Prologue

Location: Canada. Classified Area. 24-T6Y. Interrogation Room 12U-B.

"All I can think off is hate..." A voice hisses maliciously in the shadows. Small chunks of brick litter a small, dimly lit room, illuminated only by a small candle placed on the dingy floor, "The voice..." The hagard, hissing voice continues, "The voice in my head keeps telling me to kill... Kill everyone here, everyone keeping me captive-"

"Have you tried shutting that voice off?" A low, rough voice counters, interrupting the monologue. A short jingling sound emits from the dark shadows of the corner of the room.

"Yes... But no matter what it emerges... I just want to slice everything apart... Paint the walls with their blood and guts... Destroy their lives!" The hissing rises in blood-lusting excitement, its dark enthusiasm oozing in its tone.

"You know that the U.S is going to stop you, right?" A short, bulky man steps slightly into the illuminated candle light. His muscles bulge through the dark, gold trimmed suit he wore. Small dark blue eyes gaze out coldly. His head is completely devoid of hair. The rest of his is expression dark and unreadable.

"I don't care..." The hissing voice's tone went down to its previous low monologue, with vague disgust coating the edges, "They are the real enemy... Sticking their nose somewhere where it shouldn't be... Ever... They launched the attack on my town... We fought back..."

"I should kill you now for even thinking such things against the government." The short, muscled man states, his tone colourless and indifferent. His black gold trimmed boot kicks at the candle, bringing the hissing figure into the circle of dim light.

A young girl, roughly the age of 18, flinches as the light reaches her. Adjusting swiftly, the young girl looks up at her interrogator. Her emerald and silver tinged eyes are dark, twisting maliciously as they peer through her dark, short brown hair, caked with dried blood. Thick metal chains bind her wrists, pulling her tightly up against a large spike stuck in the wall. The spike pierces the small of her back. No clothing covered the girl, her body speckled with scars. Chunks of her flesh were missing from various limbs, the dried blood standing out against what once was peachy skin. The bald man twists his lips, in neither a frown or a smirk, as his large boot settles on the girls'chest. Slowly, he pushes the girl down, so the spike impales her further. Despite the pain, the girls' eyes never waver from the man's small blue ones.

"I should kill you for even thinking that you can destroy me," The girl hisses darkly, her eyes twisting deeper in her hatred, the only feature of her face showing expression, "The government is corrupt and no one knows but me... You keep feeding people lies, making them become fat off those so-called promises..." She spits out, disgusted and sickened.
"We tell them what they need to know." The man replies apathetically, "Canada is our pawn, same as all the other allied nations."

"Canada may be your pawn, but I will never... NEVER... Be a pawn in your game." The girl announces darkly, her eyes hardening as she stares the short man down.

In a burst of uncontrollable rage, the short man sweeps his foot up, striking the girl harshly on the chin. Her body jerks against the chains constricting her, forcing her body to slide down the spike. Blood pools out of her stomach, the spike's tip beginning to show through. The short man, seemingly satisfied with that, reaches into his suit. He pulls out a gold enamelled box. With swift, precious movements, he opens the box, revealing a scorpion shaped Metal Gear.
"If you refuse me once more," The short man murmurs menacingly, "I shall force this Metal Gear into your body and kill you from the inside out."

All goes strangely silent as the girl stares up at the short man. Slowly, her mouth opens, the edges curving into a darkly amused smile. A hysterical bubble of laughter erupts from her mouth, the gruesome sound twisting in the air like a dark cloud. Her body shakes as the deep sound echoes within her, and spirals around the room.

Chapter 1: The Lamb

Today, like nearly every other day of his life, started off relatively normal.

Raiden awoke from his sleep, and rose from his bed before going downstairs to the lobby to eat breakfast. Rushing back up the stairs, food still in his mouth as he bounded up two at a time, Raiden returned to his room. He showered, the water scalding hot as he tried to wash himself. Quickly running a towel over his dripping, wet body, Raiden ransacked his closet and threw on his suit, checking the clock on his bedside stand worriedly. Before leaving his hotel room, he grabs a long, slender silver case. He takes a deep breath. It is time to work now.

First thing, Raiden walks swiftly towards an alleyway, where his job could officially begin. Subtly checking around him for no witnesses, Raiden gets to work. From here, he takes a deep breath, taking out his electronic track, and begins tracking down loose A.I's and Cybernetics. Once finding them, he unsheathes his sword. Cutting them down, revealing the bright core inside of them, Raiden absorbs their energy, the electrolytes powering their cells, effectively killing them. That stops them from the possibility of forming a group of rouge bots that would try to take over towns or start terrorist attacks.

However, as his days had worn on, Raiden was noticing something strange about them. More and more A.I's and Cybernetics were forming, however the strange thing was that they were not fighting back. They all acted as if they knew he was coming, and were prepared to accept death. It was as if they wished for it.

After his day was done, Raiden returns to his hotel room. He sighs deeply as he reaches to open his door. However, something causes him to pause. He peers at the doorknob, noticing a different, faint set of fingerprints on his doorknob. With a delicate cautiousness, Raiden opens the door, stepping through the threshold warily. His hand hovered over his silver case, ready to pull out his sword at the slightest twitch. He steps towards the large bed in the middle, noticing with ease that no one had touched it. He walks around his apartment, checking his bathroom and kitchen, both of them in the same state he had left them in. Pulling out his scanner, he finds that no life registers on the screen. His finger slowly lifts off his case, it slumping against his thigh as he turns and stares at the doorway. Someone might have thought this was their room and came in? Raiden went and fully shut the door, locking it tight. He turns and walks over to his bed, placing his long silver case down. He went and closed the door, locking it tight before setting his case down that held his sword. He lifts his hand off his case. Suddenly, something black leaps out in the corner of his vision. Raiden jumps, swivelling to stare in the direction of his open window. A large cat leaps away from his window, making Raiden sigh silently with relief.

"Oh... Just a cat..." Suddenly, Raiden's eyes grow wide, "Wait... That window was..."

Just as Raiden comes to his realization, a large arrow zooms past his head. It misses him by an inch, sticking steadfastly in the wall behind him. Without a second thought, Raiden opens his silver case and pulls out his sword. Instantly he deflects the next arrow, this time a sure-fire direct hit. The arrow struck with a clang against his sword. However, in the last second, as it began to bounce away from him, it exploded. Raiden flew back, fetching up against the door. He swiftly regains his balance, standing up to defend against more arrow attacks. However, he didn't notice the bat striking him from behind.

The bat makes a terrible clunk sound as it hits him, and Raiden somehow manages to turn to try to catch a glimpse of his assailant. However, that person had somehow disappeared in the few seconds it took for Raiden to turn around. His vision now swimming, the edges blurred beyond recognition, Raiden can feel himself losing consciousness. He slumps to the ground, his head aching and a headache forming. Suddenly, his vision went black as his body succumbed to unconsciousness.

The young girl say in the dark room, the candle flickering barely giving her any lit. It did not make an difference to the girl, whether the room was illuminated or not. Her wound from the spike had just recently stopped bleeding, and her arms and legs had gone past the stage of tingling and now were completely numb, losing all feeling. Her eyes glare at the dark shadow she knew was the door. Every night, or at least what she assumed was night-time- she didn't entirely know- the guards would come down and slowly, agonizingly pull her body off the spike impaling her. They would give her small bits of food, healing drugs and other things in order for her to regain a small bit of strength and her body to return back to a state of normalcy. However that was only so the short man could perform the same interrogation, day after day, the pain never lessening. She knew, her internal clock telling her, that it was only a few more minutes until they would show up, and the cycle would repeat itself.

"Keep it still!" The voice was faint enough for her not to determine who had said it, yet loud enough for her to hear the harsh tone behind it. Her ears perk up to listen, something interesting was happen. Concentrating, she could determine that, possibly the guards or other henchman, were dragging something- or someone.Whatever it was, it was making a big fuss and she could hear the faint scuttling and scuffing of feet on the floor. It was obvious that it was resting the guards, whatever it was.

"Let me go, you bastards!"The voice rung clear like a bell, as if the person shouting was shouting into a megaphone. By the distressed tone of voice, she could tell that this voice was the voice of the victim.

The shadow that was the door opened abruptly, as she knew it would. Three figures came stumbling into the dark, the middle one thrashing violently, the small amount of light illuminating his silver hair. She could tell the guards outweighed the victim extremely. With squawking and yelling, done all by the victim, the guards chained him up to the chains the girl knew were only a few feet beside hers. With a grunt and a snort, the guards left the room. The door closed with a clank, and it was only then that the girl noticed the scuffling and fuss had knocked out the candle light. Not that it really mattered anyway.

The young man struggled, in vain, against the bonds that held him to the wall, "Damn it!" He curses, his loud voice echoing around the enclosed room, "Why won't these chains break?!" He demands, still struggling against them. The struggling stops suddenly, and the girl realizes that he must have given up on his efforts to free himself. She rolls her eyes. Pathetic,she thinks but nevertheless stays quiet. Until her stomach growls, telling her that the guards had not done their usual routine. The chains jump in response to her stomach.

"Who's there? Answer me!" The silver haired man exclaims, rattling around like a deranged dog.

Her mouth curves once more in her maliciously twisted smile. Her hysterical bubbling laughter comes forth again, its dark and distorted tone enveloping the room. Her voice is scratchy, as she speaks to the new arrival, "I have been here longer than you have..." She says softly, "You are lucky however. You are in much better shape than I."

Raiden, his eyes dilating as he trained his night vision towards the voice. What he saw was a huddled mass, surrounded by metal, which was his fellow prison mate.

"What happened to you?" Raiden asks, feeling horrified as he notices the state the young- girl? – was in. His eyes trace the large spike, the end of it impaling right through her body. He takes swift notes on her appearance, judging how damaged she was and working to see how he would fair. His night vision caused a soft glow to surround his prison mate, illuminating every single cut, tear, and scrape the young (naked?!) girl had.

"I was an assassin... Now I am just dirt ready to be swept away..." Instead of her previous monotonous, hissing tone, her words reflected nothing but hopeless despair and sorrow. Raiden, sensing the lose within her, tried to get into a standing position. However, the chains prevented him from getting father than a sitting position.

"How long have you been here?" Raiden asks the girl, settling down in his awkward seating position. The young girl twitchs slightly, feeling annoyed by his questions.

"4 god damn years," The girl hisses darkly. Her tone turns reflective in the next second, as she regards her own new prison mate, "And I figure you are a threat to The Corporation since they stuck you in prison with me. So, tell me, what treacherous act did you commit?"

Raiden says nothing as he shuffles closer to his prison mate, the chains still restricting him from getting extremely close to the girl. He inspects the chains holding her to the spike. I believe I would be able to bit through them, if I so chose… Raiden thinks to himself, However, if I remove her from that spike impaling her, it would be more useful to just shot her in the head. She would lose blood much too fast and just die as a result. Raiden, thinking for now there was nothing to be done, shuffles back to his original spot in order to answer the girl's question, "I do not know. I was merely doing my own business when they attacked me. I hunt down rouge A.I's and destroy them before they become a threat."

The girl chuckles again, the sound cold and distance. Raiden has the impression this girl had never laughed due to true happiness.

"Well there is your answer," The girl says plainly, "Those A.I's must have been under their command or at least been were their goons. If that is true, the question now is what are theyplanning?" Unexpectedly, Raiden sees the girl slump forward, hacking as a chunk of blood gushes out of her mouth, splattering all over the floor.

Raiden looks worriedly at the pale, shaking figure, blood dribbling down her chin, "Hey, kid, hang in there. Just talk, s

tay away… We'll get out, I'll think of a plan…Now, what didyou do to get stuck in here, especially in a state like that?"
Slowly, the girls head turns to look up at him, and Raiden has the unnerved feeling she could tell exactly where his eyes were. A flickering look of guilt appears in her eyes, though it is replaced by overwhelming sadness and sorrow.

The girl takes a deep, shaky breath, "I tried to assassinate the president after he destroyed my village... My city... My land" She replies softly, something sad and desperate shaking in her tone. Suddenly, her body grows hard,"Any MP or other head of province that doesn't do exactly what that the HeadBastardwants, he sends Metal Gears of their design to destroy the entire province..."Her tone was of utter hatred, pure malice flowed within her now, "He destroyed the lower half of Ontario but kept Toronto and Ottawa intact, just so he could have a secure hold on our province, on our resources... That bastard, he came to Canada to 'give his regards' and 'try to give everyone money'… Where he got such money from, I do not know... But he was in his hotel room when I managed to sneak in. I was about to stab him when he turned and kicked me in the face. We fought and I almost defeated him, but somehow he managed to throw me out the building through the window... I thought that was when I was going to my death; finally, able to die rather than live this horrible pathetic life. However, when I woke up I was here," Her voice rose an octave, her tone spitting and volatile; "The voices were ringing in my head. They told me to break free and fight him, to kill him… but I couldn't." Her tone drifted down again, expressing sadness once more, "I am not strong enough to avenge for the attack on my town... I can hardly move my arms or legs... I have been beaten and raped here..." The girl goes quiet for a second, before continuing in a very soft tone, "The same will happen to you."

Raiden had shuffled over again in the midst of her story. He had taken her chains, and was quietly nibbling on them as he processed her story. Something about her story didn't make sense to him. A memory, a thought trickled through his brain. It teased him, not fully coming into view.

"why would the President do something like that?" Raiden asks, "I talked to him before, and he didn't strike me as the 'rule by threatening' type."

The girls hysterical laugh pools out of her mouth again, yet it is cut short as her body jerks against the spike. Pain lances through, her laugh ending a darkly sour note. Her eyes glance at Raiden, calmly sitting beside her.

"That's a riot." She says, her mouth curving wirily at the thought, "He's the type to make the enemy seem worse, when in truth he is the one pulling all the strings. He is the one behind all the terrorist attacks, all the plots to ruin our lies. The media is fed this mixture of half-truths and the utter bullshit that is the President trying to do everything he can to 'save us'. Alberta was the first victim to his slaughter; he destroyed Florida and Hollywood. All the survivors that were collected he brainwashed into having them believe he saved them. The man amongst all men, I heard someone say once. His goons had almost converted me into believing those horrific tales of his heroism, as I survived the Ontario bombing… For months I was subjected to their horrible convincing, their relentless brainwashing. It didn't work, my mentality would not give. I knew the truth about who murdered everyone in my town, who destroyed the province I lived in. I was not going to surrender. I escaped, my intent clear. You know the rest."

Clack. Clack. Clack. Sharp, precise footsteps sounded down the hall. In a fleeting instant the girls wide, emerald eyes connect with Raidens. Fear and horror flitter through her expression, before it disappears as soon as it had been there. Her eyes harden, "Listen to me," The girl says, her tone surprisingly harsh and commanding, "Move as close as you can to the door and hide in the shadows. Stay quiet. If it is some other guards, they won't yet know you have come in my cell. Most of them like to leave the door open so the other prisoners can hear the anguished screams. Go! Go now!"

Raiden hurriedly shuffles towards the door, his shackles jingling slightly at his movements. Just as he reaches the door, and shelters inside the dark shadows, it opens to reveal three large figures. He could see the outline of a rope, while another carried a liquid-filled container. Another held a lamp aloft, illuminating only a small circle around the three.

"Well, well, well young one." A nasally, nasty voice emanates from one of the three men, "I hear that you are still fighting against the boss. Well, now its our turn to play with you." His chuckle is a horrible mash of a pigs and a squealing humans. One of them moves forward, unbuckling the girl from her chains and nearly ripping her off the spike. Blood pools out of the wound immediately, seeping onto the floor. The three of them lay her roughly on the ground, the third one pooling the liquid on the gaping wound in her stomach. Raiden watches as the wound slowly heals, as if there had never been a spike sticking all the way through her body.

With a sinking feeling, Raiden watches as the rope-holding figure, lankier than the other two, twisted the girls arms up above her head, tying them together. The girl would have attacked, however the condition of her arms lead her unable to do anything. Thorns, stuck haphazardly in the rope, poked and scratched at the delicate skin of her wrists. Her eyes stared blankly up at the one guard who was slowly unzipping his pants.

A dark sickness spread through Raiden's body as he finally realized what the guards intended to do. He thought about getting up, fighting them and defending the girl, yet he knew it was useless. He could hardly get out of his chains, and even if he did, he was still weak from whatever happened to him while he was out. They would merely roll him over beside the girl, and Raiden did not wish for that to happen at all.

The other two guards spread her legs open, snickering as they took off their own pants. The first one who had stripped rolled down on top of her. A malicious smirk settles on his face, as he strikes the girl on the cheek. The sound carries far down the hallway, echoing and alerting all the other prisoners on what was happening. The girl turns her head back to stare up at the guard blankly, as if nothing had happened. With a burst of anger, the man thrusts deeply inside the girl, explicitly intending for it to hurt. Her expression does not change.

"Come on you bitch! Scream or I will make your life a living hell!" He shouts at her, his body moving roughly as he continually thrusts in and out.

The third, and fatter of the three crawls down, settling the girl in such a way that he could penetrate from the back. He thrusts in forcefully, his own grunts mixing in with his fellow guards angered shouts. Her body and expression stays limb and indifferent, like she was asleep or shutting the whole experience out.

"Why won't you scream, goddamnit?!" The skinnier guard exclaims, his anger showing in his ugly expression. His fists grind into the unhealed section of her stomach, the tender area of flesh. The three continue this torment, switching between the three of them. Suddenly, the three of them give up throwing her aside, disgusted by how she was not responding as they had hoped she would.

Just as the two were pulling up their pants, dangers sprang out from the darkness, burying themselves in the flesh of the two's privates. The two scream in immediate agony, pain blooming like a flower. The fatter one, having not been targeted by the dangers, roughly hawls the girl by her neck. A gun peeks out of his head, aimed right for her head. In an instant, the girls eyes bulge and narrow, before she swings her head around, knocking the enemy out cleanly. However, her body still useless, she collapses ontop of the fallen man.

The withering figure, gasping from pain looks up in his delirium to stare at the girl, "You…You tricked us…" He breathes out, his body withering. The girl glances at the other guard, his body still, blood pooling around him. His stillness was one of death. She noticed her prison mate had managed to straggle his way up to the dead man.

"Yes, yes I did."She tells the withering man plainly, "Now, you have two choices here. You can either run and alarm everyone, and but most likely you will die of blood loss before you step out this door. The other option is freeing us." She somehow scurries herself to the wall, trying to prop herself up with it. However, she fails and strikes the ground hard.

"You will never live through escaping you little bitch- Never! Nev- Agghhh!" The girl had managed, someway, to kick off the wall and grab at the mans foot with her teeth. For some reason, her teeth gleamed in the semi-darkness, and she bit deeper into the mans flesh, causing him to howl louder. Blood trickled away from her mouth, and it was in that instant that Raiden realized the girl was sucking at the man's blood. In an odd sense of fascination, Raiden continued watching the girl suck at his blood. The man went limp, and that was when the girl got up, the ropes effortlessly tearing apart and falling to the floor. The girl stretches while humming a dark tune to herself. She inspects her arm thoroughly, bending and twisting everything that could bend or twist. She does the same to the other arm, before stalking over to the other dead man. A demonic look appears as her mouth opens wide and she bites down on the dead man.

Raiden is horrified by what was happening, "Who are you…?" He asks, creeping as far away from the girl as he could physically manage. Which, wasn't all that far considering he was fetched up against a wall. The girl merely glances at him, as she drains the last of the dead man's blood. She tosses him to the side, making a pleased sound as she did so.

She pats her belly contently, "That hit the spot," She sighs, standing up and stretching out her now usable limbs. The newly collected blood pumps through her veins, giving her energy and vigor. Raiden watches in horrified fascination as all the cuts and bruises on her body slowly fade away. Her stoic eyes connect with Raiden's once more, "There is another reason as to why I am here. I am what you would call a vampiric cyborg. However, all my enhancements were destroyed during the bombing of lower Ontario, and as well as all those Metal Gears tearing me apart." The girl crouches down beside the unconscious man. She slaps him across the face, trying to awaken him, "As well as being able to fix my body by drinking blood, I can also gain abilities through other cyborgs." Her eyes glance towards him again, and her cold snicker dancing around the room, "Don't worry, I won't suck your blood." She says, in response to Raiden's facial expression. Suddenly, the man springs awake, looking around the room confused and disoriented. The girl springs away, standing quietly behind the man.

The man notices his fellow guards laying on the floor, completely still, "Tom… Lumpy… What's wrong with you guys?" He questions aloud, not noticing the young girl behind him, or realizing she wasn't where she was supposed to be anymore. With a silent swiftness, the girl latches onto the man, ripping chunks of his flesh off his bones. The man screams, blood following from his body. The man's death was unpleasantly extended, the tortured screams echoing down the hallway as he bleeds slowly to death.

Raiden shifts uncomfortably as the man's death gurgle sounds throughout the room. A chill settles over him as he notices that the young vampire girl was staring at him. As she walks towards him, Raiden tries to tug his hands out from the shackles binding him. He is unnerved by the dark, sensual hungry look she gives him. Suddenly, she grabs him by the shoulder, spinning him around onto his body.

Raiden stops struggling, "Think about this, I can help you get out of here!" He says, almost in a desperate, pleading tone. The girl stares at him

"I am helping you get free." The girl says, almost indignantly, "So you can either co-operate, or I will leave you as food for the Wolves. I already told you I won't suck your blood, so I don't know why you are so paranoid. Besides, your body doesn't seem that easy to bit through." Clamping her teeth around the chains, she rips them apart as if they were soft tissues. She helps Raiden to stand, and he gives her a mumbled thank you, while simultaneously asking for her name.

The girl's mouth curves upward in a kind of twisted smile, "I won't give you my actual name… But you can call me Thunder. It's the code name I was given when I was revived. So, what's your name?" The tone of her voice had changed dramatically. It sounded friendly, sweet and innocent- much like one would see in a elementary student. However, the edge was dark and sinister, causing Raiden to shudder mentally at the contrasting tones in her voice.

"I am Raiden," He replies, trying to get over the skin-crawling feeling that her voice invoked, "Some call me Jack but I prefer Raiden... What do you mean by revived?" Thunder looks down at the ground, trying to hide her expression from the annoying, prying man. Instead, she merely sighs as she walks out the door and turns down a random corridor, "I was dead, a few years ago. Buried and everything. However, a man, as I know him by the name of Ocular, took my remains and replaced them, though he used what was still in good condition and somehow changed me into this. I don't know exactly how he did it, for as soon as I opened my eyes, I was alone. I took the blood of my enemies in order to stay alive and healthy. With my advanced senses, I'm also able to track down my enemies relatively easy. That's why I could locate the President so quickly, because everyone else thought that he went back to his home." Thunder wandered down the halls, making turns left and right in a random pattern. Raiden trailed behind the strange being, far enough away that he felt safe.

The two wandered aimlessly around the labyrinth like hallway, until somehow they ended up in a large, dark room. Raiden's night vision was able to distinquish huddled shapes, yet he could not determine exactly what they were. He took a step forward, trying to disconcern what exactly they were. However, as soon as he moved an inch, a loud screeching sound began. It was as if millions of machines were turning on at the same time, emitting the same ear-splitting shriek of metal on metal sound. Thunder's hand clamps down roughly on Raiden's arm, as she runs forward, dragging him along behind her. The lights flicker on, showing the vast amounts of Metal Gear Ray's surrounding the two of them- and in an instant a Metal Gear was on their tails. The bot started raising a leg up and was planning on killing the two in one blow when thunder grabbed Raiden's arm and threw him forward in the nick of time, the stomp though was loud and squishy.

"Thunder!" Raiden yelled as a small pool of blood started forming from under the A.I's foot.