Live for Nothing
Landing into the river and washing up on the opposite side, Solid Snake was crawling from the shore, alone and defeated. He rolled onto back, putting Gustava's locket in his pocket as he looked up at the night sky,
" Colonel…Kaz…Meryl…Holly…Ellen…Gustava, I'm sorry, I let you all down and I let myself down. He won…he broke me and now I'm helpless to do anything. I'm a monster…just like him… " Snake then turned and saw the strangest thing in that moment, a very luminescent group of butterflies flowed to him and perched themselves onto him. It was sort of comforting having these butterflies around him, he then turned to see a small fox carrying a familiar knife, the knife from Outer Heaven, the knife that said Les Enfant Terrible. Snake stood up as the butterflies scattered away, he felt comforted by the sight of this fox and remembered that anger he felt, the anger towards Gray Fox but mainly, the anger towards Big Boss. He pat the fox on the head and placed his head against the Fox's as he took the knife,
"Thank you, Gustava…find peace in the next life…" he said softly to the fox. The fox then turned and ran off into the night, Solid Snake stood up and walked towards the jagged rocky mountain. He placed the knife in the sheathe on his shirt then put his hands on the rocks, then pulled himself up to grab the other rock and climb up. Slowly ascending to the top but then a chunk broke off and Snake slipped a little, hanging on by one arm. Snake grabbed another chunk, holding himself up and panting while looking down. He didn't realize he was this far up high, one wrong move and he could slip and fall. Solid Snake was afraid, extremely afraid but he closed his eyes and gripped onto the rocks,
" C'mon…there's no turning back…you can do this! C'mon David, c'mon get up, Solid Snake! " He thought as he kept climbing, the pace slowly increased as he felt the beat of his internal drum course through his body. His mind shattered but not lost, his heart enraged but not blind, and his body battered but not broken.
" If he wants this…if they want a war, I'll give it to them. Tonight, all of this ends… " declared Solid Snake as he continued to climb, hearing the sound of thunder crash in the sky. On top of the cliff, two soldiers were standing guard, one was holding the sniper rifle Solid found in the sewers. The one holding the rifle was admiring its craftsmanship,
"Do you know who this rifle belongs to?" The soldier eagerly asked his comrade,
"Yeah, the legend herself, the one the Boss killed-" the soldier then screamed as Solid grabbed his ankle and tossed him down to the shore. The other soldier was about to shoot but Snake thrusted his knife into his throat before pulling himself up. Solid then began searching his body but suddenly a shot rang out and Solid Snake quickly grabbed the rifle and dove behind a tree.
"Hello, Snake, welcome back to the jungle!" A voice declared, Snake took a deep breath, now more concentrated than ever and nothing left to lose. He quickly ran to the side as more shots were fired, Solid closed his eyes and used the rainfall to keep his mind focused. He used his sharp hearing now more aware than ever to hear the magazine of the gunman's weapon exit the weapon. Snake not only could tell that, he could tell this person was a woman, a woman who he was very familiar with. Snake quickly turned and fired a round from the sniper rifle into the woman's abdomen. Solid Snake walked towards the wounded woman who was wearing a green uniform and had a very familiar face, Diane Hudson who had a grin on her face,
"Big Boss knows best-" Snake shot her in the head, not caring about their friendship since there never was one, Solid doesn't care anymore about the past, he doesn't care about the lies Big Boss built around him. He started searching her body for any weapons,
" I declare this now, I'm done, I'm done with these lies, I'm done being a puppet. Big Boss turned me into a monster, he made me do things that will forever be burned on my soul. He wanted me to be his soldier, he made me to be like this but I won't be the destroyer he uses, I'll be the destroyer who burns everything he's built to the ground. I will be the one who rips Big Boss's heart out with my cold bare hands. I'm not just doing this for Gustava anymore, for Washington, for the children…I'm doing this for me and everything he's done. I trusted the systems and promises that FOXHOUND said to me but all I ever felt was pain. I tried it everyone's way…heard everyone say things to stop it but it was too late. In the service of this country, I trained as a soldier and I became their hero…their fool. So once this mission is over, after it's all said and done…this will be the last time anyone hears from me…'Si vis pacem, para bellum.' The Boot Camp Sergeant made us never forget those simple Latin words . 'Si vis pacem, para bellum - If you want peace, prepare for war.'