Chapter Eleven: Red Shift
Snake and the Ninja warily circled one another, fists up, legs sweeping into fighting stances. Whenever one would dart forward, the other would take a step or two back. Occasionally both would lunge towards the other, bringing them within a few feet of one another. IIts like a prizefight/I, Vulture thought. There was something almost… mystical about the two warriors. ILike one of Sphere's animes/I. The thought made Vulture chuckle.
The Ninja brought its leg up in a kick that flashed by a ducking Snake and crashed into a wooden crate, sending shattered chips of wood raining down on the two combatants. As it brought the leg back down, Snake took advantage of an opening to land a hard punch to its gut.
A sound that might have been a mild grunt of pain emanated from its helmet, and the red "eye" flared. The Ninja took a breathtaking leap that brought it fully thirty feet in the air, and it landed almost twenty feet from Snake. It had all happened in barely a second. IThey move so fast!/I
A blue spark leapt out of a crack in the Ninja's armor and arced out into the air a few centimeters before returning to another spot on its armor. "I felt that, Snake," the Ninja said. Snake snarled. "Shut up and get back here," he said.
The red eye flared even brighter, momentarily blinding Vulture as she watched through her scope. Snake threw up a hand to block the glare, and let out a cry of pain as the Ninja, moving with blinding speed, smashed a steel-tipped—or was it something more than steel?—into his gut, just below the massive bruise Raiden had inflicted.
IGuess it'll be expanding into new locales,/I Snake thought grimly. He shunted aside the explosions of pain that seemed to be tearing his chest apart and blocked a chop that probably would have taken off his head, then retaliated with a blow that dented the side of the Ninja's helmet with its ferocity.
Falling back, the Ninja let out a curse in a voice Snake recognized. IVery un-Ninja-like to be swearing,/I Snake thought. IBut that voice… I know that voice…/I
The Ninja let out an inhuman scream before charging at Snake, unleashing a barrage of blows that steadily forced the commando back, unable to mount an offensive of his own. A shot to the jaw whipped Snake's head around, leaving him out of position. The legendary warrior stumbled back into a wall, totally defenseless. The Ninja cocked back a fist, readying itself for the killing blow—
A rifle cracked.
The Ninja leapt back, a bullet tearing through the air it had just occupied. "Are you sure this is right?" Vulture said into her Codec. [Correct. Sphere says that Snake is to live, no matter what. He can't die. Sphere was Ivery/I vehement about it,] Destiny said.
"A contingency plan?"
[I don't know. Possibly.]
The Ninja stared up at Vulture's position. "You'll pay for that, sniper. I once knew a woman assassin who would put Ishame/I to you, little girl."
Snake stiffened. ISo it is him,/I he thought. II watched him die, but here is. This is getting to be an annoying trend./I
"Psycho Mantis!"
The Ninja turned. "I'm glad you recognize me, Solid Snake," he said. Mantis appeared to be flexing his arms, and the Ninja suit disappeared, replaced by the gas mask and almost Gothic suit he'd worn on Shadow Moses.
"It keeps coming back to Shadow Moses," Mantis said. "And it will keep coming back to that accursed pile of rock until you die, Solid Snake!"
"I Iwatched/I you die," Snake said. "How'd they revive you?"
"Much the same way they revived your Frank Jaeger, I suspect," Mantis said. "You know that some cells, including brain cells, can stay alive for hours, even a day or two in some cases, after "brain death." As long as just one live brain cell is still inside a body when our dear government gets their paws on it, they can enact a full revival, including memory retrieval."
"Memory retrieval? How?"
Mantis gave Snake an annoyed look. "How, exactly, should I know? Do I look like the late, much-lamented Dr. Clark? Or your own friend, Naomi Hunter? I may be a genius, Snake, but I don't know anything about genetics."
Snake snorted. "She's no friend of mine."
Mantis looked amused. "Really." He shook his head. "Whatever. We do have a fight to be getting back to, don't we?"
"I suppose we do," Snake said, slowly taking his FAMAS off his back.
"That accursed instrument of war." Mantis tossed his head back. "No matter. I will show you my psychic power!"
"Heard that before," Snake muttered, unleashing the clip at the psychic master. The bullets simply—missed, just as they had around Fortune. IBefore Ocelot killed her./I
[Snake! Why don't you try changing the controller port!]
"This isn't a game, Otacon."
[Well…]
"Never mind, I don't have time for this," Snake said, ducking behind a crate, only to leap for the ground when the crate exploded, thanks to one of Mantis' psi-balls. IYou'd think he'd forgotten how to make those,/I Snake thought.
"Come on out, Snake!" Mantis was gloating now. "Why don't you and your little sniper friend show yourselves? Could it be that you're afraid of Psycho Mantis? Could it be that you know what he will do to you? Could it be that—"
Mantis let out a groan as one of Vulture's bullets cut into his side. "You talk too much," she said, calmly reloading. Mantis fell to the ground, landing on one knee, and struggled to rise to his feet. Inspecting the rapidly expanding pool of red on his torso, he seemed puzzled by it, before waving his hand and muttering something. The red disappeared, and a moment later a bullet fell to the ground.
"IThat's/I a new one," Snake muttered. "Otacon, did you say something about controller ports?"
[I didn't mean like in a video game, Snake… I meant that you can use your Codec to weaken Mantis' psychic powers.]
"That's also a new one," Snake said. "How?"
[I saw it tested last year. I don't know how it works, but it does.]
"Tested? Where?"
[On Arsenal. When Ocelot shut off Fortune's electromagnetic defense shield, her own psychic powers were boosted greatly. I got readings from your nanomachines. And while we were talking, on the Codec, we shifted ports. Immediately, her power output went down. Way down. Also, Mantis is partially using electronic signals coming from your Codec to track you. If you switch ports, you'll be clear for a few a seconds.]
"Well… I'll try it." Snake switched ports, and he could hear (and feel) blood rushing into the new area opened by the movement of the Codec transmitter/receiver. It was not a pleasant experience.
The effect on Mantis, though, was immediate. "Where are you?" he yelled. "How did you disappear?"
"Amazing," Snake said. "Nice job, Otacon." He leaned around the corner of the pillar he'd been hiding behind and walked bullets up Mantis' back. The former Russian psychic screamed, and although the bullets were removed in moments, Snake knew the crazy was hurting.
Vulture saw her moment as well, and drilled Mantis in the chest with another bullet. He healed himself, but slower than last time. Breathing heavily, Mantis extended a "psi shield" around himself. Once again, bullets merely Imoved/I in unnatural ways in an attempt to miss him.
Snake switched ports again, and endured the brief flash of pain before opening fire on Mantis. The bullets merely twisted around him before moving on. "What the—" he said, gazing at the now-visible power shield around the psychic.
"What's going on?" Vulture yelled, as her scope filled with red, before it shattered.
A glowing red sphere had appeared around Mantis and was rapidly expanding. Lightning cracked out from it, briefly touching a crate, a wall, a pillar. They all exploded.
"What the hell is that?" Snake said, getting up and running. '
[I don't know.]
"I do!"
Mantis' voice was even more psychotic and high-pitched now, but Snake could still understand him. Barely. "It is the full manifestation of my powers, Solid Snake! That is what truly kept me alive, with my blood soaking the Commander's carpet on Shadow Moses! The indomitable will of my psychic power!"
"Please, shut up," Snake muttered as he ran. Sparing a glance back, he didn't notice Mantis pick up a stray piece of pipe that had been knocked out of the wall with his mind and fling it toward him. As his head turned around, the pipe impacted squarely on Snake's temple.
II guess its time for some beauty sleep,/I he thought as the ground rushed up to meet him. And then everything gently turned black.
* * *
Five bright lights in a pentagonal formation woke him; he tried to raise and arm to block the glare but couldn't. IWhat the--/I
His arms were buckled down to something. So were his legs. He sighed. Turning to avoid the glare, he saw Liquid standing off to one side, watching Mantis with a curious look on his face. "This Iagain?/I Snake said. "Can't you think of anything more… original?"
Liquid looked up at him. "So you're awake. Looking old as usual, Snake."
"But not half as ugly."
Liquid laughed. "I'll admit that. I hope you caught a nice nap on that bed of yours, brother—it's the last you'll be taking for a while."
"Sounds marvelous."
Ocelot, standing behind Liquid, chuckled. "It is, Solid Snake," he said. "It is."
Snake and the Ninja warily circled one another, fists up, legs sweeping into fighting stances. Whenever one would dart forward, the other would take a step or two back. Occasionally both would lunge towards the other, bringing them within a few feet of one another. IIts like a prizefight/I, Vulture thought. There was something almost… mystical about the two warriors. ILike one of Sphere's animes/I. The thought made Vulture chuckle.
The Ninja brought its leg up in a kick that flashed by a ducking Snake and crashed into a wooden crate, sending shattered chips of wood raining down on the two combatants. As it brought the leg back down, Snake took advantage of an opening to land a hard punch to its gut.
A sound that might have been a mild grunt of pain emanated from its helmet, and the red "eye" flared. The Ninja took a breathtaking leap that brought it fully thirty feet in the air, and it landed almost twenty feet from Snake. It had all happened in barely a second. IThey move so fast!/I
A blue spark leapt out of a crack in the Ninja's armor and arced out into the air a few centimeters before returning to another spot on its armor. "I felt that, Snake," the Ninja said. Snake snarled. "Shut up and get back here," he said.
The red eye flared even brighter, momentarily blinding Vulture as she watched through her scope. Snake threw up a hand to block the glare, and let out a cry of pain as the Ninja, moving with blinding speed, smashed a steel-tipped—or was it something more than steel?—into his gut, just below the massive bruise Raiden had inflicted.
IGuess it'll be expanding into new locales,/I Snake thought grimly. He shunted aside the explosions of pain that seemed to be tearing his chest apart and blocked a chop that probably would have taken off his head, then retaliated with a blow that dented the side of the Ninja's helmet with its ferocity.
Falling back, the Ninja let out a curse in a voice Snake recognized. IVery un-Ninja-like to be swearing,/I Snake thought. IBut that voice… I know that voice…/I
The Ninja let out an inhuman scream before charging at Snake, unleashing a barrage of blows that steadily forced the commando back, unable to mount an offensive of his own. A shot to the jaw whipped Snake's head around, leaving him out of position. The legendary warrior stumbled back into a wall, totally defenseless. The Ninja cocked back a fist, readying itself for the killing blow—
A rifle cracked.
The Ninja leapt back, a bullet tearing through the air it had just occupied. "Are you sure this is right?" Vulture said into her Codec. [Correct. Sphere says that Snake is to live, no matter what. He can't die. Sphere was Ivery/I vehement about it,] Destiny said.
"A contingency plan?"
[I don't know. Possibly.]
The Ninja stared up at Vulture's position. "You'll pay for that, sniper. I once knew a woman assassin who would put Ishame/I to you, little girl."
Snake stiffened. ISo it is him,/I he thought. II watched him die, but here is. This is getting to be an annoying trend./I
"Psycho Mantis!"
The Ninja turned. "I'm glad you recognize me, Solid Snake," he said. Mantis appeared to be flexing his arms, and the Ninja suit disappeared, replaced by the gas mask and almost Gothic suit he'd worn on Shadow Moses.
"It keeps coming back to Shadow Moses," Mantis said. "And it will keep coming back to that accursed pile of rock until you die, Solid Snake!"
"I Iwatched/I you die," Snake said. "How'd they revive you?"
"Much the same way they revived your Frank Jaeger, I suspect," Mantis said. "You know that some cells, including brain cells, can stay alive for hours, even a day or two in some cases, after "brain death." As long as just one live brain cell is still inside a body when our dear government gets their paws on it, they can enact a full revival, including memory retrieval."
"Memory retrieval? How?"
Mantis gave Snake an annoyed look. "How, exactly, should I know? Do I look like the late, much-lamented Dr. Clark? Or your own friend, Naomi Hunter? I may be a genius, Snake, but I don't know anything about genetics."
Snake snorted. "She's no friend of mine."
Mantis looked amused. "Really." He shook his head. "Whatever. We do have a fight to be getting back to, don't we?"
"I suppose we do," Snake said, slowly taking his FAMAS off his back.
"That accursed instrument of war." Mantis tossed his head back. "No matter. I will show you my psychic power!"
"Heard that before," Snake muttered, unleashing the clip at the psychic master. The bullets simply—missed, just as they had around Fortune. IBefore Ocelot killed her./I
[Snake! Why don't you try changing the controller port!]
"This isn't a game, Otacon."
[Well…]
"Never mind, I don't have time for this," Snake said, ducking behind a crate, only to leap for the ground when the crate exploded, thanks to one of Mantis' psi-balls. IYou'd think he'd forgotten how to make those,/I Snake thought.
"Come on out, Snake!" Mantis was gloating now. "Why don't you and your little sniper friend show yourselves? Could it be that you're afraid of Psycho Mantis? Could it be that you know what he will do to you? Could it be that—"
Mantis let out a groan as one of Vulture's bullets cut into his side. "You talk too much," she said, calmly reloading. Mantis fell to the ground, landing on one knee, and struggled to rise to his feet. Inspecting the rapidly expanding pool of red on his torso, he seemed puzzled by it, before waving his hand and muttering something. The red disappeared, and a moment later a bullet fell to the ground.
"IThat's/I a new one," Snake muttered. "Otacon, did you say something about controller ports?"
[I didn't mean like in a video game, Snake… I meant that you can use your Codec to weaken Mantis' psychic powers.]
"That's also a new one," Snake said. "How?"
[I saw it tested last year. I don't know how it works, but it does.]
"Tested? Where?"
[On Arsenal. When Ocelot shut off Fortune's electromagnetic defense shield, her own psychic powers were boosted greatly. I got readings from your nanomachines. And while we were talking, on the Codec, we shifted ports. Immediately, her power output went down. Way down. Also, Mantis is partially using electronic signals coming from your Codec to track you. If you switch ports, you'll be clear for a few a seconds.]
"Well… I'll try it." Snake switched ports, and he could hear (and feel) blood rushing into the new area opened by the movement of the Codec transmitter/receiver. It was not a pleasant experience.
The effect on Mantis, though, was immediate. "Where are you?" he yelled. "How did you disappear?"
"Amazing," Snake said. "Nice job, Otacon." He leaned around the corner of the pillar he'd been hiding behind and walked bullets up Mantis' back. The former Russian psychic screamed, and although the bullets were removed in moments, Snake knew the crazy was hurting.
Vulture saw her moment as well, and drilled Mantis in the chest with another bullet. He healed himself, but slower than last time. Breathing heavily, Mantis extended a "psi shield" around himself. Once again, bullets merely Imoved/I in unnatural ways in an attempt to miss him.
Snake switched ports again, and endured the brief flash of pain before opening fire on Mantis. The bullets merely twisted around him before moving on. "What the—" he said, gazing at the now-visible power shield around the psychic.
"What's going on?" Vulture yelled, as her scope filled with red, before it shattered.
A glowing red sphere had appeared around Mantis and was rapidly expanding. Lightning cracked out from it, briefly touching a crate, a wall, a pillar. They all exploded.
"What the hell is that?" Snake said, getting up and running. '
[I don't know.]
"I do!"
Mantis' voice was even more psychotic and high-pitched now, but Snake could still understand him. Barely. "It is the full manifestation of my powers, Solid Snake! That is what truly kept me alive, with my blood soaking the Commander's carpet on Shadow Moses! The indomitable will of my psychic power!"
"Please, shut up," Snake muttered as he ran. Sparing a glance back, he didn't notice Mantis pick up a stray piece of pipe that had been knocked out of the wall with his mind and fling it toward him. As his head turned around, the pipe impacted squarely on Snake's temple.
II guess its time for some beauty sleep,/I he thought as the ground rushed up to meet him. And then everything gently turned black.
* * *
Five bright lights in a pentagonal formation woke him; he tried to raise and arm to block the glare but couldn't. IWhat the--/I
His arms were buckled down to something. So were his legs. He sighed. Turning to avoid the glare, he saw Liquid standing off to one side, watching Mantis with a curious look on his face. "This Iagain?/I Snake said. "Can't you think of anything more… original?"
Liquid looked up at him. "So you're awake. Looking old as usual, Snake."
"But not half as ugly."
Liquid laughed. "I'll admit that. I hope you caught a nice nap on that bed of yours, brother—it's the last you'll be taking for a while."
"Sounds marvelous."
Ocelot, standing behind Liquid, chuckled. "It is, Solid Snake," he said. "It is."