* Hikaru thought as she prepared to round another corner, but abruptly stopped when she heard the rhythmic hum of a camera. Now she knew the stress of her adventure was really starting to get to her; she was coming too close to making fatal mistakes. *I've got to find him, and soon. I can't keep going like this.... not alone.* She wiped the nervous sweat from her forehead and then fished out another chaff grenade. As soon as it was safe to move, she bolted. But she didn't get far before she heard someone blurt out, "Hey, what was that?!" *Oh just great. Narrowly avoid one mistake just to make another,* thought Hikaru bitterly, mentally kicking herself; she had set off the chaff grenade while within the hearing range of one of the guards.
She had to find a hiding place and fast. Luckily for her, she was close to the locker room where she had gotten her rations and grenades. So she dashed for the locker room. Her trembling hands fumbled for her security card, and she barely managed to get it out in time - she could hear the footsteps of the guard, and he was right around the corner. Hikaru ran in and immediately hid herself in one of the empty lockers. *I'm REALLY getting tired of this,* mused an extremely agitated Hikaru.
For a couple minutes, there was complete silence, making Hikaru think the guard had went back to his post. But eventually, Hikaru heard the door slide open and someone walk in. Hikaru's heart beat accelerated as she heard him walk over to the lockers. Then he heard the lockers being slammed open. Apparently, this one actually had some brain cells. Panic threatened to overtake her, but Hikaru quickly came to her senses. *What am I so afraid for?! He's been lured to where no one else is around, so....*
Once the guard came to Hikaru's locker, she was ready. As soon as he opened it, Hikaru lashed out and grabbed onto his face. Focusing her stored thermal energy, she was able to render him completely unconscious. He never even knew what hit him.
*Hopefully no one will notice he's gone,* thought Hikaru worriedly as she put the guard's unconscious body in a locker. So far she avoided being discovered, but there was still the problem of finding a key card to get past that level 5 door. *Hold it.* Hikaru started rummaging through the guard's pockets and pouches. Perhaps....
She felt a thin, hard piece of plastic within the guard's front pouch. *Please be a 5, please be a 5,* Hikaru silently pleaded. She pulled it out, and sure enough, it had a big number 5 on it. "Yes!" Hikaru joyfully exclaimed out loud. "Hang on Snake! Here I come!"
Hikaru shut the locker and turned to leave, but something caught her eye. Hung up along one of the walls were what appeared to be weapon systems similar to Piranha's water-cannon backpack. Then it hit Hikaru; these were foam-spraying weapons they had used on her earlier. Obviously they had some down here in case she made it into the underground base. *Well, you're not using these against me again!* she thought angrily. She took the muzzle of the first gun in her hand and concentrated. Within seconds, the metal inside melted and clogged the gun. She repeated this process with all of them, rendering them completely useless. *If they try using these on me, they'll sure be in for a surprise,* Hikaru thought mischieviously. *This new power sure has been useful. I wonder just what else I can do now....*
Then something else caught Hikaru's eye: folded up on a table next to her was a bunch of thick, grey suits. Hikaru figured they must have been heat-resistant suits to protect the guards from her magic. This gave Hikaru an idea. Grabbing one of the suits, she drew her sword and began to cut away at it. Soon, she had a long strip of flame-resistant material, which she tied around her forehead like a bandana. "Just like Snake," Hikaru chuckled.
Having spent enough time in the locker room, Hikaru quickly exited and headed back the way she came. But in her haste, she forgot something - that pesky surveillance camera. And this time, there was no chaff grenade to jam it. By the time Hikaru realized this, it was far too late. "She's here! She's here!" came one nervous outcry. "Spread out! Find the little bitch!" was another.
*Oh no! Not now!* thought Hikaru panickingly. *Got to make it to that door. Have to run for it!* Hikaru darted off, running to where she remembered seeing the door. Now that she had been found out, there was no point in being cautious anymore. Might as well make a mad dash for her goal. Fortunately, she seemed to have avoided running into any guards. Turning a corner, she saw her goal - the level 5 door that had been inaccessable before now. (Well, she could've blasted through earlier, but she didn't want the guards to know she was even there.) She whipped out her new key card and reached for the electronic lock.
But before she could slide her card through the lock, she heard a flat, gruff voice from behind her. "Don't move." Hikaru turned her head to see that behind her were half a dozen guards who had armed themselves with the foam-spraying backpacks. No wonder she hadn't run into any guards on her way here - they had all armed themselves first. They all had their weapons pointed straight at her, and judging from the bloodthristy looks in their eyes, they wouldn't hesitate to fire.
*Those may have worked last time, but this time I think you'll find that things don't always go as planned,* Hikaru thought bitterly. Out loud, she mockingly said, "Go ahead, try and stop me," and turned around and slid her card through the lock. She heard one of them yell "FIRE!" And an instant later, she heard a loud bang accompanied by the burbling of a viscous material. As she walked through the door, she turned back to see the entire hallway overflowing with foam, and the six guards helplessly trapped in it. Hikaru couldn't help but to smile smugly and stick her tongue out at them before the door slid shut.
Hikaru then turned around to see just what it was that she she had gone through so much effort to get to. What she saw was the start of a long, winding staircase that led downward. Hikaru looked over the edge to see just how far down the stairway went. Thanks to the dim lightning in the stairway, though, it was impossible to judge how far down it went. *Well, guess I better start making my way down,* Hikaru thought to herself dryly.
Before Hikaru could move however, she heard the enraged outcry of several more soldiers from behind the door. *Great. Reinforcements must have been sent,* she thought morosely. Soon they would pour through that door.... but once again, Hikaru would have a nasty surprise waiting for them....
Hikaru took the grenade pouch and stuck her hand into it, and then waited for the guards to come through the door. The instant she heard one of the guards slide his card into the electronic lock, she pulled the pins from several grenades. An instant later, the door slid open to reveal a great number of angry-looking armed soliders, obviously displeased with Hikaru's earlier tactic of sabotaging their weapons. And an instant after they opened the door, Hikaru tossed the pouch their way. "Here, catch!" she shouted sardonically, then turned tail and ran down the stairway. A series of loud explosions and muffled screams of agony shrilled in Hikaru's ears, but she didn't stop for a second. She had managed to slow them down and now had to take advantage of that.
But it wasn't long before she heard the heavy footfalls on metal ringing from above, alerting Hikaru of the pursuit of even more enemy soldiers. *Just how many are there?* thought a thoroughly frustrated Hikaru. *It's like they're sending the whole base after me.* Hikaru then reasoned that they most likely would pull out all the stops to get to her, now that they had seen several examples of her incredible powers.
Hikaru decided she needed to do something else to slow her pursuers down. *Well, they can't keep chasing me down this stairway if part of the stairway is broken!* she reasoned. She thrust her outstretched hand above her and screamed "Flame Arrow!!" Her scorching fireball smacked into the stairs about two levels above her and immediately caused it to crumble. Several huge pieces of smoldering, twisted metal cascaded downward, letting Hikaru know that her spell had completely wrecked part of the stairway, and those soldiers wouldn't catch up to her any time soon. She also heard someone screaming "HELP ME! I'M ON FIRE!", letting Hikaru know she had accidently set one of the guards ablaze. But she didn't dare stop to think about that, or the guards she hurt or even killed with her little trick with the grenades. She forced her feelings of guilt and remorse down; she'd dwell on all that later, AFTER this whole mission was finally over with.
So she continued to run down the stairs, descending into the darkness - descending towards an uncertain future. But guards high above continued to try to stop her by firing their machine guns blindly downward in hopes of hitting her. Several times, Hikaru had had close calls, bullets striking dangerously close to her. But by staying close to the walls and moving as quickly as possible, she once again managed to thwart their best efforts.
After what seemed like an eternity, Hikaru finally made it down to what looked like the end of the stairway. Afraid that word had been sent to whoever was down here about her advance, she immediately made her way out of the sole door on the lower level. Once on the other side, yet another gloomy, empty, winding hallway strecthed out before her, the only sound to be heard being.... the steady hum of surveillance cameras. Hikaru automatically reached for a chaff grenade to use, only to find she had no more grenades to use. *Oh lovely,* mused Hikaru bitterly. *Guess I'll have to do this the hard way....*
Flattening herself against the wall, she slowly began to sidle along the wall. This way, she moved right under the first camera and stayed in its blind spot. Soon she would be safely out of the range of that first camera.... but then Hikaru saw a second one on the opposite wall. Hikaru patiently waited for it to pivot away far enough. Once it did, she sprinted to the other side and backed herself against the wall.
For a few minutes, Hikaru repeated this process over and over. *It's obvious that there's something down here they want to protect if the only way to reach it is through a hall with so many cameras,* Hikaru thought to herself as she reflected on her situation. Then she remembered what her mysterious informant said that she'd soon find out what Piranha meant about there being more than one Metal Gear.
She got so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice she had finally reached the end of the hallway. What was there at the end was a fairly large room, an electronic door, and one last camera overlooking everything. The only problem was that this one didn't move on a pivot like the others; it just stayed perfectly still, watching over everything.
*Like a buzzard,* thought Hikaru dourly. *Guess I don't have any choice this time.* She pointed at the camera and shot a small burst of superheated plasma through her finger. The impact caused the camera to explode instantly. Once that was out of the way, she went through the door, and was overwhelmed with awe at what she saw.
She had entered what was basically an enormous, underground factory, bustling with activity and the sounds of machines ceaselessly toiling. And what she saw was merely the very top; she was currently standing on the top overhanging level of the factory, basically a balcony overlooking everything else. She walked over to the edge and looked down below, and couldn't believe what she saw. An endless array of conveyor belts and assembly lines, all moving at a methodical pace. It made Hikaru recall the inside of a car factory. But these definitely weren't cars that were being constructed; just what was it New Way was creating here?
Hikaru looked around some more. Then she saw that directly underneath, about three levels down, was a blast furnace, which workers were using to make parts for their creations right on the spot. Then looked to the left side of the makeshift factory, and Hikaru couldn't help but to let out a gasp.
There were the finished products of New Way's endeavors here: small, bipedal armored units. Hikaru had no doubt those were duplicates of the original Metal Gear, the TX-55. She took another quick look at the rest of New Way's little factory - the whole place had a haphazard and thrown-together look and feel to it, as if it had been set up recently and very hastily. Now Hikaru knew what Piranha was talking about, and why she and Snake had come across so many caches and stockpiles of all sorts of machinery. It was all used for this factory to create a swarm of the older Metal Gears!!
Hikaru clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, totally overwhelmed with rage. It wasn't enough for New Way that they had control of the most powerful Metal Gear; now they were making an army of the older, littler ones! They all preened and postured as if they were working to make the world a better place, but here they were, making more of the deadliest weapon ever created!
"Pretty impressive, ain't it?" came a malicious voice from behind her. She whirled around to face whoever it was. There were two New Way soldiers standing at either side of the door she had come through, as if they had been waiting for her - no doubt they had been warned about her. And they had pistols drawn and aimed straight at her. "So long sweetie," said one of them, and they both fired a round.
Both rounds struck Hikaru's chest plating. They didn't penetrate her armor, but Hikaru still felt the sheer force of the bullets through her armor. It felt as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to her chest. Overwhelmed with pain, she staggered backwards and backed into the railing of the top platform. Hikaru tried to regather her wits and fight back, but one of the guards was already upon her; he charged at her and punched her in such a way that her body went over the railing. Hikaru desperately reached out and grabbed hold of the platform before she could fall, but the guard wouldn't give her a chance to pull helself up. "This is it, you little punk," he cackled, then slammed his foot down onto Hikaru's fingers. By some miracle, she managed to hold on. But then the guard stomped on her fingers a second time, and the pain was enough to cause Hikaru to let go.
*No, it can't end like this! I came too far to fail now!* Sorrowful thoughts like these were the only things running through Hikaru's mind as she plummeted three stories.
And landed in the blast furnace's vat of molten steel.
The two guards had leaned over the platform to watch Hikaru's fall and were quite pleased with themselves when they saw her body plunge into the molten metal. "Finally, that's over with," said one of them triumphantly.
"Yep. She won't be messing things up anymore," said the other. "Can't BELIEVE how one little girl could...." He stopped suddenly, noticing something strange happening below.
The New Way members working the blast furnace noticed something was wrong too, as the smelting process had been abruptly halted. One of the workers overseeing the vat noticed that it wasn't as hot anymore, and the surrounding area was actually getting cooler. A minute later, his eyes widened with shock when the molten steel in the vat suddenly SOLIDIFIED!
The weird turn of events didn't stop there. Cracks began to form in the now-solid metal, as if some powerful force was attempting to break free. Heat and steam began to pour out of the cracks.
Then, it was as if a volcano had erupted in the middle of the factory. An eardrum-rupturing explosion went off in the center of the vat, sending pieces of twisted, charred metal and broken machine parts everywhere, and had all the workers fleeing in horror.
And out from the shattered remains of the blast furnace stepped a solitary figure: Hikaru Shidou, still alive and kicking, her armor and clothes in perfect condition, and completely unharmed. And she was still mad as hell.
Previously she had wondered just what the extent of her new powers was. Now she knew. Her body's capacity to absorb heat was so great, she sucked in every last bit of energy from the molten metal in the vat. And it showed. Her body gave off a dazzling aura of white light that radiated all around her. Tendrils of heat and supercharged plasma lashed out all around her, incinerating everything that she came too close to. Even the metal platings of the floor she stood on began to liquify. And her eyes seemed to glow the color of bright, red blood.
But she had been pushed to her limits. The amount of heat energy she had absorbed was almost more than her body could handle. It felt as if every cell in her body, her ENTIRE BODY, was going to explode. Hikaru instinctively knew she couldn't hold on to all this power for long; her mind could only think of one thing.... RELEASE!
And she knew exactly what she wanted to release it on. All around her was equipment these terrorists were using to create more Metal Gears, weapons capable of causing unimaginable horror. She wasn't going to let this go on.... she now had the power to stop it.... she would destroy them.... DESTROY THEM ALL!!!!
With merely a thought, Hikaru sent a single bolt of charged plasma at the nearest machine used to assemble Metal Gear parts. Every part of the machine, the conveyor belt, the robotic arms, the motor, computer terminals.... everything was blown away completely, never to be used again. She turned around and faced the remains of the blast furnace.... that had to go too. Another plasma blast.... and nothing was left of the furnace.
Hikaru still hadn't released enough energy, but that was just fine, because there was plenty of machines left to get rid of. So she continued to vent her excess energy. And her rage. One by one, the assembly machines on the lower level were completely annihilated by Hikaru's power. And she didn't stop with the machines on the bottom floor. She directed her blasts upwards as well, leveling the monitoring stations and crane apparatuses on the second level, turning them into useless junk.
Bits of debris swirled around everywhere, fires roared out of control, puddles of liquified metal were forming all over the place, and the loud crashing of falling pieces of metal and machinery resounded all around her. But Hikaru took no notice. In her frenzied rage and driven by the overload of power, all she could think about was making sure the factory was completely destroyed. All the workers present were wisely fleeing; in her current overpowered state, even one of her stray blasts would incinerate a person in less than a second.
And so Hikaru continued carving a path of destruction throughout the factory. Then she came to the side of the factory and saw what had enraged her so much - the TX-55 Metal Gears New Way had manufactured, about a dozen lined up neatly in a row. This was it, time to get rid of them! She gathered the rest of her excess power, and then, in one tremendous burst, released it all upon the bipedal tanks. Every last one of them blew up with a thunderous roar and their small remaining parts flew about everywhere. But none of them ever even touched Hikaru, for they vaporized as they made contact with the supercharged aura of energy still swirling around her.
And so it was finished. Every last Metal Gear TX-55 was destroyed, and there was no way any more would be made here. The field of energy surrounding Hikaru gradually began to fade away and she slumped to her knees. She had cut loose enough so that her remaining stored energy was an amount her body could handle, but she still felt like she was in a state of frenzy, her heart still pounding in her chest. She looked around her and surveyed the carnage she had wrought single-handedly. Moments ago, she had reveled in unleashing all that anger and power and causing so much destruction, but now, she was absolutely horrified by what she had been capable of doing.
But then she remembered just why she was here: to save Snake and get rid of the biggest threat, the Metal Gear Gander. She looked around for an exit, but all the doors were melted shut. But for Hikaru, that wasn't exactly a problem.
"Ruby Lightning!" she yelled, releasing her magical blast at a nearby wall and punching a gaping hole through it. She went through the hole and quickly looked around to see if anyone was nearby. Thankfully, the hallway she had entered was vacant, probably because everyone in the vicinity had fled from her wrath in a wild panic. She sighed deeply, and then continued on her way into the heart of the underground base.
******
Wouldn't ya know it: I get two chapters done in one month, and then I don't finish the next chapter for EXACTLY a month. God, do I ever suck.
So long,
Grey Fox