Pain in the Dark: Snake Eater part 3

Snake begins his journey through the forest to reach the base in which The Boss and Volgin are using.  EVA, by way of her reckless driving, has made it back to the base before her cover was blown.  Snake calls EVA on the radio to ask why anyone would defect from their country.  EVA explains that she spent her entire life in a small American town.  Communication to the outside world was limited, and she did not know any other way of life.  When she joined the NSA, she had the opportunity to see many different cultures and ways of life from around the world that affected what she thought of the life she had once lived.  Her defection resulted in the new identity she found in the Soviet ideals.

I feel like too often beholders of this conversation take it for granted.  The awareness that other countries exist is hardly any incentive to defect by any modern standards.  However, you have to put this in terms of an era before mass communication, counter culture, and the Berlin Wall.  The United States is defined by the ideals of a white middle class capitalist suburbia, and the Soviets are the enemies.  The NSA deals specifically in codes and communication.  If there's anything we've gathered from EVA's character thus far, she doesn't really fit into the 50s-early 60s housewife archetype.  The whole paradigm of the traditional has been flipped as stated in a previous post.  This is just another way in which Snake's understanding of what is and isn't is being challenged.

Snake continues toward Volgin's base when he is stopped at a ravine by Ocelot once again.  In the time that it has taken Snake to get to this ravine, Volgin has replaced his ornate Colt .45 with two more pratical Colt .45s.  Stating that he has 12 shots as opposed to the 6 that had caused him folly, he wants to challenge Snake to a showdown like those in Westerns.  He has also gathered many soldiers in his unit to watch, and only to watch.  If they shoot at Snake, Ocelot gets pissed and sometimes takes shots and them. Snake agrees to fight Ocelot, because really the last two times were hardly an issue.

Snake comes close to defeating Ocelot by shooting down a load of beehives on him as well as shooting his red beret off his head which Ocelot apparently can't function without.  Overtime, more and more bees start showing up.  They scare off all of Ocelot's soldiers, and Ocelot is too busy killing all the bees by spinning his revolvers to resume his fight with Snake.  Snake gets chased by all the bees down into the ravine.

The ravine runs so deep that no light can be seen.  If I haven't mentioned this before, it is important to note now that Snake just like his son has a serious smoking problem.  In this case, Snake's smoking may save his life.  He uses a cigar to light his way around the ravine until he can find a proper torch.  After travelling through the darkness and at times swimming in these depths, Snake reaches a large cavern with some small islets.  A figure materializes out of a swarm of bees, he is The Pain.

Not the bees

If the instance with Sokolov being lifted from his feet by bees and Volgin's lightning powers were not enough to convince you, this character right here might cue you that realism is a relative concept in this series.  The Pain has control over bees.  As far as super powers go, I would hope for something more along the lines of super speed, invincibility, flight, psychokinesis (although that one is already taken in this series), fireballs, or the capacity to summon bears with prayer like Elisha from the Bible.  The power to summon and manipulate bees is a terrible power.  There is a point in this fight where The Pain takes off his mask to reveal blisters and welts all over his face.  He then spits bee bullets that can eat through Snake's flesh.  The Pain can further protect himself from Snake by forming a barrier of bees around his body.  To attack Snake, The Pain can surround a live grenade with bees to airlift it to Snake and create a tommygun out of bees.  I should also mention he is wearing bee colored camouflage.  Had he built a Wickerman with Nic Cage in it we would have the full package.

One man's love for bees, unparalleled.  

It just so happens that this guy along with the rest of the Cobra unit were responsible for ending World War II.  Despite bee powers being stupid, this fight is actually pretty fun.  The advantage against The Pain is that while there aren't many places to attack him given there are only small islands around, there is a lot of water. The principle still stands from that episode of Doctor Who with Agatha Christie and the giant bee that bees can't swim.  When The Pain is defeated, he explodes.  Yep, he just explodes.

Shortly after this, Snake manages to leave the ravine for a sort of wetlands area that puts him near the Soviet base.