Longing Snake

This camouflage was very handy, Snake deduced to herself. She had hid herself in the cargo bay of the train, and despite the odd busboy looking in, remained completely hidden. It's a shame that Wolf -|Silly girl, you shouldn't have got between the wolf and its prey...|- and Mantis -|Good girl...just like that...|- didn't have any camouflage, or they could've come to play as well.

Snake tensed. More of those funny voices... She seemed to get them a lot, especially when she thought about Wolf and Mantis. But neither Wolf or Mantis spoke like that. Snake couldn't remember ever hearing voices like that. They'd say strange things, such as how Snake was 'special prey'. Sometimes it was her own voice saying how she wanted to hold Snake. But she was Snake...it didn't make sense... Mantis could probably explain it, she was very smart.

Snake let out a dejected sigh.

"Something funny?" a shape above Snake whispered, and Octopus lowered herself into Snake's sight.

"Snaaake..." Snake whined, her nanomachines communicating to Octopus how she missed Wolf and Mantis.

"Silly silky slithery snake," Octopus giggled, lowering herself onto Snake's coiled form. "They're too busy to help us here. Besides, why should we share all the fun with them?"

"Snake," she said again, thanking the senior B&B member for cheering her up. Octopus wrapped her arms around Snake's torso, cradling her head in her human hands.

"Shh..." Octopus hushed the new Beauty. "Now," she said quietly, her face mask flickering into the appearance of a silver-haired man wearing a bandanna, "You know who we're looking for, right?"

"Snake..." Snake growled. The bad man who hurt Raven -|the raven on my head thirsts for his blood...|- was on this train somewhere. Somewhere within her a tickly twinge sent a delightful shiver up her spine, and her whole serpentine body shivered. Octopus shouted in surprised, and Snake giggled.

"Don't laugh," Octopus chuckled, "We'll get found!"

"Snake," the new Beauty apologized. Again, she heard that voice that was hers but at the same time not hers.

"You can rest now," Octopus hushed, gently rocking Snake's head in her arms, "I'll watch out until we get there." Snake agreed, humming as she slumped into a coil, with Octopus wound up in the middle.

---

The train ground to a halt at the station. Snake relaxed his hands, still gripping the handholds, lying flat prone on top of the train. He remained here while the train stayed in the station, where he could hear the usual chatter, and the not-so-usual chatter of PMCs. Snake stole a glance from the top of the train carriage, and from the gear, he figured them to be Raven Sword. He rolled over into a supine position, placing a finger to his ear.

"Otacon, you were right. The place is crawling with PMCs. There's no way I'm getting in there."

"Good thing I packed you the Stealth camouflage, then, isn't it, Snake?" the Codec video feed from the Nomad carried Otacon's voice through to Snake.

"Yeah, I guess," Snake begrudgingly accepted, "It still won't last more than one heavy hit. That and one person with thermals and it's over. I won't be relying on it. Any word from Naomi?"

Naomi walked on-screen. "I've had a look at Raven's blood. Their bodies have been gradually exposed to a nanomachine colony I'm not familiar with. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say these nanomachines rely on the suits for power, and are programmed to kill the host when their energy supply runs low."

"Yeah, how do I stop it?" Snake cut to the chase.

"The process is all regulated by the nanomachines. Kill the nanomachines, save the girls. Those syringes I gave you should do the job for Meryl, but the others... their nanomachines have had too much time in their bodies. Shutting them down could result in them losing the SOP nanoes as well."

"That would trigger what happened in the Middle East and South America in them, right?"

"There's also the chance that the syringe won't be able to reach all the B&B nanoes. Once they sense something attacking their colony, they'll kill the girl. Either way, in Meryl's case, the B&B nanoes wouldn't have had enough time to root themselves too much into her system, so she should be fine."

"Got it. I'll jump the train tracks and get into the city that way." Snake shut off the codec, and rolled to the far side of the train. Flipping the switch at his chest, he remained still as the Stealth camouflage flickered into life, bending light around him until he was practically invisible. With that, he jogged to the rear of the train and out of sight, his Stealth-covered trenchcoat flapping in the slight breeze behind him.

---

Ed glanced up the empty street. No one in sight. "Clear."

"Clear," Jonathan said at his side, almost immediately.

Ed waited for a moment. And Waited. "Damn it, Akiba-!"

"Oh! Uh, clear!" he stammered from behind.

"Ten year vet, my ass, Akiba!" Ed snapped, "Pull your shit together!"

Johnny felt a sinking feeling creep into his gut. "Bad choice of words, Captain..." he groaned.

"Oh, for Christ's sake," Jonathan murmured.

"Hey! Don't blaspheme!" Ed admonished him, a little louder than he'd wanted to.

"Freeze!" a shout came from around the corner, as two Raven Sword troops approached.

"Oh, for Chri... Stand down, soldier!" Ed bellowed, "We're CID!"

The Raven Swords pointed their guns menacingly, "Rat Patrol? Bullshit! They're a four-man team!"

"The commander got called away," Ed lied, his XM8 still trained at the PMCs, "Top secret orders from the brass. Stand down or we'll be forced to defend ourselves!"

The PMC considered the situation. Three against two... best to quit while he was ahead. "Fine," he conceded, "but I'm on duty. What are you lot doing here?"

"We've had reports of a rogue Beauty and the Beast unit," Ed informed them, "We're working with Octopus to reel her in."

The Ravens hesitated. They knew what a B&B could do when kept in line; they didn't want to hear about one that went rogue. "Fair enough," he said, "On your way."

"Keep on your toes, soldier," Ed threw in, as the three moved away, still in formation.

Once they were out of earshot, Ed let him have it. "Damnit, Johnny, 'clear' means there's no one sneaking up behind us!"

"They were around the corner! I couldn't see them!" Johnny defended himself.

"You mean the corner we just came around!?" Jonathan retorted. Johnny fell silent.

"Remember what Meryl said: one man's blunder can compromise the whole team," Ed reminded him, "so pull your damn head in, or it's all our asses."

"Man, where the hell is she, anyway?" Ed asked no one in particular. "What did you say she looked like again?"

"Like a marilith," Johnny said, "torso of a woman, body of a snake, and six arms."

"What the hell's a marilith, anyway?" Jonathan asked, "from one of your video games?"

"Yeah, actually," Johnny said, "In Final Fantasy Nine, you -"

"Never mind, Akiba," Ed cut him off, "just focus on watching our tail."

Johnny fell silent. The three walked a few more blocks, not saying anything other than the odd "Clear" or "Hold". It was here, that Johnny chuckled.

"What now?" Jonathan asked impatiently.

"I just got it," Johnny said half-heartedly, "You could say she's turned into a Meryl-ith..."

The other two groaned in disgust.

---

Snake followed the sound of the resistance member's whistling, cautiously moving down the street. There wasn't any point looking for Meryl; either she'd find Big Mama, or she'd find him. Either way, they were going to meet. The important thing was that Snake got to Big Mama first.

It was a pretty contrived plan of Otacon's; snoop in on Raven Sword's communications, go to reported sightings of people breaking curfew, and follow them to Big Mama. Contrived, yes, but plausible. I've made crazier plans than this work before.

Snake watched he resistance member round the corner ahead of him. He heard the familiar whistle start up, then abruptly stop. Snake hurried to the corner as the man screamed, before a sickening squelch rent the air, the man dying with a gurgled sigh.

The corner turned into a central square, walled off by shop fronts. It was teeming with Raven Sword troopers, numbering twelve or fourteen. Was, being the operative word. Their bodies were strewn around the area, in varying conditions. The luckier ones were just riddled with gunfire, at worst limbs were ripped off. The hapless resistance member lay in front on him, a gaping hole in his chest quietly overflowing with blood as he twitched in his death throes.

"Heh heh heh..." a cruel chuckle rose from the street, echoing across the shopfronts. Snake put away the comms tracer and drew his trusty Operator. The voice continued to mock him as he stalked onto the road.

"Funny," it said, "So funny..." Snake scanned the rooftops as he continued into the middle of the road, "People crying...people hurting...people dying..."

"It's all SO FUCKING HYSTERICAL!" A shape rose to meet him to his left. As Snake turned to bear, the dead body knocked the gun from his hand before striking him square in the chest, knocking him across the street. As he regained his feet, the corpse leaned back, howling with laughter.

"Laugh!" it said, the OctoCamo draining from the thing's surface, mechanical limbs flying as Laughing Octopus approached Snake again, kicking Snake's gun in the opposite direction. Snake grimaced, reaching for his Mk. 2.

"Snake!" Otacon spoke into his ear, "What's going on!?"

"It's Octopus," Snake grunted, rolling clear of a tentacle swinging for his head. Octopus laughed, and pointed a rifle at the ground in front of him, emptying a clip at the asphalt. Snake managed to bring his body to a stop, and leveled the tranquilizer gun at Octopus, firing the dart. It found her square in the chest. If he could sink enough of these into her, and slow her movements down, he might get close enough to try the syringe...

Snake paused, firing another dart into her, hitting the flesh of her human arm. Octopus swayed on the spot, turning away from him, clouds of black smoke billowing out from somewhere around her. Snake charged in, gun and syringe in hand. The smoke cleared quickly, and Octopus turned to face Snake again. Snake stopped dead in his tracks, not believing his eyes. Her face...

"You know what you are doing," she said in a much deeper voice than normal, with a thick accent.

"Olga!?" he gasped. Snake was too late for his body to react to the deception, as a tentacle shot up, gripping his neck. She slowly pulled Snake's face directly in front of hers, Olga's visage twisted in sadistic joy.

"Laugh with me!" she shouted.

"What's so funny?" Snake said, jamming the syringe into her side, just under her ribcage. Octopus gasped, her body going rigid as the man's syringe did its work, shutting down the Beauty's nanomachines before they could shut down her body. Her body began to go limp, slumping, and Snake supported her as she fell, pulling her face up.

"Are you okay?" he asked, hoping that the syringe worked the way Naomi said it would. "Hey!"

Her head jolted awake, breath straining against the mask. "Can't breathe," she gasped through the thick balaclava.

Snake reached underneath the metal dome and grabbed the mask from her head, pulling it off. A short-haired blonde girl gazed back up at Snake. Drebin certainly didn't lie; drop dead gorgeous.

"Who are you..?" she managed.

"Good," Snake managed, "You don't remember me."

"Huh? Should I...remember you?" she asked quizzically.

Should she? Hell if I know. "Not sure," Snake answered. "How do you feel?"

The girl that was Octopus took a while to respond. "Feel...funny..." It took Snake everything he had not to double take as the girl looked up at him. No crazy in there. At least no homicidal crazy.

"Can you move?" Snake asks. Octopus stands up, mechanical limbs flowing gently. Snake lets a surprised glance escape. "You can still control them?"

"Of course I can," Octopus said casually, "You can control your arms, can't you?"

Snake paused, and smiled. "I guess." He turned around and called the Nomad. "Otacon, the shots worked. Octopus is a little confused, but otherwise she's back to normal."

"That's great to hear!" Otacon gushed.

"She can still control her arms, though." Snake looked down, and saw a gaping hole in the trench coat, torn by the fight with Octopus.

"Hmm...they must be hard-wired into her... I wouldn't risk trying to disconnect them there."

"Wouldn't want to," Snake said, grumbling as he pulled it off, along with the rest of his civilian disguise. The muscle suit underneath was thankfully undamaged. Snake heard the Beauty giggle behind him as he lowered his trousers. "She could be pretty useful. That Octo-camo she's got is exactly like mine, right?"

"Is she alright to help you, though?"

"I'll take help however I get it, Otacon. I'll call you back when I've found Meryl, or Big Mama." Snake disconnected, and turned to see Octopus awaiting him.

"How much do you remember?" he asked the Beauty.

Octopus crouched down, as if conflicted. "I remember it all..." she said quietly, "I could see myself doing everything I did, but it was like someone was controlling me." She looked up. "I remember you now. Solid Snake. I know they want you dead. I know the other Beasts want you dead. But the girls don't. I think they're all like me."

"Do you know Longing Snake?" Snake asked, "Is she here with you?"

"Yeah, she's here, why do you..." Octopus trailed off, before something clicked. "Ahh, I get it now... Snake... She's talking about you!"

"I'm an old friend of hers," Snake hastily explained.

"She doesn't stop talking about you," Octopus' mind wandered, "She must really like you..."

Snake looked away nervously, giving a short laugh. "I'm probably not her type. Anyway, do you know where she is?"

"We split up after we left the train," Octopus answered, "You were going to find Matka Pluku, so I followed you from the train station. Snake... uh, Longing Snake... was going to follow a lead at the cathedral further north. I can take you there if you'd like."

"You tailed me? You're just full of surprises..." Snake said, with a certain exasperation. "That head of yours has thermoptics?"

Octopus nodded. "Uh huh. I saw you jump off the roof, but we had to wait for the train to back into storage before we could make a move."

"Only one other girl your age ever got the drop on me," Snake reminisced, thinking back to the holding cell, and the women's bathroom, "I hope I can still save her." Snake handed Octopus back her balaclava. "Will you be alright to wear this?"

Octopus took the mask and pulled it over her head again, completing her camouflage. "I think I broke yours, though."

"Don't worry about me," Snake shrugged, "I've still got my own OctoCam." Snake placed an arm against the wall, showing the Beauty his camouflage worked the same as hers. "Besides, it isn't like this is my first sneaking mission. As long as we can keep a low profile, we'll be fine."

"We? They're looking for you, not me," Octopus pointed out. "But... they do know that I'm looking for you, so..."

Snake didn't have time to react before Octopus' thundering limbs entwined around him, lifting him into the air with a grunt. He felt himself pulled in front of Octopus' masked face, under the front of the metal dome over her head.

"...so don't laugh," she chuckled.

---

Another few blocks and Johnny's horrible pun was well out of the Rat Patrol's minds. They were about to cross an open park, and each of them needed to be on their toes.

"Clear," Ed signalled.

"Clear," Jonathan replied.

"Clear," Johnny added.

"Are you sure?" Jonathan asked sarcastically. Ed frowned.

"Can it, Jonathan," Ed snarled, "Save the shit-talk for back at base." They moved in unison towards the steps leading into the park.

"I heard word came back about Meryl's threat assessment," Johnny asked.

"If the commander didn't go AWOL," Ed said, "this whole place would be swimming in green collars. Word is they took it deadly serious. She was going to command a joint US Army / Marines team."

"Jeez... Shit just got real..."

Johnny's stomach flopped. "Oh God, tell me about it," he winced, as he broke formation and ran for a nearby hedge.

Jonathan couldn't believe his eyes. "Oh, for Chri-"

"Don't even start," Ed glared at him. "Good enough place to take a rest anyway."

Johnny found a patch of bare earth in a dark corner of the hedge and lowered his pants, hurriedly dumping his gun to the ground. Useless piece of crap anyway. It's not like I'd be able to fire it... He braced himself, expecting to get grazed by the pointy branches of the hedge while lowering himself to a squat. He was very surprised to feel his bare ass sink onto something cool, flat and metallic. Johnny let out a surprised gasp. Something large turned to face him, hidden in the poor light.

"Snake?" he heard two voices say.

Johnny fell backward, legs tangled in his own combat fatigues. "Oh, shit! CONTACT! CONTACT!"

He heard Ed and Jonathan curse to themselves and get back to their feet, as the thing flicked out what Johnny presumed was her tail, casting the ten year vet from the hedge line, pants still at his ankles. Longing Snake thundered from her hiding place, coiling around Johnny faster than anything he could imagine.

"Snake!" she cried indignantly, her face right in front of his.

"Look, I didn't see you there, okay?" Johnny stammered, "I'm sorry, Meryl!"

It paused. "Snake?" she said mournfully, staring at him quizzically.

"No, not Snake," Johnny said slowly, "Meryl..."

Ed and Jonathan rounded the corner, rifles at the ready. "Akiba!" Ed shouted.

"No! Don't shoot! It's steel, they'll ricochet!" Johnny shouted hurriedly, still looking into the Beast's face. Longing Snake looked up and growled, extricating herself from Johnny before whipping him toward the other Rat Patrol members. All three fell to the ground harshly, as the Beast readied her guns.

"Shit!" Rat Patrol found cover behind the hedge, as Longing Snake let rip from all six of her FNP90s, tearing up the earth they just fell onto. The hedge seemed to explode with gunfire as Ed and Jonathan fired through it, throwing sparks off Longing Snake's curvy steel chassis. The gunfire persisted, forcing the Beast to retreat with a growled “Snake!”, slithering down the road, her Stealth camouflage letting her form shimmer and vanish.

Ed and Jonathan stared at the minced patch of grass that they had only just vacated in time, almost amazed at what the concentrated burst of fire could accomplish. Johnny lay nearby, staring into the sky, as all three of them thanked the lucky stars they were still alive.

"THAT was Meryl!?" Jonathan broke the silence. "What the hell!?"

"You heard her voice, man," Ed agreed, "That was definitely Meryl. Jesus Christ, how did she get in this mess?"

Johnny felt a blanket of despair fog his thoughts. "Meryl," he managed quietly.