Zack had never seen such a look of urgency on the older man's face.
As soon as the words had left Tretij's mouth, it was look everything else ceased to matter. Ocelot ordered them to follow him back to the LZ and radioed their pilot to come back in. As they got off of the horses, the blonde grabbed the gunslinger and turned him to face them.
"Ocelot what the hell is going on?" the teenager asked sternly, clearly concerned about the change in the man's behavior, but he learned a long time ago that being anything except straight forward with the man didn't work. "Who is Venom Snake?"
"He's ..." the man started, clearly trying to find the right words. "He's your guardian."
"Excuse me? I thought that you and Kaz were my guardians."
"Kaz is... I'm not."
Tretij looked between the two and it was clear that the revelation was shocking to Zack as he let go of the man's arms and held his left temple for a moment before running his fingers up into his hair. Ocelot didn't look like he was in the mood to explain any further and quite frankly, the teenager wasn't sure he wanted to know any more with the way everything was unfolding all at once.
"Should we not be looking for Kazuhira?" Tretij finally asked, lowering himself to actually stand on the ground. "What is more important about Snake than his survival if he has been captured for two days already?"
"Venom Snake is one of the targets of Cipher," Ocelot told him as the helicopter finally landed. The three climbed in and Ocelot looked at Pequod. "We need to head for Cyprus, immediately."
"Jesus, that's nearly a week from here, Ocelot," the pilot said as he raised the craft back into the air. "I take it Big Boss is awake."
Zack's head snapped up from having been looking down at the horses. He shot a glare at Ocelot upon hearing the name. "Big Boss? What the hell does he have to do with this? I thought this was about Venom."
The Russian-American sighed and sat down across from Zack, scratching at his wrist. "Do you remember anything from when you were six, Nymph?"
"A few things, not many. What's your point?"
"Do you remember a medic? You used to be with him all of the time. People thought you were his son, not John's. He blocked your father from being killed by an explosion and went into a coma. That's why I ended up with Kaz, because he couldn't be there."
"Among other reasons," Tretij stated, and Ocelot gave him a look that told him he better not say anything more about that.
Zack was now extremely confused and if possible, even more angry. Not only was his father responsible for Kaz walking out on them, he was also responsible for the man that actually cared about him nearly getting killed? The teen looked back into his memories, trying to put a face to the man that Ocelot was talking about. He seemed to vaguely catch glimpses of brown eyes and black hair, cut short and a bright, straight smile as he was picked up off of the ground. He did remember something about a doctor's room, Kaz was always telling him not to go in if Vicente was busy...
"Vicente...?" Zack asked out loud and Ocelot seemed surprised. The teen looked at him. "The Greek medic that worked for the MSF. Is that who you're talking about? He's my guardian?"
"He was." Ocelot frowned and the blonde suddenly had a feeling he wasn't going to like what he was about to say. "He..might not remember you. During the explosion, a piece of shrapnel lodged into his right temple. He was in the same hospital as your father, so it's imperative we get to him before Cipher does."
Zack looked back out the window of the helicopter door, staying silent as he reached up to let his hair down and ran his fingers through it. It seemed like everything his father touched, he ruined and he hated him for it. It always worried him to a degree that he would ultimately end up the same way, destroying everything that he ended up holding dear. But he knew somewhere inside that he would never let that happen, no matter what he had to do in order to make sure that it didn't...
Most of the trip to Cyprus consisted of making battle plans and how to handle if Cipher was already on site. Tretij confirmed the presence of another general, but he didn't say anything else about it. He seemed unwilling to speak about whoever they were and kept glancing at Ocelot as if he was worried. They had been forced to take a ship to the island as Pequod informed them that air traffic was shut down, but Ocelot was always prepared for if something didn't go accordingly and this time was no different. Their horses had also been allowed on the ship in the below deck where there was a room they could use as a stable. The fishermen on the boat didn't seem to pay the three much mind aside from the curious glance or greeting in their native language. It made it easy for them to sit and discuss what they needed to do once they got there since none of the men seemed to understand English very well.
"My biggest concern lies with the fact that we don't know how many troops they've deployed to try and get rid of them," Ocelot noted as they looked over the blueprints he'd aquired of the hospital. "But we can just about guess that they're going to cause a huge commotion once they get in."
"I can go in and try and distract them," Zack stated, pointing at a underground entrance. "If I go in through the service tunnels, they won't expect me so you'd be able to get them out."
"No, you'll stay with me," the man said to the boy, looking at Tretij who gave him a slight turn of his head in question. "Mantis, you'll be in charge of making sure that the troops don't get in Boss and Snake's way. Use any force necessary to ensure their safety."
"Understood," the masked boy replied as he looked down at the layout of the building.
"I'll stay with the two of you until I see who I am dealing with."
Ocelot didn't seem to have an qualms with that and within the next few hours, the three of them were disembarking the ship and getting back in the saddle. Tretij held onto Zack as they rode across the rough mountain turrain, the boy following Ocelot's lead as it began to thunderstorm, making the horses a little skiddish, but not enough for them to stop more than a couple of seconds, or hesitate in a step. After a couple of hours, the three stopped atop a cliff that overlooked the hospital. There was the sound of a blast from inside that made Ocelot raise both of his brows, watching as some of the windows on the building blew out.
"What just happened?" Zack asked, almost casually as he raised a brow when something inside of the hospital blew up. "Well, you were right about them making a big commotion, Ocelot. They don't know the meaning of stealth, clearly."
"They've never been subtle, but the helicopter in the front of the building is a bit of a surprise," the man confirmed, looking at Tretij who hovered up off of the mare and stayed between them for a moment. "Good luck, Mantis. "
The boy nodded before disappearing as he hovered down towards the hospital, leaving the two to watch from the cliffside through their binoculars. Zack saw a man come out as Mantis was inside holding off the troops and furrowed his brows at the sight. He was thin and his left arm was a low grade prosthetic. Zack was sure he recognized the man as his father, from the pictures he'd been shown, but when he looked at his temple on the right side...
"Ocelot," he started, lowering his binoculars. The man must have sensed his thoughts because he lowered his own.
"Yeah, something's wrong," he confirmed, both of them putting the tool in their saddlebag. "Stay close, we can't split off this time, Nymph."
The two looked on as an ambulance came around the corner of the building and stopped next to the man, the door swung open and the figure got in. The two turned their horses to follow the ambulance but not before seeing Tretij fly out one of the windows when a large wave of fire and electricity burst from the from of the building. Zack saw Ocelot's face pale as a man with deep scarring from burns walked out the front doors. He looked horrified, almost terrified.
"Ocelot, we have to move!" the boy said, catching the man's attention. "Follow the ambulance, I'll grab Mantis and follow along!"
"I said we ca-"
"There's no time for this! Go!" the teen demanded so the man turned and nudged D-Horse's sides, making him take off.
The teenager nudged his own horse in the ribs and headed down to where Tretij was now holding off the burned man's flames by forming a shield with his mind. Zack drew the knife from his boot and flung it hard enough that it stuck into the man's shoulder, making him groan in mild pain and annoyance. Zack grabbed Tretij's wrist and pulled him up onto his mare's back so the masked boy held onto his waist as the horse rushed down the road to follow after Ocelot and the ambulance. They saw a couple of explosions ahead of them so Tretij swung his arm, redirecting the shrapnel and flames from hitting them. They finally caught up with the older man as he was coming up on the ambulance which had run off the road and turned over.
Zack got off the mare and ran over to the ambulance where he crawled in through the back door. He undid the seatbelt around Venom's waist as Ocelot skid to a stop outside the busted out window and pulled Big Boss from the cab. The teenager gently lay the man on the roof of the ambulance cab, checking on him to make sure the shrapnel in his temple hadn't been hit and done any more damage than what i clearly already had. He felt a deep pitted anger in his stomach starting to flare as he remembered the way the man looked before these nine years. When he was sure that Snake was alright, he climbed back out and looked at Tretij who hovered over.
"Keep an eye on him," the boy said before hearing Ocelot whistle to him from up the hill. "If that freak shows up again, tell him to run."
"Understood," Tretij replied with a nod, staying near the ambulance as Zack climbed up the hill with his mare.
The blonde got to the top just in time to see Big Boss zipping up a biker jacket. Clearly he'd been planning on leaving for quite some time, Zack had to wonder how the hell a motorcycle got out in the middle of basically nowhere though.
"A gift from Eva I'm assuming," Ocelot questioned as he looked at the motorcycle. "I figured you came this way for some reason."
"Yeah, she's going to rendezvous with us at the airport," the man replied, searching the bag on the bike until he found a passport. Clearly the woman thought of everything. He put it back in and looked at Zack. "Is Venom alright?"
"He's alive, but I wouldn't say alright," Zack hissed, clearly knowing that something was wrong. People in comas don't exactly get to agree to plastic surgery.
"What the hell did they do to him, Boss?" Ocelot asked the man, standing across from him with Zack. "I wasn't informed about anything regarding him being turned into a phantom while you were in a coma."
"I wasn't in a coma, Adam," he told the man flatly. "I've been working with Zero and Eva, buying my time until he woke up so we could pick up where we left off. I needed a double since the world is still after my head. Vicente was a prime candidate."
"You son of a bitch," Zack growled, seeing the hurt and disbelief in Ocelot's expression. "Not only did you lie to the two men who trusted you most, you turned another into something he's not without him even knowing! Everyone looks up to you for some damn reason and you're just a monster!"
"Watch your mouth, boy." The man gave his son a firm look. "Just because you're old enough to be in the field now doesn't mean you get to act like you know what's going on."
Ocelot shook his head in disbelief, rubbing at his forehead as if he was starting to get a headache and it prickled Zack's skin, making him growl like a dog. "So all of this time, you've just been lying to Kaz and myself? I thought you trusted us more than that, Boss! That man went to war for you and got captured because of a lie?"
"I'll explain more on the way to the airport," the man said. "Let's go."
"No." Boss shot him a look and Ocelot stood his ground. "I'm not going with you. I refuse to work with a man who would lie to those who believe and follow him without hesitation. I'm going to Venom and we're going to save Kazuhira. His sacrifice was more than just a part of the vision: He cared about you. And I did too...but I won't anymore."
"Your mother would be disappointed in you, Adam," the man said and it looked like the words physically caused the man pain. He reached out and grabebd the gunslinger's wrist, the blonde immediately tried to pull away, telling him to stop.
"Get your filthy hands off of him!" Zack roared, his vision flashed to negative for a moment as he lunged at his father, making him let go of Ocelot who backed up next to D-Horse.
The boy caught his footing and turned to face the bigger man who saw the challenge and accepted it so he turned to face his son. The boy leveled his temper and swung at the man which Boss dodged and grabbed his wrist, kicking at his ankles but Zack jumped and twisted his own arm, grabbing the bigger man's wrist with his own and spun around so that he could pull him over his shoulder and slam him to the ground. The man winced before getting back up as Zack backed up and glared at him as he turned back on him. The man seemed to understand that the boy wasn't going to back down and he huffed slightly.
"Fine, I see you've been trained well. Not that I expected anything less from the boy raised by a spy and Kazuhira. God knows I've slammed his ass to the ground enough times he should have learned something," the man stated, walking over to the motorcycle and got on the seat, looking at the boy as he took a cigar out of his jacket pocket. "Keep practicing kid. Next time I see you, I won't be as easy."
"One day, I'll overthrow you and become the leader of this organization. You'll be exiled, that's a promise," the boy said darkly, watching the man to make sure he wouldn't do anything as he turned to Ocelot. "Come on, let's go help Vicente."
Ocelot looked at the man on the motorcycle before shaking his head and the two got back into their saddles, heading back to where they had left Venom in the ambulance. They didn't have any more time to contemplate what may be in store for them now that Ocelot had split up from the man he had been followhing his whole life.