Tom Cruise's Encounters With The Devil

[INT. DIMLY LIT ROOM – NIGHT – SOMEWHERE OFF THE GRID]

Solid Snake sits on a crate in a concrete bunker. A battered VHS tape labeled “LEGEND (1985)” is clutched in his gloved hand. His bandana droops slightly. A single tear rolls down his weathered cheek as the flickering TV screen shows a young Tom Cruise, innocent and bright, sword in hand, facing the Lord of Darkness.

SNAKE (voiceover):
1985. The year it all changed. He said we’d watch it together. But he left. No goodbye. Just silence. I didn’t cry. Greasers don’t cry...

The screen cuts to static. Snake stares at the white noise.

SNAKE (cont’d):
He showed me his first encounter with the Devil…Legend... back when his soul still had sunlight in it. Years later…Eyes Wide Shut. That was the second encounter. And that one left a mark on both of us.

Snake rises, walks to a bulletin board littered with strings and photographs. A picture of "Red Cloak" from Eyes Wide Shut is pinned next to a satellite map of Tel Aviv.

SNAKE (cont’d):
Red Cloak. I know where you’re hiding. Israel. Jerusalem’s underworld, old tunnels beneath the Wailing Wall. You thought the Eyes Wide Shut gaming page was safe. But I turned it. Flipped it to Age of Empires: Regicide Mode. Now the King’s in play. And I’m not leaving without a checkmate.

He holsters his suppressed pistol. His old friend’s words echo through his mind—

TOM CRUISE (memory):
"Snake... thou shalt not kill."

Snake pauses at the door. Looks back once more at the blinking TV.

SNAKE:
You were right, Tom. But some old men... some kings... they’ve ruled long enough. You taught me at church. But you also taught me how to sneak past the devil.

[FADE OUT with the sound of a loading clip and a tape rewinding.]