If you've stuck with this story for this long, I got three words for you: "You're pretty good..."

Anyways, that should clue you in to who this chapter focuses on: Solid Snake, one of Konami's two golden boys.

This chapter was a bit tough to write, as Snake... had a hard life (no, no, I'm kidding). In my timeline, the Guns of the Patriots Incident took a year and a half to resolve, while Snake's FOXDIE strain had mysteriously gone dormant a year after the deaths of Liquid Ocelot and Big Boss. Snake has lived for three years past his due date of death. He's not ungrateful, of course, but he is confused. He currently lives in Anchorage, Alaska, with Hal (better known as Otacon), six dogs, and Sunny.

Without further ado, Solid Snake, ladies and gentlemen.

Anchorage, Alaska...

David Plissken, better known by his codename of Solid Snake, had pulled out his SOCOM pistol and began to open fire on his targets. When he had finally run out of rounds, he took a step back and admired his handiwork.

12 bullseye targets, smoking in the snow, had all been pierced right in the center.

Rolling his eyes, Snake reached for a pack of cigarettes... only to remember that he had kicked the habit cold turkey after his father's death. Snake then stalked back towards the city, while unbeknownst to him, a mysterious figure watched from behind the trees.

"C'mon, Papa! Let's take the Metal Gear Mk. IV for a test run!"

Sunny Emmerich, now fourteen years old, was asking her adopted father if she could play with his latest upgrade to the mini Metal Gear he had made for Snake during the Guns of the Patriots Incident.

Hal Emmerich, better known as Otacon, simply shook his head, saying, "Sorry, dear. It's just not completely ready yet."

Sunny gave off a small nod, and went back to dissecting the Nintendo GameCube Otacon had gotten her for her ninth birthday.

Otacon then looked at the picture of Naomi that he kept on his person at all times, and smiled wistfully. What he wouldn't have given to spend the rest of his days with her, Snake, and Sunny by his side...

Snake, after a small hassle regarding the last box of strawberries in the store, had finished shopping for the groceries that they would cook dinner with. Turns out he had kept his father's penchant for trying new foods.

As he began the trek back to the small house that he, Sunny, and Otacon shared, Snake began to have the suspicious feeling that he was being followed. Snapping his head back, he looked behind him, only to find out that no one was there.

Attempting to shake off those thoughts, Snake continued back towards his house.

Master Hand breathed a small sigh of relief that his cover had not been blown. He had caught wind of the Guns of the Patriots incident, and he had even seen the ruined base on Shadow Moses Island in his search for the former member of FOXHOUND, with the decaying remains of Metal Gear REX and RAY, along with several dozen destroyed Gekkos, in plain sight.

Master Hand then continued to trail Snake, only this time he remained at a further distance than he had been last time.

7801 Dover Avenue...

Snake opened the door, yelling, "Otacon, Sunny, I'm home! Where are you tw- Oof!"

Sunny tackled him in a hug, exclaiming, "Mr. Snake! You're back! Papa completed his new robot!"

Snake raised an eyebrow. Otacon had finally upgraded the miniature Metal Gear robot?

As if on cue, Otacon walked down the stairs, proudly saying, "Yep! It's done!"

Otacon quickly snatched the bag from Snake, who let out a sound of protest as Otacon muttered, "Yep, eggs, lots and lots of meat, string beans, potatoes, onions, and... ooh! Strawberries!"

Snake, with an half-exasperated chuckle, said, "Some of the meat's for the huskies, Otacon, you know I want to keep them well-fed."

Snake bit into the grilled steak, murmuring, "Tasty..." before nodding in approval. To his left, Sunny dug into the pile of vegetables on her plate with gusto, while Otacon admired the results of those culinary classes he had begun to take a year ago.

After dinner was done, Otacon whispered, "Hey, Snake, you mind talking with me for a bit?"

Nodding, Snake told Sunny, "Grown-up business. Why don't you play with that game system of yours while your papa and I sort this out?"

As Sunny nodded and ran into the living room, Otacon told Snake, "So, I've been running tests for the last three years after you told me that your FOXDIE had gone dormant. All the DNA samples I used gained zero results. Is that of any concern to you?"

Snake, in confusion, parroted, "DNA samples?"

Otacon replied, "Oh, just hair and drool. Nothing too major."

Before Snake could press any further, however, he heard two very loud knocks on the door. When he opened the door, Snake saw an unusually pale man wearing shades and a trenchcoat, holding a briefcase that displayed a symbol that the mercenary recognized immediately, causing him to say, "Alright, your gig's up. Show me who you really are."

With a somewhat annoyed and resigned sigh, the man stepped into the front room and removed his shades.

When the bright light faded, Master Hand said, "Aha! Solid Snake and Dr. Hal Emmerich! Would you two like to continue this conversation outside so we don't disturb whoever is in the living room? I'll put on my disguise as to not raise suspicions."

As Snake and Otacon waited outside, Otacon hissed, "I thought you were screwing with me when you mentioned that hand, Snake. I didn't know you were talking about an actual hand!"

Before Otacon could continue, however, Master Hand, now assuming his human disguise, walked out of the house and onto their driveway.

Snake grunted, "Why are you here right now? If it's to get me to come back, forget it. Look at me! I won't be able to fight like I used to!"

Master Hand simply laughed and said, "That can be fixed."

With a snap of his fingers, Snake began to glow with a red light. When it faded, Otacon looked on in shock, while Master Hand did so with an air of pride.

Snake had been restored to his appearance on the day of the Big Shell Incident, except with a fuller beard instead of stubble. Master Hand then pulled out a mirror, which Snake looked at in awe.

"I also fixed your defective genes, removed those pesky nanomachines, and removed the strain of FOXDIE in you. That better?"

Snake nodded slowly, and Master Hand continued, "You were actually the last veteran fighter I had to find, you were so incredibly difficult to locate compared to everyone else."

Master Hand then pulled the final veteran envelope, saying, "Welcome back, Snake. Transportation has been provided for the three of you."

Snake had a double take on that. He then managed to say, "You're saying Hal and Sunny are coming along as well?"

Master Hand let out a laugh, booming, "Of course!"

His voice now down to a whisper, he said, "That, and since everyone else has pegged you as the most unlikely to come back, I want to capture every fighter's reactions to you returning..."

And with that, Master Hand vanished into thin air.

Otacon looked at the spot where Master Hand had once stood, saying, "Huh. What did he mean by transportation?"

As if on cue, a small floating car arrived, with the driver sticking his head out of the window, asking, "Yarr, transportation fer David Plissken, Hal Emmerich, and Sunny Emmerich?"

As Otacon ran back inside the house to fetch Sunny, the driver said to Snake, "An' if yer worried about those pups of yours, don' worry, lad! They be in yer living space at the Mansion!"

Nodding in relief, Snake ran back into the house to fetch all the weapons he had needed for the tournament the last time.

Once Snake, Otacon, and Sunny were inside the car with their belongings packed, the driver said, "Yarr, ta Smash Mansion we go, mateys!"

The car vanished through a small dimensional rift.

And that's the last of the veterans done!

Metal Gear is actually one of the more recent IPs that I've received my first exposure to (most recent being Golden Sun), so I hope I did a good job regarding what happened after Guns of the Patriots.

Snake is actually one of my best characters in Brawl. I played him one day, and I loved his playstyle so much that I began to research Metal Gear. It's actually a damn good franchise. Kapp'n from Animal Crossing's the driver, if you're stumped.

And if you think that this is the last chapter, think again! We still have newcomer chapters to get through, some what-ifs to remove some of the sting of the Direct (this one's more for me than anything else), and then an epilogue.

If you would like to see me do the World of Light story in this universe, let me know!

And yes, 7801 Dover Avenue is a real location in Anchorage.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to leave a review! They're a great help to my writing.