"Solid Snake! I've been expecting you... ...I am the supreme commander of the FOXHOUND unit... And... The leader of the fortress of Outer Heaven, Big Boss! I gave this mission to you, a rookie, thinking I could use you to fool the rest of the world... But you were too good. You went too far! Solid Snake! I'm not going down alone. I'm taking you with me! Prepare to die!"

And with that, the fight began. Solid Snake, vs. his old mentor, Big Boss... Or so he thought. The man he was fighting, was really a phantom. A stand-in. But David didn't know. He was more focused on getting out of Outer Heaven before the fortress was destroyed due to the self-destructive sequence being activated. But to get out, he had to go through the Big Boss in front of him. He knew he would have to kill him. But he felt betrayed. Big Boss had trained him, and was his Commander, and after all that, he wanted to kill him. Use him. Like a puppet. He wouldn't let that happen. David took out a rocket launcher, and shot at "Big Boss". The rocket missed, but the explosion was enough. The shrapnel hit him mostly in the chest near the heart. He laid there, bleeding against the wall. He watched as David looked back at him for a few seconds, and ran off. "Big Boss" took out his I-Droid one last time. He was receiving a call from the REAL Big Boss.

"Hello, Ahab. How did David's mission go?"

"We underestimated him, Boss. He was just too good." On the other side of the call, Big Boss was quiet. A group of soldiers was with him, listening closely to his voice. Wondering what happened in Outer Heaven. "The TX-55 metal gear is also lost. And the self-destruct sequence was activated. I tried to stop him from escaping. But I failed, Boss."

"No, you're mission was a success. Besides, I'm rallying the rest of the troops at Zanzibar Land."

"Tselinoyarsk huh? Well good luck, Ishmael."

"Are you sure you can't get out?"

"No. I don't even think any digoxin will help this time..." Both were silent after those words were said. Until Ishmael/Big Boss spoke up again.

"Well fear not. As of this day forward, you no longer have to bear the burden of the title: Big Boss. Thank you my friend, and good luck." said Big Boss.

"Likewise, Boss. Don't underestimate him next time.", the call ended after that. Ahab, or Venom Snake, looked at the pool of blood at his feet. He saw his reflection. A bloodied face, with a long horn still sticking out of his head. He smiled, as it started to fade away.

'The demon is no more', he thought. He heard humming... Humming? He looked back up, and saw light. A woman stepped towards him. Just humming. She kneeled down, and caressed his cheek. "I see... So my mission is finally over..." His voice drifted a little. The light got brighter and brighter. He thought he felt something shaking. Even heat! But all he could see was the light. And then darkness...

V is no more. Or so everyone thought..

His life had flashed before his eyes. After joining MSF, several months later, his home was under attack. He gave his life to save his leader, Big Boss. He used himself to shield the Boss, giving his life away. He of course took the brunt of everything. The explosion from the other bomb inside Paz, the crash from both the XOF chopper and the ground, and all the fragments of shrapnel, and human bone and teeth. Nine years he was in a coma. Plastic surgery and hypnotherapy was used to turn him into both a physical and mental copy of Big Boss. He would be his phantom and continue his legacy. But now he had died. He was truly a phantom in not only the world, but in memory as well. He felt the hand on his face for a little longer, but no longer heard the humming, but the cool breeze and the leaves in the air.

'Wait a second... Breeze?' He opened his eye. He was lying on his back. He was wearing his woodland uniform. Back on some of the ops in the time of the Diamond Dogs. He got up and looked around, he was in a forest. It was beautiful. Full of red and orange, yellow leaves. He could tell it wasn't Africa, especially not Afghanistan. He walked over to a nearby pond. Reaching out his arms, he drank it out of his cupped hands. He looked back into the pond. His reflection... He looked younger.. He looked like himself during the time he was in the hospital back in '84. But how? De aged by 11 years. He heard gunfire, and a few monstrous roars in the distance. He was close to something. Venom took out his AM MRS-4 and moved towards the sounds. He went past a tree, but quickly got behind cover when something almost hit him. He looked back around, and saw a massive bird shooting... Feathers?

'What the hell?', thought Venom. It was black all over, with a white covered head and red eyes. It looked like a bunch of teenagers were fighting it. He pondered for a minute, until a gigantic scorpion followed behind him destroying anyhing in its path. Venom jumped out of the way, and started shooting the thing at the big red targets on its head. While running towards the ruins where those kids were, Venom kept shooting back at the thing. The kids noticed him (as well as the cameras hidden in the forest). Ozpin and Glynda were watching. The nine were separated into two groups. The soon to be team RWBY on one side. And the soon to be team JNPR on the other, along with Venom Snake. Together, but really the kids did all the work, and Venom watched in awe as they moved in the air at incredible speed. The scorpion came back down, and was killed. The team directed their attention to the bird, to which the kids called a Nevermore. The girl clad in red was holding it by the throat with her scythe, and was running up a cliff wall. When she reached the top, the force of the impact between the cliff, and the blade sliced its head clean off. The scorpion/deathstalker's tail started twitching after the girl with the hammer hopped off. The tip sliced at Venom Snake, and it felt like that cobra back in the desert in Afghanistan when he saved Quiet. He wondered where she was. What she was doing after all this time. He blacked out, and he heard that familiar sound of someone humming.

The next thing he remembers is him hearing the radio. The song was familiar... All too familiar.

The Man Who Sold The World - Midge Ure (1982 version)

V had come to. His vision was blurry. But he was slowly regaining his senses.

We passed upon the stair

The words were echoing in his head.

We spoke of was and when... Although I wasn't there, he said that I was his friend...

Big Boss said that he was his friend too...

Which came as some surprise... I spoke into his eyes, I thought you died alone... A long, long time ago

He remembered that damn message Big Boss sent him. Right before Kaz left Diamond Dogs...

Oh no, not me! I never lost control

'Very funny... At least the demon in me is gone.', thought Venom.

You're face to face... With the Man who sold the World

And the music stopped. Venom regained his senses. He looked at his arm, it wasn't a crude hook. He looked around, no patient on the other side of the curtain, no White Stars of Bethlehem. He got up, noticed he was still in his uniform, fixed. Although his weapons were nowhere to be seen. He stumbled through the door, where he saw a blue Morpho Butterfly. He tried to grab it with his prosthetic arm. But as he opened his hand, he held nothing. He looked back around, where the bed was. It was a hospital bed, small, uncomfortable, etc. He held his left arm back up, it was once again a crude hook. He started shaking, running through the halls in this maze of hell. The halls were all caked in blood and filled with bodies of both patients and staff, and additionally Cipher's XOF division. A trail of fire was left in its wake. He heard humming nearby, and he started to follow the noise, and additionally the Third Boy. He led him to a room, where the humming was growing very loud, and his head was pounding. He saw someone in the hospital bed inside. He didn't know why, but he started to choke the person to death, and when the deed was done, he saw the person in the bed was himself. Venom looked into his right eye. He didn't have the eye patch then, and he also still couldn't use his right eye, ever since the crash. He continued to stare into the eye. The rest of the Irish and pupil faded away completely. And all he could see, was his reflection, but this time... The demon came back...

Venom woke up. He was back in the same hospital room as before. He looked over to the bedside table and he saw a note.

"Meet me in my office. The elevator is down the hall and at the top floor." -Ozpin. Venom got up, and looked once again, at his arm. It was the same prosthetic arm he had since the hospital incident when he met Ocelot. He walked outside the room, and into the elevator. He pressed the button for the elevator to the top floor. When the doors opened, Venom Snake was greeted by a man in green, sitting at his desk.

"I see that you're finally awake. Please. Have a seat.", said the man, who gestured to a chair on the other side of the desk. Venom continued to walk up to the desk, but he wouldn't sit down. "Suit yourself. Now you obviously have questions, as do I. Now, you will share your story, and I shall share mine.", continued Ozpin.

"Fine. But you'll answer every question I ask you.", said Venom Snake.

"Of course. Now, let us begin, shall we?" asked Ozpin, as the two began to exchange questions and answers.