NOTE: There are several massive twists coming in the next few chapters. While I'm hoping twist number one offers some clarity regarding some of the more confusing parts of some of the earlier chapters, I'm a little nervous about twist number two as I feel like it may paint an existing Metal Gear character in a negative light. Regardless, I hope you enjoy these last few chapters of MGS6, and I thank everyone who's read this far into my fanfic!
CHAPTER 20— "THE THREE BEAUTIES AND THE THREE BEASTS"
Snake said to Meryl, "Why'd you do it, Meryl? Why'd you sacrifice humanity to Dante?"
"It... it was a hopeless fight, Snake," said Meryl. "I tried, but… I wasn't strong enough to stop Dante back in Saudi Arabia. I was only able to help save you. So, I agreed to work with him, and in return he'd keep me transhuman… That was a worse punishment than becoming a posthuman in more ways than not."
"I was forced to watch him turn our friends posthuman… I was in so much distress that I tried to kill Johnny to spare him from the same fate… Somehow, though, Dante gave him a worse fate than the others even… managed to upload his consciousness to Cocytus without a body."
"And now Dante's given me a worse fate than staying transhuman, living as a coward that was complicit in unleashing a global catastrophe… Now that HUMANDIE's backup copy has been uploaded to my BISECT, I can feel it… It's taking over."
"That's why you have to kill me, Snake," said Meryl. "The entirety of humanity is more valuable than one person."
"I—" said Snake.
"What?" said Meryl.
"I'm going to grieve for you. I already am."
Meryl said to Snake, "I know. And I'm sorry. I wish things didn't turn out this way. I don't want to die like a coward… which is why I have one last request."
"No wonder Dante called me Pride Omega…" said Meryl. "I want a soldier's death, Snake. So fight with me, one last time. Prevent posthumanity from multiplying to thousands, and then millions, and then billions. Reduce it from one… to zero."
Snake said, "All right, Meryl. I'll honor your request."
"All right, Snake," cried Meryl as she readied Metal Gear DAEMON-ZERO's machine gun arms. "Show me what you're made of! Finish your mission!"
Snake readied Metal Gear HUMAN's own weapons, and used its jets to fly toward Metal Gear DAEMON-ZERO and attack it.
DAEMON-ZERO and HUMAN's activated energy shields canceled each other out, sending both Metal Gears flying backward.
Snake quickly got HUMAN back up using its jets, and avoided DAEMON-ZERO's explosive machine gun fire.
Snake used HUMAN's stealth camouflage to evade DAEMON-ZERO, moving around it and attacking it from behind, chucking DAEMON-ZERO into the snow.
DAEMON-ZERO tried to get up, only for HUMAN to get on top of DAEMON-ZERO and start bashing it further into the snow with its massive metal fists.
Meryl used DAEMON-ZERO's machine guns to blast HUMAN off of it, sending HUMAN flying backwards into the snow too now.
Snake tried to fire HUMAN's missiles at DAEMON-ZERO, but its flares caused the missiles to miss.
He then tried using its water cutter, only for DAEMON-ZERO's energy shields to negate the laser's effects.
Meryl then slammed DAEMON-ZERO into HUMAN, using its fists and water cutter to shred through HUMAN's flesh and metal endoskeleton.
"Hurry, Snake!" yelled Meryl over DAEMON-ZERO's intercoms. "I can feel my consciousness fading away!"
Snake yelled, and activated HUMAN's energy shields, then knocked DAEMON-ZERO back by kicking it with its foot.
Snake then fired HUMAN's machine guns and missiles at DAEMON-ZERO while it was stunned.
DAEMON-ZERO started to take some considerable damage after this.
Its chassis emitting static, Meryl's Metal Gear made an inhuman roaring noise.
"No! Must… destroy… humanity…"
"MERYL!" yelled Snake.
"Gah!" screamed Meryl. "You have to beat me, Snake! Now!"
Snake used HUMAN's stealth camouflage again, and snuck up on DAEMON-ZERO while its energy shield was malfunctioning, then slammed it into the snow once more, and shredded through its chassis with its water cutter and machine guns.
To Snake's shock, DAEMON-ZERO started to grab HUMAN with several wires, and DAEMON-ZERO grabbed HUMAN in a bear hug.
"Time to reproduce posthumanity, Snake…" said Meryl as she tried to castrate HUMAN like Dante attempted to with Metal Gear DAEMON-ONE.
Snake desperately tugged at Metal Gear DAEMON-ZERO's bonds.
Cutting them off with the water cutter at the last minute, Snake managed to get Metal Gear HUMAN to throw DAEMON-ZERO over its shoulder.
HUMAN then launched more missiles at DAEMON-ZERO and fired at it with its machine guns.
DAEMON-ZERO was on its last legs, and was emitting more and more static electricity.
But it was starting to fire its blast ammunition machine guns at HUMAN again.
Snake quickly activated HUMAN's energy shields, but the blast ammunition was quickly causing the energy shields' battery to deplete.
"NO!" yelled Snake.
At the last minute, before HUMAN's energy shields depleted completely, Snake decided to charge at DAEMON-ZERO and knock it off of the snowy plateau and smash through the ice into the freezing water beneath, destroying DAEMON-ZERO by causing it to become destroyed by its own electricity it was emitting.
Snake could hear Meryl make an inhuman scream as she ejected herself from DAEMON-ZERO's cockpit.
As she punched through the ice above the sea, Meryl, now a convulsing, static-emitting mess whose endoskeleton was partially showing due to most of her artificial flesh having been burnt off, dragged herself out of the water.
Snake uploaded his mind to another endoskeleton from Metal Gear HUMAN, and went to stop Meryl.
She regenerated some of her flesh, and tried to get on her feet.
She and Snake engaged in CQC for a moment, throwing fists and kicks that damaged each other's endoskeletons, only for Snake to throw Meryl back onto the ice again.
"It's over, Meryl!" said Snake as he stood over her on the snowy plateau. "I have the high ground!"
Meryl screamed demonically as she used her jets to fly towards Snake, only for Snake to take out his SOCOM and blast through her endoskeleton with some explosive rounds.
One of Meryl's machine gun arms was dismembered by the blasts, while the other was damaged to the point that it wouldn't work anymore.
Meryl's body went crashing into the snow, and her artificial blood and entrails turned the snow bright red.
Meryl crawled toward her dismembered machine gun arm, and tried to pick it up with her remaining hand, only for Snake to stomp on her arm.
Snake then beat Meryl with a barrage of deadly CQC attacks until she was unable to stand anymore.
Collapsing into the snow, Meryl looked up at Snake with tears streaming down her artificial human eye, while her cold digital red eye on the destroyed side of her face looking at Snake without a sign of life.
Her voice emitting static and sounding half-demonic, Meryl said with a strained voice, "Finish it, Snake…"
"Are you still human?"
"I am…"
"Do you still love me?" said Snake.
"I always have, Snake," said Meryl. "I always have."
Meryl looked at Snake with even more tears in her eye. "Thank you for fighting me one last time, Snake… You're a wonderful man… You're a hero."
"I'm no man," said Snake. "I'm a cyborg… and I'm no hero. I'm just an old killer… I killed all my friends."
"Wake up and face reality, Cyber Snake…" said Meryl. "You saved most of humanity."
As Snake was about to interface with Meryl's BISECT, Meryl held up her good hand, "Snake, wait!"
Snake paused.
"Don't interface with me… Shoot me instead," said Meryl.
"But—"
"You heard what Dante said, Snake!" said Meryl. "I'm his ace-in-the-hole… If you interface with me, you'll become posthuman… Infect the rest of transhumanity… I have to die… for good. For the sake of humankind."
Snake looked at Meryl.
"Take my machine gun arm," said Meryl.
Snake looked at Meryl's machine gun as he held it in his hands.
"A Patriot machine gun augmentation?"
"Yes," said Meryl.
Snake looked down at Meryl as he started to cry.
"I wish things had turned out differently," sobbed Meryl. "I wish you had come with me after Shadow Moses… Still, it's nice to be back, and relive the memories of us fighting together… one last time."
"I'm sorry, Meryl," said Snake. "For everything."
"Don't be," said Meryl. "One thing I learned about studying the stars with Johnny… is that we're all part of the universe… We're all made of stardust… we're energy. And since we turn back to stardust, we'll never truly die."
"Just because Dante killed so many of us doesn't mean we can't keep their memories, their genes, their memes… the various scenes of their stories… and their legacies alive after they're long gone," said Meryl. "Promise me you'll keep mine alive… and that you'll overcome your grief. That you'll live a good life."
"I—" said Snake. "I promise."
"I became my worst enemy…" said Meryl. "Because of my pride… I became yours. Goodbye, Snake."
Meryl looked up at Snake as he aimed the Patriot at her head with a trembling hand, and then raised her hand toward him, "Snake, wait! Do you love me too—"
Bang.
Snake looked at Meryl in shock as the bullet pierced her head and destroyed her BISECT, erasing her consciousness from existence.
Picking up Meryl's body and holding her in his arms, Snake got up and tried to carry her toward the light… the sun, as it started to shine in the distance through the whiteout.
But it was too late… The sun had set.
Snake began to cry as Meryl's body became too heavy to hold, and he dropped her.
Then he sank to his knees, raised his head to the sky, and screamed.
"Meryl…" said Snake in between sobs.
Snake said while breathing heavily, "I became my worst enemy… The enemy of my friends…"
"They're all gone… THEY'RE ALL GONE!"
"SNAKE!" cried Mikki as she approached him.
She looked at Snake. Cyber Snake looked in Mikki's direction.
Then, to Snake's shock, he saw Fat Snake appear out of nowhere, and point his revolvers at her.
Juggling them, he said, "It's time you told him the truth, mouse…" said Fat Snake as he loaded one of the revolvers with a single bullet, and spun the barrel, then juggled them again and started to pull the triggers.
"You don't need to intimidate me, Liquid…" said Mikki as tears streamed down her eyes. "Snake deserves to know the truth. I wanted to tell him earlier."
Cyber Snake looked at Mikki, and then Fat Snake.
"What truth?" said Cyber Snake to Mikki.
Mikki said to Cyber Snake as Daemonic Snake- Solidus—appeared before Cyber Snake as well.
"I thought Solidus and Liquid were both dead… their consciousnesses erased by Dante…" said Snake. "What's going on?"
Mikki looked at Snake with sadness and guilt in her eyes.
"What the hell's going on!"
"Cocytus… the center of hell… The three heads of Satan, Snake… yours… Solidus's… and…"
Cyber Snake looked at Fat Snake in shock.
"You don't mean… ?"
"Solidus was never the only alternate consciousness uploaded to your BISECT, Snake… Liquid's was uploaded to yours from the very start."
Cyber Snake looked at Fat Snake, then Mikki.
"I don't believe it…"
"I've lied to you countless times, Snake," said Mikki as she began to cry again. "It was all for the greater good, but—" Her voice caught.
"It'd take forever just to tell you everything. It's better I showed you," she said. "Interface with my BISECT, Snake. The truth is lying inside."
Snake looked at Mikki, and held his hand up to her BISECT, while she held her hand up to his.
