1Metal Gear Solid: W.E.B.

Chapter 1. Spiders and Snakes

The Hudson River.

A dark figure made his way across the piers, sneaking around the various crates that littered the wooden deck. Every now and then, a puff of smoke would be left behind as the shadow crept up behind two armed guards. In the blink of an eye, both guards were rendered unconscious and stripped of their weapons and radios. The intruder moved with great care and speed as he entered an old, rundown warehouse. Inside he could hear the chatter of more guards that had become bored with their duty. Four camouflaged bodies sat around a table playing cards. In an instant, four darts sprung through a silenced barrel, and four men slumped in their chairs, out cold by an injection of a high concentration of tranquilizer . A key card was stolen from around the neck of a slumbering soldier and used to open the hidden door that led to a metal staircase. Without a sound, the man walked down the stairs and rounded a corner and kneeling behind some air ducts. He put his finger to his temple and the familiar sound of his codec rang in his head.

"Snake?" a voice said that only he could here.

"I'm in."

"I knew that a few armed guards wouldn't be able to stop the famous Solid Snake."

"They didn't put up to much of a fight. How's everything look on your end Otocon?"

"Just like we planned it. Our inside informant has sent us word that a demonstration of this new metal gear is scheduled to begin at 22 hundred hours sharp." Snake looked down at his watch.

"That's 45 minutes from now."

"Remember Snake." Otocon said.. "This is a reconnaissance mission. You are there to observe and gather data, not to interfere."

"Yeah I got it. Snake out." After one more puff of his cigarette, Snake ground the red tip into the ground and got up. He pushed his back up against the wall and peered around the corner. It was clear. Silently making his way down the hall with his gun ready, he heard footsteps coming in his general direction. He side stepped into the shadows of an adjacent, poorly lit hallway. He watched quietly as another armed guard continued right past him without even noticing the intruder. Snake smirked as he made his way down the rest of the hall and rounded a corner. The guard turned around for a moment, but quickly dismissed his suspicions of the slight sound he thought he heard and continued his rounds. Snake had found his way to an elevator and swiped the stolen key card through the slot. The dark screen in front of him lit up with the words "Enter Password." Without hesitation, Snake produced a small electronic device over the button panel. After a few seconds, "Access Approved" flashed across the screen and the elevator doors slid open and Snake enter it. Inside, there were no buttons, just bright overhead lights that reflected off of the shiny metal interior. The doors closed and Snake began his long decent to the military base that had been secretly mined beneath the Hudson River. Snake once again took a knee and pressed his temple.

"Otocon?" Snake asked. "Any new information on this metal gear?"

"All I know is that it is a radical, design and that it is allegedly going to be capable of firing a nuclear warhead from any terrain to any target in to the entire world. We've also received word that it is using a new method of launching. Instead of firing the warhead out like a bullet, they have developed a way to concentrate and bend light into a sort of "sun shaft" in which the warhead is carried, not pushed to it's target."

"Sounds like science fiction."

"It is a very unique technology that may someday change everything from guns to elevators. Speaking of elevators, I think you are near the bottom. From here on out, your codec will have to go offline so as not to be detected."

"Figures." Snake said as he heard his codec hum for a second before shutting off. The doors opened and Snake emerged, gun drawn. He surveyed his surroundings. He noticed two surveillance cameras along the metallic hallway. Snake pulled the pin of a chaff grenade and sprinted his way along as the cameras tried in vain to focus on the hallway. Snake found a door that read "Boiler Room." He used the keycard to open the door and gain access to the noisy boiler room. Two guards rounded the corner just as the door shut behind Snake, completely oblivious to the intruder. Snake crawled underneath the boilers that supplied heat to the base, trying to avoid the attention of the crew attending the boilers. Sweat ran down his face as the heat from above radiated down onto him. He popped open an air duct and crawled inside. He made his way down the shaft, knowing exactly were he was going. Otocon always did his homework. He always had the perfect course plotted out for Snake to follow. After crawling along for a while, Snake looked at his watch.

"Fifteen more minutes." he said to himself. He silently pried open another grate and squirmed his way out. He hid behind a large stack of mechanical parts. He peered out around him. He had made his way to the lab. He couldn't help but think about the fact that the entire city of New York was oblivious to a football stadium size military lab lying directly below the Hudson River. In the center of the lab, surrounded by the top military officials in the entire U.S., was the metal gear.

"We have decided to try a different approach in the movement of the machine." a man in a lab coat said as he walked over to a large control panel. He pushed a series of buttons and several lights ,that covered the machine, flickered to life. The crowd began to buzz in excitement. After pressing a few more buttons, the scientist went on.

"Our research has confirmed that in order to make a machine this size scale any surface or terrain, we needed to incorporate more than just two to four points of contact, as we have seen in other models. Thus, our spider design was born." The metal gear slowly stood up on it's eight metallic legs. The scientist continued his speech as the machine took several slow steps.

"After many tests, we decided that eight points of contact were more than adequate in sustaining balance on any surface, and I mean any surface." The metal gear walked over to the smooth metal wall and began to climb it effortlessly. The crowd began some loud applause of approval as the machine turned around on the wall and set foot back on the level floor.

"We call it," the scientist said proudly. "Metal Gear W.E.B. Worldwide Energy Ballistics. It is equipped with nearly every type of weapon the military has to offer. From the most sophisticated rocket launching technology to the most basic weaponry. I believe that W.E.B. has a bright future in the United States military." The applause of the crowd was interrupted by maniacal laughter and the sound of machine guns. Snake quickly put away his tranquilizer gun and pulled out his SOCOM. Sirens began to go off, while several people in lab coats made their way to the exits. A few were able to exit before the heavy steal doors closed, locking everyone within. Snake looked in the direction of the noise with his gun at the ready. Shortly afterward, the gun play stopped, and an uneasy silence embraced the room. Just then, the heavy steel doors that blocked the main entrance to the room, were blown apart like paper. Two orange spheres rolled into the room that exploded, killing everyone near them.

"What the Hell is that?" Snake asked himself when he saw a small glider soar into the lab. Controlling it was a green skinned being, laughing loudly as he eradicated several more military officers and scientists. Snake drew a bead on the flying villain. As he began to squeeze the trigger, a bullet whizzed through the air, knocking his gun out of his hands.

"Solid Snake." a gruff Russian voice said.

"Ocelot." Snake replied.

"It's been a long time." He said as he walked toward Snake, his revolver pointed at the hero's head. Snake looked to his right to see the green man gain access to W.E.B. "It is going to be a great shame to kill you like this. I always imagined a great battle between us, but I suppose one musts take what one can get." Ocelot pulled back the hammer with his thumb and a smile appeared on his face. Just then, a webline grabbed hold of the gun. Ocelot's smile turned to shock as the weapon was jerked from his hand.

"Not today gramps." Spider-Man said from his perch on the wall. Snake picked up his SOCOM and held it to Ocelot's forehead. "We won't have none of that from you either." Spidey filled the end of Snake's barrel with webbing.

"Spider-Man!" The Green Goblin yelled. "I don't know how you got in here, but, no matter. This will give me a good reason to play with my new toy." He turned the metal gear toward the hero and fired the machines guns. Spidey leapt out of the way as Ocelot grabbed his gun and ran at the spider-like metal gear and Snake pulled the webbing out of his gun. The Goblin continued firing at the wall crawler, but to no avail. Spidey was to fast. Snake fired off several rounds as the cockpit of W.E.B. closed on the two villians. Goblin's voice came out of the loud speaker.

"If I can't shoot you, I guess I'll have to drown you." he pointed a cannon up at the ceiling. A rocket launched and blew a huge hole in the riverbed. Water immediately poured into the lab. The metal gear rocketed up through the hole, leaving both Spider-Man and Solid Snake behind. Spidey quickly shot out a webline that barely grabbed hold of one of the mechanical legs. Snake clutched onto the strand as well. The two were towed through the Hudson River until W.E.B. sprang from the water. Nearly drowned, Snake and Spidey released their hold

and were carried to shore.