Chapter 9
Duel
Raiden stared at Vamp for a moment, not saying anything.
"You're crazy." He finally said. Vamp simply grinned. "I'm not going to fight you, Vamp."
"You're afraid. I can tell. You beat me before, but that's what scares you most, that you don't know how you did it." Vamp seemed to take pleasure in his words.
"I'm not afraid." Raiden suddenly felt a wave of energy surge through him.
"You're acting like you are." Vamp stood silent after this last remark, simply staring at Raiden. Finally, Vamp made the first move. He charged at Raiden, sending a quick punch towards Raiden's face. Raiden stepped to the side, and rolled forward. He ran away from Vamp. He knew that Vamp would catch up to him quickly. After all, he had enhanced speed. But Raiden could use that. He managed to at least make it to the other wall. He heard Vamp's footsteps behind him, which was good. Raiden leapt in the air, kicking off the wall. He turned around in the air, sending a flying kick towards Vamps' chest, when Vamp ran straight into it. He fell to the ground.
"Good." Vamp said, standing up. "I see you still possess your magnificent skills. This could be interesting."
"Face it, Vamp. You're done. You're the only survivor of a group of ragtag fools." Raiden could see the cold rage in Vamp's eyes at this remark. He charged forward, gripping Raiden by his shirt, and slammed Raiden into the wall. Raiden groaned. His back felt as if it was on fire. He raised his leg, lashing it out at Vamp's chest. It hit three times, but each time, Vamp didn't move. He placed his hand around Raiden's neck, and began to apply pressure. Raiden started to gag. He lashed out with his leg again, until he hit Vamp's knife on his waist. The knife flew out of the small sheath, and fell towards Vamp's foot, cutting straight into it. Vamp let out an audible cry of pain and let go of Raiden, falling to his knees to remove the knife. Blood was seeping out of the shoe. Raiden used this as a distraction. He quickly slammed his knee into Vamp's face, knocking him to the ground. Raiden ran.
Raiden could hear Vamp groaning in pain. Raiden dove towards where he knew his pistol was, and landed on his back, gripping his pistol tightly, as Vamp ran towards him. Raiden fired three times, and three bullet holes appeared on Vamp's chest. Vamp fell while running. Raiden knew that wouldn't stop him. At the Big Shell, Raiden had shot a bullet through his head, and Vamp lived. But it gave Raiden time to run. He ran out of the room, as far away from the room as he could.
He ran as fast as he could, down a long hallway. He was panting heavily. He hid in the shadows of a corner on the wall, trying to catch his breath. As if Vamp wasn't mad enough before, thought Raiden. Raiden knew that Vamp wouldn't stop looking for him. As if in answer to that revelation, Raiden suddenly heard footsteps down the hallway. Raiden peeked one eye out from his hiding place, and saw a figure wrapped in shadow. There was blood dripping as the figure walked. Raiden slowly raised his pistol, and cocked it. The figure stopped, obviously hearing the pistol.
"You'll have to do better than that." Vamp said. The figure suddenly dashed towards Raiden's hiding spot at top speed. Raiden rolled off to the side, letting the man crash into the wall. Raiden dropped on his back, and planted a foot square in Vamp's waist. He quickly stood up, holstering his pistol as he did so. There was no use wasting any more ammo on him. Raiden raised his fists. Vamp turned around, obviously in pain.
"Ah. You're finally ready to fight a fair fight. Good." Vamp charged towards Raiden, his fist extended. Raiden dodged to the side, knocking Vamp in the back of the head with his elbow. Vamp didn't seem to mind, as he was already trying to trip Raiden up with his leg. Raiden was knocked on his back. He saw Vamp rush towards him, and Raiden planted both his feet in Vamp's chest. Raiden pushed as hard as he could, which knocked Vamp right back into the wall. Raiden stood up, and charged towards Vamp. He punched him repeatedly in the stomach. Vamp planted his knee in Raiden's face, and threw him away.
Raiden shook his head, blood dripping off it. He saw through his bloody eyes Vamp walking menacingly towards him. Raiden ducked beneath a punch, and he grabbed Vamp's leg. Raiden kicked his leg out towards Vamp's other leg, tripping him up. While he was in the air, Raiden pushed on Vamp's leg, catapulting him through the air. Vamp twisted his body, and bounced his legs off the wall. Raiden dropped to the floor, and kicked repeatedly as Vamp flew overhead. Vamp dropped to the floor. Raiden wiped his eyes clean, standing up. Vamp was still, lying on his stomach. Raiden slowly got closer, until he was right next to the unmoving form. Raiden got on his knees. Vamp's eyes slowly opened. Raiden reached down towards Vamp's belt, and unsheathed one of Vamp's knives. Raiden pointed the knife right at Vamp's nose.
"Don't you dare move." Raiden whispered. Vamp merely chuckled.
"You don't know how to use that, boy." Vamp whispered back. Unknown to Raiden, Vamp sharply moved his leg, tripping Raiden in the air. Vamp grabbed the knife as it flew, and slashed Raiden on the chest. Raiden gasped hard, blood staining the uniform. Raiden landed on the ground. Vamp smiled, his eyes flashing. Vamp raised his leg, and prepared to deal the finishing moves on Raiden. Raiden painfully moved up his arms, and blocked Vamp's kick. Raiden grabbed hold of both of his legs, and forced Vamp to the ground next to him. Raiden quickly planted his right elbow into Vamp's chest. Raiden got up on his knees, panting heavily from his wound. Raiden punched Vamp repeatedly in the face, and forced his knee into his neck. Vamp was gasping.
Raiden simply glared at him, and stood up, looking at his fallen foe, struggling to breathe. Raiden raised his left leg, and forced it down as fast and as hard as he could, landing it in Vamp's groin. Vamp suddenly stopped moving, his eyes wide with pain, his face twitching. Vamp's eyes closed, and he was unmoving. Raiden glared at him. He picked up the knife used to cut Raiden's stomach, and unwrapped a sheath from Vamp's belt. He wrapped the sheath around his belt, placing the knife in it. Raiden picked up Vamp's unmoving form, and hid him in the shadows. Raiden drew his pistol, and started creeping down the hallway.
Raiden's disguise was destroyed, so he knew that he had to begin his sneaking. But he would need help. Raiden raised two fingers to his neck, and activated his Codec.
"Otacon, this is Raiden, do you read me? Otacon?"
"Oh, my God, you're alive Raiden. This is Otacon. I read you."
"Otacon, where's Snake?"
"Nowhere where you can reach him, Raiden. He's down in the lower levels. When you got separated, Snake surfaced in a sewer grate right in the middle of enemy soldiers, who escorted him to their cell blocks. I think that I can hack into the private communication channels in the base, and see what's going on. I now have one less thing to worry about. I'll let you know if anything comes up."
"Alright. Otacon, as you might've known, Vamp, from the Big Shell, was in this base."
"Yes, I knew. He was one of the men that brought Snake down to the prison."
"Well…I think I might've killed him."
"What?" Raiden relayed the events of the fight to Otacon. There was silence afterwards. "Well, that's good. We all have one less thing to worry about now."
"I need to know what I should do now, Otacon."
"Alright. I've just hacked into the private channels, and I just received word of a secret meeting between two of the ringleaders. One of them is named Brian Larington." Raiden received a sudden image from his Codec, which flashed about his mind. The man was the person who dressed in the suit at the meeting. "The other man is a Michael Fisher." The image of the dark-skinned man from the meeting was shown to Raiden. Raiden nodded. "The meeting is going to take place in the Comms Room of the base. I need you to sneak into the room, and spy on the meeting."
"You got it."
"Otacon, out." The Codec transmission ended. Raiden started to walk down the hallway, reading the signs directing him to the Comms Room. He didn't realize, however, that as he left the hallway, there was a lone security camera perched on the ceiling that spied on his battle and his retreat. But no alarm was given.