Chapter 1

Liquid Ocelot looked at the cell phone the woman had just been speaking to him through. He closed it over and gazed across the Alaskan field of snow.

This plan wasn't unlike the previous ones he had made up.

Send out warning of a potential threat.

Ask for a high ransom.

Simple.

He pocketed the cell phone absent-mindedly, and plotted the start of his new era.

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"From what I could tell, he had something like that in mind, yes." Said Ada down the phone. She looked at the empty street, a long way below the roof of the building she was standing on. The helicopter behind started up and she moved away from the edge, gripping the cell-phone tighter in her hand.

"What's that? No, I don't trust him either. This could be something though." She smiled at the person talking at her down the phone line as he said something.

"No, he doesn't want to destroy the world. He wants to get a ransom." She listened intently and went quiet as a cold laugh travelled down the line, sending shivers down her spine. The man started to speak and her face fell.

"I know. I won't say anything." The man spoke calmly and told Ada that betrayal of him would result in punishment. "Yes, I understand. Penalty of death, isn't it?" She tensed up as he abruptly ended the transmission.

The cell phone was folded over in her hand and she looked once more down onto the street.

"Ready to go?" A voice shouted from behind her. She turned and looked at the man in the helicopter. Giving a nod, she then walked over and climbed inside the chopper.

It took off seconds before the street below burst into flames.

"Hopefully he won't miss that." Ada whispered with a weak smile. "I'm counting on you Leon."

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"No Otacon. I've never seen a Zombie movie." Snake rolled his eyes and leant back further into the sofa.

"Have you seen any movies?" Otacon gazed at Snake with a look of amazement.

"Look, I haven't really got time to see movies. Any time I do have to myself I spend it relaxing. Watching some film where everybody gets killed is too close to my line of work anyway." He put both arms over the back of the sofa and looked at the ceiling.

"So I suppose you wouldn't want to see one right now, huh?" The man looked downcast and pushed his glasses up his nose before sorting his DVD collection back into neat piles beside the wall. Snake moved his hands down to his pockets and found a cigarette packet, he took them out and went to get the lighter by the front door.

"You see Otacon? I'm smoking outside, I do listen to you." He picked up the lighter, hearing a sigh from the room he had just left and opened the front door.

Outside was a man with his fist in the air as if to knock the door.

Snake looked at him, his face equally surprised as the man he was looking at. He had on a brown jacket, wrapped round himself to protect him from the chill of the evening. His blond hair was swept across his face in a kind of side fringe.

"Good evening, sir." He said. "My name is Leon S. Kennedy."

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"I'm so glad you could finally meet me here in person." Liquid sneered as Wesker arrived out of the snow with Ada. It was a dark, cold blizzard outside - but that didn't stop Wesker from wearing his shades, or from keeping his hair in perfect shape. The superhuman raised his head slightly and looked up at Liquid up on the walkway above them.

"You chose quite a location, I must say." He spoke cooly, any annoyance he felt towards Liquid for making him trench through a blizzard was hidden through his calm, yet sinister, semi-English accent. Liquid smirked and paced along the walkway.

"This place brings back memories, this country is where my plan nearly succeeded, before that meddling brother of mine ruined everything, again." Liquid glanced at Ada who was wrapped up in her thick jacket, seeming cold.

"I'll give you a guided tour," Liquid extended his arms out to the sides and smirked, "Make yourself at home."

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"So what are you saying? You think Liquid is working with this guy?" Snake leaned forward on the sofa, cigarette sticking out the corner of his mouth smoking slightly. Otacon scowled as a piece of ash dropped onto his carpet. Leon nodded his head and answered.

"That's right." Snake moved back into sofa and crossed one leg over the other while taking a drag on his cigarette.

"How'd you know all this?" He asked, letting smoke out as he opened his mouth. Leon took out a type of radio-like thing.

"One of my informants got some information from an anonymous source. It had proof of Liquid contacting one of Wesker's associates. We can really only assume that he intends to get Wesker on his side too."

Snake nodded slowly. This all seemed strange. At least he was being told information beforehand this time, people had a tendency not to tell him things when sending him on missions.

"How did you find out who I was?" Snake moved his hand and took the cigarette out his mouth, crushing it into a nearby ashtray. Leon looked at Snake with the same impassive expression he usually had, then he replied.

"This informant of mine is quite talented at getting the right kind of information." Snake nodded.

"Yeah, I know a guy like that." He looked over at Otacon who was now browsing the web on his laptop. He offered Leon a cigarette which he didn't take.

"I don't smoke." Snake shrugged and put the packet in his jeans pocket.

Otacon turned round with a shocked expression on his face and stared at Leon.

"This employee you were talking about... she's female right?" Leon looked at Otacon and answered him.

"That's right, her name is Ada Wong. You found something on her?" Otacon pushed his glasses up his nose.

"I'm not sure, I think I-- It's better if you just look." He lifted up the laptop and carried it across the room towards the two other men, laying it down on the coffee table and swiveling it round to face them. Everyone crowded round and peered into the screen, seeing a woman on top of a building getting into a helicopter before the street below burst into flames. She was wearing a red dress that revealed quite a lot of her legs.

"You say she's our enemy?" said Snake, glancing at Leon who nodded. "Damn." Snake started muttering and thinking how lucky his brother was to get all the hot chicks in his team. The other two ignored Snake, Otacon asking Leon if he had found anything.

"That's definitely Ada, alright. I didn't know she was the one behind that explosion in Mexico. I wonder what Wesker had in mind..." Leon's pocket bleeped and he stood up to answer it.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back." He left the house and answered the call outside. After a few moments, Otacon slid over to Snake.

"Who the hell is this guy?" His eyes were wide with astonishment. "You should read the stuff I've found on the internet, this guy's famous!" At this Snake turned and looked at Otacon.

"So just who is this guy and what does he do?" Otacon rose his eyes from the monitor and his glasses slid down his nose.

"You won't believe it, but he...."

The door opened and Leon entered again. Otacon quickly closed the browser to hide the pictures he had found. Snake looked at Leon suspiciously, then stood up tall and spoke,

"Who are you anyway?" His eyes narrowed and he peered at Leon's face. Leon seemed unfazed.

"I told you, my name is Leon S. Kennedy. I used to be a cop in the Raccoon City police department." Snake wasn't impressed, he grumbled a response.

"That's not really telling me much. I'm not going to accept missions from some stranger that knows about my brother, and who is this informant? How do I know it's not some person out to kill me?"

Leon took out his communicator and pushed a button.

"Hunnigan, they wish to meet you." He held the device out to the men and the face of Hunnigan flashed onto the screen. Hunnigan spoke as Otacon widened his eyes at her cute features.

"Hi there. Is there anything I can help you with?"

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Ada watched the house through the satellite link she had 'borrowed' from Wesker. She smiled; Leon must have seen the bait now. Maybe they could get here before Wesker and Liquid actually started anything. She heard a noise coming from along the corridor and moved quickly to hide the equipment. Just as she put away the last of the gear, Liquid opened the door and entered the room. He raised an eyebrow, which is the only hint he gave towards his confusion at what she was doing in here.

"Can I help you?" Ada said, lifting one side of her lips into a dangerous looking smile. Liquid looked slowly around the room, then replied.

"Not you in particular, I was looking for Wesker." He jumped a bit as a voice behind him answered, "But I'm right here..." Ada was also shocked at how quiet Wesker had been to arrive. She made a note not to use the satellite imaging until she was sure Wesker wasn't around. Liquid turned and glared at the man from behind his own sun-glasses.

"I've been looking for you." Wesker showed little expression when he replied,

"I could see that. What is it?" Liquid left Ada in the room and began to walk towards the control base.

"We have country leaders to contact."

Ada watched as Wesker and Liquid disappeared round the corner of the corridor then cursed under her breath. Leon had to hurry. Time to make some more anonymous calls...

Chapter 2

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About a week after the first encounter with Leon, Snake and Otacon were making the final adjustments to their equipment in Snake's house before meeting Leon again.

"Are you sure Otacon?" Snake stood in his sneaking suit, checking the weapon belt in case he had forgotten something. "How do you know we can trust them?"

Otacon held a socom in his hand to give to Snake once he had finished checking the rest of his equipment. He handed it over eventually and answered,

"I'm pretty sure that those people are on our side. We don't know anything about this threat so teaming up with them seems like the best idea." Snake sighed and took the Socom pistol.

"I just hope this isn't a repeat of the other circumstances we've gotten into before." He loaded the gun and fired a shot into a target he had imbedded into the wall. Otacon flinched and scowled.

"I wish you'd warn me before shooting." He moved away from Snake and stood a safe distance away at the foot of the basement stairs. "You have a good few hours before you have to meet up with him again anyway, so why are you wearing that suit now?" Snake didn't answer and checked the rest of his equipment, finding new things to hook onto his utility belt. Otacon sighed again and made his way up the stairs, only to be interrupted by a buzz from the codec communicator in the call was answered by Snake and Leon's face appeared on a screen on the wall.

"Sorry to not stick to the schedule, but we got some new info on Wesker's whereabouts. When can you be ready?" Snake answered Leon after a glance at Otacon.

"I'm ready now. Just need to get a few more weapons." Leon shook his head and said, "No need for that, I know a guy who can sort you out. Can you meet me in 1 hour?"

A map flashed on the screen showing a location highlighted by a flashing light. Snake put his weapon away and nodded.

"That's not too far, I can get there sooner." Leon looked relieved,

"Great, see you there." He signed off and left the men to prepare. Snake looked at Otacon again to which Otacon looked away. Snake smirked, "Better to be prepared isn't it?" Otacon stayed silent and ran quickly up the stairs to get his own stuff ready.

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Leon and Snake stood outside the walls of the complex. Leon held his gun pointing upwards and Snake held his pointing down. Snake didn't approve of the way Leon handled his weapons, but was glad of that British-accented gun launderer he had been introduced to and received new weapons. Leon put his weapon away and made a call to Hunnigan and Otacon.

"Have you got the satellite imaging yet?" Leon asked.

Otacon shook his head.

"Not yet, we're having trouble getting the satellite to pick up anything, Wesker must have set something up... like a virus." Leon tutted and looked round. "We, at the moment, have no idea how to get into this place."

Otacon shrugged. "I'm afraid we don't either, you'll just have to scout around till you find something." Leon pocketed the communicator. Snake tapped Leon on the shoulder and pointed into the gloom at some approaching guards. They both flattened into a crevasse in the wall until the soldiers had passed. Snake peeked his head around the corner to check for any coming guards before advancing, whereas Leon stepped right out into view. Snake looked at the blond man.

"You aren't used to using stealth are you?" He didn't mean this as an insult, but the disapproval showed in his voice. Leon shook his head and stayed cool.

"Zombies don't really move fast enough for stealth to be of any use. Some of the enemies I face can sense where you are anyway." Snake nodded slowly, he found it hard to believe that this guy actually fought zombies. He looked ahead again and started stalking forwards along the walls of the complex.

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Ada saw them walking along the wall through camera footage installed by Liquid's Army.

"Bingo" she said with a smile and pressed a button for the air-vents to open.

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Snake eventually saw one of air vents was open and moved over to it, peering inside.

"Hey, look at this. We might just be able to get through here." Snake was reminded of Shadow Moses island and how he got inside the facility, strange that it was the same scenario again this time. Leon crouched and also looked inside. He glanced at Snake.

"It's going to be the same width all the way through won't it?" Snake nodded,

"It's an air-vent, I would guess it would be the same size all the way through." Snake put away his gun and got down on the floor to crawl through the vent. Leon did the same and waited until Snake was a good distance away, then he followed.

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Otacon looked at Hunnigan from across the room and swallowed noisily, scolding himself afterwards for acting so nervous. Hunnigan was beautiful, and smart. If only he could find a way to get the courage to actually speak to her then everything would be fine - Unless he was rejected. He reached up and fumbled with his glasses. She was focused on the mission, a thing that Otacon himself thought he should be concentrating on too. The glasses fell off his face and bounced off his foot to land under Hunnigan's chair. "Oh... darn." Otacon said and stared at them the best he could through his poor vision. She looked down and picked them up, turning round to Otacon and handing them to him.

"Uh... t-thanks" Said the man and took the specs from her. Hunnigan smiled a bit then turned back round to work. Otacon sighed, he wasn't going to get anywhere with this if he didn't make his move.

Suddenly, the codec beeped. Otacon was startled and swiveled round in his chair to answer.

"Otacon, we've got inside. The place looks huge so we've decided that the best idea would be to split up and keep in contact using codec and radio." Otacon nodded.

"Yeah, that seems like the best idea. Just make sure you watch your surroundings so you don't get lost, okay?" He closed the link and searched anything new he could find on Wesker. Whatever feelings he felt for the woman on the other side of the room were pushed aside temporarily as he focused on Snake and Leon. Lets get this finished, once and for all.

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Leon jogged along the corridors, taking care of any troops he met with a few shots to the head with his silenced pistol. Snake was right, stealth wasn't his strong point. These enemies didn't dissolve like the zombies did, making detection all the more possible. He didn't think that would be much of a problem though, he had lots of first aid sprays and it wasn't like he couldn't handle super-agile soldiers when he was used to fighting people like Ganados Krauser. He made his way along the corridor and turned the corner to come face-to-face with a group of soldiers.

"Shit" Leon swore as he took out a TMP instead of his silence-pistol, then started shooting the soldiers who shot back. Leon took care of them though and started to run along the corridor, getting as far away as possible from the carnage behind him. It was no use however, as the other troops must have heard the gun shots and when Leon turned round he could see groups of them running after him. Leon wondered how the hell they got here so fast, and why there were so many of them when he hadn't passed them in the corridor before. Leon got to the end of the corridor which led to a huge room, usually used for storage of weapons, but it was empty. Leon got out some flash grenades and a TMP, throwing one as soon as he saw the first of the troops come through the door then blasting them with multiple TMP shots.

"This could take a while..." Leon muttered and took care of as many soldiers as he could. "Hope Snake's having better luck."

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Snake ran round the maze of corridors, avoiding detection from the soldiers surprisingly easily. He used his M9 tranquilizer gun to disable enemies when he needed to, dragging the sleeping soldiers into the shadows or out of the way somewhere they couldn't be seen from a normal patrol. He eventually came into another dead end, or what looked like a cargo bay and sighed. This was taking too long, who knows what Liquid and Wesker had done in this amount of time. It surprised him that the area wasn't more heavily guarded.

He reloaded the gun in his hand and prepared to make his move again, when Otacon called. He crouched to receive it.

As he crouched, he felt something move the hair on his head and saw a blur of movement fly over him. He rolled over to the right and took out an AK-47, trying to aim it at the fast moving object, but it was moving too fast for him to even see it. Just as he thought he had lost it, Wesker appeared in front of Snake and twisted the weapon abruptly, causing Snake to cry out in alarm and pain as his arm was broken from the force the other man had applied.

"What the hell?! Are you even human?!" Snake held his arm and attempted to duck out of the way from Wesker, but to no avail, Wesker grabbed Snake by his other arm and dislocated it easily. Both of Snake's arms were completely useless now, he was on the floor and backed away quickly. Not quick enough though.

Wesker grabbed the front of Snake's sneaking suit and lifted him high into the air, sneering up into his face. Snake kicked out as hard as he could into Wesker, but Wesker didn't even react. Instead, he took his other hand and tightened it around Snake's throat, releasing his sneaking suit and holding him there.

"This is disappointing, I honestly thought you could put up more of a fight." Snake kicked out again and gasped for breath. "You are a feisty man, I must say. Do you honestly think that a human like you can stand up to my power?" He raised Snake higher and tightened his grip before throwing him to the floor, watching as Snake gasped through the pain and because of loss of breath. Wesker chuckled coldly and pulled a syringe from his pocket, removing the cap that protected the needle. He stood over Snake and looked at his broken body, sneering at Snake's expression of hate.

"Don't worry, you'll be one of the first from the worthy part of the population that shares part of my power." He crouched and pinned Snake down by the throat then injected the contents into his neck before standing back and watching the effects.

Snake's vision started to cloud and his body tensed up, starting to shake involuntarily. He tried to talk but couldn't muster up the energy. Wesker flexed his fingers and sneered widely, the effects were happening quicker than planned, maybe this new virus was promising after all. Snake lost sight of Wesker through his blurred vision and he fainted, leaving him vunrable to whatever it was Wesker wished to do with him. The blond man was pleased with the result and picked Snake up over his shoulder, carrying him away to the lab.

Chapter 3

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"How many more are there?!" Leon fired a shot with his hand-gun right into the head of another soldier, killing it instantly. He was getting short of ammo on this gun too. Soon it would only be his RPG-7, Striker and Killer-7 left. He reloaded quickly and crouched behind the wall, waiting for the next lot of soldiers. There had been so many before that he had been forced backwards into the far wall of the storage room. Corpses of Soldiers lay in a kind of semi-circle before him, there had been that many. It made Leon realize just how many enemies he could actually dispose of, which shocked him a little. Even though these enemies had proper weapons, he found they were a lot easier to kill than infectees of T or G-Virus. The troops had stopped coming for some reason, that was odd. While he was free, he checked the weapons of the soldiers and attepted to use it, for some reason, the weapon was locked, so he threw it away. Snake was right again, he couldn't use the enemies weapons. So he just took the ammo for later. The door of the room made a clunking noise, and Leon looked up to see it was closing rapidly. He got to his feet and ran as fast as he could towards the other side of the room. He jumped over bodies like hurdles and headed top speed towards the door.

That gap was big enough to slide through, just a little further.

The door closed over just as Leon reached it, seconds too late.

"Shhhit." Leon cursed and banged on the door with fists, annoyed at what his distraction had cost him. He got himself together and raised the hand-gun, waiting for something to happen and glancing round the room. It didn't look like there were any gas-vents.

He heard a bleep from his pocket and took out his communicator to see Hunnigan looking at him.

"Bad news Leon, we just lost contact with Snake." Leon heard panicking in the background from Otacon and spoke to Hunnigan.

"Do you have any idea if he is still alive?"

"We think so, but we don't know if he's injured or not." Hunnigan replied calmly. Leon was still amazed at her skill of keeping cool during stressful times.

"We'll let you know the moment we get any info on him, where are you now?"

Leon looked round the room, "I seem to be in a Storage Room, the door just closed and locked me in. There doesn't seem to be any possible means of escape." Hunnigan frowned.

"Alright Leon, look around. There must be some way out, there always it in these kind of places." Leon nodded and Hunnigan signed off.

The communicator was pocketed and Leon leant against the wall, finally catching his breath.

It was then, that Ada walked out from the shadows of the room.

"Leon, long time no see."

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Liquid watched the surveillance footage of Ada and Leon and gave a small smirk. She had turned on him. He thought she would. He switched on the sound finally and listened as Ada revealed to Leon the plans... or at least, all she knew. She finished talking and went towards the air-vent she had entered the room through. Liquid hovered his finger over the shutter button and waited until she was a few feet away, then pressed it. He grinned at her look of surprise and annoyance, then made his move for the intercom.

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"What!" Ada saw the air-vent close, seconds before she reached it. She searched the room for a camera but didn't see it. Leon raised an eyebrow and also searched. There was a silence, then a cruel laugh was heard bouncing around the room, its source nowhere in sight.

"Well, well. You did double cross me. I thought you might, I prepared myself as you can see." Liquid's drawl echoed around the room. "It takes one to know one you see... I was never intending to keep you in our little uprising anyway, I only needed you, Ada to bring in Wesker. Now I have him - and the virus - you can be disposed of. Wesker and I will finish this plan without you. I'm so sorry you can't join us, but we really don't need unreliable people like you in our team." Ada was annoyed, but she didn't show it. She gave a venomous smile and looked around the room, finding the camera finally and looking into it.

"You don't really think that Wesker agrees with this plan do you? You do know he wants to destroy the world in its current way of working?" Liquid chuckled and replied.

"Of course I know that, he told me right after I told him the second part of my plan. He wants to help rid the world of control from the greater powers so we can be free."

Ada shook her head.

"That's not the way he thinks, he wants to rule the world and kill anyone who disagrees."

"My dear, I don't think you see the bigger picture. Wesker does, which is why he is a leader and you are just a soldier. Wesker has followed my instruction precisely the way I wanted him to, and I have followed his."

Leon shouted, lowering his gun. "If that's the case, what the hell did you do with Snake?" There was a pause.

"Snake? I had no plans concerning him. Snake was here!?"

Ada's smile turned into a sneer. "Wesker obviously had plans that you didn't know about." Liquid cursed quietly then asked, "Is Snake working with you?" Leon nodded. "And you have no idea where he is?"

"Obviously not, you've trapped us in here." There was another silence.

"I don't have much time," said an irritated Liquid. "We will meet again." Liquid shut off the intercom.

"You can leave us here! We can help you!" Leon shouted. Ada walked up to Leon and put her hand on his shoulder.

"It's no use, he's gone." Leon cursed again.

"Wesker will tear him apart, he can't do anything by himself." Leon walked around the room again and tried to find a way out. Ada looked at all the dead bodies scattered around.

"We should be grateful Wesker didn't administer the T-Virus... you managed to take care of a lot of people." She found a place by the wall and sat down, leaning against it.

"I suppose all we can do is wait."

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Snake fluttered his eyes open. Where was he? What happ- WESKER!

He saw Wesker outside the glass in front of him and tried to move, soon discovering he couldn't. He seemed to be in a large testing chamber, with restraints around his neck, legs arms and torso. He shouted out as loud as he could.

"Wesker! Get me out of here you bastard!" Wesker heard him and twitched his head in Snake's direction, eyes hidden behind sunglasses as usual. He continued to press buttons and type coordinates into the machine in front of him while he spoke to Snake.

"You will be released in good time Snake once you understand the light of my ways. Those powers of yours are growing, I just have to find a way to stop you attacking me once you are released."

He pushed on final button and turned to watch Snake as small saws, needles and other menacing looking objects extended towards him on metal arms. Snake shut his eyes and prepared himself for the extreme pain he was sure would reach him in a few moments.

It didn't come.

Instead, he heard a yell of surprise from Wesker and a crash, then a deep growl followed by a yelp from Liquid. Snake opened his eyes and saw Wesker holding Liquid above the control panel, face twisted into a glare. Liquid looked down and kicked Wesker in the face, his shades fell off and land on the floor revealing his red eyes. He kicked out again and hit the emergency release switch with his foot, causing Snake to fall from the machine. Wesker turned to Snake with a snarl, then turned back to Liquid and drew a hand back to kill him. Snake rushed to Wesker at an incredible speed and threw a punch to his face, knocking him to the ground. He looked at his arms, seeing they have healed miraculously quickly and picked up Liquid, half-dragging, half-carrying him away. He moved faster than should be possible as he fled the room. As he left, he heard Wesker's roar of anger and knew that he would catch up in no time at all if he was traveling at this speed. He picked up Liquid properly and carries him over his shoulder as he took huge leaps, moving even faster now and focusing on the corridor ahead. Liquid cried out in confusion and found it hard to follow the path they were taking, Wesker picked up is shades and put them back on his face before pursuing the two other men. This virus was good. Maybe he'd finally found a stable power that matched his own. He followed Snake along the corridor and wondered what else he could do.

Chapter 4

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"I told you! It's useless!" Ada cried out in despair as Leon checked, once again, every corner of the room. "I've been here for a week and I found out in that time what every room is structured like."

Leon answered her calmly, not wishing to annoy her further and add to the awkwardness of the situation.

"Maybe there is a way that you didn't know of, Liquid might have kept some things from you." Ada raised her arms above her head in despair.

"Leon, this isn't a movie! There isn't always a way out. You can't just assume that everything will end up alright at the end that doesn't happen in real life!" Leon didn't answer and kept at it.

Ten minutes passed and Leon finally gave up.

"You were right, we're stuck." He leant against the wall and sighed.

Then, the door clunked and started to open.

Leon and Ada both looked round in surprise. The timed release light? That means...

Liquid had planned for them to help after all.

Ada got to her feet and followed after Leon's lead, catching the hand-gun he threw to her as he took out his Killer-7.

"Lets go."

They both ran down the corridor.

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"Snake's alive!" Said Otacon. Hunnigan turned round in her seat and looked at Otacon with relief.

"He is? Is he okay?" Otacon looked at the health readings on the page in front of him and saw very strange figures.

"He's more than alright, the readings are showing... They're.... What's happened?!" Otacon gripped the sides of the monitor and saw that Snake's metabolism had sky-rocketed along with muscle content and various other stats.

"This isn't normal, there must be something wrong..." Otacon shook his head in disbelief and his arms went limp.

"He's performing like... like a super human..." Hunnigan's eyes widened and she replied slowly.

"What if he is? Wesker could have injected him with a virus." She looked down at her own computer and checked up on Leon.

"Leon is fine, and he's escaped. Where's Snake now?" She turned to Otacon again who had a look of horror on his face. Slowly, he lifted a hand and pointed at a dot that was moving along the cyber-map at great speed.

"That's Snake. He must be on a vehicle, but even that's faster than a bullet train." They both went quiet.

"Leon is heading in his direction." Hunnigan said quietly.

Silence again.

"We can assume two things. One, that Snake is still on our side. And two, Wesker has him under his control."

Otacon looked at Hunnigan.

"Let's hope it's the first."

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Leon and Ada reached the end of another corridor and stopped at a junction to catch breath.

"Hunnigan said Snake is somewhere around this area, maybe if we wait we will see--"

A noise from the other end of the junction caused Leon to stop talking and look around to the fast-approaching shapes, one was yelling directions, the other was catching up. Ada widened her eyes.

"Two Weskers?"

Leon took out an RPG-7 and aimed it at the ceiling.

"I'd prefer none at all." Suddenly the second shape stopped and called out.

"SNAKE!" It was Wesker, and he was out of breath. Ada raised her eyebrow, she'd never known for Wesker to tire. The other shape stopped and put down Liquid, it was Snake. He wasn't wearing a shirt and looked as healthy as ever. Neither had caught sight of Ada or Leon yet, even though they stood in the junction between the two.

Liquid fell to his knees and hands and shuddered. He turned his head and saw Leon and Ada, but didn't say a word. He looked back at the floor and pretended nothing had happened.

It seemed that Wesker was more intent on getting Snake back rather than pay any attention to his brother. He had gotten his breath back now and flexed his fingers glaring at Snake with red eyes hidden behind shades. His top lip quivered with rage and he started to stalk towards the breathless Snake.

Leon took this opportunity to fire at the space above Wesker. The rocket hit the ceiling and a huge section fell, covering the area Wesker had been in with large pieces of rubble and dust. Snake glanced over and saw the two, he smiled weakly at Leon in a greeting then said,

"Let's get the hell out of here." Liquid got to his feet and answered,

"I couldn't agree with you more brother." Then set off down the corridor, signaling for the rest to follow. Leon, Ada and Snake all looked at one another then headed after Liquid.

"Wesker doesn't know every corner of this place yet, I've kept some things secret." Liquid assured the others as he tapped buttons on a control panel that was concealed on the wall with octo-camoflage. Ada scowled and said, "I thought you would know by now never to underestimate Wesker."

Liquid snapped back irritably, "Yes, I know. I just thought this might buy us a little time." The wall swung open and Liquid gestured for everyone else to get through, entering last and making sure the wall closed properly. He led them down a ramp until they reached a hangar. "There is a helicopter outside. I hope one of you knows how to fly...?"

Snake shook his head with Leon and they both looked at Ada. She nodded slowly.

"I have flown before, but I'm not a great pilot." She looked to Liquid, "You can't fly one?" Liquid put his hands inside his pocket and brought out a pair of his own shades. Sliding them onto his face he replied. "I'm not coming with you."

Snake growled a response, "What!? Where are you going?"

Liquid smirked. "I don't intend to give up a weapon like that so easily."

Leon snapped at Liquid. "You honestly think you can go back and take it without facing Wesker?"

Liquid curled his lip into a sneer. "Of course I don't. I intend to show him whose boss."

Ada let her jaw drop. "You think that you stand a chance against him? You're insane." She shook her and walked over to the end of the hanger. "Come on guys, let's leave this mad-man to his doom."

She continued off alone.

Leon looked at Liquid and spoke to him. "There is no way you can beat him, he's super-human. You're just going to get yourself killed."

Snake joined in trying to persuade him. "Liquid, he'll tear you apart, if his power is anything like mine then he can easily over-power you."

Liquid put a hand on each man's shoulders. "You don't seem to realize this is my decision. I don't plan on changing my mind, so get out of here while you can. Till we meet again, brother." He removed his hand and headed up the ramp.

"Liquid!" Shouted Leon, but Snake stopped him.

"He's doing what he wants to do. Let's listen to what he said and get out of here."

They gave a last look at Liquid's retreating figure then made for the helicopter.

-----------------

Wesker destroyed the last bit of rubble restraining him and crawled out from underneath, brushing down his suit and flinging away his cracked shades. He was furious, and that was an under-statement. He stalked down the corridor, the opposite way that the others had gone. He had another idea. He'd show them his true power.

Chapter 5

-----------------

Ada started up the helicopter as Leon and Snake exited the building.

"Took your time didn't you?" She shouted over the noise of the blades. "You didn't get him to see sense then?" They shook their heads as they entered the copter. Ada sighed and gazed over out the window at the sea below the cliff, long way down to fall if she lost control. She looked at the controls and tried to remember which switch or button combination made the machine take off. Snake and Leon made calls to Hunnigan and Otacon.

"Well, we know that Liquid's probably not much of a threat now, cause he's probably dead. And Wesker's plan was to get Snake. Luckily for you Snake, he didn't get proper control of you, but we need to get you back and give you the cure if we have it. We don't want you suddenly turning to the dark-side."

Leon spoke to the two on the communicator.

"Whatever it is, it doesn't look like the G-Virus, and we can assume it's not T-Virus either. It must be something new Wesker made up. We should contact the Redfields and see if they've come across anything like it before."

Ada got a hang of the controls finally and looked back at the two men in the back.

"You all set?" They nodded. She turned round again and made the aircraft lift off the ground, keeping it steady against the wind.

"Okay guys, say goodbye to--"

The copter lurched and everyone inside was thrown to the left as the machine dipped. Leon peered out the window and saw Wesker hanging onto the legs of the copter.

"Wesker! Give it up will you?" Leon shouted as Ada tried to direct the helicopter away from the super-human. Wesker held on tight and dragged down using one hand.

"Give me Snake so I can start my new world!" He snarled and pulled downwards, the helicopter straining against the force of this man. Leon pointed his Killer-7 at Wesker and fired a few shots to his face. Wesker swerved to dodge the bullets, causing the helicopter to sway and the people inside to fall against the wall again. Snake leant over to grab onto Leon who nearly fell from the copter. He held tight and looked into Wesker's eyes which glowed red as he sneered. Wesker grabbed onto Leon's foot and pulled that down too, walking backwards and forcing the helicopter away from the cliff. Snake leant forward to stop Leon from being stretched and Leon cried out in pain. Wesker managed to raise his voice enough to be heard over the helicopter. "We finally meet in person Mr Kennedy... I've heard so much about you."

Just then, a familiar roar was heard by Snake. He glanced over his shoulder just as the huge form of Metal Gear Ray jumped up from the water below. It landed and a shout was heard from inside.

"WESKEEEER!"

Liquid aimed at Wesker with Ray's machine gun arm. Wesker released Leon and the copter out of surprise and rushed up to the Ray, tackling it with a huge force and causing it to fall backwards. The Ray slipped out of view off the cliff and a splash was heard below.

Ada righted the copter and hovered higher above the island.

"Liquid!" They all shouted and looked at the waves and bubbles below, all that was left of Ray and Wesker. They waited for something to surface. Nothing happened.

"Can Wesker breath under water?" asked Snake.

Leon answered. "I wouldn't put anything past him, although I can safely say that he isn't dead." They watched for a few more minutes.

Bubbles frothed the surface of the water, but apart from that, there was nothing.

They waited for what seemed an age.

The bubbles stopped.

"The fuel is going to run out if we wait any longer..." Ada stared at the fuel gauge. The two men were quiet.

Leon finally spoke out to Snake. "We need to get you to a specialist. Try and reverse the effects of the virus before we lose you."

Snake stared at the water, his brother had saved them. He didn't really want it to be in vain if he let the virus take him over completely.

"Lets go." He muttered and took his gaze off the water below.

"Till we meet again, brother."

--------------

"Snake, we've just received the test results... I think you'll be just as shocked as we are."

Otacon brought the papers over to Snake and sat next to him on the hospital bed.

"Look. It says the virus is clearing up."

Snake grabbed the papers off Otacon and tried to make sense of the medical notes laid across the page.

"Basically Snake, this was the activity of the virus in your body after the first test," Otacon pointed at a line on the graph. "And this is what's happened over the last few days..." He followed the line as it went down the page.

"The effects of the virus should have already worn off, which means you can get out of the medical ward soon."

Snake looked at Otacon.

"Do they have any idea why it's dying?"

Otacon shook his head.

"They don't have an exact idea, but there are a few theories." He pushed his glasses up his nose and carefully removed the notes from Snake's hands.

"The first theory is that the virus was unstable or weak, so your body has managed to defend itself against it. The other theory is that another virus has been protecting you... and I think that is a more plausible idea...."

Snake averted his gaze and mumbled.

"Foxdie..." Otacon nodded slowly.

"It could be helping you Snake... look on the bright side..."

Snake flexed his fingers, then formed a fist.

"Does this mean I can be... human again?"

He stood up, feeling no different than he did a week ago; around the time before the mission.

"I'm sure it does Snake. You should try to get some rest."

Snake suddenly felt drained and sneezed.

"Yeah, maybe I'm coming down with something..."

He grinned, and sat back down on the bed.

--------------

"Okay Leon, I suppose this is goodbye." Ada stood looking at Leon with a hand on her hip and a smile on her face. "You really shouldn't be letting me go like this."

Leon half returned the smile. "You want me to arrest you? I don't think you're much of a threat now anyway, Wesker will never trust you again." Ada looked down at her shoes, Leon followed her gaze slowly down her legs. There was an awkward silence.

"I better be going." She quickly turned away and started to walk briskly down the street.

"Ada!" Leon ran forward and clutched Ada's hand. She looked down at the hand, then back at Leon's face. She gave a smile and leaned forwards, brushing her lips against the man's cheek in a soft kiss.

And with that she was gone.

--------------

"What an exciting specimen..."

Wesker looked away from the microscope and took the vial in his hand, holding it up to the light.

Liquid stirred from inside the testing chamber. Wesker twitched his head in the man's direction and gave a cold sneer.

"I see you are awake."

Liquid blinked in a dazed kind of way. He glanced around, and a sudden realization of where he was caused him to freeze.

Wesker smiled cruelly.

"That's right, and it looks like there is nobody to save you.... Pity...."

Liquid emitted a low growl and struggled against his restraints.

"It really is useless, you can't escape." Wesker said as he strolled along to the control panel. He typed on the keyboard and the machine started up. Liquid watched as the metal objects moved towards him and clenched his eyes shut.

This couldn't be happening.... someone would save him.

The experiment continued....