The Man Who Sold The World

Through the smoke and rubble, Solid Snake entered the building Big Boss landed in. He felt like resting for a while but he still had to finish the mission, he needed to know why he did all of this, he needed to know who Jack was. Snake began ascending the staircase, he could hear the rain begin to pour outside, extinguishing the fires. Lightning cracked the sky as this moment was coming closer, every enemy who died, every enemy that worshiped Big Boss like a God, he needed to know why. Eventually, Solid arrived at the roof where he saw Big Boss standing with his back facing Solid Snake. He could smell the tobacco from the cigar Big Boss had in his mouth. He took a deep sniff in the air, smelling the ash from the explosion and the sounds of gunfire and slaughter.

"…what a thrill…" Big Boss stated, flicking the cigar into the rubble,

"Ain't it, Solid Snake? The thing that keeps you alive in battle." Big Boss asked as he turned to face Solid Snake,

"Why…why are you doing this?!" Snake asked,

"To make the world whole again. That's what she wanted, you spoke to her? Well her shell." Big Boss stated, it was there when Solid started to connect the pieces, the big piece he was missing,

"You…you're Jack?! You're the Snake?!" confronted Solid,

"I haven't been Jack in a long time, I've abandoned my title of Naked Snake to be Big Boss, all for her. She was my mentor, The Boss, the legendary soldier of World War II. That day I was the one they sent to rescue Sokolov in Tselinoyarsk, the CIA called it the Virtuous Mission…" Big Boss chuckled,

"What a joke…it was in that mission my mentor taught me a very valuable lesson. On the battlefield, our nation is our worst enemy, they will turn those we love, we care about into enemies and force us to kill them. That's what the CIA made me do, just to protect the American Dream, the poor man's delusion. After I killed her, I felt lost, my purpose stripped and any sense of a normal life nonexistent until I was sent to Vietnam with my old commander. He taught me a valuable lesson, 'Who of you can say that tomorrow you won't be aiming your rifles at your neighbors? Your comrades? Your families? Is there no one out there who has a grudge against you? No one who mocks you? No one who really needs you? Is there truly no one out there who would kill you?'" Big Boss removed his blazer and undid his tie,

"After I killed him, I realized all I did was repeat the government's work, the nation I praised and defended, it made me kill people I cared about and be forgotten, like cannon fodder. So I abandoned my nation, and sought out a higher purpose, what I saw Gene do was unite US Marine and Viet-Cong under one banner, one nation. No racism, no sexism, no government corruption or ignorant philosophy, the world being whole, what she wanted. That's why I made Outer Heaven, we have all forsaken our countries, leaving our motherlands behind us and becoming one with the battlefield. We have no nation, no philosophy, no ideology, no bigotry. We go where we're needed, fighting not for a country, not for a government, but for ourselves. We don't need a reason to fight, we fight because we are needed. We are the deterrent for those with no other recourse, we are soldiers without borders, our purpose defined by the era we live in. We will have to sometimes sell ourselves and services and we will have to do whatever it takes for the mission. They would call us revolutionaries, criminals and terrorists, they said we will all be going to Hell, but what better place for us than this? This is our home, our Heaven and our Hell, our Earth…this is Outer Heaven and it will be endless as long as we keep the fight alive, no matter the cost." explained Big Boss with a smile,

"Even…even if it means killing innocent lives?!" Solid asked,

"The civilian life is a delusion, Snake. It's a lie they tell you so you can be ruled by them but we are free from their system, their media, their poison and lies. This entire mission, it's all been for you Solid Snake, I knew you would be the one to carry my name from the day I held you in my arms." Those words struck Solid Snake like a bullet in the heart, his eyes shot open and he was quivering,

"W-w-what are you saying?!" demanded Snake, Big Boss just smiled and chuckled,

"You are my son, David. I am Big Boss and you are too, all the people you killed was your initiation to keep The Boss's Will alive. You killed that corpse, Volgin, you spoke with her and you know my cause now. Kaz tried keeping you away, he tried straying you away from reality but I knew deep in your heart that he couldn't stop you from claiming your birthright. My blood courses through you and it brought you here, the battlefield blessed me with your birth and it returned you to me so when I finally leave this life, you can continue my legacy, then you can continue it with your heirs and they will continue with their heirs. The name of Big Boss will not die with me as I will ascend as a timeless enemy to the corrupt system that strips our will!" Solid Snake didn't want to believe it, he shook his head in denial, he couldn't be his father.

"No…no you're lying to me! You're just trying to get in my head!" Snake screamed,

"I never lie, Solid Snake."

"You're insane, you're a madman trying to justify yourself! I won't be a part of your mercenary cult!" shouted Snake, Big Boss sighed and just cracked his knuckles,

"Then you leave me with no other choice. Such a shame really, I grew fond of you but I guess I can just find some other woman to impregnate and start over with a new child of Big Boss." Solid assumed his stance, readying to defeat this man once and end this living nightmare of lies. Big Boss gestured at Solid to come closer,

"Let's begin then Snake." Big Boss said, Solid drew out his M1911 but Big Boss lunged quick enough and grabbed his wrist, he then disassembled the M1911 and slammed his elbow down to break Snake's arm. Snake screamed in agony as Big Boss flipped him onto his back. Big Boss couldn't

"Is that your best? Get up!" Big Boss kicked Solid in his ribs, Snake slowly got up and then Big Boss punched Solid's broken arm back in place,

"C'mon boy, fight back!" Big Boss demanded as he swung for a punch, Solid quickly raised his arm and blocked it then Big Boss quickly punched him in the ribs then spun for a roundhouse but Solid ducked and threw a right hook into Big Boss's face, catching him off guard and making him stumble back. Big Boss couldn't help but laugh at that,

"Good, you got your first punch, now the real challenge begins." Big Boss smiled and threw a flurry of strikes, Solid tried keeping his guard up but that's what Big Boss wanted as he then threw specific punches. Hitting openings in Solid's guard in order to grab him and put him in a clinch, he then threw multiple knee strikes into Solid's face then did a tough knee strike to break Solid's nose. Solid stumbled back, dazed from the knee strike.

"Don't show weakness!" Big Boss shouted as he dashed and struck Snake with an elbow strike leaving a gash on his face, making him draw blood and stunning the rookie. Big Boss then dashed behind him, wrapped his arms around Snake and lifted him to German Suplex him onto a table. Solid couldn't even get up as once he took a knee, the Mad Commander spun to hit Snake with a roundhouse then another and then booting his son in the face, worsening the cut and knocking Solid back. He never faced someone like this before, someone so quick, someone who is more skilled, someone like his own father,

" I can't do it…I can't fight him….I can't beat him…I don't want to fight him…I don't know why but I just can't…. " Solid thought worriedly,

"If you think lying down is going to stop me from killing your friends here, they won't. But I won't stop there, I still owe Miller a visit for what he did to me." Solid glanced up once he mentioned Kaz,

"'I'm with you, Boss. We'll see how it turns out, together.' Lying sack of shit, at least he can blame himself for failing to protect you and his daughter." said Big Boss with a grin, he knew he was getting under Solid's skin, he just needed to get him angry enough to show him what he's really made of. Snake slowly was getting himself up,

"Stay…stay away from them…" Solid mumbled, Big Boss turned and grinned wider,

"Oh I got your attention? You're actually going to fight back, boy or do I have to kill Madnar's little bastard daughter to do so or maybe Campbell and his niece, what was her name? Meryl…yeah Meryl, the one who always stood up for you. Wonder if she'd be a better challenge once I show her your corpse?!" taunted Big Boss, he felt the rage in his heart flow more and more, he gritted his teeth, not caring that he could taste his own blood or that it's gushing from the cut.

"I said…stay…away…from THEM!" shouted Snake as unknowing to Big Boss, Snake socked him in the jaw with a right hook. Snake leapt up then kicked Big Boss in the jaw in mid air then swung for a spinning kick but Big Boss caught his leg and slammed him down. Big Boss raised his fist, about to slam into Solid's face but the rookie quickly put his legs on his shoulders and tossed Big Boss forward with a leg throw, the Outer Heaven Commander rolled forward and raised his leg up and went for an axe kick but Sold caught his leg and jumped to dropkick Big Boss, knocking him backwards. Solid threw a kick but the commander answered back by catching the kick with a kick of his own, Big Boss threw a horizontal elbow but Solid caught him off guard with a stellar uppercut to crack his jaw then spun to strike him in the eyepatch with an elbow. The Commander stumbled back and grabbed his jaw only to feel something wet on his face, he felt it coming above his head. It was crimson and it was warm. Big Boss felt and saw his own blood slowly pouring out of him. He hadn't seen his own blood in a long time but it made him just smile.

"Good…now we can actually fight." sinisterly said Big Boss, he ripped his dress shirt off showing the large snake like scar running across his chest,

"This is the Mark of Innocence, once I pass this onto you, you'll forever be bound to this world, our real world." Big Boss madly rambled, Solid kicked him in the chest and then threw a jab but Big Boss struck his arm and went for a jab for his son's ribs but Solid countered by striking him in the face with a knee. Solid then climbed onto his father and put him in a guillotine chokehold. He felt Big Boss take a knee as he arched his back to tighten the choke hold even more, he gripped to press on the artery but suddenly Big Boss began laughing. Snake raised an eyebrow and felt Big Boss get up like nothing.

"Blood chokes? You aren't the first to do that but you can say I'm immune to it!" shouted Big Boss as he grabbed Solid's legs and slammed him through the floor, Big Boss then followed up by double stomping Snake's ribs, making his son spit out blood. He tried stomping Snake but he countered by spinning and sweeping his father's leg, Big Boss caught himself with one hand and kicked Snake's face while holding himself up. Solid stumbled backwards and saw Big Boss going for a roundhouse, he moved under the kick and lifted his father up in a hold then tossed him through a window with such aggression. Big Boss did a kip-up and went for a hook but Solid countered with an uppercut,

"That's for capturing your own comrades!" Snake shouted as lightning cracked in the sky, Big Boss tried attacking but Solid struck him in the ribs,

"That's for mentioning Kaz!" continued Snake he delivered punch after punch in Big Boss's ribs.

"That's for Cat, Meryl, Ellen, Campbell and all my allies!" shouted Snake but right before he could deliver one more punch, Big Boss caught his punch and then pushed Snake's face onto a railing, knocking him down. Before he could get up, Big Boss stomped his son's face into the floor, blooding his face more.

"There's no room for weakness in the battlefield! No room for emotions! This pain you feel, I will numb you like how she numbed me!" Big Boss shouted, Snake gritted his teeth tighter and roared as he pushed Big Boss's leg off his head. He then kicked Big Boss's knee to break his leg, Snake then got up and tackled Big Boss into another room in the building. Before Big Boss could fight back, Solid punched him right in the face,

"That's for the black eye I got on my seventh birthday from my first foster father!" Snake continued punching Big Boss over and over again in the face, his knuckles peeling skin off as he kept punching his father,

"That's for the broken arm when I was ten years old!" Snake's punching got more aggressive, he wasn't holding anything back as he was thinking about his childhood before Kaz,

"AND THIS IS FOR EVERY DAY I SPENT IN THE SYSTEM, EVERY PUNCH, EVERY BRUISE, EVERY BROKEN BONE BECAUSE. YOU. WEREN'T. THERE. FOR. ME!" He cried out as furious tears streamed down his face out of anger. He stopped for a brief moment, realizing what he was doing, he couldn't believe what this mission was doing to him but his thoughts were interrupted when Big Boss took advantage and punched Snake in the face. He rolled Snake onto his back and began to punch him in the face again, each punch stunning Snake even more. Suddenly, Big Boss took out a knife and lunged for a stab but Snake held his hands trying to push him back.

"There is no morality on the battlefield, Solid Snake! Violence breeds violence, in the end it has to be this way, it's only the rules of nature, our nature!" said Big Boss, he got the knife close to Snake and stabbed him, not deep enough to kill or wound but deep enough to scar. The Commander then began to drag the knife across Solid Snake's chest,

"I will teach you how to kill your pain, kill your fear, face your end, burn the fury, bury your sorrow and embrace your new joy!" madly rambled Big Boss,

"Go…go to hell!" Snake shouted as he jammed his finger into Big Boss's missing eye and slammed him head first into a wall, the commander kicked the rookie's leg and tackled Solid out of the room and both crashed and fell outside onto the center of the destruction, right in front of the destroyed remains of the TX-55. They both slowly were getting themselves up, Snake quickly removed Big Boss's knife and tossed it aside while Big Boss was getting up.

"This is it, Snake…prove your worth here in the place we all belong…prove to me who you really are!" demanded Big Boss, despite the pain and blood loss, Solid wasn't going to back down, he was going to end this one way or another. Solid Snake needed to end Big Boss right here.