Into The Jungle

Meanwhile, outside the Zanzibar Building, Holly and Gustava were outside looking at the giant thick jungle,

"Hmm what do you think, Gustava?" asked Holly,

"Unsure, the map does not really show a concrete path through it." informed Gustava,

"But the transmitter says Madnar is on the other side of the jungle, we have to find a way through it-" Holly stopped once she heard the doors to the Zanzibar Building open, they hid behind a tree and saw a soldier in a green beret walk out from the building. They saw him heading toward the jungle but then saw Solid Snake trailing this soldier so they decided to follow him closely.

"Snake, what are you doing? Where's Marv?" quietly asked Holly,

"It was a trap, they used the transmitter to bait me, didn't you guys listen to the codec call?" asked Snake,

"No, we were a little focused on trying to maneuver ourselves around the constant war zone in the west." Holly replied,

"Well I got set up, fought Black Ninja and now I'm following this guy to the cells." explained Snake, the soldier then heard their slight murmurs and decided to stop and go investigate which made the trio stop. The soldier turned the corner and the three aimed their weapons at him. The soldier dropped his weapon and put his hands up,

"So are you going to show us where the cell is?" asked Snake. The soldier nodded and turned around as Holly picked up the rifle and pressed it against him,

"Lead the way then." She said as the soldier began guiding them through the jungle,

"Sooo Snake, what's the deal with you and Meryl?" curiously asked Holly,

"Oh, she's a childhood friend of mine." Snake replied,

"Really? Is she more than that?" She said with a sly smile and nudging Snake's arm which made him blush a little.

"Does it really matter?" asked Snake,

"It clearly matters to you if your face is red." Holly pointed out,

"Both of you focus please, we're coming up to the cells soon." Gustava said as they approached a large metallic hut and then Holly knocked out the soldier. The three noticed a lock on the door that was unusual from the others as it had a handprint scanner. Holly dragged the unconscious soldier and placed his hand onto the scanner to unlock the door. The doors hissed as it slid as a familiar face to Snake was standing in front of the door, an old man with a thicker mustache and a lab uniform.

"Dr Madnar!" exclaimed Snake, the doctor had a bandage on his left ear and smiled at a familiar face,

"Snake! Good to see you!" Madnar exclaimed as he ran out,

"Glad you're still alive, Ellen will be extremely happy to see you." Snake replied,

"And I can't wait to see her, Snake." Madnar said ecstatic,

"Where's Dr Marv and Dr Jacobsen?" asked Snake,

"Unfortunately, they killed Dr Jacobsen and took Dr Marv to the underground base in the Detention Center." explained Madnar,

"Damnit, how do we get there?" asked Snake,

"According to the map, we would have to cross the snow fields to the Tower of Babel then cross to the Bridge of Sorrows." said Gustava as she looked at the map,

"There's more, Snake, much much more. The Zanzibar Army has a dreaded secret, they forced me and Marv to help them build it again." Madnar said, Snake paused once he heard that, he couldn't mean what he thought, could he?

"What are you talking about?"

"They…they made me help them build a new Metal Gear!" sorrowfully said Madnar. Snake froze once he heard that name, Gustava and Holly turned once they heard it as well,

"M-M-Metal Gear?" Snake said,

"Yes, one fueled by Marv's OILIX and with access to the world's nuclear codes. This Metal Gear, the TX-99 Metal Gear Delta, is stronger than before. This time it is much larger and has a 60 mm rotary cannon, a 5.56 mm machine gun and a six missile pod launcher. Furthermore, its camera has a laser sight, an image sensor and an infrared sensor, its armor is heat resistant and the plating is more durable. He forced me to give it any weaknesses." explained Madnar,

"Who?!" demanded Solid Snake, Madnar paused and took a deep breath,

"Big…Big Boss…" Madnar mumbled. Silence, the two women stayed silent and so did Snake. That moment back there on the codec was real, it was actually him. He angrily dialed Campbell and Houseman on the codec,

"I told you he's fucking alive! Big Boss is alive!" yelled Snake,

"Woah, calm down Snake!" Campbell shot back,

"There's no way he's alive, he died in the bombing of Outer Heaven!" Yelled Houseman,

"…he never died…" hesitantly said Kaz, everyone else was confused by what he meant.

"It's a long story but…back in Snake Eater there was a soldier that was guarding Jack in his cell after the torture he went through. That soldier ended up later serving Big Boss and protected him during an assault. Unfortunately for him he lost his eye, lost his arm, brainwashed and through intensive surgery, he became Big Boss's doppelgänger, Venom Snake. I believe that the man Snake faced in Outer Heaven was Venom and not Jack. All of this feels more planned and I don't know what he is going to do but…he's taking center stage now that his dream is coming true." explained Kaz. Solid Snake didn't say a word, he refused to, all he did was simply hung up. Gustava and Holly looked at Snake's obvious angry and hurt expression.

"Where can we get some weapons?" Snake asked Madnar.

"Uh Snake are you sure-"

"Tell me where the damn weapons are!" Snake shot back,

"Fine! There's an armory in the swamp but there's a hidden passage to take to get there, I don't know where though." Madnar replied.

"Ok let's just relax. Holly, go with Snake to the armory while me and Madnar wait here." ordered Gustava. Holly nodded and took Snake with her into the swamp, worried about everything going through his mind right now. A few minutes passed, Snake and Holly were walking towards the swamp, she looked at the angry Solid Snake,

"Snake?" She asked,

"I don't want to talk about it, Holly." replied Snake,

"You have to eventually, if not me but to Miller and Meryl-"

"Miller has lied to me my entire life. He lied about my father, he lied about him being alive, I can never trust him."

"You have to understand he did it to-"

"Yeah yeah, he did it to protect me, everything he's done was to 'protect me'. He wasn't there to protect me my entire life, he only came once he finally realized my father was insane." Snake shot back. They eventually reached a pit of mud, Snake walked towards the edge, took a knee and dipped two fingers into the mud. Snake moved his hand around until he felt something metallic hit his fingers.

"There's a set of thermal goggles in my backpack, we'll need it." Snake told her, Holly looked into her bag and grabbed a pair while giving Snake one. She put them on and noticed the path being revealed as a metal road.

"Just a cloaked road. Let's go." ordered Solid Snake. Once they began walking, Holly wanted to bring up the subject again,

"We're not done yet, Snake. He probably knew you would have these questions when he took you in."

"I was 12 when he found me, he could've sat me down and just told me everything so none of this would've happened." Snake shot back,

"You really think a 12 year old needs to hear that their father is a crazy war vet who started a soldier cult?" asked Holly, Snake sighed knowing she was right,

"No…" Snake replied,

"Then cut Kaz some slack, he's the only father figure you had that was direct with you and cared about you, you don't want Kaz's last memory of you being one where he thinks you hated him." said Holly, Snake noticed the personal touch of that comment,

"Is that what happened with your own dad?" asked Snake, Holly paused for a minute only to hesitantly nod.

"My parents were divorced, my mom always hated the man for some reason. I grew up thinking for the longest time that my dad was a deadbeat who cheated on my mom and left us for his mistress." explained Holly,

"But that wasn't the case was it?" Snake asked, Holly shook her head no,

"I used to be a theater kid and I would see my dad there in the crowd, watching my performances. My mom was a miserable drunk and it took me years to finally see what kind of person my mom was and before I can tell my dad how much he meant to me, he died due to a heart attack. It turned out my mom was very abusive towards my father and the woman he left with was someone who was helping him. Sometimes we just want a perfect parent but then we don't realize that a perfect parent has been with us all along. Don't take Kaz for granted, Snake, you don't know when will be the last time you see him." elaborated Holly. As they walked, Solid Snake kept thinking about what she said, he wasn't sure what to feel but maybe after the mission he could take some time to figure it out, away from this hellhole. Eventually, Solid Snake and Holly arrived at the armory, he walked towards the door and used his level 2 keycard to open the door. Snake was the first to go inside until suddenly, right before Holly could walk through, the door slammed shut to both of their surprise. Solid turned around and saw the door close then turned back around once the dark room was illuminated by lamps, he heard the hissing of gas being poured into the room and Snake quickly put his gas mask on to see that there was a man in a unique suit with a gas mask standing across from him, he figured who he was and knew this was going to be a fight for his life.