Battling Psycho Mantis
THE MANTIS CATCHES HIS PREY...
As you enter the plush office filled with antique furniture, a holographical image of the island base's twin towers glows like a ghost to your left and an ornate and very official desk sits before you. A strange eerie tune starts. The door closes, locking you in. Take a quick run of the perimeter of the room. You've got that feeling. That feeling you get in your gut when something is going to go wrong. Indeed, your instinct does not lie. Meryl draws her Desert Eagle from behind you and threatens you with it! (As soon as she does this, change your controller into port 2 on the console, or your battle will be VERY difficult) Have you been double-crossed? She seems confused, does she want to kiss you or kill you? Her words say one thing, but her actions show another. What do you do?
DELVING INTO YOUR MIND...
A tall, flickering, phantom image wavers into your vision from Meryl, putting her in between you and danger. Meryl is out of control! With not a moment left, Colonel Campbell contacts you via Codec and tells you not to hurt Meryl because Psycho Mantis is controlling her. Knock her unconcious by tossing her over a few times, but do not strangle, shoot or punch her for obvious reasons!
Once you knock Meryl out cold on the ground, a demonstration of raw power is shown by the gasmask-wearing Fox-Hound member Psycho Mantis. He actually reads your memory, charting your course so far on Shadow Moses Island and mocking you accordingly. Some things he may miss on account that when the whole fiasco with Meryl being controlled went down, you switched controller ports. If you have the Dual Shock controller, he will entertain his powers even further by making your controller vibrate as he takes it over! He finishes his show by cackling madly and cancelling your video output. This returns shortly, and in the meantime, he has summoned his psychokinesis and telepathy powers! Now, he will get down to business and you will see his power unleashed...on you!
He starts by camouflage, summoning and condensing the air around him into a psychic ball of energy. This is delivered by a throw that sends the sphere of dense translucent matter at you. Dodge this, and do not quit running. Next he will raise three antique chairs from the lower right corner of the room and spins them about his person like a shield. The chairs spin rather quickly, moving slowly outwards and back in towards his body again. If you duck, the chairs will pass right over your head. Attack Psycho Mantis with any of your guns or even your fists when the chairs are far enough away to stand back up again, or move into the bottom left hand corner and wait for the chairs to disappear so you can get a shot in on him.
POLTERGEISTIC ACTIVITY...
After the chairs, he'll raise two marble and leather busts and make them come arcing through the air in a curve. Next, two urns are levitated and fly through the air, tracking your position and flying in a stabbing motion. Only stop running to get a shot on Mantis when you can during this time. If you stop, the urns will most likely hit you. After this, the three antlered deer skulls fly off and home in on your for one attempted strike, then replace themselves back on the wall. Ducking will make you dodge any of these attacks so far, so make your way towards Mantis any way you can and gun him down in between attacks.
Two clumps of three books and three pictures come spinning down the room from the bookcases and the North wall. Heading out from the wall in a straight line, they also come back along the same path. The pictures can be ducked while the books cannot, so maneuver around them, keeping an eye on Mantis's position so you can cap him more easily. He will repeat the twirling chairs attack, and other projectiles until he has lost around half of his energy. Then he changes tactics.
Using the telekinetic powers of only his mind, Psycho Mantis raises Meryl from her unconcious slumber. Like a slave to do his bidding, he forces her to attack you with her Desert Eagle handgun extended fully in your direction! This time, you must throw her over your shoulder like you did before (remember, no choking, shooting or punching her!), except this time you have Psycho Mantis's powerful energy balls to dodge as well. No problem, Snake, only now Psycho Mantis knows your weakpoint! Like a workhorse, he resurrects her one more time to do a terrible task he know you can't resist...she's going to blow her brains out!!! Remembering the Colonel's advice, you must stop Meryl from forcefully shooting herself. After ruining the Mantis's plans, he is visibly shaken and becoming furious.
ONE FINAL THOUGHT...
For a final encore, Psycho Mantis uses Stealth-Camouflage and creates a hard-hitting ball of psychic emanations and throws it at you. Invisibly, he'll wander around the room, appear at random points and attack with the psychic manifestations. Avoid these attacks and draw your fire to Psycho Mantis. He is fast, and it may be better to catch him before he throws his energy ball at you. Using thermal goggles enables you to be able to track him even when he uses Stealth-Camouflage. This way, you can tell where he is going to appear so that you can gun him when he does. After a bit of this, his energy running low, he'll summon everything he has, sending busts, urns, and nearly anything else moveable in the room at you at the same time. Dodge these and send him his death blow. Twirling and spinning, his emaciated form crashes to the ground in a bleeding pile. He lies dying, telling a sorrowful tale of his misunderstood life and his malice and hate for the world. If you look close, a dozen or so bullet wounds pock his chest and arms. His comparisons between Solid Snake's and his own are grim, but don't let it get to you. Heed his advice and exit via the hidden North entrance past the bookcase. The entrance door you came in is locked, so don't attempt that way. Down a flight of steps, a door awaits you once the items next to the steps have been taken.