For Izuku Midoriya, today was a good day. Sure, life could be better for the little six-year-old, he hadn't seen his dad in years and his peers could have been nicer, but today was the exception. Today he had seen All Might, in person! It was so cool for him; he could feel the air rush past his green hair as the hero himself jumped away. He had just finished fighting a villain after all, it was only a shame he couldn't get his autograph. Of course, his mother was just happy to see him excited. His smile almost lit up the entire street the moment he had seen All Might. Then he got katsu don for dinner, making the day even better. For him, today was seemingly great.


The room was dark, near pitch black with the only shred of light coming from the crack of a window's blinds. The room itself held a dozen people. Were there more light, one would have seen their finely pressed suits. Their well-kept hair and perfectly straight ties. The calm but serious eyes of someone who has ended the lives of many. But one could not see these things, nor the documents littering the large table in the room. Yet regardless of what one could and couldn't see, the identities of the people were well known. After all, they ran the hero industry itself. They were the ranking members of the Hero Public Safety Commission.

Yet not one said a word, all waiting for one to enter the room. The only thing saying that the last person had arrived, was the near-silent creaking of the door. The man who walked in was discernibly tall, his face and head entirely clean of hair. His lab coat was stained with something the members couldn't see, and his glowing eyes gazed at them from across the room.

"Night Owl, what did you have to report?" the President of the HPSC asked. The pale and elderly-looking woman was already annoyed when he had asked for a meeting at such short notice. The last time he had done so, he discovered a bioweapon a known villain organization was developing. Of course, now it sat locked away in an offshore black site, should they ever need it.

Now, however, she could see something else in the doctor. It was faint but in the foreboding darkness, a grin could be seen on Night Owl's face, stretching from ear to ear. His whole body was shivering as well. He was giddy about something, that in itself made her intrigued.

"Must we keep the lights off? My work is much more interesting in the light." Night Owl asked, annoying the President further. Always a man of theatrics, he could never get to the point.

Sighing she replied, "You said this matter was top secret, better to take the extra precaution. Now, answer the question."

He simply went silent, before a quiet rustling was heard across the room. It took a second to see but Night Owl pulled out a small remote from his pocket and positioned it towards a wall. The wall itself then lit up, a projector now illuminating something onto it. Several pie charts and other random junk littered it, alongside several complex equations that the President couldn't hope to understand. However, there was something that caught her attention.

In the center of the presentation was the photo of another HPSC employee, this one by the code name of Matter. The problem was Matter, who had been comatose for five months now, due to a coverup operation gone wrong. The photo itself had Matter strapped to some sort of chair, a large array of wires and other machinery all plugged into him. What once appeared to be a man was almost unrecognizable. The keyword being almost, his pale blue eyes and pale complexion was still visible on his scarred face.

"If I may, do you remember Agent Matter, or more accurately, his quirk?" Night Owl asked.

She had to think back for a moment, reflecting on the agent.

"It would make any type of matter disappear, correct?"

"Well," Night Owl let out a low chuckle in response, "that's what we thought originally."

Night Owl then lifted his arm, switching the slide to a lone photo. It was still Matter, but there was now a piece of a large palm tree in the room. The top of the tree had crushed several lights on the ceiling. While the roots were digging into the tiles of the room, they stained a dark red.

"You see, four days after he was put into a coma, this tree suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It even crushed a poor nurse."

"Get to the point." the President demanded. Night Owl simply lifted his hands as he conceded, switching over several more slides. All had similar photos to the last, strange objects appearing in Matter's hospital room. However, he eventually stopped on one slide, a blank slide that simply said conclusion.

"Simply put, Madam President, I believe Matter's quirk can access other dimensions."

She paused after hearing what he said. The man's giddy attitude didn't change as she stared at him. He was serious.

"Other dimensions, as in other planes of reality?"

The man's giddy attitude seemed to increase dramatically to the question. He was hoping she would be interested. Carefully he reached into his other pocket and pulled something out. It was a small compact device in the shape of a phone. At first, she thought it was a cassette player, but then it began to glow a pale blue. The faint glow emanated from a circle in the center before it expanded out and formed a holographic map and screen. The entire while Night Owl was showing it off to the members in the room.

"Yes, other realities, full of things like this! Imagine the possibilities interdimensional technology could do!"

That alone caught the President's imagination. If what she was being told was true, then the amount of power the HPSC could attain from such advances was unimaginable. It was possibly more profitable than space travel. Yet that brought the question, what did Night Owl want? She knew it was something, after all, she had only become President of the HPSC after some thorough backstabbing with the death of the last President. So she knew, someone always wanted something.

"And what exactly are you wanting in all of this?" she asked. Night Owl seemingly calmed down a little, the man no longer smiling or constantly shivering. He quickly put away the small device as well, backing up towards the still-lit-up wall.

"Well, funding of course," he said looking back towards the President. She only offered him an unsatisfied glare as he cleared his throat.

"There is one thing," he began, "throughout my research, I have found that a dimensional constant is needed."

"And what is a dimensional constant?"

"A certain person of a dimension, the rest isn't important. However, if we are to continue my research, we need our dimensional constant."

She didn't fully understand the science mumbo jumbo, even as basic as he was explaining it. She did, however, understand when someone was leaving something out.

"You don't know who the dimensional constant is, do you?"

The man shrank back for a second, seemingly offended by the accusation.

"No, I do, it's just the situation is a bit… precarious,"

"Explain."

"Well, the dimensional constant is a child, one Izuku Midoriya in the Mustafu area."

"And how are you so sure?" the President asked calmly. Night Owl didn't answer as he began fiddling with his hands, continually looking her in the eyes.

"Aside from the dimensional constant I'm also going to need a lab, and massive power supply, specifically a nuclear reactor if possible."

She immediately slammed her hand onto the table in front of her. The echo rang out across the room as every member could sense her anger.

"Out of the question," she stated, fury lacing every word as she grits her teeth. Were this to go through, this operation would already be pushing the limits of the HPSC's capability. Everything else would already be pushing their capability of keeping this discovery secret, but utilizing a nuclear reactor would warrant a response from the federal government. That only would cause several significant issues for everyone in that room.

"If I may, the amount of energy needed for the experiment is much greater than a standard natural gas plant can provide."

"The experiments won't happen at all if the government has to investigate the operation."

The comment silenced whatever Night Owl was about to say next. He continued to fiddle with his hands as he thought to himself going over the options. Eventually, he silently agreed with what the President said.

"A few smaller power plants may suffice."

"Good, now if I may ask Night Owl, when do you plan to begin?"

The giddy attitude the man held before came back quickly. A grin became ever more present again on his face as he answered.

"Right now, Madam President."


The cool Caribbean air hit Snake's face softly as he crouched on the sand. It had been roughly three weeks since the Peace Walker incident, and the CIA's mercenaries still littered Costa Rica. Of course, now their main backers had already left the area, Zadornov's KGB compatriots and the CIA wanting to distance themselves from the disaster that almost took place.

That still left the area ripe for mercenary interference though, and the country was still full of abandoned metal gear parts. That mattered little to Snake though as he stayed on the sand. His black sneaking suit stood out amidst the sand, the FOX and MSF logos resting on his arms. All the while he gazed through his binoculars. Ahead of him sat a small complex Hot Coldman has used to store arms for Peace Sentinel, his mercenary army.

It was a surprisingly small complex, only housing two floors and a large satellite dish on the roof. It was surrounded mainly by flattened jungles, ensuring the area had an almost perfect three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of the area. The only plant life was the occasional unkempt vine on the base's walls. The outer walls of the facility itself had several guards patrolling the area, at least twelve if he was correct. He couldn't tell how many were inside the base though. It was then a ringing was heard, Snake quickly answered his codec.

"Snake," Kazuhira Miller began, "are you at the facility?"

"I've just arrived, it's smaller than you said it was," Snake replied, his hand moving towards his satchel. Inside he pulled out a cigar and a small lighter, the whole while continuing to examine the base.

"Alright, now if the intel we gathered was correct, the Magloader tanks should be somewhere in the back of the facility, near the southern exit," Kaz replied.

Snake, cigar now in mouth, began looking at the compass on his Idroid. He quietly grumbled as it showed he was on the eastern side of the warehouse.

"Why do we even need these anyway? I thought we already had enough tanks?"

"We did, but then a new contract came down asking for military assistance in Cyprus."

Taking one last puff of his cigar, he stamped it out carefully. Looking back up, Snake saw a quick gap in the guard's patrol. Quickly he began moving in, slipping past and ducking behind a wall. Kaz for his part, remained silent as Snake snuck around. Remaining quiet, he heard the sound of boots quickly approaching as he remembered the locations of the guards. Eight on the ground, and four on the roof. Snake waited, right until the guard was next to him.

He jumped up swiftly wrapping his arm around the man's throat as he dragged him to the ground. He fought and squirmed but froze when Snake drew out his knife. Positioning it around his throat he quietly whispered to the man.

"Where are your friends inside?"

The man shakily answered back in a whisper, terror clear in his voice.

"Nobody inside, Command didn't want anyone sabotaging the vehicles."

That solves that issue Snake thought, as he sheathed his knife. He then lifted his arms around the man slightly, cutting off the blood reaching his brain. The guard struggled for a little bit but soon blacked out. He quickly hid the body behind the wall as he continued making his way across the base. Finding a door on a secluded wall, Snake entered the facility.

Industrial lights lit up the entire room as Snake looked around the vacant area. Its concrete floor was stained from the dripping liquids of past vehicles. Bits of metal and dust lined the floors as well, with the occasional bullet casing being spotted as well. Several tables lined the walls of the room, with abandoned tools covering them.

That wasn't it though, it lacked the tanks they were after, but it was full of trucks, jeeps, APCs, a few IFVs, and entire pallets of gasoline. Doing a quick estimate, he found he had enough fultons for this new equipment. The only question was how. There were far too many vehicles to do by himself. Not to mention he would have to take them all outside one by one. Now he had some semblance of a plan, though, so he crouched behind an APC.

"Kaz, I need you to send over a platoon, there's more equipment than we realized."

Kaz sounded surprised when he replied, yet happy, nonetheless.

"Huh, well ain't that a spot of luck, I'll scrounge up some soldiers. You focus on securing the area."

Hanging up again Snake began heading towards the door he entered through. Looking back outside he saw a guard approaching his passed-out comrade. This guard, helmetless, was dealt with as Snake fired his tranq gun. Mentally Snake counted two down. Moving to the side of the base, he saw two more guards, mentally dubbed guards three and four.

"Did you see that game yesterday?" guard four asked, all the while oblivious to Snake approaching them.

"Wish I did, I heard one of the players scored seven touchdowns in a row." three replied.

"Yeah well, it was something."

Standing right behind them, Snake quickly shot three in the back of the head with a tranq, before sweeping the legs of four. Three now passed out, Snake finished off four by slamming the already falling guard's head into the ground. Four down, Snake counted. He was about to keep moving when Three's radio came to life.

"Gate east, what's your status?"

Snake gritted his teeth as he began moving away from the guards. The soldier on the other end slowly grew frantic, before ordering someone to investigate the area. Looking for a solution, he quickly found his answer as he took his hiding place. Guards five, six, and seven arrived shortly after. They quickly checked over the bodies, never bothering to check the pallet of supplies near them.

They didn't notice a cardboard box lift slightly, as a small smoke grenade rolled out. The grenade clinked against Five's shoe before he groggily noticed it. The knockout gas took quick effect against the surrounding guards. With it, Snake counted seven. Keeping the box with him, he swiftly moved to the southern part of the base, tranquilizing guard number eight. That left the roof. Nearing the southern exit, Snake laid eye upon an open garage door, finally finding the Magloader tanks. With his original objective now located, he also spotted a ladder leading to the roof.

From the roof, he could hear talking, the sounds of a frantic guard.

"They still haven't reported in?" nine asked, the worry present in his voice.

"For the last time, no," ten responded, "now shut up, your worrying is distracting me."

"Come on man, what if they're dead?!"

"I said shut up, if they're dead we'll likely be so as well."

"What?!"

Coming up with an idea, Snake shook the ladder before hiding back under the box. Nine panicked again shouting out in near terror.

"He's here! Oh, we're gonna die!"

"Shut up! Go check it out or something, it's probably just a wild animal."

Ever so faint footsteps heard were as nine approached the ladder. Somehow Snake could hear the shaking of his gun as if he were sloppily checking it over. Nine looked over the ledge towards the bottom of the ladder, before nervously chuckling to himself.

"Heh, sorry, it's just a cardboard box."

Ten called back confused for a moment, quickly approaching his ally.

"A cardboard box?"

He also looked over the ledge, both now looking down towards Snake. Taking the opportunity, he jumped out of the box, aiming his gun upwards. The guards had barely any time to react as he let off two shots. Both hit them in the head as their bodies fell back. With the momentum of them jerking away they landed backward, unconscious on the roof as the tranquilizer took effect. Ten down. All that was left was the final two. He was about to begin looking for him when he felt something touch his back.

"Don't move."

He kept staring at the wall as he remained still. The voice behind him issued another order, as an extra pair of boots shuffled behind him.

"Drop your weapons."

Snake slowly complied, as he unsheathed and dropped his knife. He then did the same with his gun as he thought out his plan. The barrel of the gun was firmly put into his back, so he would have to act carefully.

"Now hands in the air."

He moved his hands upwards. Carefully as he weighed his options, then he moved. He turned around quickly, eleven pulling the trigger on the gun. Two rounds managed to hit Snake but missed anything vital. He moved his arm raising the gun to point away from him, before disarming eleven. Twelve could only stand there, unable to fire without hitting eleven. Snake then turned the rifle and fired on eleven, killing him, before shooting twelve as well.

Both bodies then hit the floor, a visible red mark now on their uniforms. It was perfectly timed though, the sound of helicopters began nearing the base. Looking up he saw the unmistakable MSF logo on the tail end of several Blackfoot helicopters. Their side doors opened up as the helicopters neared the ground. The soldiers inside hopped out as they got to work, moving into the facility. Snake was about to join them when his codec rang again.

"Did the troops arrive yet?" Kaz asked.

"They just did," Snake replied.

"Good, they should hopefully get things done quickly."

"I wouldn't bet on it, the amount of equipment here is a bit much for such a small warehouse."

In truth now that Snake was thinking about it, why did this warehouse have so much hardware? The tanks he could understand, it was the objective of the mission and intel had said it was there. Yet nothing had been said about the rest of the equipment. Kaz soon caught on to what Snake was saying.

"You think somethings going on down there?"

"Possibly, this amount of equipment normally means a big operation is about to go down."

Kaz went quiet for a moment. All the while Snake began taking out a new cigar. He hoped he could enjoy this one longer than the last. It was he let out the first puff of smoke that Miller began again.

"Ok, I have a suspicion on what's going on but I need to confirm it."

"What exactly is needed?"

"Shipping documents from there, basic records of everything being stored there. I would assume they would be in the main office."

It was a short trek there, the room itself being rather small but finely furnished. A thick oak desk sat near the back of the room with a velvet chair sitting next to it. The room also had an array of baroque art on the walls, though most pieces were damaged extensively. Snake, now looking over the desk, found what he needed. It was a group of pages held together by a simple staple.

"Hmmm," Snake said quietly.

"Something wrong Boss?" Kaz asked.

"These reports," Snake began, "they don't make sense."

He couldn't understand what they were depicting. It appeared to be security footage but it was too static to make out anything. The only thing the report had was that several armored vehicles had simply disappeared. There used to be more tanks here before a battalion of them vanished. It was when Snake told Miller this that he heard someone approaching. He turned quickly, only to see an MSF member behind him.

"Boss, everything is ready to go," he replied, saluting him all the while.

"Good," Snake spoke nodding to the man, "Kaz, well continue this back at Mother Base."

"Understood Boss," Kaz replied.


"Izuku sweetie, you have to eat your veggies," Inko said, spoon in hand. The six-year-old only responded by clamping his mouth shut and shaking his head rapidly. His mother could only sigh before an idea came to mind. Whatever it was he wouldn't fall for it, he was sure of it.

"Izuku, I heard All Might eats his veggies."

He was wrong. He quickly stomachs whatever disgust he had and devoured the greens. Of course that got a small laugh out of his mother, as rare as they were. To Izuku she always seemed so sad, only smiling at rare times. So it brought him joy every time she did. Maybe that's why he wanted to be a hero, he wanted people to smile with him, like All Might. This wouldn't help him weasel out of bedtime though, his mother now carrying him to his room. Every time he would try to, Inko would counter it perfectly.

When he didn't want to shower, All Might always had clean hair and skin. When he wouldn't brush his teeth, All Might always had a bright clean smile. When he couldn't sleep, All Might always got eight hours of rest. It was why he was lying in bed now, his mother reading him a story. He tried to pay attention to it, but he groggily fell asleep. Seeing him asleep, Inko gave him a small kiss on his head before quietly leaving the room.

Hours passed as he slept, ignorant of the world around him. His All Might blanket provided him warmth throughout the night, as a poster of the man watched over him. The action figures stood guard on the desk, as the trading cards on the dresser assisted them. Then, a loud thump was heard. It wasn't loud enough to be heard by their neighbors, but loud enough that it woke him up. Izuku thought it was nothing, but then it happened again.

Curious he slowly got out of bed. He didn't want his mother to know he was awake, she already had enough stress. So carefully he tiptoed out of the room, looking around the hall. It was too dark to see well, but when he entered the living room he saw a large lump on the floor. He didn't see his mom though, so she must have been in bed. Approaching the lump, he felt something sticky on the bottom of his foot. He touched the bottom of his foot to clean it, but it spread to his hand. He felt weird to touch as if it was almost liquid-like, but not entirely. He was next to the lump when he touched it. It felt hairy, and the strange sticky substance was here as well. It was also soft and almost fleshy underneath the hair.

The entire while he couldn't tell what the lump was. It was too dark to see it clearly. The floorboards creaked, dragging Izuku's attention away from the lump. Yet the room stayed quiet, the creaking disappearing in an instant. Something grabbed him. Something was wrapped around his mouth as it grabbed his arms. A bright light then shined into his eyes. All the while he panicked, thrashing about as the figures grabbed him. He tried to yell out, to scream, but they simply tighten whatever was around his mouth. Izuku's legs were kicked out from under him, swiftly tied up, and followed by his arms. A grizzled deep voice then echoed throughout the room.

"Stay still kid, your only gonna make this harder on yourself."

He didn't listen, continuing to kick and squirm. He stopped when he felt a sharp pain in his stomach, something hitting him in the gut. His body curled in on itself as the figure in the room lifted him up.

"You got the target?" a new voice asked, the same grizzled tone as the first.

"Got him right here, you almost finished?" the original voice replied.

"Almost, just gotta move the body into position."

Izuku froze, feeling every part of his body go stiff. The figures had turned on their flashlights now, illuminating the room. Both of them were dressed in all black, a mask covering their faces. It wasn't the only thing he could see though. The lump, was now visible on the ground, as Inko lay unmoving on the ground. Izuku could feel tears in his eyes as he looked at his mother. A long trail of blood led from her skull to the hall. He begged and pleaded that this was a nightmare, wishing to wake up.

"Great, kids crying now. Put a bag on him will ya? I'd rather not get my clothes stained."

As swiftly as the man had asked, Izuku was plunged back into darkness.


The helicopter was loud. Horribly so. It's one of the reasons this meeting was a nightmare to hold over codec. It needed to be done though, as to wait for it in person would take too long. Snake himself was no stranger to anomalies, after all, Operation Snake Eater had its fair share of the supernatural. What with The Pain controlling an army of bees and The End's seeming de-aging properties. This, however, was completely alien to him.

"What am I looking at exactly?" he asked, hoping Miller would have some form of an explanation. In his hands was an Idroid displaying the feed of several security cameras. An MSf soldier had grabbed it on the way out, assuming it would be important. It displayed every hallway, access points on the roof, and the storage center for the tanks. Yet something was off about it.

"This, Snake, is footage five seconds before the anomaly," Miller replied. That alone shocked him. Five seconds.

"Kaz, do you mean to tell me an entire battalion of tanks disappeared in five seconds?"

"It's what the footage showed."

It was frightening, an entire battalion simply vanishing in thin air. It was hard to believe even with the footage. The tanks sitting there resting in the warehouse, then disappearing in five seconds.

"What exactly is causing this?"

"I'm not entirely sure, Huey says it's possibly a wormhole opening and sucking the tanks away. But he's not sure where or why it is happening."

Snake didn't think it possible, Huey was stumped. That worried him even further, the fact that one of the smartest people on Mother Base had no clue what was happening didn't bode well. Could it have been Cipher? He knew experiments like these were their forte. But that begged the question, what were they developing? And if it wasn't them, then who?

"Boss," the pilot called over, "were here."

Snake simply nodded to the man as he stepped out. Outside Miller stood waiting to greet him as they continued talking. The entire while they made their way across Mother Base's platforms. The base itself was orange and was several large overbearing structures with several connecting platforms. Across the platforms were the various members and key groups of MSF. There was a platform for almost everything MSF would need. There were platforms for combat teams, the R&D department, intelligence operatives, medical staff, and even an airstrip. Originally it was an old offshore Soviet facility in the Caribbean, but now it was theirs.

"There anything else we didn't notice?" Snake asked.

"As far as I can tell, no. None of the base's people went missing or witnessed it, so the best we have is this footage." Miller answered. Snake grumbled as he drew out a cigar, secretly Kaz wondered where he kept getting them.

"So, what now?" Kaz asked, "Are we starting an investigation into this?"

Snake took a puff of his cigar, enjoying the taste and the cool sea air blowing against his face. He pondered Miller's question for a while. This was some alarm information that may pertain to them, and Huey would probably be adamant in investigating the event. However this could also bring possible conflict with Cipher, should they be affiliated. It was the guiding factor, of course, Zero was still, at least he hoped, a friend. Sure he was one he disagreed with currently, but it gave him no reason to interfere with him. He had left for that reason, to start something else away from Cipher, not burn it to the ground.

"I don't know, at the very least we should keep tabs on the anomaly, however-"

"You think Cipher's involved," Miller stated, finishing Snake's thoughts.

"Not entirely, but the possibility alone is what worries me. We may have increased our strength, but MSF isn't ready for a large-scale conflict with Cipher."

"So we're avoiding this for now?"

"For now, but make sure to keep tabs on it," Snake answered. It was the only practical course of action they could take. Yet all the while something seemed to be happening. Both he and Miller stopped on one of Mother Base's walkways. It was faint, but Snake could swear he saw a faint orange glow coming from above.

"See if you can find the anomalies… point of… origin," Snake began. The glow that seemed faint originally began to get brighter as Snake looked upwards.

"Holy mother of-" Kas started his eyes now upwards as well. Above them sat a growing vortex, its orange glow shining down onto them. The rest of Mother Base seemed to stop for a moment, the members of MSF looking up as well. Then the shouts began. An MSF member began floating upwards, the vortex carrying him. Then another followed suit, and another before almost a dozen were in the air. Snake barely realized it, but his feet slowly left the ground, only being stopped when Kaz grabbed his arm.

Men and equipment drifted up as they tried to desperately cling onto anything. A helicopter lost control as it was pulled into the vortex. Kaz was also beginning to float down, the man wrapping his other arm around the walkway's railing. Pulling, he moved Snake closer to the railing. Snake grabbed it quickly, wrapping his arm around it tightly. An earth-shaking shock then echoed around them. They turned to find the source, seeing bits of the nearest platform break off and begin floating upwards. The whole platform soon followed, its foundation being ripped off the legs of the facility.

"We need to move!" Kaz exclaimed, pulling himself to the other side of the walkway. Snake followed suit, leading himself along the railing as the walkway began to lift up. He heard the cracking of concrete as they moved, informing them of the need to speed up. Snake could see it though, they were halfway to the platform. His eye watched the way ahead of them, as he felt something wet hit his head.

A droplet of salt water ran up his face, stinging his one eye. Looking down, he saw the water beginning to float as well. Large sections of the ocean drift towards the sky and the puddle. More water followed it as it became a large blob. Snake saw it get larger and called out to Kaz ahead of him.

"Wave!"

Kaz turned, seeing the giant wave as he stopped moving. There wasn't enough time to make it. They both held onto the railing as tightly as they could. The wave collided with the walkway, and the railing ripped off its hinges. They were both flung backward, Kaz hitting the railing behind them before regaining his footing. He could only watch as Snake missed. His arm shot upwards trying to catch him quickly. But it was too late. Snake continued to drift up, and all the while Kaz called out to him. It only stopped when his body entered the vortex.

He landed hard onto the ground, the entire area shrouded in darkness. His one eye began looking around where he was. Shelves of chemicals and a lone broomstick informed him that he was in a small broom closet. The language on the chemicals bottles though was different. For the variety of dialects on Mother Base, they still mostly used English. But the labels were all Japanese, forcing Snake to try and remember what he knew of the dialect.

Already he began thinking up where the vortex could have landed him. Maybe it was a form of teleportation, but that begged the question of how? It was clear he wasn't going to get much from remaining in the closet, so Snake checked his person for what he had. He was luckily still in his sneaking suit, having not changed once arriving back at base. He also had his knife, semi-auto tranq gun, MRS assault rifle (both with suppressors), a flashlight, and his Idroid.

It wouldn't last him forever, but it was good enough for the moment. What he needed now, was a plan of action. So he first checked his codec, but nothing answered on the other end. He next opened the map on his Idroid. It was scrambled beyond recognition, there were cities he didn't know of, countries with different names, and an entirely new small island the size of England off the coast of Europe. Mother Base didn't appear though, its place in the Caribbean was completely vacant.

Finding the map to also be no help, he drew out his knife and tranq gun. There he began opening the door slowly, just enough to see through a small crack. The hallway outside was abandoned, the only semblance of people being there were the lights. Even as Snake fully left the closet he found no one. It was clear the building was important, the size and decor of the hallway giving off the vibe of a powerplant. Its thick concrete walls and industrial piping helped enforce this idea. So the lack of workers, or anyone in the halls, was suspicious.

Carefully he made his way down the hallway, investigating room after room he came across. Occasionally he would run into a lone security camera watching a corner, yet it made no movements. No guiding factor that it was on. Snake didn't want to risk it though, quietly cutting the wires on the ones he came across. All it did though was further his questions. The entire area was vacant, yet clearly, something had brought him here.

He was about to exit a room he had just finished searching when he finally heard something. Footsteps. He ducked behind the wall and slowly moved the door so it looked like it was closed. He listened the entire time as the footsteps drew closer.

"Dr. Night Owl sir, is it really wise for us to be continuing so soon?"

The footsteps stopped right outside the door. He heard two voices, but the pair of steps sounded to be from a larger group. The only discernible figures were the ones talking. The first man had a smile too wide for his face. His head was completely bald and his skin was pale. All the while his eyes seemed to glow.

The second was relatively short and stocky. His hair was a dark black and cleanly kept together. The strangest thing though, was his all green hands. Snake assumed they were gloves but they extended up to his elbow before fading away.

"We are too close to stopping now, the portal was nearly stable enough to send a drone through. I do not wish to lose the progress we have already made."

"But sir the last experiment almost killed the dimensional constant, doing it again so soon might-"

"I know the risks. Send in someone with a healing quirk, well begin again in the morning."

"But sir-"

"That will be all Akira."

The man now known as Akira sputtered a bit, more than likely trying to continue his points, but footsteps were his only answer. Who were these people, Snake wondered. It only brought forth more questions as the footsteps got quieter. Akira however, didn't leave, much to Snakes dissatisfaction. His feet shifted as he entered the room Snake was in. He didn't notice him at first, walking past him before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hands in the air." Snake ordered.

Akira complied immediately, his arms shooting upwards. Snake only stared at him, the tranq gun drawn. Shakily, Akira asked Snake, "What do you want?"

"Answers," Snake calmly replied, "who are you?"

He decided to start off simple. Asking too complicated things would give Akira knowledge Snake didn't want him to have. It's also why he didn't ask where am I.

"Me? I am Doctor Akira Kenji."

"And who was your compatriot you were talking to?"

"Dr. Night Owl?" Akira nervously asked.

"Yeah, him."

"I don't know his real name, no one does."

Another man with no name. Somehow they seemed common in Snake's experiences. However, even something as little as an alias helped. Which begged the question, why would he need an alias?

"What about these experiments he was talking about?"

Akira went silent, refusing to speak. It was only when Snake brought his knife around the man's throat that he continued.

"Wait! Please don't kill me! He's working on an interdimensional wormhole!"

Snake's mind flashed back to moments prior. The vortex in the sky that had brought him here in the first place. The same vortex that had just ripped a platform off of its foundations. It couldn't be a coincidence. Another dimension though? Could he really be in another dimension? It brought forth a few answers and more questions. And added a new problem, the Dimensional Constant. It was clear by their discussion that the constant was a person, but what did it mean? And they had already said they had almost killed them in the last round of experimentation.

"The dimensional constant, where are they?"

Akira seemed even more hesitant now, but his eyes kept flashing over to the knife near him.

"They're in office 3C on the second floor, that's all I know!"

It was more than enough. Snake put away the knife quietly as he began choking out Akira. The man then was laid on the floor unconscious. The room was surprisingly close, with Snake apparently being on the third floor. With every step he continually checked his codec, trying to relay information back to Miller. He was only answered with static. It pained him to think they were dead, yet the lack of a connection only made that thought seem more plausible.

Snake shook those thoughts out of his mind. They had a time and place to be had, the field was not one of them. He had finally reached the office now, a large 3C imprinted on the door. He tried opening it but found the door locked. Checking over his shoulders, he slowly stood up. The door didn't seem to be all that strong, but kicking it down may create too much down. He was about to pick the lock when he heard voices coming down the hall.

"I'm telling you man, somebody at the top likes the dark and creepy atmosphere too much."

"You can't be serious."

"Dude every time we're called into a meeting with the higher-ups they always have all the lights off, and the blinds closed."

"Well, not every time…"

Snake ducked behind a wall, the voices drawing closer to where he once stood. Both of the men approaching wore suits reminiscent of secret service agents. It seemed like they were going to walk by when a new noise rang out. The beep of a radio sending out a message.

"All units be advised, I found a security camera with its wires cut. Be on the lookout for a possible infiltrator."

The demeanor of the men immediately changed. The calm attitude turned into a calm and alert sense. Neither appeared to have weapons though. Instead, their hands seemed to change. The first man's hands began smoking as flames appeared out of nowhere. They didn't react to the flames at all, as if they weren't there. The second man's hands began glowing a bright light before a sword materialized in his palms. The sword was a pale green and didn't act like a naturally solid object.

"An infiltrator? Who the hell would be dumb enough to break into this place?"

"When we find him you can ask."

They began moving forward again and neared where Snake was hiding. Lifting up his tranq gun, he rapidly lept out. He fired two shots at the guards, both missing the head and hitting the upper torso. They stumbled for a bit in shock but regained their composure. The man with the sword charged Snake, preparing the slice downwards. The blade missed him barely as Snake swept his legs. As he fell Snake slammed the man to the ground, stunning him for a few moments.

The guard with flames threw a punch, Snake ducking under it. His opportunity available, Snake threw his own strike, this one hitting a key nerve. The fire guard's arm went limp, as Snake threw a second and third strike. The guard finally fell to the ground, unable to move, right as the one with the sword started to get back up. Snake turned towards him as the guard swung the sword downwards. It stopped when it made contact with Snake's knife, the sword being held in place. The guard tried to move it downwards, but Snake drew his gun. Before he could react Snake shot him in the head, tranquilizing him.

With both guards now down, Snake began searching their person. Assuming they were the security, at least one of them would have the key to the door. The guard with the sword had nothing, however, he kept his radio just in case. The second guard had a pair of keys. He tried them on the door, all failing until he reached the final key. Slowly the door unlocked, and Snake began moving forwards. His flashlight lit up the dark room, showing off the horror of the room.

The walls had red stains all along them, bits of blood still dripping down the concrete. Bone fragments and teeth illuminated the grey ground below, along with the sight of human feces in the corner. It was the occupant of the room that horrified Snake the most.

On the far most wall, a small child cradled themself. The rags they had for clothing were bloody, barely hiding the faint scars running down their arms and back. Their green hair was all patchy and ruined. The kid didn't look any older than six. The only sign that they were even still alive, was the slow breathing he heard.

Slowly Snake approached the child, trying his best to calm the rage that had been forming. The child finally noticed his presence, turning to where Snake could see his face. The fearful look of a little boy was all he could see, his eyes full of tears. He tried to desperately crawl away from him.

"Please! I-I'm sorry! I-I'll be good I p-promise!"

Snake lowered himself to the ground carefully, attempting to calm the boy. He holstered his tranq gun and knife, lifting his hands so the boy could see them.

"It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you," Snake said, hoping he could calm him down. The child still looked at him with fear, afraid to even move.

"What's your name?" he asked the boy.

The child took a moment to answer, watching Snake for any sign of aggression or anger.

"M-Midoriya Izuku."

"Alright, Midoriya I need you to remain calm. Do you think you can do that?"

The kid didn't look sure at first, only watching him as he moved. It made Snake worried that he was still afraid. Instead, the boy began nodding his head.

"O-Ok."

"Great," Snake told him, slowly making a noticeable approach to not scare him, "now I'm going to get you out of here, so stay still for a moment."

The kid's eyes seemed to light up at what Snake said. The promise of leaving the nightmare he had been put into, made him tear up again. Effortlessly Snake picked him up, carefully holding him over his shoulders. His arm and legs dangled off the side as Snake held him, as he once again drew his knife and pistol. With Midoriya now in toe, he made his way to the door. Outside more guards seemed to have arrived, finding the unmoving bodies of their comrades.

Fighting them off would have been too difficult with Midoriya so he went for the next best option. Grabbing one of the bone fragments from the floor, he tossed it out of the door. The sound diverted the guards' attention long enough for him to leave the room. He almost made it away when his codec began crackling loudly.

"S...ke…co…ov…!"

The guards' attention turned over to him, and Snake booked it. The radio he borrowed from the other guards came to life as the guards behind him alerted the base. He didn't stop running down the hallway, finding a hall sign with a staircase on it. All the while the guards shouted at him to stand down. He was getting close to the hallway stairs when a guard popped out of a side hallway.

Snake fired his gun quickly, and the man collapsed after five tranqs hit him in the chest. Yet more seemed to be arriving. He made it to the stair though, nearly tackling the door out of the way. He then slammed it shut, before jamming the door with a nearby fire extinguisher.

"He's up there!" a voice called out below, the guards from the first floor begin to run up the stairs. He kept running, moving up past the third and soon fourth floors. The number of guards kept increasing as the once seemingly empty halls became crowded. All Snake could wonder is where they had come from, were they all on break?! It didn't matter as he made it to the fifth floor. He ripped the door open and he found himself on the roof of the complex. A helipad sat in front of him along with several crates and air conditioning units.

The roof however was luckily abandoned as Snake looked for a way out. The only way he could find out about the facility was off the roof, but that wasn't an option. Returning his gaze to the crates, he carefully put Midoriya down behind them. The kid looked back at him terrified, his hands firmly grasping the fabric of Snake's sneaking suit.

"It's about to get loud, cover your ears, stay behind the crate, remain quiet, and don't look over here."

Midoriya nodded his head rapidly as he ducked down behind the crates. His codec kept sending out messages as he did so.

"Sna…do…me…res…"

Snake meanwhile began barricading the door with extra crates. He then pulled out his MRS. Not wanting to waste his suppressor he took it off quickly, putting it in his field bag. He then aimed it at the door, waiting for any sign of movement. Silence greeted him for a brief few moments. Instead of them crushing the door down and charging outside, the radio crackled to life.

"Testing, testing, hello?"

Snake looked at the device confused, wondering what they were trying to do. Yet the voice, he recognized it. It was the scientist from earlier, Night Owl.

"I know you are hearing this, and truthfully I must commend you for your efforts, Snake," he paused, allowing the gravity of his words to sink in. He knew him, he knew who Snake was. That alone sounded like an impossibility, even with his reputation. Snake then picked up the radio, turning on the receiver.

"What do you want?"

Night Owl chuckled, and Snake saw Midoriya freeze out of the corner of his eye. He began breathing erratically as he started hugging himself. Snake realized it wasn't a panic attack, luckily, but any more of this and it might become one. He turned down the volume, enough to where Midoriya couldn't hear it, as Night Owl continued.

"Isn't it obvious Snake? Your surrender. Can you not see, you are alone, outnumbered, and outgunned. Simply return the dimensional constant to me, and I'll let you live."

Angry at the notion, Snake almost yelled back into the radio.

"You've been torturing a child, and you expect me to give him back to you?!"

"You are tampering with affairs you don't understand Snake, this is my last warning."

Somehow Snake could sense the man's smile from here. Even over the radio, he sounded giddy and overly excited. And looking back at the kid, all he could feel was anger and disgust toward the man. He refused to stand down now, how could he? Why would he?

"If you want him back, your going to have to kill me for him."

Night Owl sighed, before replying to the radio.

"So be it."

They began pounding on the door now, the barricade holding them for a minute. Snake took a deep breath, as he stabilized his MRS. The barricade collapsed, a mountain of a man smashing the door down before he fell to the ground dead. Snake didn't stop those as he held the trigger. The guards who were once ready to charge out, ducked behind the concrete walls. The unlucky ones had holes punched into them, their once clean and pristine suits becoming stained with blood. His rifle clicked, as he ran out of ammo. It gave the guards just enough time to run out and take cover behind some ac units.

He reloaded as fast as he could before he continued firing down on the coming guards. A few launched their own projectiles at him, baffling Snake. Fireballs, knives of flesh, spheres of ice, acid. The assortment constantly changed as one guard was replaced with another. He could question why later, as a guard with knives for fingers managed to tackle Snake. They thrust their hands downwards, attempting to stab him. Snake moving quickly, lifted his MRS and watched as the knives cut straight through the gun.

His leg moved kicking the guard off of him, before Snake stabbed him with his own knife. His MRS was destroyed he switched to his tranq gun, firing off what rounds he had at the approaching guards. It was a hopeless fight, more of them continued to reach the roof, as Snake's ammo dwindled. His codec continued to send out garbled messages he couldn't understand. He was out of options. The guards began surrounding the crate he and Midoriya was behind. Their footsteps drew ever closer as a voice rang out across the roof.

"I told you Snake, you had the chance to surrender."

He tried to think of an escape route, but he couldn't find anything. His codec rang again, sending through one message. The codec would play it over and over again, until slowly, it became understandable.

"S…k…take…cover…!"

He did as told, covering Midoriya as he ducked behind the crates. The guards around him began yelling out in pain, as a chainsaw-like noise echoed around them. It would happen in increment bursts, last for three seconds before stopping and starting again. It accompanied another noise, the chopping of a helicopter's blades in the air. He looked up spotting the helicopter coming his way. The MSF logo was visible on the tail end of the craft, as a soldier manned its side-mounted minigun.

The helicopter neared the helipad, hovering just above it. The guard's attention swiftly turned to the vehicle as the side gunner ruthlessly cut them in half. The thirty-millimeter rounds, ripping chunks out of those standing in the open. Snake seeing his chance picked Midoriya up and ran to the helicopter's door. Two more soldiers popped up, providing covering fire for Snake. They moved to the side as he arrived, with Snake coming to face Miller inside.

"Snake!" he exclaimed holding out his arm. Snake grabbed it as he was quickly pulled in. Carefully Snake put Midoriya down in a chair, as the pilot began lifting the helicopter away from the helipad. The guards continued to harass them as they made their escape, but it was over. Snake collapsed into a chair, tired out of his mind.

"How'd you find me?" he asked Miller, the man busy assisting the medic tend to Midoriya.

"We were tracking the signal from your Idroid, the moment Mother Base entered the vortex, we started a search for you." Kaz began, turning over towards Snake.

"When we found out you were no longer near Mother Base, we checked where your Idroid said you were."

That explained one thing, however, that brought forth a new question. Snake, now confused asked him, "What do you mean when Mother Base entered the vortex?" Last he remembered the base itself was being ripped off its foundations. The weight of thousands of tons of steel was ignored as it floated like a feather off into the sky.

"We were confused at first as well," Miller started, "but the portal itself was moving. It moved downwards and sucked the entirety of Mother Base into it."

"So, all of MSF?" Snake implied.

"Is now where ever here is," Kaz answered.

That eased some of Snake's worries. Knowing that all of those with MSF, or the majority at least, was still alive and with him was a comforting thought. At least he wasn't alone in this debacle. That still left the question of how many were alive, something Snake was about to ask, but was interrupted by Kaz.

"What's with the kid?" Kaz asked.

"He's the answer to our portal question."

"This is gonna be a long explanation isn't it?"

"Depends, do you have a cigar with you?"

Miller simply sighed at the answer, sitting down on a seat next to Snake. The both of them watched the kid who had by now passed out in the chair. Now, now the kid seemed calm, and to Snake that was all that mattered at the moment. Yet to others, it was different. For Night Owl simply watched as the helicopter flew away, it getting smaller and smaller with distance. A pain to be sure, to have lost such an important asset, but he could make do. He knew the HPSC wouldn't see it that way after all five months of research had just escaped. But Night Owl thought differently, for he had proven interdimensional travel to be possible, and he was going to enjoy seeing the legendary Big Boss again.