Deep End
The man in the suit looked at Snake with intent on his face. Snake reached for his M1911 as the man stared at him.
"Solid Snake, welcome to the room of your death! For I am the Running Man and you have no chance to escape from me! I know you can feel the air in your lungs slowly get clogged by our new gas that bleeds through your gas mask. You only have a few minutes left before you succumb fully to the gas, the only way you can stop the gas is by defeating me as the gas will stop if my heart stops." informed the Fear of Death. Instantly, Snake shot at Running Man but the Running Man quickly dodged and started running. Snake wasn't sure how much time he had left but he knew he needed to act quickly, Snake hid behind the corner as he could hear the Running Man's footsteps getting closer. He was about to shoot but the Running Man quickly pushed the FOXHOUND operative's arm and tossed Snake onto the ground then struck him in the ribs with a kick before running off. Snake felt the air in his lungs getting emptier after that kick, Snake then heard the Running Man getting closer again and took his knife out to try to stab him but the Running Man struck Snake's chest with a quick jab then punched his throat and flipped him onto his back, getting the wind knocked out of him. Snake began to cough harder because of the gas, the lack of oxygen was starting to get to him as his vision was getting blurry. Snake then desperately looked inside one of the crates and felt around to find some landmines and tripwire. He then ran to the hallway that Running Man was approaching and attached a tripwire to the walls then waited in the corner. The Running Man turned into the hallway and ran right into the tripwire, falling onto his back. He quickly got up and began running again but suddenly Snake leapt onto his back as he ran. The Running Man slammed into a wall to get Snake off him but it didn't work, he tried it once more but Snake stopped him by putting his feet up and pushing them off the wall. The FOXHOUND operative then began punching Running Man in the head but the Fear of Death punched him in the ribs and tried getting him off his back but then Solid wrapped some tripwire around his throat and began to pull backwards, choking him as he ran.
"If I'm gonna lose oxygen then I'm cutting yours off!" declared Solid Snake as he grabbed the tube connecting the oxygen tank to Running Man's mask before jumping off him.
"Guess you're running out of time, Running Man." Snake shot back, the Running Man sprinted towards him and threw a punch but Solid ducked and struck his ribs with an elbow then lifted him up to slam him onto his back but the Running Man recovered and went for a punch. Snake ducked and punched him back but then the Running Man started to sprint around and before Snake could realize he got hit by the Running Man. His speed was overwhelming as he was punched three times in a row with the last punch launching him onto his back. Solid Snake slowly got up, his oxygen running thin and Running Man taking one more lap back to strike him. Snake then remembered the fight with Black Ninja, concentrating on his surroundings. He could hear the footsteps getting faint and then slowly getting louder, he grabbed a landmine he had and as the Running Man began to come closer to him. Quickly, once he was close enough about to punch him, Snake placed the landmine in front of him and then flipped over Running Man. The unexpected Running Man tried stopping but only slid into the landmine as it detonated right in front of him, the detonation mixed with the already leaking oxygen tank which made the explosion far more deadly. Blood and two limbs splattered around the area, the nerve gas shut off and Snake was able to catch his breath in peace. Solid stood up and walked towards the dusty black haze. Once it cleared, his calm and relaxed demeanor changed to one of disbelief and horror. Through the broken mask, he saw a face from the past, Steve Hudson Aka the Steel Eagle whose face was bloodied and charred from the explosion. He removed the gas mask and ran up to his side to shake him,
"No no, Steve! C'mon wake up man, please wake up! I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you! I'm so sorry, please Steve! WAKE UP DAMNIT!" Snake pleaded to no avail. He was frustrated, he was hurt, he was confused and more than anything, he hated himself. Snake yelled loudly as he punched the floor over and over again out of pure guilt. His knuckles bleeding from the consecutive punches and his heart stopped the moment he heard his codec ring. Hesitantly, he answered the call,
"This is-This is Solid Snake…"
"Another faceless enemy that happened to be a friend you killed, son?" Big Boss said,
"Get out of my life…" demanded Snake which made Big Boss snicker,
"You can't escape me, you can't escape that this is how life is. How many friends of yours do you have to put down before you realize that I am not the bad guy here, it is them! I wouldn't make you choose between comrade and loyalty to the nation, I wouldn't force these things on you. He chose to fight you because he knew his death would help you finally see the truth." explained Big Boss,
"The truth…the truth is you don't care about who's in your way, friend, son, you only care about your fucked up deluded cause! You are no different than the people who were yelling in my ear to kill Kyle!" shouted Snake,
"I do care about my dear brothers and sisters in combat."
"You only care about them when they can be tossed around and killed like cannon fodder. For all your talk about making an Outer Heaven, all you did was make yourself into another politician." Snake replied,
"It seems you haven't learned enough yet, my boy but you will. Once you break, you will learn and you will embrace this side that is dormant in you, this side that enjoys what you do best but now you can do it without repercussions or without pain." Big Boss replied back,
"The Boss would be ashamed of the man you've become…" Solid Snake replied, there was silence briefly and then Big Boss just laughed at him despite Solid knowing it struck a nerve.
"You know nothing about her, you think just because you spoke to an empty hollow artificial shell that you know her more than me?!" Big Boss shouted back which made Snake laugh.
"I'm getting personal now aren't I? All your bravado and everything you said about her, everything you worshiped about her and all you did was tarnish her memory and her legacy-"
"YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HER LEGACY, YOU LITTLE SHIT! NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO KEEP HER LEGACY ALIVE BUT ME!" snapped Big Boss which made Solid just grin.
"She's waiting for me, I know in the place where warriors like us go, she's waiting to embrace me into her arms. She's waiting to accept me and admire all that I've done in her name… Somewhere beyond the sea…Somewhere waiting for me, my lover stands on golden sands…and watches the ships that go sailing…" Big Boss started to sing, which made Snake's proud smile slowly fade into one of sheer horror,
"Somewhere beyond the sea…She's there watching for me…If I could fly like birds on high then straight to her arms…I'd go sailing…" he continued,
"You think I didn't notice you getting personal there by mentioning her? Then maybe I was wrong David, maybe you are meant to be my successor because you are sinking to the level where you belong…" taunted the madman which made Solid look down at himself shaking and horrified at himself,
"It's far beyond the stars…It's near beyond the moon
I know beyond a doubt, my heart will lead me there soon…" he continued as Solid began to cry from just the inner disgust in himself.
"We'll meet beyond the shore…We'll kiss just as before…happy we'll be beyond the sea and never again I'll go sailing, Ah!" sang Big Boss as his son began screaming in agony.
"I know beyond a doubt, ow! My heart will lead me there soon. We'll meet, I know we'll meet beyond the shore! We'll kiss…just as before! Happy we'll be…beyond the sea…and never again I'll go sailing…I'll see you soon, son." Big Boss sinisterly spoke as he hung up while Solid entered a feeble position. Holly got the door opened and gasped once she saw Solid in the feeble position, she ran up to his side and began shaking him a little,
"Snake! Snake please snap out of it, you're going to be ok." Holly worriedly said,
"I'm…I'm just like him…I'm just like him…" he kept mumbling under his breath, Holly quickly dialed Gustava,
"We're in trouble, I'm coming back!" shouted Holly as she tried getting Snake up,
"Don't move, we'll come to you. Try highlighting the route on the radar." Gustava replied, Holly did so and then dialed Meryl,
"Holly? What's wrong?" asked Meryl,
"It's Snake, he's having a severe panic attack!" worriedly explained Holly,
"Ok calm down, I know what to do, can you patch me into his codec?" asked Meryl,
"Yeah why?" Holly asked back,
"Just trust me, I picked this up in dealing with these situations." Meryl assured, Holly did so and hoped what Meryl was about to do work.
"Why are there so many…songs about rainbows and what's on the other side?" sang Meryl which baffled Holly,
"Rainbows are visions but only illusions and rainbows have nothing to hide…So we've been told and some choose to believe it…I know they're wrong, wait and see. David, I know you know the other words, we used to sing it together after school, remember?" She calmly assured, Solid nodded and took a deep breath,
"Someday we'll find it…the rainbow connection. The lovers…the dreamers and me…" they both sang together which genuinely surprised Holly as Solid began getting up slowly.
"Are you ok?" Holly asked him,
"I'm fine, just give me a minute…" Solid said as he went to search the weapons crate, Holly then adjusted the call to be private,
"That was good, how did you know?" asked Holly,
"During middle school, him and I would sing that song after our shitty days." Meryl replied,
"Sounds like you've been taking care of him all your life." commented Holly,
"I wouldn't say that. Him and I got along by being loners, I used to get picked on by popular girls and he used to get into fights with popular boys so we always had each other's back." elaborated Meryl,
"I won't be surprised if people said you were boyfriend and girlfriend." Holly replied which made Meryl chuckle,
"A lot of people thought that."
"Is there any truth to it?" pressed Holly,
"Well…I wouldn't say no but…I don't know, many things feel different and I'd like to wait and see." Meryl said hesitantly,
"But would you be open to it?" Holly asked. Right before Meryl could answer, Solid came back,
"Hey I found a mine detector, some explosives and rifles. Come help me search through this shit." He said right as Meryl hung up,
"Right-o, Snake." Holly replied as she walked with him to the crates. A few minutes passed and Snake managed to equip himself with a grenade belt, a grenade launcher, C4 and an M16 rifle and an Ingram MAC-11. Holly was also equipped with a M16 rifle and some grenades, she also handed a card that had the number 3 engraved on it,
"Here, I found it on Running Man." She said as she handed it to him. Snake put it in his pocket then grabbed a couple more weapons for Gustava before they both headed back. While they were on their way back, they heard rustling from the woods and the sound of a motor coming closer. Snake and Holly put their guns up and aimed in that direction only to see Gustava and Madnar come out with two motorbikes. Madnar quickly got off as he was shaken up by the ride,
"I think it's best to say I'll simply be a passenger to whoever is driving." Madnar stated,
"Mine!" Holly exclaimed as she got on the bike Madnar just got off from, Gustava moved back and Snake got on.
"Guess you needed a break from driving." Snake said, Gustava nodded as Solid got on the bike and the four began making their way to the snowfields, halfway through the dreaded Zanzibar Lands. As they were approaching the snow fields, Snake suddenly began feeling a sharp chill on the back of his neck; he could hear the sound of whirring blades spinning at a rapid speed and the sound of motors racing at them. Solid glanced back to see a group of Zanzibar soldiers on motorbikes and above them was the vehicle of Snake's past, the aerial tyrant that Snake faced a long time ago, the Mil Mi-24, the Hind D.