Peach moved left, right, left again. Dodging the attacks her opponent threw her way. She evaded an attack and tried to counter-attack, but her opponent caught her arm.

"Gotta be a lot quicker than that Peach!" Snake, her opponent, said to her. She smiled at her sparring partner. Snake tossed her back but she was ready, and did a recovery roll as she hit the ground. She did a low sweep, causing Snake to leap back to avoid it. She rolled forward and struck Snake with a dashing kick to the torso.

"How was that?" she asked.

"Better." Snake grinned.

Peach went on the offensive, attacking Snake with a barrage of punches and kicks. He dodged, blocked, used every method of defending against them. He finally countered with a left cross to Peach's right cheek. He went for a roundhouse kick, but Peach ducked under it just in time. She lifted her leg up and kicked Snake right under the chin, making him stagger back. She charged forward for a dash attack, but this proved to be a mistake. Using her own momentum against her, he grabbed her arm and easily slammed her to the ground with a CQC throw. Before they could continue sparring, a bell rang and signified the end.

"Well we're out of time." Snake said.

"Darn! And it was just getting fun! What did you think Zelda?" She asked the Princess of Hyrule, who she brought with her to Snake's training room.

Zelda looked shocked by the performance. She had never seen Peach fight the way she did during that sparring match.

"Peach, I've never seen you use some of those techniques before! Where did they come from?" She questioned.

"He taught them to me. Didn't I tell you?"

"No!"

"Oh! I must have forgot!" She giggled.

"Yeah. I used to spar with her once a month upon her request. I'd teach her a few things. Now she comes in every day." Snake chuckled.

Zelda looked at the man. He looked happy, calm, approachable. This was a complete opposite of how he was when he first entered the third tournament.

"Snake. Can I ask you a question?" Zelda spoke.

"Sure."

"When did you…how should I say it…mellow out?"

Snake looked perplexed by what she was asking, and Peach along with him. Zelda felt the need to specify. "What I meant is things like training people, helping people with personal problems, you use to not do these things."

Snake nodded as he realized what she meant. "Oh yeah. I used to be a real bastard back then. You're asking how that changed?"

"Well I'd never phrase it in such a blunt manner, but yes that's what I'm asking."

"That's a good question." Snake said, sitting down on a chair and pondered the question. "I guess you can say you people rubbed off on me."

Zelda looked at Peach confused. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that you people were nice to me."

"Huh?"

"Why don't we go back in time for a bit…"

Let's start back when we just defeated Tabuu, and put an end to the Subspace Incident. A party was thrown in celebration of this achievement. I never was a party guy. I'm not big on them now, but I especially wasn't big on them then. I decided to just sit outside and wait for the party to finish. But someone came looking for me.

Snake heard a door open behind him.

"There you are!" a woman said, who turned out to be Peach. Snake turned a bit to look at her before turning back to stare at the sky.

"How come you aren't inside with the rest of us?" Peach asked kindly.

"I don't like crowds." Is all Snake said. He was hoping she would be warded off by his cold demeanor, yet she was still there. "Is there something you need?"

"Yeah I was looking for you."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to give you this piece of the cake." She said and presented a plate to him. His eyes widened when he heard this.

"Really?"

"Of course. You weren't there when the cake was brought in, so I got you a piece before the whole cake was gone.

I didn't understand. We barely knew each other, and yet you chose to take the time to make sure I got a piece of cake.

"Thank you, but I'm really not that hungry." Snake lied. Yet the smile on Peach's face was unwavering.

"That's okay. I'll put it in a box for you so you can eat it when you get home!"

He couldn't believe it. She would just not take a hint.

"Okay…thank you." Was all he could say. Peach then stood beside Snake and gazed at the sky with him.

"So, how are you liking this place?" She asked.

Snake rolled his eyes. "Great! Small talk!" he thought to himself.

"I'm still getting used to some of the 'inhabitants'."

"What do you mean by that?"

"A lot of the creatures here don't exist where I come from. So, it's kind of weird seeing things like a pink, ball shaped alien that likes to eat. Other than that, the place is nice." He admitted.

"That's good to hear. I can't wait for the tournament to start. What about you?"

Snake just stood there and remained silent. He looked troubled.

"Is there something wrong?" Peach worried.

"What are you doing?" Snake bluntly asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you talking to me? Usually everyone just stays away from me. That's how I prefer it. But you came to me for chit-chat. Why?"

"Well because you seem like an interesting guy, so I'd like to know more about you." She started.

"I wouldn't be so sure. You won't like what you'll find." He said, trying to convince her to not waste her time.

"And you also seem like you could use a friend."

"I…don't know what gave you that idea. I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine." He hissed. "Now leave me alone."

"No."

What?!

"I think you put yourself down too much. You're a better person than you make yourself out to be! I'm sure you could make a lot of friends here if you let people in."

"No one had ever been so bold and persistent towards me when I tried to brush them off. But you did, Peach. It made me willing to hear you out. Do you remember what you promised me?"

Peach laughed once she remembered it. "That I wouldn't stop pestering you until you started making friends."

"That's right. And it worked."

"That's interesting, but that doesn't seem like that would change you this much." Zelda said.

"You're right. I said you people were nice to me. It wasn't just Peach." Snake reminded. "I'm sure you both know that I'm not the most social person in the universe. I made friends with a lot of people here through what I'm good at…fighting."

"There's other ways you can make friends, you know?" Peach teased.

"Well actions speak louder than words. And I can learn a lot about someone by fighting them." He explained. I remember the first time I helped anyone here with their personal problems, it was during a fight…"

A team battle. Me and Donkey Kong against Ness and Lucas. DK got eliminated first, leaving me to face the two of them alone. They were quiet the team. If Ness had an extra stock, they would have won, neither of them eliminated. But that wasn't the case. During their group assault, Ness got a little careless, and I used that opportunity to punish him and knocked him out of the match. It was just me and Lucas. But with his partner eliminated, Lucas was not himself.

Upon seeing his partner getting knocked out, fear began crawling down the blonde boys back. He put his fists up as Snake approached him. He held them up weakly, and his hands were shaking like crazy. Snake rushed forward and decked Lucas with a right cross. Lucas struck back with a desperate kick that was easily avoided by Snake and received a knee to the gut in return. The battle quickly became one-sided, Lucas was getting curb-stomped. It was difficult for the spectators to watch. And quite frankly, Snake didn't feel good about it at all.

"Something's not right." Snake thought. He towered above Lucas, who was struggling to get up. He grabbed the collar of the boy's shirt and lifted him up. Snake glared into the kid's eyes. Lucas shuddered in Snake's grasp.

"What the hell are you doing, kid?!" He scolded.

"W-what?" Lucas weakly asked.

"You're barely putting up a fight! What's the problem?" Snake interrogated. He let go of Lucas, and just stood over him while he laid on the ground.

"I-I…"

"What is it?!"

"I'm not strong enough." Lucas answered.

"What?!"

"I said I'm…"

"I know what you said!" Snake cut him off. "You're wrong! You're being an idiot! That's what the problem is!"

"What?" Lucas looked up at him.

"Stand up! Back on your feet!" Snake ordered. Lucas slowly but surely began to stand up. "I've read your file kid. I know what you've done, and what you're capable of. So I know for a fact that you are not weak!"

Lucas was at a loss for words. He didn't understand what Snake was doing.

"If you were weak, you would have died on your adventures long ago. But you didn't! You are strong Lucas, definitely much stronger than me when I was your age! The only thing that's weak about you is your own self-confidence! That's what's holding you back!"

Lucas clinched his fist, as his mind thought about Snake's words.

"I am not knocking you out of this arena until you start believing in yourself! I will knock you around for hours if that's what it takes! Is that what I'll have to do, kid?!" Snake threatened.

Snake's fist started going towards Lucas' face. Lucas snapped out of his thoughts and reacted instinctively. "NO!" He shouted and blasted Snake away with a PK Fire. Snake was launched a good distance and landed on his back. Though the attack was painful, Snake had nothing but a smile on his face as he got up.

Lucas was awestruck. He looked at his hands, trying to take in that he just did that.

"Now do you understand?" Snake asked. Lucas turned his focus back to Snake. "You are a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. If you doubt yourself, it will make you weak. I know this is going to sound cheesy, but what I'm saying is you need to believe in yourself."

Lucas smiled. "I understand." However, he was still curious about something. "But…why did you help me?"

Snake eyes widened from that question. Truth be told, he wasn't even sure himself. He just smirked.

"Forget about that! Let's just continue our match!" He said, hoping to dodge the question.

"Oh! Right!" Lucas realized and stood ready to fight.

"I ended up winning, but Lucas put up one hell of a fight, just like I knew he could." Snake ended.

"I see." Zelda nodded.

"But you didn't answer his question." Peach pointed out, causing Snake to look puzzled at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you help him?" She echoed the question.

"Oh! Yeah, I never did get around to answering that, did I?" Snake realized. "Truthfully, at the time I didn't really know. I just instinctively did it. Maybe I wanted a proper challenge. Maybe I just hated seeing a kid with so much potential not know his own strength. I don't really think it matters. What does matter is how I felt afterward."

"Okay." Peach nodded and waited for Snake to continue.

"After seeing the kid smile and using his strength, I felt good. Really good. It was a foreign feeling to me at the time. I was never really interested in other people's lives or problems. But when I finally helped, I got that feeling. That feeling of…inner peace. It made me reconsider my outlook on my life. Why was I so angry? Was there any good reason for me to be so selfish? The answer was there was no good reason. That's when I decided it was time for me to shed the brooding tough guy act, and just lightened up a bit." Snake smiled. "So, does that answer your question Zelda?"

"Yes, it does. Thank you."

"Sure. Now let's get back to sparring!"

Since this chapter is all about helping others, I'll help someone out.

Paradigm of Writing, very good writer and good guy, has recently began a story called Syrenet. He's putting a lot of effort into it, could be his Magnum Opus. Most of you probably know about him, but for those who don't, go ahead and give his new story a read.