The cave is the very essence of darkness, with not a single crevice being illuminated, all the light having been swallowed up long ago. It's dank, and dirty, with stale air and more bat nests then you can count. The humidity is high, as is the temperature, but then again they were pretty far underground.
In a word, the caves atmosphere was depressing, much like it's owners heart. Sad, and bleak, and dark, with almost no light left to be found. But somewhere, deep down inside, there is a raging inferno driving the whole thing forward, though you'd never know it just by looking at him. Similar to the cave itself, with the cavernous scenery housing an artillery of advanced technology and gadgets.
Suddenly, a beam of light penetrates the solemn grounds, and the soft pitter patter of footsteps can be heard nearing. Batman doesn't turn around; he already knows who it is.
Without even looking, the detective reaches back and snatches a hot cup of tea off the waiting tray.
"Thank you Alfred." He says after a sip.
"Of course sir." Alfred Pennyworth, the butler, replies curtly. He watches his ward hard at work, hitting various buttons on the large computer console with a fury, going faster then Alfred can keep up. This was completely normal for the Batman of course, but Alfred couldn't help but sense something in the air. When you've been around a person long enough, you almost develop a psychic connection with them. That connection was only strengthened by how close the two men were, so Alfred could usually tell when something was amiss with his son, and now was one of those times.
"I say sir, you seem to be working much more diligently then usual, as if that were possible, is something the matter?" The old butler asks.
"The patriots are gone Alfred." Batman deadpans.
"Pardon me?" Alfred asks, completely taken aback.
"I said the Patriots are gone. Wiped completely off the grid. They disappeared without a trace." Batman replies. It takes Alfred a minute to think of a response. The Patriots were gone? What does that even mean? That's like saying thewind was gone. Was it even there to begin with? How could something like that just disappear?
As the Batman's butler and most trusted assistant, Alfred knew just as much as the Dark Knight himself knew of the Patriots. It's easy to get lost in the details, but basically, it was a group of people running the planet from behind the scenes. Well, people in the most loose of ways. Bruce had long suspected it to actually be nothing but a computer program, but he couldn't be sure. Either way it mattered little to the Dark Knight. The Patriots were not his problem, Gotham was. But even so, Bruce, being the paranoid man that he is, made sure to keep tabs on the agency and their exploits. But then, barely a week ago, all traces of the Patriots just vanished, poof! Gone! They completely fell off the radar. Even though Gotham was his top priority, this had to be looked into.
"Well if you pardon my saying so sir, are you sure?" Alfred asks. Batman nods.
"Completely. Do you remember what I was telling you about the SOP system being hijacked last week?" Alfred nods. "I suspect it has something to do with that. A man, a soldier, Liquid Snake, the same man behind the Shadow Moses Incident 9 years ago. My investigations tell me he was behind the SOP hijack, and I would assume he also had something to do with eliminating the Patriots." Batman pushes himself out of the computer chair and stands.
"I have a lead I want to follow up on. Get to sleep Alfred, but keep your radio by the bed in case I need you." And with that, the vigilante strides to his car, hops in, and drives away, leaving poor Alfred without a clue.
Snake tugs roughly at the tight collar of his suit. It wasn't uncomfortable for him to be in one, he rather liked wearing tuxes as a matter of fact, his fidgiting actually stemmed more from anxiety. He was more then a bit nervous about this meeting, and even though he's only been waiting here twiddling his thumbs for a few minutes, it seemed to him like hours.
"What does he want..." Snake muttered over and over again, but deep down inside he was confident he knew.
Luthor was evil. No doubt about it. And though the general public remained oblivious to this, seeing him as a real shining star, helping humanity immensely in so many ways with his great intelligence, Snake knew the truth. The truth being, Luthor wasn't out to help the world, doing things for the good of humanity. No, he did these things for himself, Snake has seen some real ego maniacs in his time but Luthor surely took the cake. He did nothing for anyone that wasn't himself. He wants to be top dog, to be important, to rule the world even.
It made Snake sick, but as much as he hated to admit it, Luthor had already accomplished this pretty much. There weren't many things you didn't have being the CEO of Lexcorp, or many things you couldn't get being the smartest human being on the planet.
He was in charge. He could get anyone to do anything at anytime. But, of course, that wasn't enough for Luthor. He wanted even more, what more there was for him to gain Snake couldn't even fathom.
And that's why he was so nervous, because if Lex truly did want what Snake thought he wanted, there would be no denying him. Honestly if there was a bad guy in this equation, Snake had to be honest with himself and admit it was him. He took something that was owed to Lex, stole it. It belonged full-heartedly to Luthor and there was nothing Snake could say to dispute that.
But he'd be damned if he ever let Lex know this. No, what Snake took from Lex was far to valuable to let him get his despicable little hands on. He would never tell Lex the truth, never. But if Lex were to somehow find out the truth on his own... Snake didn't know what he'd do.
"And you must be the infamous Solid Snake." Snake looks up from his hands to find himself staring into the eyes of just the man who he'd spent all day thinking about. Cold eyes. Cruel.
Snake stood up and, doing his best to ignore the condescending tone in Luthor's voice, begrudgingly extended his hand.
"Lex Luthor, it's good to meet you." He says.
"Heh, yes I'm sure it is." Luthor ignores Snake's attempt at a handshake, and instead keeps his hands firmly folded behind his back. He turns, gesturing for Snake to follow.
"Follow me to my office David, we have much to discuss."
Oh, Luthor was good.
He was so confident, so sure of himself. He said it so casually without giving any hints, but Snake caught it. Luthor was smart but he couldn't fool this old soldier.
Luthor called him David.
Just how much did this guy know about him?
Luthor was playing mind games, and by god they were working. Fear was an emotion all but forgotten by Snake. Apprehension, and anxiety however, he was all too familiar with.
"Coming?" Snake is broken from his thoughts by Luthor's voice. "David?"
His cold, calculating, manipulating voice.
The old soldier hesitates a moment, before following Luthor down the hall, through a door, and into the CEO's office. Luthor walks all the way across the room, and sits at his desk, motioning for Snake to take a seat at the chair in front of him. Skeptically, Snake begins to enter the room and take his seat in front of the billionaire. The chair was comfortable, but did nothing to ease Snake's worry.
The two just sit there for a few minutes, Snake sitting awkwardly with his hands on his lap, and Luthor with his elbows rested on the desk, and his head resting in his hands, neither willing to speak first. Snake's age hampered many of his abilities, but his intense gaze was something that would never falter. Luthor however, seemed wholly unaffected, just continuing to smirk.
Snake knew he had to be careful, he was treading dangerous territory here, and if he gave Luthor even one opening he knew the genius wouldn't hesitate to pounce. He had to choose his words carefully.
"What do you want Luthor?" He eventually settled on asking. Luthor's eyes perked up at that question, his mouth opening to form a quick response.
"Ah, but it's not what I want David, it's what you need."
"Why do you keep calling me that!" Snake suddenly juts from his seat, spitting the words at Luthor in anger.
"What, David?" The CEO asks. "Well, it is your name, isn't it?"
"How do you know that?" Snake seethes.
"I know a lot of things David, a lot of things about you, much more then the general public does."
This wasn't good. Snake was playing right into the madman's hands, he had to steer the conversation back into his own favor if he hoped to get out of here unscathed.
"Hmph, yeah? Well I know a lot about you too." He says as he sits back down. Luthor raises an eyebrow at that statement, much like a parent would when humoring a child.
"Oh really?"
"I'm not playing around Luthor, I know all about the real you." Snake states matter-of-factly. "For example, I know how instead of spending your time doing things for the betterment of humanity, like you claim you do, you instead spend your time funding organizations such as the Injustice League of America, in hopes that they'll help you take out the JLA, as well as your main focus, Superman. I know all about how your rivalry with Superman stretches into an obsession. Your jealous of him, of all the attention he gets, all the praise he receives as Metropolis's- and the world at large's- savior. You want the credit, you want to be America's man of steel. But you can't. Which is why you spend your time funding projects like Cadmus, trying in vain to bring Superman down to your level. But the truth is Luthor," Snake looks up, staring the genius dead in the eye.
"You can't bring him down, because you can't even begin to reach him."
Snake sits back, feeling satisfaction with his little speech. Anyone else would have missed it, but Snake saw Luthor's smile, for just a fraction of a second, waver at the end of the speech, faltering for just a moment. But just as soon as it left, it comes back full force.
"So it seems you aren't just another brute with a gun after all. No, it seems you do have a brain under those muscles." Luthor stands, hands still folded behind his back as he approaches the soldier.
"Good, because with what I have planned for you, you'll need every advantage you can get." And with that, Luthor's arm springs like a cobra snatching its prey, a glass vial filled with a mysterious purple liquid rocketing on a collision course straight for Snake's neck.
"HURGH!"
"GAH"
CRACK!