Link, Lucina, Lucario and Fox were traveling back home, not being far away. They had Lucas in tow, safe with them. All was well, but there was still a feeling of unrest amongst one of the group. Lucario sensed out the source of these negative emotions, and called him out.

"Link. What is it that troubles you?" The Pokémon asked. Link was startled, and the other two turned to them with curiosity.

Link wanted to tell him that there was nothing wrong. Nothing was wrong so stop worrying about it. But he knew better. That would just make whatever aura Lucario was sensing grow stronger. Because he would be lying to him.

"I don't know about you guys; but I feel like we've been relying on Snake too much and as a result our combat skills have suffered." Link said. "I'm not sure how you feel, but I don't think we could've beaten Deadborn. He crushed me and Fox with little effort." He stated, looking at his broken arm.

"Maybe it's because we fought him alone! Maybe if we teamed up on him things would've been different!" Lucina argued.

"No. If anything, things would have been worse." Lucario corrected. "Deathborn excels when he's up against multiple opponents. Many of his augmentations are designed for multi-man combat. Not to mention we would all be worried about each other, hampering our focus. He would surely take advantage of that."

"I thought so." Link sighed. "If Snake hadn't shown up Deathborn would've killed us. But then when Snake went berserk and started attacking us, we couldn't subdue him. We almost had to resort to killing him."

"Indeed. It was lucky for us that he snapped out of it just in time. I was mere seconds away from launching a lethal Aura Sphere at him. But luck doesn't last forever." Said the Pokémon.

"So, what do you suggest Link?" Lucina asked.

"I don't know about you three, but I'm gonna start training my ass off. I need to get back into my prime if I want to protect the world."

Lucina and Fox looked to each other and smiled.

"All right, I'm with you." Fox said.

"Me too!" Lucina cheered.

Lucario grunted. "Do what you wish. Just remember that strength isn't always in the form of combat prowess."

With that, they continued forward.

"We're here." Snake said, looking at the 'Nuclear Disposal Site' surrounded by snow. This had been the third time he stepped foot in this area. First there was the Shadow Moses Incident, the next was to retrieve Metal Gear REX's railgun during Liquid Ocelot's Insurrection, and now it was to find Crazy Hand.

"This must bring back some memories." Deathborn chuckled.

"Plenty. I don't care to talk about them."

"Oh, but I'm sure there are some great memories. Anyone who's read about your mission here knows how many dangerous situations you found yourself in, and how you managed to escape each one of them. That's your favorite activity, isn't it? Staring Death in the face and escaping from him every time?"

"Well I'm certainly better than you at it." Snake snarked, earning a growl from Deathborn.

"Now that I've brought you here, what will you do? Will you gun me down? Have I outlived my usefulness?" Deathborn questioned.

"No. I still have use for you. Just because we've made it, doesn't mean Crazy Hand is here for certain. Who knows? If it turns out you didn't lie, I might even let you go." Snake offered though that in of itself was a blatant lie.

"Very funny, but you and I both know that only one of us is going to see the Hand."

"That sounds like a threat. So, you must think he's here. So why haven't you tried to kill me?"

"Because neither of us knows what could be in there. There may be hostiles camped in there. And as much as it would pain me to do so, we might have to work together to combat them. I'm handicapped with a missing arm, and I'm sure your senses aren't sharp, given you haven't slept for several days. But together we'll have a chance."

Snake couldn't argue with that. Sleep deprivation was certainly starting to take its toll on him. As they moved towards the entrance to the Tank Hanger, Snake noticed a peculiar piece of fabric amongst the snow-covered ground. Reaching down, he picked it up and examined it. He smiled. It was an old navy-blue bandana, embroidered with the infinity symbol. He wrapped it around his head, replacing his worn-out bandana.

Infinite ammo.

The two entered the Tank Hanger. Snake had his SOCOM pistol at the ready along with his CQC knife in his left hand, while Deathborn had his arm cannon primed and ready. They examined the room, searching for any hostiles.

"I'm not picking up anything on my scanners." Deathborn said.

"I don't care, stay sharp!" Snake ordered. Relying on technology. What a fool!

A small sound went off in the distance, causing Snake's ears to prick up and his suspicion to rise.

"Did you hear that?" Snake asked.

"Hear what?" Deathborn replied.

"Just listen."

Another sound. 'Ding!'

"Dammit! Looks like we've got company coming from the elevator!" Snake alerted.

"Well, I'll give them a nice surprise when they come out." Deathborn stated, charging his arm cannon. The doors opened up, and Deathborn shot without hesitation. To both of their surprise, one of the occupants activated a deflector similar to what the Star Fox team uses, sending the blast right back at them. They moved out of the way and saw the blast put a burning crater in the wall behind them. Snake took cover behind one of the cargo boxes, and took a peek at what they were up against.

"We've got six Miis with Arm Cannons." He analyzed. They showed to be incredible agile as well, a few took a huge leap up to the railings above them. They would have to coordinate if they wanted to survive this. Deathborn only has one arm while Snake's usually sharp senses had been dulled down due to a lack of sleep. "There's one on the upper left, he'll probably try to flank us." Snake called out. Deathborn looked over there and saw the Mii on the railings above them moving in on their location. He fired at Deathborn, but the cyborg tanked the shots, and fired a blast that blew the Mii's head clean off.

"That's one down!"

Snake began returning fire at the Miis attacking, hiding behind cover to avoid incoming blasts. His aim wasn't as sharp as it usually is due to his lack of sleep, but he would just need to work through it.

"Show us that you're the true bearer of the Mark!" one of the Mii soldiers shouted. Snake ran out of cover to move to another spot, firing his pistol at the enemy along the way. Sure enough, some of his shots made contact with an enemy, killing one of the Miis. He rolled behind one of the tanks in the hanger for cover.

"So, they know about the Mark too?" Snake muttered to himself. As the fight continued, thoughts began to go through Snake's mind. Here he was, in a firefight at Shadow Moses, tired as hell, and he was fighting alongside someone that could shoot him in the back at any given moment. There was a chance he could die here. And if he did, could anyone say what he died for was worth it? Instead of going out fighting for the sake of others, he was fighting for the sake of answers. Was learning about what really happened in the events leading up to the Catastrophe really worthy sticking his neck out like this. Yes, the old world they knew was gone, but his friends didn't seem to worry about why it happened. They just moved on, and were content to not know all the details. Should he do the same?

A Mii landed in front of him and attempted to strike him. Snake parried the attack and thrust his knife into the Mii's throat, eliminating him. Another Mii fired off a small plasma blast that nicked Snake in the shoulder. Deathborn tackled the attacker shortly afterward while Snake hid to cover.

No. He couldn't move on. He already had come so far. He had saw it happen. The Catastrophe, all of it right in front of him. And he survived it, no doubt due to Crazy Hands intervention. And even afterwards, many have died. People he considered friends at one point had somewhere went dark, and he had to be the one to kill them. Then there was the Committee. He may have only known one of the four members personally, but what he knew without a doubt was that they were all once good people, young men who had their whole lives ahead of him. And it was him, an old killer who should have died long ago, that had to snuff the life out of them. He needed to know why. Why did Crazy Hand choose him to be a designated survivor? Why had he been hiding all this time? All these questions had yet to be answered. It was time for that to change.

Another one of the Miis almost snuck up behind him, before getting hit with a swift elbow strike by Snake. A CQC slam followed by a bullet to the head quickly put the Mii out for the count. From what he could tell there were only two left. He turned to see one charging at him with a sword in hand, but got blown away by a missile launched by Deathborn.

"Nice to see that you've got my six." Snake jokingly remarked.

"Don't get it twisted. If anybody is going to have the privilege of killing you, it's going to be me!" Deathborn chuckled.

"That doesn't sound like the most cliché thing in the world."

The two of them discovered the last Mii, but were surprised to see she had laid down her weapons. "I yield. It is clear that I am no match for either of you." she said.

"Why did your team attack us?" Snake questioned.

"We're security here. We are to attack non-personnel."

"And who exactly do you work for?"

"I think you already know the answer to that." She replied. And she was right, he did know. He was just hoping he could get it straight from someone's mouth. "May you find the answers you seek, Marked One."

Deathborn quickly stepped forward and finished her with a point-blank blast to the head. "Enough standing around. Let's get moving!" He ordered.

They continued forward, meeting no resistance along the way. And now they were traversing through a large field of snow, with a raging blizzard. It was the same Snowfield he had his second and final sniper dual with Sniper Wolf. It seemed no matter how much time passed, a blizzard was always going on in this area. Reminiscing aside, Snake had something more important on his mind. In the building ahead of them was the blast furnace. Inside there was a vat of molten metal. If you fell in you would quickly melt until you were reduced to nothing. This was how he planned to kill Deathborn for good, by making sure there wasn't a piece of him remaining.

"Power Restored. Regeneration process is now ready." The computer system that monitored Deathborn's cybernetic body announced.

"Perfect" Deathborn smirked behind his mask. Snake turned around as Deathborn roared loudly. What remained of his torn arm began to reconstruct itself. Before he knew it, Deathborn's new arm was complete. "Good! Now I'm at 100 percent again! And what perfect timing!"

"So. This is where the truce ends. Just one spot away from where I planned it."

"Snake. You and I both know only one of us will be able to visit the Hand. There's no doubt he's close by, so it's time for us to decide who gets to move forward!" He declared. "Now let's have a rematch. A fight to the death!" He said and readied his stance for battle. Snake readied himself as well, but shortly after went at ease. "What are you doing?"

"This is amusing. That you think there's going to be a rematch when I've already got you beat." Snake stated.

"Excuse me?!"

Snake took out some sort of grenade from his pocket. He pulled the pin and lobbed it forward. Deathborn was confused. The grenade hadn't landed even close to him.

"It's a chaff grenade." Snake spoke up.

"What's that?" The grenade exploded and several small particles spread out from the explosion. Suddenly Deathborn's body began to seize up, all of his systems were failing. "Wha-I…I can't move!" Deathborn panicked.

"It's basically an EMP. It shuts down all technology in the area. Like your body." Snake explained. He showed a sly grin looking at Deathborn in his current state. "Look at you. You were always so proud of that mechanical body of yours. But you never realized that it's actually your biggest weakness."

"How so?!"

"You rely too much on the technology and power provided to you by that body. Tell me, if your power comes from a mechanical body manufactured in a lab, is it even your own power to begin with?" Snake questioned. "Judging by your current condition, the answer is no. "Without the functions that body provides, you are nothing. You can't even move. Your reliance on it has made you a slave to technology. And that is your weakness."

Snake pulled out his knife and plunged it into the paralyzed Deathborn's chest, making him cry out in pain. "That's right. Those pain receptors aren't on. So, this must really hurt!" he taunted. He turned on the stun feature of his stun knife, sending an electric current throughout his body. He withdrew the knife and got behind Deathborn, putting him in a head lock. "You wanted to play God, but you've failed. It all ends here. You will die for the fourth time. But this time, you will not come back."

Snake thrust the knife into Deathborn's throat, and then broke his neck for good measure. The cyborg fell to the ground, his body still and lifeless. But Snake wasn't done with Deathborn just yet. He knew it wasn't over until he finished with the 'cremation'. He grabbed the body by the legs, and began dragging him to the blast furnace room.

Arriving at the blast furnace, Snake was relieved to see that it was made active again and that there was a full pool of molten metal for him to toss the body in. On the rafters above the pool, Snake lifted Deathborn over his shoulder and tossed him over the railing and into the pool. Within seconds his body was enveloped in the molten metal and incinerated. There was nothing of him left. Deathborn was no more. Snake immediately headed to the Cargo elevator heading down to the hangar where Metal Gear REX was formerly stored. If there was anywhere Crazy Hand was, it would be there. His M4A1 assault rifle was at the ready, just in case there were any hostiles. Also, just in case Crazy himself was hostile. He entered the Hangar and was surprised to see all the rubble and debris from his previous visits were all cleaned up. It was completely different. It was just a large empty room. He started to get the feeling Crazy Hand wasn't here. But then…

"There were many of fighters on our roster. Over fifty during the fourth tournament in fact." A loud, booming voice said. Snake began checking every direction, looking for the source of the voice. But there was no one. "But you were always unique in my eyes. The Dark Horse of the cast. A human with no special powers, up against all these people and creatures that could only be considered fictional in your world. Yet you fought, and you won very often. Using nothing but your combat training, standard weaponry, and perhaps your most dangerous weapon, your wit, you racked up victories, surprising the other fighters and quickly earning their respect, as well as mine. But now I see what your true power is. Your perseverance, your willpower, your determination to always get the job done. Impossibility is a concept that you don't believe in. You've conquered adversities, helped create a team that has made the wild Wasteland a more peaceful place to live. And now, you've found me."

A portal appeared before Snake, and something slowly began crawling out of it. A huge mass of white. But then he saw fingers. The one he had been searching for finally came through the portal.

"I believe you deserve some answers."

It was him. The Left Fist.

"Crazy Hand."