Raiden was having a tough day.
Over the past ten hours, he had infiltrated an offshore waste-disposal plant, single-handedly, trying to stop a terrorist plot and rescue the President of the United States. But hey, that seemed like it might have been too easy – so not only did he have to sneak around a thousand angry Russians with assault rifles pointed at him, he'd also had to face off against the most impressive collection of freaks the world had seen since the Shadow Moses incident.
Immortal chicks with laser guns and daddy issues? Bomb-obsessed madmen? Vampires? Raiden loved a good sci-fi flick as much as the next movie buff – just ask Rose – but having it happen in real life is a step too far. And speaking of Rose, she'd been yapping away in his ears the whole time. Asking him what day it was, why it was important – he loved her, sure, but he he'd had more pressing stuff to deal with!
And that's without getting into the really weird stuff. Turns out that the terrorist leader, who was actually the ex-President of the U.S.A., by the way, was actually a psychopath who made child soldiers and was going to nuke Manhattan for... some reason. To be honest, Raiden had kind of stopped listening at the 'child soldier' part, seeing as he now remembered that he'd been one of them. 'Great,' he'd thought, 'more therapist's bills to pay...'
He couldn't say it was all bad, though. He'd managed to hit it off with a pretty hot chick, besides her, well, getting killed by a vampire, and all. He'd managed to meet his idol, Solid Snake, which had been a blast – except for the part where he'd betrayed Raiden and stolen all his clothes. That wasn't so cool. In any case, along with Snake, he'd managed to bring down a massive techno-conspiracy called the Patriots, sorta. Well, he'd kinda helped them by killing Solidus, but that was besides the point.
So despite everything that had gone on before, Raiden was in a good mood as he threw his dogtags – no, not his, they had someone else's name on them – into the Manhattan streets, and his mood only improved when he saw his love, his one, his only, his Rose, walking towards him. He didn't question why or how she was there. His only reactions was a smile breaking out on his face, he stretched out his arms, moving to embrace her.
'Rose! God, it's good to see you! Look, everything you said – about the Patriots, about being a spy – it doesn't matter now. We're safe. We can be together, and it can be for real this time. I'll tell you as much about myself as I can. And Rose – hey, wait, what the hell?!'
Rose had walked straight past him, into the waiting clutches of (who else?) Solid Snake. Cuddled against his beefy, muscled chest, she glanced up at the legendary soldier's face and gently kissed his cheek.
'Oh, Snake, I was so worried about you!~~~'
Raiden just stood there in shock, not entirely sure what was happening. Noticing his confusion, Snake gestured to him.
'Hope you don't mind, kid. Your lady friend seems to have- hrmhm, how should I put it? - fallen for me.'
Raiden was furious.
'Of course I mind! What the hell, Snake, I'm Rose's boyfriend! We were going to go back to my apartment and watch King Kong – together!'
'Wait a second,' said Snake, visibly confused. 'Boyfriend? Are you telling me that you're not a woman?'
Raiden's day just kept getting worse...