Chapter #4: Compromise.

Saturday came soon enough because Snake had come into Mantis' office asking for a new job on Friday. Before calling Alex he hurried through all his practically incurable patients so he could get some time alone. One kid was having severe trauma because he had just found out that anime wasn't real. Another guy was trying to break up with a Barbie doll. Finally some dude came in and muttered something so bizarre that Mantis couldn't decipher it even after reading the guy's mind. The individual then pulled out a gun and shot himself before Mantis could stop him. Fortunately, it was a squirt gun filled with red dye. Having been shown that display, he felt no remorse when he pushed the emergency nut button. After the very helpful Squirrel Squad arrived, Mantis searched for the sheet of paper he had written Alex's number down on. He located it, grabbed his cell phone, and then called up the UPS office. A very rude secretary sharply transferred his call to Alex. His old friend answered just like Mantis expected he would. Full of fear and paranoia.

"All the ads you have in the paper are still free." Alex explained quickly, highly nervous. "I've personally seen to it. You still have that full-page ad that tells people to go to your institution if they need professional help. Please don't mess with my mind! I'm still recovering from last time. My wife is still mad at me for whatever you made me do to our dog and my kids refuse to let me eat chocolate ice cream for some odd reason that they too won't explain to me. I can't find our pet parrot Squawk and each time I try to have sex with my wife, she slaps me across the face and mutters something about donuts."

In addition to running a delivery business, Alex also had some influence with the local newspaper, as his wife maintained it. For a brief moment Mantis asked himself why people were so afraid of him. It was starting to get kind of annoying. But then he remembered that nearly everyone who cringed in terror at the mention of his name usually did so because of something he had done to them. All at once he needed a drink so he pulled out his bottle of liquor and poured himself a shot as he held Alex's attention. In his mind he was vaguely becoming aware of how he always needed a drink at inappropriate times. Dealing with his own problems could be put off until later. He could even write himself in as a patient and therefore transfer one of his cases to a different psychologist, which would give him ninety more minutes to slack off.

"Alex, that's all in the past." Mantis said, figuring in his own mind that it was. "It's silly to think of something that happened a long time ago."

"You call last week a long time ago?" Alex asked harshly.

The man screamed in frustration, instantly realizing what a big mistake he had made by back-talking Mantis. He immediately began sobbing while profusely apologizing. Mantis had already gone through ten glasses of hard whiskey, and he was starting to feel a little fuzzy so he didn't really notice that he had just been insulted. Mantis became distracted. He began to reflect on how cute those Dead Or Alive chicks were that Snake was always checking out. Where the hell did they live anyway? Each of them had more beauty than any other woman he knew, making them custom jobs done only when a higher power or evolution got tired of producing the industry standard.

"Man, I'd like to get Lisa in a headlock. . ." Mantis said, still in a different world.

"Not my wife!" Alex screeched. "Please, leave her out of this!"

Mantis caught himself, turned bright red, and hurled his shot glass across the room like a dangerous object. He then quickly stuffed his bottle of booze where he usually kept it and cleared his throat, making a mental note to get rid of it later before his liver turned to stone or he got himself in trouble like he'd done down at the bar he and Snake visited two months back.

"Sorry, I was thinking about someone else." Mantis said.

"I'm free!" Alex whimpered gratefully.

"Look, I want you to give a friend of mine a job working for you." Mantis continued. "I want him to have it soon. Like next week or something. That's easy enough, right?"

"I can't suddenly create a position for somebody!" Alex exclaimed, becoming nervous again.

Mantis rubbed his temples, trying to decide whether or not to make Alex unzip his pants and run around his office like a monkey. It was possible, but Mantis didn't really feel like going through all the trouble to make it happen. Besides, Mantis never liked using the same trick twice so he gave it up for lack of a better plan. An idea formed in his head, causing him to smile.

"Wait! I changed my mind, maybe we can give this friend of yours something." Alex laughed with joy, knowing his mind was safe from tampering now that he was pleasing Mantis. "There's an opening for a driver to take care of the upper class section of the city. Maybe we can put him there. Who are you sending me, anyway?"

"His name is Solid Snake. His real name is David, but you'd do best to call him Snake." Mantis thought about Snake's performance for a minute before continuing. "Snake works very hard, but he recently had some trouble with a guy named Phuc Ngu and he inadvertently persuaded a nut to attempt suicide."

"Phuc? I play pool with that guy." Alex said. "And I thought my parents hated me. Anyway, about your friend Snake. I'm around ninety percent sure I can squeeze him in. He doesn't sound any different from most of the people working over there."

"You should know that he's trying to rejoin the work force. He was a professional soldier for a number of years until I had him work for me. I'm not entirely sure if he'll take the job. I just wanted to let you know about this before I discussed it with him so we have a mutual understanding."

They continued talking for a little bit more until Alex had finished gathering all the necessary information he would need to relay to his cousin. Once the two men hung up, Mantis went straight for the booze and began drinking it again, unable to bear with its absence any longer. He cursed the evil bottle from hell, hating how its sickening sweet taint had managed to conquer his spirit. With both hands he gripped the thing, one trying to heave it away and another holding it firm in place. Once he downed two large swallows, Mantis threw it across the room in a successful effort to rid himself of it. He usually wasted a lot of money by doing that over and over again with all his booze.

At that moment he remembered something which caused him to stop and not phone Snake. The route that was up for grabs was in the general area of Mantis' home. He'd taken many strolls along that place as there was plenty of scenery. He always noticed how the same mailman or delivery guy never appeared twice. He figured it out once he began to examine his neighbors. One had a dog that always seemed to get lose and chase after people it didn't like, which was basically everyone. Even worse was the fact that it was a lap dog with too much attitude.

Besides the dangers of irate animals, there was old Ms. Sanders, a lady who deeply missed her pets. She wasn't crazy, but loosing her husband ten years back broke her. Once Mr. Sanders died, all she could do was socialize with her pets. They all soon died as well, but she had them stuffed and acted as if they were real, always letting them outside and expecting them to come back in when she called them. Some things Mantis saw left him deeply sick. Lingerie was one such thing and so was Ms. Sanders.

He slammed his fists down hard on the desk, knowing that somehow something would happen that would make Snake uncomfortable. That stupid mutt alone was enough to make him revert back to his training as he'd equate it to running away from a guard dog. Mantis knew he'd have to call Alex and cancel the order. But where else could he send Snake? Before he could think further on the matter his phone rang loudly, snapping his train of thought. When he picked it up, a familiar voice greeted him.

"Word has it Snake is quitting. Can I have my job back now?" Naomi asked eagerly. She didn't even bother with an introduction.

"Where did you hear that?" Mantis asked, completely surprised. "He's thinking about getting a new job, that's all. There's nothing about quitting involved."

"I don't have to tell you! Why don't you read my mind and figure it out for yourself like I know you like to do?"

Mantis didn't like diving into Naomi's mind. It was too scary. All he could do was guess that she had a spy working somewhere inside the building. There were some people that actually got along with her. Maybe they relayed a couple of events to her that made her think that Snake was going to quit. In any case, Mantis wasn't really sure he wanted Naomi back after what she'd done a few days ago. Besides, he didn't like her all that much.

"I seem to remember you kicking me in the nuts." Mantis stated angrily.

"Oh, that was just for kicks!" Naomi kidded. "Hey, I made a pun!"

"Cut the crap, Hunter. Don't try and butter me up. I still hold a very bad grudge since every time I go to urinate I have to find my penis because my kabangers are still swollen."

"Do you remember why you hired me in the first place?"

That was a good question.

"No. . ." Mantis said, trailing off.

"Then let me refresh your memory. Have you recently had any chest pains?" Naomi asked, unusually interested.

FOXDIE. So that was the reason. It certainly had been enough to persuade him then and it was more than enough to manipulate him now. The threat might have been a simple fake, but FOXDIE carried a wager that was to heavy to gamble with. Just thinking about the word alone was enough to cause Mantis to freeze. Instantly he grabbed his chest and tried to recall if Naomi had ever stuck him with something.

"You've got to sleep sometime, Mantis." Naomi said lightly.

"Hold on, stop that. There's no need to get worked up about this little issue." Mantis stated, laughing.

"Oh, I agree!" Naomi stated. "I mean, what is there to get so worked up about? It's not like I ever tried to kill you. Yet." Her tone became sinister. "Look, I need work. You'll need a new employee to fill Snake's void when he quits."

"When?" Mantis said.

"Yes, when!" Naomi shouted. "I didn't stutter! Now you have a problem and I have a problem. Savvy?"

"Don't you have some type of doctorate degree?" Mantis said. "You've got to have some medical something! Wouldn't you rather put that thing to use?"

"I'm one year short on experience for the only job available that I qualify for. Everything else has been taken up."

"I don't believe that."

"Then do you believe in miracles, Mantis?"

"Not entirely."

"Well, if you don't hire me than you probably will want to change that jaded perspective."

Mantis sighed hopelessly.

"Okay, I'll hire you back. Just calm down and put away all your needles."

Naomi was silent for a brief moment.

"Well, I don't know how safe they can be hidden when I don't have a box to put them in."

"God, you want a raise?" Mantis yelled. "Fine, I'll hire you back and give you a raise. There, are you happy?"

"Yes, and you should be too. Call me back later and fill me in on the details."

Naomi hung up. Fear consumed Mantis as he switched off the phone and made a desperate run to his personal physician, ready and willing to have his first physical in five years.

X

Snake's alarm clock didn't since there was nothing to wake up for. That didn't stop Meryl from frantically rushing into the room thinking he was ten minutes late and knowing something had to be done about it. She couldn't just jump into his lap like last time since that experience nearly ended in death and left an extremely nasty bruise on her neck that made it difficult for her to speak. Snake appeared to be sleeping peacefully, though he did seem to be covered in a sheen of sweat. She sensed something was wrong due to the way Snake had carried himself the other day after he arrived home from work. He went to bed instantly without doing anything. No video games, no reading, no Adult Swim. Nothing. Meryl knew it'd be better for him to brood alone.

Maybe he had just had a bad day. Meryl had no real way of knowing unless Snake told her, which he hadn't. For a moment she simply stood in the doorway, both hands clutching tufts of red hair as she sought for a solution. There had to be some safe way of waking Snake up. She made a dash for the main living room and looked at the weapons inside Snake's gun cabinet, which he always displayed proudly. The cabinet beneath the main display had items inside it that were not quite as sexy or potentially lethal. She managed to pick the lock and found a stun baton that she retrieved. Meryl felt a little silly for wielding it, but she reminded herself that Snake was extremely poor with mornings. She didn't need to be attacked again. Shocking Snake wasn't something she was looking forward to, but it would need to be done if he woke up wrong.

Meryl found an air horn right next to the telephone. Snake used it to ward off unnecessary calls from the government, college students conducting surveys, and anyone else he wasn't friends with. She wondered if it could possibly bring back any bad memories. All it sounded like was a strangled car horn. What could Snake possibly associate a noise like that with? Meryl sighed and looked at the clock located on the DVD player. Snake was really late. He'd even have to leave without eating any breakfast. While creeping along the hallway, she prayed silently that Snake would wake up without any problems.

Her sneaky stealth walk his room bought some time, but there was no indication that Snake was going to meet the morning any time soon. It was hard to examine his sleeping habits. Snake always had a calm expression on his face while napping and he hardly ever snored. Usually there were no signs to indicate whether or not he was having a bad nightmare until he woke up screaming obscenities while heading straight for his gun cabinet if he didn't fully wake up before getting there. Snake had to be at least twenty minutes late by now. Meryl forced herself to switch on the prod. The device started up with a whir and a red light appeared near the top, indicating it was on. For a moment Meryl considered getting the riot shield, but that would take too long. With her other hand she held up the air horn and closed her eyes. It took a full minute for her to blow the dumb thing.

What sounded like a dying camel reverberated throughout the room. Near the back of the house, Snake's dogs began barking furiously. As for Snake, he shot straight up.

"Metal Gear!" Snake shouted.

Meryl cursed and brought around the advanced taser, ready to shock him. When his eyes centered on her, she thought briefly that by holding something so obviously technical that it might give him the false idea that she was actually a Metal Gear. Snake's mind worked like that. It was disturbing. Meryl hid it behind her back, being very careful not to give herself a bad jolt. Luckily her fear failed to manifest itself. Snake simply stayed paralyzed in one spot, gradually waking up. When he finally had he sighed deeply and collapsed back into bed. Everything appeared to be safe so Meryl advanced towards Snake, seating herself on the edge of his bed.

"Snake, you're late for work!" Meryl scolded.

"Mantis is letting me take a break." Snake muttered.

"A break? When was the last time you took a break from anything?"

"It must have been shortly after I fought with that second Metal Gear."

"You fought Ray?"

"No, I'm talking about the one Gray Fox piloted."

"Right. Did something happen?"

Snake sighed.

"I punched someone at work because I thought he was being an ass."

Meryl blinked and her eyes got bigger.

"Whoops?" Meryl said shakily.

"Yeah, big whoops. His name was Phuc Ngu."

"Him?" Meryl asked.

"You know that guy?" Snake asked. Meryl nodded. "Why is it that everyone in town knows this guy and nobody has ever told me about him?"

"You didn't ask." Meryl stated.

"I need to talk more." Snake groaned.

"I heard about him from Raven. He's a real shady character. I heard that he's a drug dealer. He's also allegedly involved in a sex slave trade, among other things."

"You mean the guy is a creep?" Snake asked, to which Meryl nodded. "No wonder he got under my skin so bad. I knew there was something about him."
"See? You were right to hit him." Meryl explained.

"My fist does indeed seek out justice." Snake said, examining his hand.

"That's right. You could have kept him away from Mantis. He doesn't need any bad influences."

"He does need someone to keep the feds off of his back, though. I doubt he'd be in business for very long if they found out what he does to people."

"Did Mantis fire you?"

"No."

"Then why are you taking a break? It seems to me like you're only kicking yourself."

Snake reflected on what she said for a moment. She was right. Meryl scooted up closer to him.

"If Ocelot and Liquid find out about this, they won't let you live it down. Every time they see you in public they'll point and laugh. I've watched them do it to Otacon. Mantis wasn't even mad at you was he?"

"Not one bit." Snake responded.

"Don't run from your mistakes." Meryl advised. "You've just got to hang in there. Don't feel so bad about this."

The front door suddenly banged open audibly, causing the two friends to jerk in that general direction. Someone had broken into the house and was running quickly towards Snake's room. They both braced themselves for a fight but were relieved to see Mantis appear in the doorway. He looked terrible pathetic because he was shaking so badly. Instantly the psychiatrist was on his knees and practically in Snake's lap.

"I can't and won't let you quit!" Mantis said. "You have to protect me from Naomi!"

"Do what now?"

Mantis caught his breath before elaborating.

"Naomi wants a job back at my clinic. She's threatened to use FOXDIE on me if I don't give it to her. What should I do? Don't you have the vaccine?"

"No." Snake said. "Naomi apparently never got around to that."

"You're a real mess, Mantis." Meryl observed.

He scowled at Meryl. An idea suddenly crossed his mind. Mantis grinned stupidly and enacted an improvised plan.

"At least I'm not biding my time here like you are! Stop the act, Meryl. I said it once and I'll say it again, Snake. You gotta large place in that chick's heart and now I'm certain your futures lie together if you take your eyes off Terra."

"Terra?" Meryl stated, slightly offended. "Whose this other women, Snake? Have you been seeing someone else?"

"Not quite. They're just friends." Mantis revealed. "Go on and tell Snake how you planned the whole thing out so meticulously. Show him the notebook full of all your idea's. Tell him how you dream about him every night dancing around in a thong."

Snake scoffed. Mantis gasped in offense.

"Don't you tell me that you couldn't see through this!" Mantis declared. "Everyone else did the moment you two started rooming together!"

"I thought it was a little suspicious at first, but I gradually came to realize that it was part of some ploy."

Such tricks ran in Campbell's family. Snake didn't dare say that out loud for fear of his life.

"Your ambivalence has prolonged her act, Snake." Mantis chided. "Tell her how much you like her and that every single night you dream of her dancing around in a thong if it's not one of them spaghetti string bikini's. You two should find out whether or not you actually like each other so you can get on with your lives. Don't even try to say anything otherwise. No objections, you ninnies. I'm the real deal. I know all of your inner thoughts." He began getting nervous again. "That's why I am more than certain that Naomi wants to kill me. She has never really liked me all that much."

A brief pause ensued. Both Meryl and Snake were thinking over what Mantis had just revealed. Mantis, however, was still in anguish over the whole FOXDIE threat. He noted the two were having a moment and buried his face into the side of Snake's bed, groaning loudly. Hopefully there little drama scene wouldn't go on for to long. Meryl appeared to be slightly ashamed of herself while Snake had a look on that suggested he knew it all along. He patted Meryl on the shoulder reassuringly.

"If you still need to stay here to get back on your feet, you're more than welcome to do so. I enjoy your company, but I can't understand why you like to hang around me so much. I'm almost twenty years older than you."

"It has to do with the female psych, which is something I've never been able to understand, which says quite a bit." Mantis interjected instantly, quite irritated. "You also basically saved her life, which carries quite a lot of weight. Observe while I test your compatibility."

Mantis held out his hands in front of them and made weird noises while waving his fingers at them. It was clear that their minds were being read. Mantis was just making a show about it.

"It looks like you two haven't done anything other than keeping each other company, but if you two took it to the next level you would obviously have a lot of fun. The advanced aging Snake suffers from might hinder that, but think of the memories both of you would share. Snake, all you need to do now is remove your concerns over the age difference and how things will play out once you start getting old in a hurry. Otherwise, remain very respectable roommates and share enlightened perspectives with one another over many intense games of Othello."

"I hate that game." Meryl said.

"I was speaking metaphorically. I now pronounce you boyfriend and girlfriend. There! See, Snake? I helped you so you help me, right? I scratched your back and now it's time for you to scratch mine! Think of the favor I'm asking! It outweighs the service I just did for you! You practically have to pay me back!"

Mantis grabbed Snake by the collar and hoisted him up with his mental powers. He couldn't do it on physical strength alone.

"You're gonna get your ass over to my institution bright and early tomorrow morning, chuckles, because I can't die yet! I still have to attend TGS sometime before my life ends!" Mantis said. "We've got to do something about Naomi! In exchange for your help, I'll give you all the cardboard boxes you want. I'll even throw in Twiggy."

"Maybe we can reason with her?" Snake suggested. "I think I know why she's so mad. By the way, would you put me down?"

Mantis let Snake drop into his bed. A loud car horn blaring outside momentarily disrupted everyone. Mantis cursed and began pacing back in forth, chewing the fingernails of his right hand nervously. Snake got up, drew back his curtains, and looked outside. Ocelot's beast of a vehicle was in the middle of the street. He had his window rolled down and he motioned for Snake to open his.

"Look, it's Snake! Everybody point and laugh!" Ocelot shouted. "How's your job?"

"I knew it would come to this." Meryl stated.

"Yeah, whoopee. So you're psychic." Mantis growled sarcastically. "Try bending a spoon next and you'll really impress me."

"Go bend yourself." Meryl stated coldly.

"Screw you. I'm not the one who had to burn down a house for attention." Mantis shot back.

"Can't you just dive into Naomi's mind and know for certain if she's going to do something bad to you or not?"

"There are far more worse things she could do to me that do not involve FOXDIE. It is likely that she will take that route instead. Of that, I can be certain."

Snake cleared his throat before speaking.

"My job is just fine. I wasn't fired. I'm just taking a break." Snake shouted back.

Ocelot gawked openly, totally surprised.

"But Naomi said you got fired!" Ocelot whined loudly.

"She's just jumping to conclusions." Snake said.

"Damn, it! Now what am I going to do now for fun?" Ocelot spat. "Let's go the mall and run over the theater rejects." Liquid suggested. "Okay, but only for an hour or so." Ocelot agreed.

The reverberations Ocelot's vehicle made while it kicked into high gear and shot off shook the ground clear to Snake's home.

"Yes." Snake muttered to himself. "That is indeed quite unsettling."

He began walking out of the room, but Mantis grabbed him.

"Wait, where do you think you're going?" Mantis demanded.

"To call Naomi and straighten out a few things."

"She's dangerous! Shouldn't you run around her house and throw grenades into her windows until the life bar runs out? You once took down hell on bipedal legs with around thirty plastic explosives and the best thing you can think of in this situation is to talk your way out of it?" Mantis said, his voice becoming louder as he finished the sentence.

"Yup." Snake said.

X

The root of Naomi's recent hatred for Snake all had to do with that turkey incident. She knew when she wasn't wanted and what Snake had done in that supermarket left her feeling quite wounded. Snake hadn't expected for that to happen. After a very intense conversation, they agreed to bear each other's presence for the sake of Mantis. The actual problem had nothing to do with him, so his celebration dance wasn't received well by Snake. Mantis was so overjoyed that he tried to kiss Snake, but that broke up really quick. It all amounted to one thing. Naomi got a better job.

Naomi was briefly employed at Burger King as the district manager because she couldn't find a better position. What that really meant was she was forced to whore her intellect out to a previously unthinkable level of idiocy. Her fellow employees thought licking the tomatoes and urinating in the pickle jars was great fun. At one point she was even invited to one of their parties, which she dumbly agreed to attend. Past beginning to play strip poker, her mind was blank. Naomi only remembered waking up at the other side of town in bed with a plant. In one hand she held seven hundred dollars and in the other a royal flush.

Whatever they had done to her was a mystery, and she was not happy at their stubborn stand on not telling her anything. Several of them died of heart attacks a short time later. The remaining lot quit and went into hiding but she found them anyway. Now she was fresh out of lethal viruses. It wouldn't take her long to make more as she had a laboratory in her basement, complete with bio-hazard suit and a confinement chamber, where Naomi used funky robot arms to mix highly explosive chemicals together. Meanwhile, Meryl had asked Mantis and Snake not to spill the beans on her sudden revelation. She didn't want anyone else to know about it. Snake still allowed her to live with him. The rules hadn't changed. She was free to leave whenever she wanted.

And so everything had been set straight. Snake was at work, sitting next to Naomi, who was also at work because they were at work, which makes perfect since because if they weren't working and they were at work, Mantis would yell at them for not working at work. Currently Snake was going through applications and ruling out the bad ones, which was easy since none had gained a good opinion with him. His eyes fell across a letter bunched in with the desperate documents that was addressed to Mantis. Irving, once known as Phuc Ngu, had sent in a letter. Snake sighed, relieved the man had gotten a new name. He placed the envelope aside. Mantis could pick it up himself a little later.

"Phuc Ngu." Snake muttered to himself. "The only time it'd be safe to use that title is when you're picking up a slut and they ask your name to which they would respond, that's the general idea, stud."

Today was turning out to be rather manageable. The crowd in the waiting room wasn't too bad for a Monday. The only scary member in the house was a nudist who felt that all of life's problems could be solved if everyone was naked. He'd gained five followers before Mantis forced him to put some clothes on and immediately transferred him to Dr. Nanako, smiling sardonically in the process. Nanako popped some more pain pills before leading the half naked individual into her office. Snake leaned back in his chair and sighed in relief, finally glad that for once everything had returned to normal. The bells tied to the door that signaled a new customer sounded, and chinging spurs gave away the visitor. Revolver Ocelot strutted up to the front desk, looking over at Snake in a bemused manner.

"Well, well." Liquid mused. "I am quite bemused, hence the description just given by the author. Looks as though you've got everything under control, doesn't it? If I didn't hate you, I'd say you seem to be doing a good job." Liquid slammed his hands on the counter in front of Snake. "But you will mess up! It's in our blood to do that, you know. Just as our father failed, so shall we!"

"So I take it you never want to be friends?" Snake asked. Liquid didn't answer. "What a pity."

"The only reason we came here was to see if you weren't telling a lie." Ocelot explained. "It was a waste of time, really. But I must give you the benefit of the doubt, Snake. Good job."

"Don't you use my lips to compliment that stupid bastard!" Liquid roared.

"Bruce?" A waiting patient said.

"Jimmy?" Another stated.

"It's that one guy from the mall!" some small kid shouted.

Liquid used Ocelot's body to turn around and hold up both hands.

"Stay back or I'll kill all you social misfits." Liquid warned. "No autographs!"

Before the idiotic mob could continue, the harsh sound of screeching tires coming from the parking lot gained everyone's undivided attention. The noise came from a battered old jeep with a virtually untouched anime decal on the hood. It was Otacon's other car. He quickly got out from it and ran toward the front entrance, panting heavily. He threw himself on the front desk and looked at Snake, not bothering to catch is breath.

"Mei Ling's boyfriend." Otacon gagged out, setting up the topic.

"The mystery man?" Ocelot asked, interested. "What about him?"

"Okay, so I'm stalking them in a cardboard box again for the third time, right?" Otacon said, to which they both nodded. "I didn't get a good glimpse until after it was all over. Her boyfriend. . ." Otacon wheezed. "Is Raiden!"

Snake and Ocelot gasped in disbelief. In the background, a woman screamed.

"Wait until Rose finds out." Snake said.

"She never will, because I'm going to kill that lucky son of a bitch!" Liquid roared.