*Hello everybody! It's your old pal, Spawnzilla! Have I got a special treat for you all today; a collab story! But not just any collab story, mind you. A collab story with a very special author and personal friend of mine. If you've read Wasteland, An Old Snake, or Snake the Handyman...then you'll know who to thank for this story.

If you don't, then please let me introduce to you SeththeGreat, a completely underrated but extraordinary author and avid Metal Gear Solid fan. This story's plot actually takes place after the events of my Spawn Darkness Trilogy series.

After certain tragic events have occurred, Spawn has made his seperate ways from the Insurgency. Unfortunately, he is not the only one who has left the Insurgency. Definitely no stranger to being a lone wolf, Solid Snake goes solo. But when Snake crosses paths with Spawn, a whole new adventure begins. New friends are made, as well as new enemies. There are also some certain questions that still need answering from my previous stories, so expect a few surprises along the way.

Also, on a side note, I've been playing a LOT of Fallout 3. I've also watched the Road Warrior, as well as Batman vs. Superman and Captain America: Civil War. So that all is added as inspiration for this new story.

But don't expect this to be a kid friendly fan fiction, because like with my previous works there will be plentiful amounts of graphic violence, sex, and other adult content not suitable for the kiddies. Viewer discretion is advised!

Now without further ado, let the story commence! Seth? I couldn't do this without you buddy; thanks for your help! ;)

Chapter 1: A New Day, A New Mission!

It was over. The battle of the Insurgents against Superman's Regime and the demon Belphelgor was over. The Insurgents had won, but none of them felt like winners, especially Solid Snake. Snake had lost a lot during the conflict. He lost an eye, but more importantly the lives of many of his comrades were lost. The city was also in ruins, and chaos reigned supreme in the streets. Violent anarchists and psychotic raiders saw an opportunity to arise, and took it.

Everywhere you looked, raiders were pillaging and looting the city, taking whatever they could whenever they could. But the worst part for Snake was that he was abandoned and hated by the rest of the Insurgents. What was the reason, you may ask? He didn't share the same opinion the others had of the Hellspawn Raizo, also known as Spawn. And he let them know it.

He did not believe Spawn was a hero. While he fought the enemies of the Insurgents, he didn't fight for the reasons the Insurgents did. Snake emphasized that Spawn fought with the Insurgents, not for them. He told the others that Spawn would only fight when it was beneficial to him. He didn't give a damn about the Insurgents, and he wasn't afraid to admit that. He did it multiple times in fact. Spawn fought for two reasons. For revenge and for his wife Reika Kitami, who unfortunately died at the end of the conflict.

Reika on the other hand, did fight for the Insurgents. She was on the battlefield with them many times, and was also the one person capable of reasoning with Spawn. Reika actually tried to encourage him to join the Insurgents. And in the end, she sacrificed herself to destroy the demon Belphelgor. Snake considered her to somewhat be Spawn's morality chain, the one keeping him from embracing his inner demon.

But now that Reika was gone, Spawn's allegiance became uncertain, which worried Snake greatly. There was a good chance that Spawn could turn against humanity. And given how powerful he is, Snake didn't know if he would be able to stop him if that were to happen.

And it's because he expressed his opinion, his concerns, that the rest of the Insurgents turned their back on him. They thought he was a horrible man, a cold and heartless bastard. And maybe he was, but it's just how he was. Snake was never one to mince his words. He calls things how he sees it.

However, despite his harsh opinion of the Hellspawn, Snake didn't actually hate him as the others believe. Snake would admit that he did not like Spawn all that much, but he never hated him. It was obvious that Spawn was not a hero, but at no point was Snake trying to imply that he himself was a hero. Snake never thought of himself as a hero, but rather as someone who fights for what he believes in.

Snake also realized that that Spawn is not evil. Even though Spawn was brutally violent, and seemed to enjoy hurting his enemies, he never once attacked someone without a reason. Spawn never attacks civilians. And the people that he does fight always deserve it.

As Snake walked alone down a dirt road that led to an abandoned part of the ruined city, he sighed in frustration and disgust as he witnessed a horde of raiders celebrating in loud, raucous triumph after looting several towns. The men were howling with laughter as they got drunk as shit, while the women entertained their lovers by dancing naked and drunk. "Fucking animals…" Snake muttered bitterly as he lit up a cigarette.

Snake eventually reached his own secret safe house, a trailer inside of a junkyard. It wasn't the cleanest place on earth, but it was at least safer than many of the other places where raiders or anarchists usually roamed around. The only neighbors Snake had in this junkyard were a couple of bums, an orphaned child, and a junkyard dog named Kibbles. "Hey, look at who it is. Snake!" a bum with a missing leg exclaimed joyfully.

Snake smiled as he approached the old man. "Hello, Hank. How are you doing today?" Snake said kindly. "Oh, I'm always full of sunshine when I see your face around here. Say...have you found anything interesting lately? Little Timmy is getting bored again!" the old man replied. Snake chuckled as he reached into his pocket and handed him a toy truck. "Tell Timmy not to break it, ok?" Snake said. "Oh, bless you. Timmy! Come here; I got a new toy for you!" Hank exclaimed happily.

As Snake went inside of his trailer, he turned around to find a little 5-year-old boy squeal with delight as he began playing with his new toy. As Snake removed his battle armor and clothed himself in comfortable sleepwear, he began thinking more about Spawn. He remembered how much happier Spawn seemed with Reika Kitami when they were together. He also remembered the bitter tears Spawn shed when Reika died. And that's when it hit him.

Love is something that demons cannot feel, and tears are something that they cannot shed. Both of those are gifts only humans have. So while Raizo was a Hellspawn, Snake believed that he has not lost his humanity. Come to think of it, Snake realized that Raizo has shown more emotion than he has in some time.

Snake had a flashback of him and Otacon back at Shadow Moses Island. This particular incident was a very important one; it was the death of Sniper Wolf. "I don't need a handkerchief." Snake said to Otacon. "Why?" He asked. "Because I don't have any tears left to shed." Snake replied bitterly. Snake sighed heavily as he shook his head. As Snake laid down on his mattress, he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. There was another incident Snake remembered, even though he really didn't want to remember it.

It was the last time Snake spoke to Meryl Silverburgh.

After fighting against the psychotic telepathetic killer, Psycho Mantis, a frustrated and weary Snake wished for nothing more than to move onward and complete his mission. But Meryl, being the young and naive lady she was, wanted to make small talk with Snake. Something that Snake was not very good at, let alone enjoyed doing.

Meryl approached Snake in comforting manner, to which Snake gave her the cold shoulder. "Snake? What's your name? Your real name?" Meryl asked innocently. "A name means nothing on the battlefield." He quickly avoided the question. "Any family?" she pressed. "No, but I was raised by several different people." He answered quickly.

While that statement wasn't a lie, it wasn't the full truth either. "Is there anyone you like?" Meryl urged. "I never bothered to be a part of anyone else's lives, it only complicates my own." Snake replied now losing his patience. "So you really are alone…just like Mantis said." Meryl said compassionately.

Snake was silent about that statement. His patience for small talk was at its end, so he forced the subject to change. "We don't have time for this! Let's get moving." He ordered and left the room.

Snake felt remorse as he remembered the look of hurt, shock, anger, and sadness written on Meryl's face. He shouldn't have said those things to Meryl, she was still just a rookie, just wanting to get know Snake a little better. But he didn't take that into consideration. He was so very bitter at that time because of all the horrible shit he'd been through. He was just too bitter to take her feelings into consideration. He pushed her too hard, and he couldn't forgive himself for it.

But what made things even more unbearable for Snake was that he never got to apologize to Meryl for his behavior. After Meryl was shot by Sniper Wolf, it was the last he ever saw of her. Or at least it was until...that moment. Yes, the moment when Snake finally encountered Liquid Snake, his evil twin brother. But that was only the beginning.

Revolver Ocelot then tortured the living hell out of Snake with a sadistic game of electro-shock therapy. Try as hard as he might, staying strong as he possibly could...Snake showed his ultimate failure as he gave into his pain. Sure, anyone could say that Snake was young and inexperienced at that time, but Snake knew that was bullshit. He had been to Outer Haven and Zanzibar Land at a much younger age, and endured much more horrific things no mere mortal should see.

The final nail in the coffin was after the brutal but epic fist fight against Liquid Snake on top of the ruined Metal Gear REX. As he approached a still body, Snake realized to his horror that Ocelot was a man of his words. Meryl just laid there, motionless and lifeless...and it was all because of his weakness and fear that overwhelmed him. "NOOOO! MERYL!" Snake screamed loudly in agony.

Snake suddenly woke up in a frantic sweat. He breathed heavily as he looked around the room. He realized it was another nightmare, not that it made things any better. "Dammit!" He cursed and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He felt he should be crying at this moment, but after Meryl's death, he was all out of tears. As Snake hung his head down in shame, he began thinking. Perhaps Spawn wasn't that different to him at all. Perhaps Snake and Spawn had a lot more in common than he thought. Maybe, just maybe...Snake could try and help Spawn reclaim his humanity.

Raizo was still pretty young when he died. Young and looking for his purpose in life. And even after coming back from the dead, he still seemed to be looking for his purpose. And with the way things were going, it didn't look like he can find it by himself. Spawn needed help. He needed a mentor. But could he be the one to take that role?

Snake slowly stood back up on his feet and stretched before he slowly walked towards a mirror. "Can I really convince him to change? He probably doesn't even want my help. We didn't ever get along. He'd probably want to kill me the moment he sees me!" Snake said to himself.

After a long minute of staring into the mirror, Snake made up his mind. "Fuck it! I can't just sit here and think about it. I have to try! I'll try to get him to listen even if it kills me! I can't let him lose his humanity like I lost mine!" Snake proclaimed. Snake then decided to go back to sleep and get some rest. He'd need it. Because tomorrow, he'd be looking for Spawn. And there would be no time to rest when doing that.

*Well, what do you think so far? Do you like it? Hate it? Comment about it in your reviews and let me know what you think I should do next!

By the way, the flashback sequence of Snake losing Meryl is actually my own personal experience of playing Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation. Yeah, I know it's not the canonical story, but I personally think it's better because it's more dramatic and more emotional. And it really shows that even though Snake is strong and smart, that even he is capable of showing fear and failure. But with failure, Snake learns from his experiences...or at least that's I how I feel about it!

Anyway, stay tuned to see what happens in the next chapter!*

*Hey everyone this is an author's note from me, Seth. I just want to thank Spawn for working with me. I had been in talks with him for a while now and I'm very excited to finally be doing it. I hope you enjoy it.*