route_1065 | the world is better off without snakes

Entry tags:

the world is better off without snakes

Who: Old Snake and Liquid Snake
Where: Deep in Ilex Forest...
When: Early Morning
Summary: Old Snake has left his Pokemon behind in the Azalea Center and has gone out to kill himself... But one man won't make that so easy for him.
Rating: PG-13 (STC) Violent themes, fighting, arguing
Log:

Stepping through the dark woods of Ilex Forest, Snake was careful to not step on the fallen branches that would alert any to his presence. He'd left his Pokemon Team at the Pokemon Center, in a box labeled 'Emmerich'. Today was the day... That he'd vanish from this world. He didn't really want to, but this had already been decided for him by the FOXDIE flowing in his veins. Better to die than to become a living weapon... Without any of his own will.

Stepping into a small clearing, there was a little pond nearby. Kneeling down next to it with a grunt, the old soldier opened his inventory and took out a knife... It had been dull before, but he'd managed to sharpen it with Solid's help. Snake had been using it to help with camping... Without any other weapons on him, Snake definitely didn't want one of his Pokemon to have to kill him.

This was his mission, and his alone. He wouldn't burden anyone else with it.

Closing his eyes and trembling a bit, Snake began to lift the knife towards his throat, hands shaking somewhat. He swallowed hard, his adam's apple bouncing as he does so. Briefly, he thinks about his friends, his family... Those that he cares most for. This was really the end, huh...

Good-bye.

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And at that moment, a clear, loud voice rang out.

"Snaaaaaake--!"

It wasn't Otacon. It was loud, British, and sounded supremely pissed off. And there, standing in the clearing, was Liquid Snake.

Snake's first thought was surprise, and he pulled the knife away from his throat. The second thought of his was displeasure. Oh no... he thought, grimacing.

Snake didn't want to turn around. He knew who was standing there. Of all times to find him... Slowly, the old soldier stood up and turned to face his brother, his rival.

"Liquid."

"Keep that knife from your throat, brother. How dare you?!"

He'd thought something was wrong by how strangely Otacon was acting. He knew that Otacon mainly worried about those he cared for, and if it was someone that he couldn't talk to Liquid about, that only meant one thing. Snake.

Liquid had left to see just what his idiot brother was getting himself into.

He strode across the clearing, moving with sharp, angry snaps of his limbs.

Snake watched him, unmoving, though he kept a grip on the knife. Really, of all times... He backed away from Liquid somewhat.

"Don't come near me, Liquid."

He wouldn't have cared if Liquid died from FoxDie, but he also knew that this would probably tear Heather and Otacon apart... And he didn't want that. He'd already screwed up enough, hadn't he?

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

As though Liquid was going to listen to a word Snake said.

"How dare you even think of taking a coward's way out?! How dare you think of giving in? Where is your pride? Where is your dignity? Where is your warrior's spirit?"

He was within feet of Snake now. He could have reached out and touched him.

"Is this how low the superior son of Big Boss has fallen? Have you become so much of a coward that you would run away, and damn whoever you leave behind?! What kind of man are you, Snake? Brother?!"

The old soldier glared, snarling his response, "Get the hell away from me, Liquid!" He was pissed now... Being called all those things, he wasn't a coward... He wasn't a coward!

"You have no idea what the hell I'm saving your ungrateful ass from!"

"I know about FOXDIE, you idiot!"

Otacon had already told him all about it. About how it was made to kill him, how it would simulate a heart attack in its victims, and how Snake was the vector.

"And I know that you're running from a problem that you don't think you can fix, and you're not giving half a thought to what you'll do to the people stupid enough to give a damn about you!"

Like Hal. Poor, stupid Hal Emmerich, who'd broken down on his shoulder for fear and worry of what Snake would do.

He paused a moment, anger boiling inside him. He shook his head, shouting back at Liquid. "I've been thinking of this for three goddamn months, Liquid! What is it to you, anyway?! All you want to do is kill me anyway, what's that going to do to Otacon? To everyone that gives a damn about me!?"

Snake was clenching his fists so tightly his knuckles were whiter than normal. He hated losing it like this, but Liquid just... He didn't understand. No matter what he did, it wasn't enough... He'd die a martyr, for something he didn't even start.

He hated it.

"If I die, then no one else has to! I don't have any other options!! If I did, I'd be trying them!"

"It would do less to him than if he thought you'd simply given up."

He grabbed Snake by the front of his shirt, pulling him closer.

"What proof do you have that anyone is going to die at all, brother? Who's word are you putting so much faith in?"

Upon being grabbed and pulled closer, Snake threw a punch to Liquid's chest- Automatic reflex. But he didn't regret it... It felt good to punch him. Snake growled, "In my world, you were killed by FOXDIE. People I was sent to rescue all died from FOXDIE, except for Otacon." He was so sick of it... So sick of it.

"I'd rather die than start killing everyone I cared about, and doing nothing to be able to stop it."

Naomi had told him what would happen... And he believed it. She knew his genes better than he did, after all. That was her job. And besides, she'd implanted the FOXDIE into him in the first place... The new FOXDIE having been planted later by Drebin... He was still a little miffed by that, but nowhere near as badly as he was right now.

"Ngh!"

The punch made Liquid let go and take a step back; his brother still had a pretty good arm on him for being such an old man.

"I've been in contact with you before now, brother, and I'm not dead yet. Did you ever stop to think that maybe your FOXDIE doesn't work properly in this world?"

"I can't take that risk. As soon as I get comfortable, something bad will happen. It's always like that, always has been, always will be!" The man had good reason to believe so. It was the story of his life, after all.

He shifted his feet, clenching and unclenching his fists as if preparing to fight the other.

"Well, brother, if it doesn't kill me, it won't be killing anyone."

Liquid was young and thought himself invincible. He could take the risk of death by virus, because what kind of virus could possibly kill Liquid Snake? Nothing short of the hand of God would take his life.

He'd promised Hal that he wouldn't kill Snake; he hadn't promised not to rough him up a bit.

"It's just you and me now. Isn't this what you want, dear brother?" He spread his arms wide, goading him on. He could see that the other soldier was itching to strike. "There's nothing to stop you from giving me your anger. Show me what you've got, Snake!"

Your goading was working, Liquid. Your smug confidence, your cocky attitude... It was really pissing Snake off. He grit his teeth before running forward, aiming punches and kicks which were pretty spry for an old guy.

He had told Hal that he wouldn't fight Liquid, but that was promising the impossible... These two were Cain and Abel. They couldn't just not fight.

Liquid wasn't too surprised that Snake was still strong-- it was his brother, after all. The perfect soldier. Even as an old dog of war, he would still be powerful and skilled, which was just what he wanted.

He blocked what punches and kicks he could, but a few got through. He returned them with strikes of his own, trying to use his every advantage; Liquid was young and in the peak of health.

"Is this all you have, brother? I expected more from the world's greatest soldier!"

With each hit that he took from Liquid, the old soldier grunted and coughed. It was the epitome of yin and yang... The young, healthy soldier versus the old soldier who was declining in health.

"Hhrgh!" He forced himself to hit harder, moving to elbow the other in the jaw, going for his legs next, then his gut, any weak points that he could exploit to knock. Him. Down.

Liquid blocked the elbow to his jaw, but the strike to his legs made him stumble and forced him to take the blow to the stomach as well; he lost his wind for a few moments, one arm wrapped around his abused middle.

"Hhn--!"

Snake stayed in place, watching the other double over somewhat. The old man's fists were still up, his body still on the defensive as he watched his enemy. He felt like taunting the other, but couldn't find words to speak. He just watched him, too focused on the battle to think of much else.

How considerate; Snake wasn't pressing his attack while his enemy was vulnerable. He might come to regret that mercy.

The moment he was recovered, he launched back into the fight, throwing punches and kicks and ignoring the strange twinge he felt in his chest. It was probably nothing-- just a little pain from the hits he'd taken, nothing more.

Even fighting the man he hates, Snake still can't bring himself to attack him while the other is down. He frowns, seeing Liquid rebound and start attacking again, forcing Snake into defensive actions to protect himself from the hits. But he's taking quite a few of them, heavy strikes to his chest and gut.

That strange twinge came back again, but harder, more insistent. It felt like a vice squeezing in his chest, getting tighter and tighter with each passing moment. He felt strangely out of breath, even though he should have been able to fight much longer without having any problems.

"...?!"

A particularly sharp stab of pain in his chest made him stumble backward, one hand clutched over his heart.

Gritting his teeth, Snake suddenly noticed Liquid stumble backward, and immediately his attention was focused on him. The movements of the other, the hand clutched over his heart...

He stared.

"..FOX...?"

"...DIE?"

The pain suddenly shot through his chest and into his arms, strong enough to bring him to his knees. Even here, it seemed that FOXDIE was still active-- still able to kill.

And somehow, the first thing on his mind wasn't that he hadn't gotten to kill Snake yet.

It was that Otacon was going to be awfully upset about all of this.

Liquid collapsed, and everything went black.

Snake stared at the body before him, the realization sinking in. Was the FOXDIE inside him killing people now? Was it just targeting Liquid? Otacon...

His mind was racing, but he couldn't just leave Liquid here. He frowned, chin trembling somewhat. This was... bad. Hell, he wanted to beat the crap out of the man, not kill him.

Leaning down next to Liquid, he moved to grab the still-warm body...

...?

That was odd. FOXDIE should have killed him, but there was still a pulse. Flipping Liquid onto his back, Snake pressed an ear to the man's chest. Indeed, there was a heart beating.

Suddenly, Snake backed off, getting into a defensive position. If the man was alive, then he'd just been fooling with him. After all, it was almost impossible to kill him off the first time they'd fought...

Waiting a few moments, there was nothing. A light breeze shook the leaves around them, and Snake frowned again. Liquid was alive... The pain must have knocked him into unconsciousness.

Was that really FOXDIE? It had given him a heart attack, but hadn't killed him... Could this mean that here, the FOXDIE wasn't going to kill anyone? Could what Liquid have said been true?

Opening his inventory, Snake selected the ESCAPE ROPE and began to tie it around Liquid's unconcious body. He didn't want the man getting up and trying to brawl with him again... But he also didn't want to deal with him when he woke up later, either. The ESCAPE ROPE apparently had the ability to literally let the user escape to the exit of any caves or forests. Worked for him...

Just to be safe, Snake bound Liquid's hands as well, before taking a step back.

Had Liquid been awake, the ridiculous spinning of the ESCAPE ROPE when it worked-- however the hell it worked-- might have made him dizzy, and perhaps a little ill. Thankfully, he wasn't conscious, and all it did was take him to the entrance of the woods.

Brb, being unconscious.

Now... Snake was alone. The knife was on the ground nearby, and he stared at it a long time. Killing himself would hold no meaning if the FOXDIE in his body was rendered useless. But would it provoke spontaneous heart attacks in other people? He sighed, walking towards the knife and kneeling down to pick it up.

He couldn't be sure if anything, but so far, no one's died around him. Things got awkward with Otacon some time ago... But they seemed fine now. He'd gotten along amiably with Heather, had some time to meet some other people over the network, teased a boy about bears, taught Heather how to use the cardboard box... He'd even caught himself an Onix.

Placing the knife into his inventory, the old soldier stood up, patting his back somewhat. He couldn't die yet, there was too much he liked in this world. He had a team that he could train and work with, new friends to talk to...

And as long as Liquid was around, Snake knew he couldn't afford to just disappear. Otacon's Stockholm Syndrome or not, Snake knew he should stick around to protect those close to him.

... Could always scare Liquid by threatening to give him another heart attack...

For now, however, Snake knew what he had to do. He'd been lying low recently, but now it was time to go and reclaim his Pokemon. He wasn't sure if Otacon had picked them up from the Center or not, but he might as well check.

Besides, he needed to check in.

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the world is better off without snakes

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