User:Nextoy/Short Stories/A Soldier of Friendship

Gauntlets, blades, and magic clash. The battlefield is roaring with the sounds of war. Some try and stay grounded below, while others hop upon floating platforms to gain an advantage. Neither strategy is shown to be inherently stronger than the other.

Yet there sits one box. A solitary peace from the violence.

A chirping comes from the box, but none outside notice. Instead it is only received by a radio located miles from the conflict. The sound of it being received goes through and a communication channel is achieved.

“Yes, Snake?” A light, timid voice responds to the call.

“Otacon,” A voice like sandpaper answers, “Your codename. It’s some convention, right?”

“Yes.” Otacon briefly considered going into detail. Though such efforts would probably be cut off. “Why?”

“How do I beat anime characters?”

“What?” The ernest question coming from the radio catches Otacon off guard. Not only because of the sudden, strange request, but because he was the ideal member of the team to be asked it. He was used to Snake just asking everyone the same question rather than going to one member in particular.

“Anime characters. How do I beat them?” Annoyance managed to get through the rough, normally monotone voice.

“Oh, Snake.” Otacon’s sharp, almost instant chuckle received a grunt of frustration. “You can’t beat anime characters. They’re powered by friendship.”

“Friendship?” Snake’s voice changed. Otacon wasn’t sure if it was confusion, frustration, or sheer disbelief.

“Yes Snake. Anime characters draw power from the friends they make along their journey. It’s why they’re able to beat such powerful foes. Monsters, demons, and even gods.” Otacon looked at a few posters on the walls of the lab he was operating out of. He had been told to take them down numerous times, but they remained up.

“You’re kidding, right?” Snake looked out the hole in his box. Everyone was fighting each other. Any alliances were only temporary. A brief truce to take down a stronger threat, then back to fighting amongst themselves. “How can friendship possibly have that kind of power?”

“Snake, you’re being too literal.” Otacon’s tease prompted another grunt. “It’s not the act of making friends, or even having them with you, that makes anime characters strong. It’s the fact that you have someone to help you. Someone to fight for.”

“You have to be kidding…” Hearing Otacon’s words and seeing the battle raging just outside his box. Snake instinctively knew that Otacon wasn’t joking, but these two truths clashed before his very eyes.

“I’m not!” Otacon mentally chastised himself for how whiny that came out. “Think about it. You have your mission, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And you have me, Campbell, Mei Ling…” Otacon’s words trailed off as he let Snake come to the conclusion himself.

“What? Are you saying that by having people registered into my codec that I can draw some kind of strength from that?”

“Well,” Otacon considered correcting him, but felt the conversation would go nowhere if he did so. “In a sense, yes. If you think about us, as well as the mission, then you will do everything you can to succeed, right?”

“I suppose.” Snake wasn’t convinced. However, it was worth trying. He closed the channel and stood up, throwing the box off to the side.

A man in only boxer shorts with a red sword looked over just as this was happening. The look on his face was like he had seen this happening already. He saw flames and explosions. Missiles and grenades. This man in his skin tight apparel being capable of all kinds of damage to everyone there.

“A vision!” Snake heard from behind him, turning around just in time to see the red sword split open. A beam of energy extended from the opening and slammed itself into him, causing Snake to go flying off the ledge of a platform that seemed so small after being struck.

With one hand held on the ledge, he touched something that let him open up the communication channel again. But this time he wouldn’t let Otacon get the first word in.

“Otacon. How do I make friends?”

“Oh, Snake.”