Fanfiction - Sight (III)
Title: Sight (Part III)
Pairing: Snake x Otacon
Rating: Relatively inoffensive. Some "mild horror" as the BBFC(whateveracronym) board would put it.
Comment: Oh yeah, I forgot! Thanks shadowstark for beta-ing the whole thing. ^_^;; *hits self*
Previous:
Part I - Fitting the description
Part II - Nightmares
This chapter:
Part III - A Moment Of Weakness
I had to give him credit, he was determined. But burning himself out wasn't going to make leads appear faster, nor keep him alert enough when doing sensitive coding. I told him this quite firmly once I woke him up, blissfully unaware of the keyboard-shaped pattern on his face.
"I want this over with..." he said miserably. "Every minute we sit idle there could be a nuclear threat..."
"We have to live as well, Hal." I purposely selected his real name to give him pause, and remind him he was not a superhero, hiding behind an alias. "Sleeping and eating and those necessities; you can't just cut them out. And we will still make time for the things we want to do. There's no point giving up your life for this. It won't end it forever."
"But if we could -"
"You can't. It's impossible to try, so don't. We can do all we can, and that's it." I used my best, "end of subject" voice to close the matter, before heading out of the room. "Get changed or something, and we'll see about getting some actual plans together..."
I kind of expected a reply from him, but all I got was silence.
We pored over plans for most of the day, and I was getting quite frustrated with Hal's good intentions, trying to make him understand there would be no place for them in a life or death situation. No, if I were cornered, "negotiating" was not going to be an option. This was where his inexperience was laid wide open, not knowing how the world of subterfuge ran. There was no one to bail us out, and I had to make him understand this.
"This isn't a movie, Otacon - there's no happy ending, no depending on luck or some divine intervention. We could die. We could be tortured. We can't afford any mistakes. Do you understand?!"
I was furious that he would try to undertake something as serious as this without thinking of such things prior to agreeing.
Otacon didn't argue back, though. He seemed tired, although he was doing his best not to let it show. There were bags under his eyes and they gazed unfocusedly at our plans, although when he spoke he seemed alert and aware of what was going on. I had faith, though. I knew he was up to the job; he'd proved that back at Shadow Moses. I suspected that the way Metal Gear had come back to haunt him was hurting him pretty deeply, but he just wasn't saying so aloud, and he would probably return to form... eventually.
I mulled over this. Some friend I was, if we were working as a team and I was leaving him to suffer alone. He'd stuck by me and the least I could do was return the favor. Made me feel uncomfortable, though. I wasn't the best person for that sort of thing. It was much easier when I stayed away from people: I dealt with my problems, they could deal with theirs.
Ah, who was I fooling? Meryl had been right. I'd deserved all I got.
"... Want some coffee?" I offered in a mumble, getting up. "You look like you could use a break."
"Huh? ... Y-yeah, please." He rubbed his eyes. I rolled my eyes. Hopefully I wouldn't have to tell him when it was bedtime as well. I had my limits - I could help, but I wasn't about to prescribe.
The coffee machine whirred happily to fill the quiet that had returned, until Otacon spoke first. "I'm sorry."
I had my suspicions, but I wasn't about to stick my foot in my mouth. "For what?"
"... You know if I hadn't created it, then -"
"You can't change what happened, and you didn't do it deliberately." My tone was a little blunt, but I couldn't help but still be somewhat bitter about it. I couldn't blame Otacon. His part was still undeniable, but he was clearly suffering enough for it without mine added to his.
"Mm." He turned rather quiet again. "I guess." His voice lacked its usual bounce, and I felt a little bit guilty. I'd hurt him, hadn't I. The guilt stung, as much as I tried to remain indifferent. Dammit. When did he actually manage to get under my skin? His honesty and desire for a better world were very disarming qualities, I suppose, and they'd done an effective number on me.
I gave a little bit of a sigh as I handed over the coffee. "You're trying to shoulder a responsibility that isn't all yours. The fact that you're trying shows that you're genuinely sorry for it. Everyone makes mistakes, but you were manipulated, which is different. You meant the best when you made it." I clapped a hand to his shoulder to give an encouraging shake, and a prickle of unease went down my spine when it took him sometime to reply.
"Yeah... you're right."
It still sounded subdued, mumbled inside his mug. The tone dragged my spirits down with it. I must've become pretty dependent on his optimism, because now I was apparently getting withdrawal...
I scooped up the plans, deciding it was time to call it a day before I did any further damage. We had achieved so much in so little time to have the barebones of our plan laid out before us, without a team or resources available to aid us. I had to be a little proud - he might be naïve, but he was still a genius. "Come on, mastermind. We should recharge batteries before going over these again."
"Mm." I was glad he followed when I left the table - I didn't have to order him around, and I was hoping he understood the sentiment. I also hoped after a good night's sleep, he'd regain his enthusiasm again, bounce back into the fighting spirit he'd shown before. I let him take the bathroom first, and went to lie on my bed in thought; empty my head so I was ready for sleep.
I could hear him pacing around the bathroom, clumsily dropping something, likely his toothbrush. It made me smile a bit. I couldn't help but ponder this as I'd wondered it before: why did he affect me so much? I'd had a few close friends before - Roy, Frank... Frank was probably the only one nearly as close to me. But he was nothing like Hal; he was all muscles and battle-smart, a real soldier. Where was the connection?
I heard Otacon fumble his way out of the bathroom. "Bathroom's free," he announced, far too late. I got up and took advantage, and I paused on the way back out. No whirring of laptop. I then headed for bed myself.
Sleep came quickly and comfortingly. I didn't even know how long I had been asleep, dreamless, when I heard him scream.
My eyes shot open, adrenaline pounding before I had even awakened. I didn't waste a second on thought; I grabbed my gun and ran to his room, kicking the door open as I entered so I could surprise any intruder.
There were none, but my fear didn't diminish, either.
Hal was tossing in his bed like his bedclothes were a serpent wrapped around him, choking him as he continued to yell. It was terrifying to watch him in such apparent agony.
I lowered my gun; the only enemy here was in his dreams, and I would have to be cautious in how I woke him. I reached over and untangled the sheets from his trembling body, and then managed to grab his shoulder and shake it. "Wake up!" I said to him, but it didn't seem to register, perhaps he couldn't hear me over the sound of his own yelling. I shook him harder, hoping I wouldn't have to slap him to make him awake. "Hal, you're dreaming, wake up!"
When he struggled against my hand, his yelling died down, and slowly and blearily his eyes opened, but they were full of terror. I wondered what to say, but he never gave me the chance - he pulled free of my grip and crawled away from me in a panic, drawing himself into the corner of the room like a frightened animal.
"Otacon... it's me... just me..."
"Y-You..." his voice trembled, and his breathing was erratic, unstable.
"You were having a nightmare..." I began, trying to soothe, but he shouted over my speech.
"No, no, it was real! You did it... you did it... you..." he was babbling, raving; this was chilling me to the core. Had he really lost his mind?
"What, Hal?" I asked softly, for lack of any better ideas.
The words rung out hard and cold, reverberating in my mind, eating into it like acid. "You killed her... it didn't matter if she begged you or not, you wanted to kill her, you didn't want me to have her, she loved me and she loved the dogs and you killed her..."
A hard lump formed in my throat, and I could no longer speak. Hal kept on, filling the silence.
"You tore her apart, ripped her limbs off her still-breathing body, savaged her before my eyes and laughed... laughed at me, for thinking I could have her, laughed at me for being weak, laughed at her for being weak enough to ask for mercy, letting her die like a dog..."
"That's.... that's enough..." I croaked, the words cutting deeper than any blade or bullet.
"And... and the girl... you sacrificed her, you let them torture her in your stead, you didn't care if she died for you; she deserved all she got, you said, for slowing you down..."
"I didn't..."
"... shot her, her blood stained your face and you just carried on until she became a bloodied pincushion..."
"I would never do that." I said this with more conviction.
"You're a killer..." When he said it, I just felt the seams of my soul fall apart. I never wanted to hear it spoken from his lips. "You're just helping me with Metal Gear so you have an excuse to kill again, slaughter all the nameless soldiers in your way... if I didn't help, I'd be of no use to you, would I?"
I was frozen, numbed by these accusations. Somehow, he'd caught me off-guard when I should've been heeding all the warning signs, and he snatched the gun from my hand with astonishing ease. I didn't even see him move for it.
"I don't want to be part of this! I don't want to be a tool for your murdering!"
"Hal!" I dropped to my knees as he turned the gun towards himself with trembling hands. I had no idea what was going on. This was becoming my own personal nightmare, and there seemed to be nothing I could do. I clung to hope I could reason with him, as despair threatened to take over. "Please, don't do it... I'm not... it was a dream..."
"... You killed my love..." Otacon's tone had changed utterly: from the hysterical tone of before to utterly flat, toneless, seeking an end.
"I'm sorry!" I slumped to the ground as it all attacked me, all the suffering I'd brought him, all he was telling me, crushing me with its weight. "God, Otacon... I'm sorry... please..." I felt hollowed inside, fractured, broken not by a soldier or gargantuan robot, but by a scientist.
The gun pointed at me. I wasn't entirely surprised, but it was better than having it point at himself. How long had he been suffering this alone, and I hadn't cared to notice? I felt so much pain and regret I almost no longer cared if he pulled the trigger or not in that moment. I tried to look up, to make eye contact and find the man I knew in there and show my sincerity.
A sliver of the coldest ice seemed to run down my spine as I gazed at his face. It was slack and emotionless, his grip on the gun hopelessly loose and unwieldy.
I remembered a moment like this before.
"Snake..." Otacon's face lifted into the most disturbing smile, muscles twitched upward around his lips to form a grotesquely lopsided grin. "You're mine now..." I only saw a few moments after this: his eyes falling closed and his body shudder before starting to fall, and when this happened I felt the emptiness inside me filled - not with peace, but with a colder thing, becoming one with what I can only describe as my soul - not the brain where I thought and reasoned - the part where I felt and had instinct.
"Y-you..." I gritted out from between my teeth, trying to repel it from my body. I could feel a slight chattering behind my conscious thoughts, something reading them like they were a mildly interesting book. "Get... out of there..."
I heard the cackling fill the whole room, although the only way it could've possibly existed was in my own head. "Oh, you figured it out?" The voice was full of triumphant mock-disappointment. "No matter, the show was far too entertaining to miss... the great Solid Snake falling to his knees to a weak little creature like him..."
I looked up, trying to make my limbs obey my will and stand, but either I was in too much shock, or he was keeping me fixed; I didn't know or care when I saw his apparition floated above me. "You're supposed to be dead." I informed him weakly.
"I had never died before..." he remarked softly. "Who knew such powers could be passed on after death?" His voice became harder. "A waste of you letting me have my last words..."
"Why?" I pressed, trying to make sense of this. Why me, why now, why did he hurt Otacon... I didn't have the strength to ask it, but... I knew I didn't need to.
"Dying is... draining. It is hard to fit into an occupied soul, if a person is strong in spirit. I need a strong body... and who better than my murderer's? It seems fitting." The apparition folded its arms like this justified the matter perfectly. "How was easy enough... the girl was lost; I helped her through that minefield so she could be near you... I just had to pick the right time. I was weak, very weak... I could not change bodies when she was removed from you, nor risk revealing myself. But you saved her... I heard them say so.
"It took a long time... trying to break you down enough that I could get what I wanted. Even she didn't know what she wanted by the end of it, either. So I moved to you." He hissed. "Until that little friend of yours started making you stronger. So I moved to him out of desperation... oh, he was a mess inside, so easy to destroy... nudging him to do a little research on Metal Gear, giving him the passwords and codes he needed to see the odds against him. And you, showing him the harsh face of reality. He broke when I showed him his fears in his dreams, so much more easily than when I did it to you..."
"You gave me those...?!"
"Yes." He interrupted me. There was no point in talking. "And then breaking you..." He laughed. "It took such a short amount of time to use him..."
"You...." I wanted to wring his neck and keep him dead, and as I thought it, the image vanished.
"Snake, I'm now part of you. You can't kill me."
"I'll find a way..." I said tightly, feeling rather ill at harboring this parasite.
"Of course, of course..." the voice said, rather unconcernedly. "But until I force you out, I would remind you I was the most powerful-"
My limbs moved of their own accord, pulling me up from the floor.
"Practitioner-"
I stepped forward, picked up the gun.
"Of psychokinesis..."
I raised it.
"... and telepathy in the world!"
I pointed it at Otacon.
"I am Psycho Mantis."
"Stop!" I yelled aloud, and the gun dropped to the floor.
"Good, Snake." Mantis whispered in my mind. "Now, you share this body with me for a while and perhaps I'll be able to put you in some other corpse when I'm done with you. Then we can have our re-match."
Then there was silence.
"... Mantis?"
No answer, but I still felt uneasy inside. I knew he wasn't gone. I was no fool. Fool enough though, I thought bitterly, to fall for a trick, using my trust like that...
... I wasn't going to let it happen again.
----
Thanks to the people who commented last time, by the way. It's not that I want "OMG REVIEWZ OR I WON'T WRITE" kind of whoring, it's just the feeling of talking to no-one/performing to an empty audience when you have zilch comments a fortnight later. Thanks for reading so far. ^_^
----
Pairing: Snake x Otacon
Rating: Relatively inoffensive. Some "mild horror" as the BBFC(whateveracronym) board would put it.
Comment: Oh yeah, I forgot! Thanks shadowstark for beta-ing the whole thing. ^_^;; *hits self*
Previous:
Part I - Fitting the description
Part II - Nightmares
This chapter:
Part III - A Moment Of Weakness
I had to give him credit, he was determined. But burning himself out wasn't going to make leads appear faster, nor keep him alert enough when doing sensitive coding. I told him this quite firmly once I woke him up, blissfully unaware of the keyboard-shaped pattern on his face.
"I want this over with..." he said miserably. "Every minute we sit idle there could be a nuclear threat..."
"We have to live as well, Hal." I purposely selected his real name to give him pause, and remind him he was not a superhero, hiding behind an alias. "Sleeping and eating and those necessities; you can't just cut them out. And we will still make time for the things we want to do. There's no point giving up your life for this. It won't end it forever."
"But if we could -"
"You can't. It's impossible to try, so don't. We can do all we can, and that's it." I used my best, "end of subject" voice to close the matter, before heading out of the room. "Get changed or something, and we'll see about getting some actual plans together..."
I kind of expected a reply from him, but all I got was silence.
We pored over plans for most of the day, and I was getting quite frustrated with Hal's good intentions, trying to make him understand there would be no place for them in a life or death situation. No, if I were cornered, "negotiating" was not going to be an option. This was where his inexperience was laid wide open, not knowing how the world of subterfuge ran. There was no one to bail us out, and I had to make him understand this.
"This isn't a movie, Otacon - there's no happy ending, no depending on luck or some divine intervention. We could die. We could be tortured. We can't afford any mistakes. Do you understand?!"
I was furious that he would try to undertake something as serious as this without thinking of such things prior to agreeing.
Otacon didn't argue back, though. He seemed tired, although he was doing his best not to let it show. There were bags under his eyes and they gazed unfocusedly at our plans, although when he spoke he seemed alert and aware of what was going on. I had faith, though. I knew he was up to the job; he'd proved that back at Shadow Moses. I suspected that the way Metal Gear had come back to haunt him was hurting him pretty deeply, but he just wasn't saying so aloud, and he would probably return to form... eventually.
I mulled over this. Some friend I was, if we were working as a team and I was leaving him to suffer alone. He'd stuck by me and the least I could do was return the favor. Made me feel uncomfortable, though. I wasn't the best person for that sort of thing. It was much easier when I stayed away from people: I dealt with my problems, they could deal with theirs.
Ah, who was I fooling? Meryl had been right. I'd deserved all I got.
"... Want some coffee?" I offered in a mumble, getting up. "You look like you could use a break."
"Huh? ... Y-yeah, please." He rubbed his eyes. I rolled my eyes. Hopefully I wouldn't have to tell him when it was bedtime as well. I had my limits - I could help, but I wasn't about to prescribe.
The coffee machine whirred happily to fill the quiet that had returned, until Otacon spoke first. "I'm sorry."
I had my suspicions, but I wasn't about to stick my foot in my mouth. "For what?"
"... You know if I hadn't created it, then -"
"You can't change what happened, and you didn't do it deliberately." My tone was a little blunt, but I couldn't help but still be somewhat bitter about it. I couldn't blame Otacon. His part was still undeniable, but he was clearly suffering enough for it without mine added to his.
"Mm." He turned rather quiet again. "I guess." His voice lacked its usual bounce, and I felt a little bit guilty. I'd hurt him, hadn't I. The guilt stung, as much as I tried to remain indifferent. Dammit. When did he actually manage to get under my skin? His honesty and desire for a better world were very disarming qualities, I suppose, and they'd done an effective number on me.
I gave a little bit of a sigh as I handed over the coffee. "You're trying to shoulder a responsibility that isn't all yours. The fact that you're trying shows that you're genuinely sorry for it. Everyone makes mistakes, but you were manipulated, which is different. You meant the best when you made it." I clapped a hand to his shoulder to give an encouraging shake, and a prickle of unease went down my spine when it took him sometime to reply.
"Yeah... you're right."
It still sounded subdued, mumbled inside his mug. The tone dragged my spirits down with it. I must've become pretty dependent on his optimism, because now I was apparently getting withdrawal...
I scooped up the plans, deciding it was time to call it a day before I did any further damage. We had achieved so much in so little time to have the barebones of our plan laid out before us, without a team or resources available to aid us. I had to be a little proud - he might be naïve, but he was still a genius. "Come on, mastermind. We should recharge batteries before going over these again."
"Mm." I was glad he followed when I left the table - I didn't have to order him around, and I was hoping he understood the sentiment. I also hoped after a good night's sleep, he'd regain his enthusiasm again, bounce back into the fighting spirit he'd shown before. I let him take the bathroom first, and went to lie on my bed in thought; empty my head so I was ready for sleep.
I could hear him pacing around the bathroom, clumsily dropping something, likely his toothbrush. It made me smile a bit. I couldn't help but ponder this as I'd wondered it before: why did he affect me so much? I'd had a few close friends before - Roy, Frank... Frank was probably the only one nearly as close to me. But he was nothing like Hal; he was all muscles and battle-smart, a real soldier. Where was the connection?
I heard Otacon fumble his way out of the bathroom. "Bathroom's free," he announced, far too late. I got up and took advantage, and I paused on the way back out. No whirring of laptop. I then headed for bed myself.
Sleep came quickly and comfortingly. I didn't even know how long I had been asleep, dreamless, when I heard him scream.
My eyes shot open, adrenaline pounding before I had even awakened. I didn't waste a second on thought; I grabbed my gun and ran to his room, kicking the door open as I entered so I could surprise any intruder.
There were none, but my fear didn't diminish, either.
Hal was tossing in his bed like his bedclothes were a serpent wrapped around him, choking him as he continued to yell. It was terrifying to watch him in such apparent agony.
I lowered my gun; the only enemy here was in his dreams, and I would have to be cautious in how I woke him. I reached over and untangled the sheets from his trembling body, and then managed to grab his shoulder and shake it. "Wake up!" I said to him, but it didn't seem to register, perhaps he couldn't hear me over the sound of his own yelling. I shook him harder, hoping I wouldn't have to slap him to make him awake. "Hal, you're dreaming, wake up!"
When he struggled against my hand, his yelling died down, and slowly and blearily his eyes opened, but they were full of terror. I wondered what to say, but he never gave me the chance - he pulled free of my grip and crawled away from me in a panic, drawing himself into the corner of the room like a frightened animal.
"Otacon... it's me... just me..."
"Y-You..." his voice trembled, and his breathing was erratic, unstable.
"You were having a nightmare..." I began, trying to soothe, but he shouted over my speech.
"No, no, it was real! You did it... you did it... you..." he was babbling, raving; this was chilling me to the core. Had he really lost his mind?
"What, Hal?" I asked softly, for lack of any better ideas.
The words rung out hard and cold, reverberating in my mind, eating into it like acid. "You killed her... it didn't matter if she begged you or not, you wanted to kill her, you didn't want me to have her, she loved me and she loved the dogs and you killed her..."
A hard lump formed in my throat, and I could no longer speak. Hal kept on, filling the silence.
"You tore her apart, ripped her limbs off her still-breathing body, savaged her before my eyes and laughed... laughed at me, for thinking I could have her, laughed at me for being weak, laughed at her for being weak enough to ask for mercy, letting her die like a dog..."
"That's.... that's enough..." I croaked, the words cutting deeper than any blade or bullet.
"And... and the girl... you sacrificed her, you let them torture her in your stead, you didn't care if she died for you; she deserved all she got, you said, for slowing you down..."
"I didn't..."
"... shot her, her blood stained your face and you just carried on until she became a bloodied pincushion..."
"I would never do that." I said this with more conviction.
"You're a killer..." When he said it, I just felt the seams of my soul fall apart. I never wanted to hear it spoken from his lips. "You're just helping me with Metal Gear so you have an excuse to kill again, slaughter all the nameless soldiers in your way... if I didn't help, I'd be of no use to you, would I?"
I was frozen, numbed by these accusations. Somehow, he'd caught me off-guard when I should've been heeding all the warning signs, and he snatched the gun from my hand with astonishing ease. I didn't even see him move for it.
"I don't want to be part of this! I don't want to be a tool for your murdering!"
"Hal!" I dropped to my knees as he turned the gun towards himself with trembling hands. I had no idea what was going on. This was becoming my own personal nightmare, and there seemed to be nothing I could do. I clung to hope I could reason with him, as despair threatened to take over. "Please, don't do it... I'm not... it was a dream..."
"... You killed my love..." Otacon's tone had changed utterly: from the hysterical tone of before to utterly flat, toneless, seeking an end.
"I'm sorry!" I slumped to the ground as it all attacked me, all the suffering I'd brought him, all he was telling me, crushing me with its weight. "God, Otacon... I'm sorry... please..." I felt hollowed inside, fractured, broken not by a soldier or gargantuan robot, but by a scientist.
The gun pointed at me. I wasn't entirely surprised, but it was better than having it point at himself. How long had he been suffering this alone, and I hadn't cared to notice? I felt so much pain and regret I almost no longer cared if he pulled the trigger or not in that moment. I tried to look up, to make eye contact and find the man I knew in there and show my sincerity.
A sliver of the coldest ice seemed to run down my spine as I gazed at his face. It was slack and emotionless, his grip on the gun hopelessly loose and unwieldy.
I remembered a moment like this before.
"Snake..." Otacon's face lifted into the most disturbing smile, muscles twitched upward around his lips to form a grotesquely lopsided grin. "You're mine now..." I only saw a few moments after this: his eyes falling closed and his body shudder before starting to fall, and when this happened I felt the emptiness inside me filled - not with peace, but with a colder thing, becoming one with what I can only describe as my soul - not the brain where I thought and reasoned - the part where I felt and had instinct.
"Y-you..." I gritted out from between my teeth, trying to repel it from my body. I could feel a slight chattering behind my conscious thoughts, something reading them like they were a mildly interesting book. "Get... out of there..."
I heard the cackling fill the whole room, although the only way it could've possibly existed was in my own head. "Oh, you figured it out?" The voice was full of triumphant mock-disappointment. "No matter, the show was far too entertaining to miss... the great Solid Snake falling to his knees to a weak little creature like him..."
I looked up, trying to make my limbs obey my will and stand, but either I was in too much shock, or he was keeping me fixed; I didn't know or care when I saw his apparition floated above me. "You're supposed to be dead." I informed him weakly.
"I had never died before..." he remarked softly. "Who knew such powers could be passed on after death?" His voice became harder. "A waste of you letting me have my last words..."
"Why?" I pressed, trying to make sense of this. Why me, why now, why did he hurt Otacon... I didn't have the strength to ask it, but... I knew I didn't need to.
"Dying is... draining. It is hard to fit into an occupied soul, if a person is strong in spirit. I need a strong body... and who better than my murderer's? It seems fitting." The apparition folded its arms like this justified the matter perfectly. "How was easy enough... the girl was lost; I helped her through that minefield so she could be near you... I just had to pick the right time. I was weak, very weak... I could not change bodies when she was removed from you, nor risk revealing myself. But you saved her... I heard them say so.
"It took a long time... trying to break you down enough that I could get what I wanted. Even she didn't know what she wanted by the end of it, either. So I moved to you." He hissed. "Until that little friend of yours started making you stronger. So I moved to him out of desperation... oh, he was a mess inside, so easy to destroy... nudging him to do a little research on Metal Gear, giving him the passwords and codes he needed to see the odds against him. And you, showing him the harsh face of reality. He broke when I showed him his fears in his dreams, so much more easily than when I did it to you..."
"You gave me those...?!"
"Yes." He interrupted me. There was no point in talking. "And then breaking you..." He laughed. "It took such a short amount of time to use him..."
"You...." I wanted to wring his neck and keep him dead, and as I thought it, the image vanished.
"Snake, I'm now part of you. You can't kill me."
"I'll find a way..." I said tightly, feeling rather ill at harboring this parasite.
"Of course, of course..." the voice said, rather unconcernedly. "But until I force you out, I would remind you I was the most powerful-"
My limbs moved of their own accord, pulling me up from the floor.
"Practitioner-"
I stepped forward, picked up the gun.
"Of psychokinesis..."
I raised it.
"... and telepathy in the world!"
I pointed it at Otacon.
"I am Psycho Mantis."
"Stop!" I yelled aloud, and the gun dropped to the floor.
"Good, Snake." Mantis whispered in my mind. "Now, you share this body with me for a while and perhaps I'll be able to put you in some other corpse when I'm done with you. Then we can have our re-match."
Then there was silence.
"... Mantis?"
No answer, but I still felt uneasy inside. I knew he wasn't gone. I was no fool. Fool enough though, I thought bitterly, to fall for a trick, using my trust like that...
... I wasn't going to let it happen again.
----
Thanks to the people who commented last time, by the way. It's not that I want "OMG REVIEWZ OR I WON'T WRITE" kind of whoring, it's just the feeling of talking to no-one/performing to an empty audience when you have zilch comments a fortnight later. Thanks for reading so far. ^_^
----