DISCLAIMER AND SPOILER WARNING: I think it's clear that I am not Hideo Kojima and by no means is the Metal Gear Solid franchise my own.

If you have not gotten a chance to play Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, and you are still holding out against any possible spoilers ruining your experience, then click the proper button on your browser to go back to the last page. Otherwise, you will come across perhaps one of the larger plot twists in the series not revealed until the end of MGS4.

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It had been years since he walked upon such sacred ground, the resting place of so many comrades—even enemies. Aside from his being yet another casualty to time, little had changed. And how he longed for the past; back then, even in the midst of an ideological struggle that threatened to plunge the world into nuclear war at any given moment, everything was pure; one could serve with conviction and die with the privilege of knowing that life was given in the name of a cause worth fighting to preserve. Patriots lived and died on both sides of the wall dividing one another from unity. Labels existed, but those on the ground knew they meant nothing when the first shell plummeted into the dark earth, soon to be soaked with the blood of warriors.

But what had they fought for really?

Big Boss thought he knew. Operation Snake Eater robbed him of his innocence, for once he had been a virgin on the battlefield, another child surviving the growing pains of combat. Yet he held out some sense of lasting duty which he believed would never escape him. The Boss, his mentor, possessed it even as her life was snapped with one bullet delivered by her greatest pupil. All that remained was her legacy.

Though Arlington stood as the resting place for soldiers from across the generations, it remained peaceful, eerily calm—unlike the fields of war these patriots drew their last breaths upon. So much of it brought back memories for the oft proclaimed greatest soldier in history. With each step along the path, Big Boss recalled the moment he finally sought to begin his own legacy, though he remained trapped in the shadow of that mission which stole the light given to him by The Boss. For years he could not escape that darkness, and in his quest for a new freedom the legendary soldier sold his soul to the devil, the man he once saw as a friend—a brother in arms.

Zero. The old fool used The Boss' dream as a means to an end. At first, though, Big Boss trusted him as he always had. They all trusted him. But Zero proved to be all too human—an individual with a growing ambition that went from admirable to unquenchable over the course of a decade. By the time Big Boss came to understand this, the deed could not be undone by any other mortal.

He should have known! There was no excuse. No longer was he the child taking his first steps across the corpses of those he buried with his own hands. Zero betrayed him so blatantly, so disgustingly, that no other choice existed. Only absolute revolution could be wrought, a rebirth of the liberty suffocated by the growing shadows. Once more, the world would need to be brought back into balance.

Balance.

That word in particular resonated through Big Boss' mind. It pulsated with even greater ferocity as he finally came across the one thing that could give his violent soul calm. Her grave, the only physical remnant of the true legacy, gave him much needed strength. Even so, Big Boss, deadlier than any human past or present, collapsed to his knees, caring not about the condition of the well kept suit he now always wore.

Slowly, he raised a gloved hand to touch the weathered stone. He needed guidance—his mother's guidance. Big Boss' hand, steady enough to make use of any weaponry mankind could produce, shook violently now. As soon as he made contact with the gravestone, the legendary soldier withdrew almost immediately. A small smile—genuine, not one crafted by the thrill of battle—made itself apparent amongst Big Boss' aged features.

"Boss… I'm here."

Big Boss knew she could hear him from the other side. Even though he presented himself as a practical man, and for the most part he was, he knew the spirit of the warrior did not find itself bound to physical limitations. After seeing so many die, often by his own doing, Big Boss grew accustomed to the silent whispers of the dead of the battlefield. Sometimes they cursed him, other times they gave him advice, but none of them could ever match the power of The Boss. Whenever she spoke, her words were crisp and clear. They never once failed her beloved disciple.

"I apologize for not returning sooner, but the time has almost come." Big Boss found himself at a loss for words. Gradually, his throat, swollen by unbridled emotion, permitted the old soldier to speak. "Your dream… will soon be realized."

Quiet remained. A soft breeze drew fresh flower petals over the gravesite. Yet Big Boss now began to frown, emotions of rapture sullied by darker torrents of despair.

"Why, Boss? Why do you refuse to speak to me?"

After The Boss' death, Big Boss would hear her voice just when felt himself lost in the darkness. The first occurrence was when he fought Ocelot—Adamska, now his brother—on the WiG. Though he had bested Ocelot in their first few encounters, Big Boss was on the receiving end throughout most of what was then believed to be their final battle. His focus wavered, psyche and spirit still left in tatters by the death of The Boss by his own actions.

And then she spoke.

"Snake…"

She told him what he needed to do. Such simple instruction renewed his spirit. Big Boss—Naked Snake—began anew. Yet his mentor's teachings still remained unfinished. Now they risked being completely corrupted.

After the break with Zero, however, The Boss' voice ceased all so suddenly. Big Boss certainly felt unsettled by this development, though he did not let such a thing stop him. Many more missions were left to complete. There could be no reminiscing; no signs of weakness on the battlefield. Not until now, at least.

"Outer Heaven is almost ready. The world you always wanted. No longer will soldiers be tools of their governments." Big Boss' voice wavered increasingly with each word uttered. "What happened to you… to all of us… will cease."

He waited for her response once more. Still there was none. Big Boss stared at the grave with an expression of disbelief. The old soldier's slow, steadied breathing stuttered slightly.

How could she do this?

"What do you want of me?" Big Boss let his glance wander away from the tombstone. Suddenly he could not bear to have it in his sight. "Zero is tearing the world apart in your name! How can I let him turn our comrades into puppets? He betrayed us!"

Once absorbed by despair, Big Boss now grew increasingly irritated. She would abandon him and the soldiers of the world without a word? There could be no neutral ground in this coming war. Because of Zero's lust of dominance, a terrible monster had been borne into a society already divided by petty ideologies. Big Boss' misplaced faith cost so many comrades too dearly to be merely tallied as some forgivable lapse of judgment.

Big Boss heaved out a sigh. Anger still danced along the edges of his spirit. "I only want to save your dream."

Silence.

"Have I done something wrong? Tell me now so I can correct my mistake before it is too late!"

Still no answer.

He waited and waited, but still nothing.

"So be it…"

In defiance, Big Boss drew to his full height and stared down at the tombstone. The feeling of subservience melted away in the fires of his passion. He was no longer that child, Naked Snake, left out in the cold, wondering why certain things were beyond his power. He was Big Boss, the sole heir to the greatest legacy in human history. What began in Russia decades ago now came full circle in his—no, their mounting revolution.

"Outer Heaven is the culmination of your sacrifice. Do as you will, Boss, on the other side. I might not know why you spite me at this hour, but I certainly know what must be done." Big Boss' clenched his fist. Never before had he been so defiant and resolute in The Boss' presence. But what could she offer now?

The old soldier continued to burn with an inner fury. Years spent without her spirit to give him answers. For what reason? Perhaps she has lost faith in him, but he would never lose his faith in her. Even so, it was clear now to Big Boss that he truly no longer stood in the shadow of his mentor. No, no; now he was free. Now there would be a new legacy. A legacy uncorrupted by the sins of mankind.

Thus he would need to destroy the sins created by Zero.

There could only be one Snake, and one Boss.

"We will succeed. I have no doubts. Then you will return, and you will be proud."

Big Boss smirked in an almost wicked fashion. The genuine smile he offered as Naked Snake the disciple was replaced by that of Big Boss the messiah. Zero would pay the still unfathomable consequences. Likewise, those monsters he created from Big Boss' own body would be erased from the planet completely. And it would start with the one molded the closest in his image: not Solidus, groomed unwittingly by the Patriots to keep the meme alive, nor Liquid, who long ago matured into the new age of war, but rather the one which still retained his innocence.

A replicate of the original sin; the successor to Naked Snake, soon to be doomed in the bowels of Outer Heaven—if he even made it that far.

"Zero is willing to place his faith in a child in order to destroy me!" Big Boss raised his voice, spite apparent with each word spoken. "To destroy us! The very thing they built from the fabric of my body! An insult to our name! All that we accomplished will not be undone by a mere copy! A fraud!"

The legacy.

"The boy cannot survive. He is truly unworthy. He is a Snake in name only, a failed experiment produced by a dying society and an abomination."

Zero thought he could use a Snake to destroy The Boss once again. In this case, history would not repeat itself. Big Boss already knew how the story was intended to proceed. He would crush his lesser offspring and send a message straight to Zero himself. And through it all the world would be reborn.

"There can only be one Snake… and one Boss!"

Balance.

"The world shall be cleansed once more!"

Drawing a deep breath, Big Boss straightened his posture. Quickly he calmed his rattling nerves, titillated by the prospect of meeting the challenges to the incoming new order. Once more, he paid his final respects to the woman who set him free. The revolution began—or rather continued—with a crisp salute. And soon enough, the cycle would once more repeat itself.

"But until then, Boss, I must reclaim what has been taken from us."

Yet the dream would never perish.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is really the product of a thought that struck me during a late night not too long ago. A disparity certainly exists between the Big Boss of the old games, wherein he's depicted as a warmongering madman, and when we're given more information about him throughout the Metal Gear Solid series. The gap is most likely due to Hideo Kojima altering the grand scheme several times (which is understandable to an extent). However, none of it was truly reconciled. In the end, we're given a very sympathetic portrait of Big Boss, the reluctant warrior fighting in the name of liberty, ignoring the fact he wanted to plunge the world into unceasing conflict which would be fueled by future generations (namely child soldiers such as Raiden). Even with the possible disillusionment he suffered, Big Boss still comes across as a sociopath, especially in his final conversation with Snake in Metal Gear II.

Certainly this little piece is neither grand enough nor precisely written to capture the radical change of Big Boss. All I hoped to do was explore just a bit of that conflict, the last gasp of the innocent Naked Snake still at a loss after all these years. I also wanted to display the varying personalities his sons inherited, from Solid Snake's humble frankness, to Solidus' bombastic self-assuredness, and finally Liquid's myopic determination.

Anyhow, enough trying to explain away everything. I hope you had some sense of satisfaction in reading this little piece.