Metal Gear Solid: Shadows of Gotham
Chapter 3: Solid Snake Vs The Red Hood
Hal Emmerich sits in the back of an old white van. Filled with computer parts, wires and screens recently completed. Outside the sun was just setting, police sirens going by caused Hal to freeze up, his nerves on edge. He looks out the tinted window into the streets of Star City, he leans back and stares off into the computer screen, slowly drifting off to sleep. That is until he hears a phone ringing, violently he awakes scared shitless. He leaps for his bag in the front of the car, tearing the phone from a pocket. He realizes his overreaction and takes a deep breath. He flips open the phone and answers.
"Hello?" his voice says cautiously. Snake told him not to give too much information away when he answered this phone.
However he didn't have to worry, he recognized that specific voice anywhere. "Otacon… Can you hear me?" His voice was a little crackly due to the age of the device, it's certainly no Codec call.
"Yes Snake, its good to hear from you. Are you okay? It wasn't time to check in yet." Hal sighed and laid back in the vehicle.
"It is somewhat an emergency, I've only been in Gotham a short while and I've already nearly been killed." Snake begins to explain.
Hal sighed, "That tracks, Star city is no picnic either. But I've made progress in locating Patriot activity. I've crossed Metropolis, Central City, New York, Detroit and San Francisco off the list. Gotham is actually the biggest one I'm still trying to uncover, there's so much it's almost ridiculous."
"How many secret organizations could there possibly be, especially in a place like this?" Snake replied, Hal could hear the beating of rain on glass.
"Well it's not just that, but organized crime essentially had to adapt to superheroes, making them more secretive and more dangerous. They're not doing it very well, especially this Penguin guy. However, I have tales and rumors of The Batman coming to blows with… some secret organization. I don't have a name yet, or any other reports. Just rumors and vague police reports." Hal reads off his computer, tilting the screen down so he can be laying down and typing.
Snake sighed , "I feel like something wrong is going on here, and if it is the Patriots. Then we should set up a Codec connection."
Hal sat up, concerned his voice became even "Snake did something happen, where are you?"
"I'm not sure. I'm at a bus stop. Some lunatic kidnapped a couple train cars full of people, myself included. I'm alright and the other hostages are free, but the whole experience has left me… suspicious." Snake explained, hiding his shakiness from Hal.
Snake could still remember the hallucinations, Liquid, Ocelot, Big Boss. All of it is so vivid… even to this moment.
"I'll start setting it up and I'll begin the journey back east. It'll be easier to coordinate if we're closer. But before that let me figure out where you are, let's see if we can't get you some place to lay low. At least for the night." Hal hunches over his screen and begins seeking for a satellite to take control of.
After about 10 minutes, Hal could hear the Sound of a lighter igniting just as he finished. "Alright, there is now a recently hacked Kord industries Satellite over Gotham. I've locked the phone's position. Let me find a map of Gotham."
"I feel like you're getting too good at that." Snake chuckled, taking a drag off his cigarette.
Hal chuckled "Well practice as a Cyber terrorist has helped out a lot." He continues typing for a moment before concluding "There's a storm drain nearby, behind you a yard or so away. You can follow that back to the city, the weather map shows the rain should end soon, there's no fear of you drowning down there."
Snake stands "Good to know, I'll call you back-"
"Hold on Snake, did you say a lunatic earlier? There was an explosion at Arkham Asylum that had a number of the… enhanced criminals escaping into Gotham. I don't know if they are lurking through sewers and storm drains but be careful okay." Hal explains.
Snake felt tempted to ask, the man with the mask was clearly in need of medical attention. And in his haze Snake had snapped the man's neck… but did he want to tell Otacon that? Did he want to admit to being compromised and killing someone clearly in need of a medical professional? When on any other day he could have simply subdued him… sure he was under the influence of
"Thank you Hal, don't call me on Codec yet, but set up the connection. 140.85. I'll call you back when I reach the city. And uh… be careful." Snake replied.
"You too Snake." Hal hung up after that.
Hal was clearly worried for his friend, they had been together so much already. Ever since Shadow Moses… they had been there for one another through this whole.. anti- patriot rebellion. But Hal could feel something was off.
While Snake was on the phone he re-organized his bag since the masked man had looked through it. Outside the warehouse Snake had stumbled upon what he thought was Scarecrow's truck, finding a number of C4 charges and a belt Grenades. It was apparent to Snake that Scarecrow had plans to either bury the evidence or lay a trap for someone.
Regardless, Snake could find more productive uses for explosives like these. He safely places them in his back, and puts the belt just out of sight under his large verdant cloak.
Once off the phone with Otacon, he sets off for the aforementioned storm drain. He takes a flashlight from his bag and quickly moves down the walkway. The smell was bad, but nothing Snake hasn't dealt with before.
Snake felt as he did when he infiltrated Outer Heaven. Gotham was new to him, a stronghold of horrors. In just one night he had been kidnapped and… tortured. Albeit briefly.
However his thoughts were brought back to the moment when he heard movement. Sewer water shuffling with a loud growl.
Snake stopped in his tracks as he pulled out his gun, he pointed to where he heard the sound and crouched low.
From the darkness he heard, "I smell you… too clean for the sewer…" the growl was low and monstrous.
Snake shined his flashlight just in time for him to see a large hulking figure lunge for him. He leaped back and fired. Three shots hit the scales of this large target, all three ricocheted off.
Snake cursed himself, tumbling backwards just as the claws of the creature came down upon him.
He knew bullets weren't going to cut it, so he reached for the belt of grenades. Snake didn't know how tough the hide was, but he wasn't going to take any chances.
He rolled to the side when the bite came down, the creature was fast, thankfully they were large and not very skilled at hiding their attacks.
The large reptilian creature lunged forward, claw out. Snake took a chance and wrapped his arm around the bulk that was the creature's arm. The mouth of the creature opened to take advantage of Snake's attempt at grappling the creature. But Snake only did this to keep his claw away. He lunged forward with the grenades, in an attempt to plunge them down the creature's throat.
The creature was smart enough to push Snake away, but not enough to have noticed him rolling a grenade from the hand that had attempted to catch the creature's arm.
This was different from the belts of grenades, this one exploded with a flash of white. The resulting flash and extremely loud noise caused both Snake and the creature to grab their head in pain.
However, the reptilian's reaction was worse than Snakes. Snake came to in about 10 seconds, and the creature could feel the sudden and violent insertion of the belt of grenades, chipping a tooth as Snake violently wrenched them inside.
Snake pulled the pin in one motion and was sprinting in the next, but the creature was flailing wildly and finally, in their last moments they landed a violent slash on Snake's side.
Snake sprinted as hard and as fast as he could just as he heard the explosion. He turned to see the viscera of the creature being washed out by the water, the rest splattered along the walkway.
He puts pressure on his shoulder and walks until he finds a manhole cover, he pushes it open and struggles to climb out with his bag and injury. He sits on the edge and pulls out the phone, dialing Otacon again.
"Snake? Make it out of the sewer?" Hal begins. He continues his work on establishing the Codec connection.
Snake takes a deep sigh. "I hate this city."
Hal stopped "Did something happen?"
"I just got attacked by a reptile monster." Snake responds groaning as he leans against a brick wall
"That's Gotham for you. An inmate on the Arkham escape list was described as a giant humanoid crocodile." Hal replied.
"I hate this city." Snake says, lifting himself off the ground. " Otacon I need the location of a clinic, or hospital. I know I have to stay out of sight, but getting cut up by a monster in a filthy storm drain probably isn't going to result in anything good."
Hal cringed "How bad?" As he typed away at the computer
"I could take care of it myself but I have no medical supplies." Snake replied.
Otacon's eyes light up, "Well there is good news. The map is showing a pharmacy up the alley."
"Lucky me." Snake sighs, grunting as he stalks closer.
"Make sure to cut the power to the building. The backup generator is a decade out of date, so you won't trip any alarms without power to the building." Hal explains.
Snake finds the maintenance ladder and quickly makes his way to the top. He places the phone between his teeth, Hal got an earful of Snakes grunting from the pain the Croc monster inflicted.
"Well you could at least take me to dinner first Snake." Hal teases.
Snake rolled his eyes and chuckled as he reached the top, "I'm out of your league Hal."
Hal laughed in response, both men easing up. After weeks of life like this and things only looking for the worse, moments like these were welcome.
Snake searched for the power box and turned it off. He painfully climbed back down and broke the lock on the door. When he was sure no alarm had been raised he went inside.
"How's the codec connection going?" Snake inquired as he put his bag down and began searching for supplies he needed. He tended to his wound of course, thankfully not infected or worse.
"It's set up whenever you're ready, Snake. What's your next move?" Hal responds.
Snake ties off the bandages before replying, "I need somewhere to lay low. At least for tonight."
Snake could hear Hal typing as he placed medical supplies in his duffel bag. "I'll see what's on the map. But while I'm on the subject of location, I've noticed something odd." Hal starts.
Snake placed the bag over his shoulder again and slumped against a wall.
"When you left the scene of this… Scarecrows kidnapping. Was there a truck?" Hal finished.
Snake took a deep breath, already suspecting something as well. "Let me guess. I'm being followed."
"I think so, a truck just like it arrived at the warehouse then a figure went to the storm drain. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture." Hal starts, "Do you think the scarecrow guy worked for the patriots? And they're disguising it as… Gotham craziness?"
Snake growled and slunk to the glass front door. "I wouldn't put it past them, considering who and what made up their ranks in the past." He pulled out his pistol
"Well, I'm worried about this Snake. Did we lose the element of surprise or is this just, dumb bad luck?" Hal inquired, clearly his anxiety spiking.
Snake takes a deep breath, "Focus Otacon, is there anything around I can lay low for the night."
Hal takes a deep breath, "Right I'm sorry." Snake could hear the frantic typing and searching, he patiently waited. Hal takes a small breath of relief. "There's an abandoned warehouse across the way. It may be safe if they lost you in the storm drain."
Snake looks across the street to see the warehouse, it's old, but sturdy. It looks fairly recently abandoned, not condemned, it'll protect him from the elements at least. The door was chained off but there is an exposed vent system next to a broken window. So he at least would have no problem getting inside.
"I see it across the way, I can hide out for tonight-" Snake started to reply.
He spun around just as he heard the lightest of footsteps, pointing the barrel of his weapon toward the noise.
His eyes met with a red helmet, a rather large individual with a black jacket and combat gear. He had his hands up just as Snake snapped the phone and slid the pieces into his bag.
"Who are we hiding from?-" the man spoke, his voice even and clear through the helmet, the reverb would make the average store robber tremble.
But it made Snake pull the trigger without hesitation.
The sound of a suppressed gun fire resounded through this small pharmacy just as the bullet ricocheted off the helmet as the man reeled. He dived behind the pharmacy desk as Snake kicked open the glass door.
The man in question was Jason Todd, the Red Hood. He dived behind the counter and pulled his pistols from their holsters.
"Shit!" Jason's thoughts raced with rage and adrenaline. Had he not been wearing this helmet, he'd be dead. Again.
"Now it doesn't fucking matter if he's delusional, he's dangerous. I need to try to subdue him." Jason leaped up and pointed his weapons where the man would have been. But instead she saw the man leap through a window in a nearby warehouse.
Jason gave chase, he also leaped up through the window. Across the way, with only the light of the moon through one of the windows Jason lays eyes on Snake's duffle bag lying on the floor, the cloak he wore laying on top of it. But Snake himself was nowhere to be found.
The warehouse reeked with the odor of rotting fish, produce, wood and cloth. Big tarps cover large wooden boxes over pallets, Jason could tell that sound is perfect to echo here. His helmet should pick up on even the lightest sounds. Yet it has picked up nothing. Drops of water leaking from a pipe, birds and rats… but nothing else.
"How is he so quiet, he must be staying still, hiding somewhere in here." Jason thought.
Unlucky for Jason, Snake was equipped with a state of the art sneaking suit. Keeping his movements as quiet as physically possible, his training helping him with the rest. From above, Snake peered down at that red helmet, bullet proof and technologically advanced. He would need to subdue him physically, given his Socom cannot penetrate the man's armor. But a pistol wasn't his only weapon.
Jason backed up against a wall, lifting a grenade from his belt. "You want to play this game. Let's play." Jason pulled a pin and rolled the grenade into the middle of the floor, smoke started billowing into the room.
Jason then lifted a small device from his belt, he tossed it close to the smoke grenade and pressed a button on his helmet. This device emits beams of nearly invisible light that would act as a motion sensor, which his helmet would relay to him if anything tripped it. However, it had a problem, the smoke revealed the lasers like putting smoke to a motion sensor. But that was part of Jason's plan. If his opponent moved past the lasers his helmet would help him see where, if they are in a place the lasers can't touch and destroy the device. That would narrow down the hiding spots in the building.
Meanwhile, Snake hung from the rafters having vaulted up several downed machines before his pursuer entered the building. He covered his head and let his sneaking suit do its job, hiding him from infrared among many other things.
He was confused for a moment when the man with the Red Helmet filled the room with smoke. That would only provide him more cover, he knew there had to be more than this. He also couldn't leave the bag behind, Snake was cornered and needed information. If a man with military equipment is chasing him, he needs to know why.
Snake's heart sank when the smoke revealed motion sensor lasers. They all led to the center of the smoke, he could barely move without setting off the device. Thankfully he was far enough away that the laser points spread out the further away from the device they get, it may have been tight, but enough to raise his Socom toward the device.
Jason watched and tentatively held his weapon. He pondered the silencer on the pistol that was aimed at him. It seemed more like the weapon of an assassin, rather than a disgruntled vet who got caught up in the wrong part of Gotham.
"The deaths of Crane and Croc seem more like murders of circumstance or defense." Jason thought moving his head slowly to keep track of everything. "His tactics are too well practiced, he must be after someone. I need to finish this quickly."
Suddenly in a moment, the device was destroyed. Which still played exactly into Jason's hands, Snake fired his pistol at the epicenter of the lasers. The limited sound and the bullet pushing through the smoke provided more than enough information for Jason's iconic Red Hood to pick up on the direction the bullet was fired and the direction of his target.
Jason lifted an explosive throwing star from his belt before violently hurling it in that direction. The sound of a small concussive explosion echoed through the building, Jason had hoped it had thrown the man from the rafters.
Unlucky for Jason, Snake knew better than to stay in one place for too long, after firing a shot he rolled off the beam he was positioned on and hung from it. He let go just as the throwing star exploded and landed behind a large shelf of boxes and tools. Silently he creeped over to the wall only to find a vent. All the while Jason quickly moved over to where Snake used to be, hoping to catch a discombobulated combatant.
Snake assessed his surroundings quickly, locating a handy person sized cardboard box and a large ventilation shaft beginning at the floor, perfect for a person to fit through. Snake had a plan and needed to act quickly. He prepped the box back and to the left of the vent, then he intentionally made noise by ripping the vent up from the floor before diving for the box, successfully scrambling under it when Jason appeared around the corner with his rifle drawn.
Just as Snake planned, Jason looks around and finds nothing, his sneaking suit saving him from the technology in use. However, Jason falls further into Snakes trap, crouching down by the vent and stepping inside, trying to find evidence of Snakes escape. Only for Snake to burst out of the top of the box and wrap his arms around Jason's neck.
Jason panics, knowing Snake could break his neck like he had done to crane. Jason was strong, his youth and training with Batman provided a body in peak human condition… he quickly learned that this man was stronger. Jason moved fast and deployed another device from his belt just as he pressed a button on his helmet to block out all sound for a couple seconds. In response, this device releases an ear piercing sound for a couple seconds that causes Snake to grab his head in pain, it wouldn't cause lasting damage but enough to free himself.
Jason swung around and made an attempt to grab him. Much to his surprise, Snake had recovered quicker than possible. Jason barely manages to dodge a swing and decides to pivot, choosing to dive for his pistol.
Snake would have easily capitalized on such a maneuver, but found the effects of that audio device still disorienting him. He was able to react just before Jason swung around with his weapon. Snake sprints behind the industrial shelf of boxes and pallets just as a couple shots are sent his way. The shots were too low to kill him, like the man wanted him caught, not dead.
Without wasting a second, Snake sprinted for his bag, throwing a crate off the shelf to impede the pursuit. Jason expertly leaped over the obstacle but was slowed enough to lock eyes with snake lifting a grenade from his back
"Are you crazy, you'll kill both of us!" Jason exclaims aiming his weapon.
The pin on the grenade is pulled as a bullet grazes Snake's shoulder. He rolls the grenade toward Jason's feet, rather than an explosion, there's a flash and the air is filled with the technology disrupting Chaff.
Jason had braced himself for an explosion but instead found vision glitching. He felt nauseous and disoriented. He panics and throws his helmet off, only to find a haymaker to his jaw.
Snake didn't let up, he grabbed Jason and flipped him over his shoulder slamming him into the ground. Needless to say Jason lay dazed as Snake looms over him.
He didn't want to waste this time, but seeing such a young man, the white streak in his hair, the anger and exhaustion in his eyes. That look reminded him of so much of the past, of himself and others. This night and this city is fueled by nothing except tragedy.
A sigh left his lips as he quickly pulled him up into a choke hold, saying evenly… "You're pretty good." Images of the fearful illusion from earlier in the night flashes in the back of Snake's mind.
Jason's fights, fear pumping in his veins as the tears well in his eyes. He was faced toward an open hole in the building, the moonlight shining overhead. "I'm sorry…" As his consciousness slips, his last thoughts were of Bruce and the family… his family.
—
End of Chapter -
Chapter 4: His Personal War