"Please, you are all too kind." Infini Leap told the crowd, the cheering slowly dying down. News teams surrounded the stage, cameras all pointed at the hero. Snake and Maria were pretty sure it was artificial as he stood near Sainz, the crowd robotically stopping together. Sainz held a medal in his hands, a medal he had been gifted before. Now he had to plaster a fake smile and besmirch everything it stood for.

In a strained annoyed voice, Sainz announced, "It is with great honor, that I hereby award Infini Leap the Police Star Order."

Slowly he placed the medal around the hero's neck, the robotic applause coming back in a strong uproar. Snake still couldn't tell if the noise was real or artificial. The hero kept a wide smile plastered as he looked around the crowd, waving to some apparent fans. He stepped to a podium then, with Sainz backing away.

"I truly must thank you for this grand blessing I have been given. I never believed I would get to the extent of heroism I have now. As a young boy, my father would always tell me, that I was destined for greatness. That…"

Snake filtered out the rest of the speech, the majority of it being nothing but shameless self-praise. Maria had the same reaction, and soon enough Sainz came over to them.

"Mr. President." Snake greeted.

"Snake, anything unusual in the crowd?"

"Nothing so far. I've got Nagant watching the rooftops nearby just in case though."

"Good. Our country is finally getting time to rest and improve, I'd rather it not be ruined with the death of our leader." Maria commented as she took a drag from her cigarette. She looked over at Infini Leap, the hero still giving his speech.

"Narcissistic bastard." She muttered, noticing the camera crews gobbling up every word the man said.

"It is why we heroes are so important to today's society, and our safety. It was only by luck that the dastardly villain was defeated so quickly. Were it not for our swift arrival, I would not be standing with this medal. Nor would…"

They still didn't listen to it, instead focusing on security and another topic.

"How the hell does he even walk?" Snake muttered aloud, looking at the sidekick dressed as a fridge. It was incredibly boxy, the costume seemingly made of large plastic molds. The arms had flexible tubes that seemed moveable, instead locked their arms into a robotic movement.

"I'll say," Maria agreed, "I swore he should have fallen over by now."

"Maybe he has weights that shift in the costume," Snake noted.

"Pretty sure that would make the likelihood of him falling greater." Maria countered.

"What's his power supposed to be anyway, super cooling vegetables?"

"He refrigerates truth and justice, protecting the leftovers of law and order." Maria joked.

"I'm more surprised he isn't completely a fridge," A different police officer noted, pointing at the sidekick. They had opened the fridge door and inside was surprisingly a human face. A young face at that, couldn't be older than sixteen. His hair was a pale blue, and his skin was almost completely white. Snake almost confused it for artificial snow.

"Holy shit," Maria began, "I honestly thought he was a walking appliance."

"Well it's not that strange, there are some quirks that make people machine-like." The officer replied.

"I've never understood those types of quirks. How the hell did Mother Nature decide to combine a human, with a twin diesel engine? And then how was it born." a second officer chimed in.

"It's strange I'll give you that." Maria agreed, taking another puff from her cigarette.

"Wait a minute, if they break the machine part of their body, would they call a doctor or a mechanic?" the first officer asked, rubbing his chin as he thought.

"A mechanic obviously, it's all metal," Maria stated.

"Yeah but it was organically created in a womb." the second officer disagreed. They bickered on while Snake continued to examine the fridge sidekick. His assessment of the costume seemed correct, with the boy visibly uncomfortable. He tried to wipe the sweat away but his arm wouldn't reach his face. But he also seemed, saddened somehow. He looked around the area seemingly disappointed and disheveled. Curious, Snake decided to approach him.

"Keep an eye on the crowd, I'll be right back," Snake told Maria, before walking off. She simply nodded and continued the conversation eyeing the crowd. As Snake got closer, the sidekick seemed to have noticed. He slammed the fridge door shut, before attempting to stand straight and proud.

"Greetings citizen! Is there something you need?" the sidekick asked, in a seemingly forced greeting.

"Well, I wanted to talk with some of the heroes here." Snake told him, "Understand what goes on in the mind of a hero."

It wasn't a total lie, but it was close enough.

"Well, I'm Freezer Boy! It's a pleasure to meet you Mr?"

"Snake,"

"Mr. Snake!" the sidekick tried to shake his hand then, but he held it to the right of Snake. He noticed his mistake and attempted to fix it, but his arm wouldn't move any further. So Snake stepped to the side a little, before shaking the boy's hand.

"So, tell me, what's it like being a hero?"

"Well, it's… a grand and genuine honor!" Freezer Boy told him, it sounding like a rehearsed line for speeches.

"I meant what you do all the time, surely you must work hard."

"Y-yes we really do work hard! My day is spent patrolling the streets in search of villains!" Freezer Boy shouted out, then silently muttering, "and searching for autographs."

The way he said it sounded more disappointed than narcissistic. Snake could see him fidgeting then, only slightly. He slightly swayed, from side to side, as if to keep balance.

"You good?"

"Why wouldn't I be, a hero must always be at the top of their game!"

"Because you look like you're going to fall over."

"Trust me, I'm… I'm fine…"

He fell back then, losing his balance and nearing the concrete sidewalk. He stopped barely as Snake caught him. He broke open the door of the costume, looking in to find Freezer Boy passed out. His body was drenched in sweat and somehow looked paler than before. He lost consciousness for only a second, quickly coming back to find himself on the ground.

"This is Snake over, I'm gonna need a medic at my location." Snake relayed over the radio. He looked back down at the hero, before sitting him up. Then he grabbed his canteen and held it out for him. Freezer Boy accepted it gratefully, taking a long drink. It was here Snake got a closer look at the costume. It was genuinely terrible. The entire thing was a sealed box on the inside, only having two small slits for eyes to see through. Along with this, it had no form of air circulation or AC. It was a stuffy, hot box with legs.

"The hell are they making you wear?" Snake asked him, Freezer Boy looked back at him, attempting to put on the same confident voice as before. Yet he seemed more nervous out of the costume.

"It's a standard hero costume, state-of-the-art equipment!"

"How were you even breathing in there? I don't see any holes for air."

"I uh… can't. But it's fine! I can hold my breath for a long time."

Snake looked back at him incredulously, the shock clear on his face. He had to be joking, Snake's gear from the sixties was more effective than this, and it's entirely outdated.

"I'm going to have to disagree with you there. The entire costume is far too boxy, limiting any form of movement. At the same time, your vision is entirely obscured, with you being unable to see behind you."

"... I mean I have a mirror?" he responded, a little unsure.

"This is the kind of equipment that gets someone killed. All it takes is for the enemy to catch you off guard from behind or even the sides. Who exactly made this costume?" Snake asked, looking back at Freezer Boy. The sidekick was in turn surprised by the information Snake had shared.

"Some foreign company if I remember, Detnerat I think it was."

"Well, I suggest you change costumes, because this," Snake gestured over to the costume then, "is going to get you killed."

The sidekick seemed to look at him differently then. He sensed some form of experience from Snake, but he couldn't tell what it was. Of course, he seemed to know something about his predicament so he asked, "What would you recommend?"

Snake looked back over to him, cigar in hand as he thought it over.

"Depends on the assignment, but for a basic uniform, it should be simple yet protective. It should be fitting, but not constricting. Think ballistic plates for the most part. They don't cover everything, but the most vulnerable areas. Ensuring that when you get to battle, you can move."

Freezer Boy paid attention to the advice as Snake went on. It all seemed practical, and yet e had been taught differently. The school had always told him it needed to be big, and flashy. Make him stand out as a hero. He wasn't the creative type so he just gave them the basics of his quirk, and they did the rest. He had complained about the costume, but the school said it was fine.

He didn't really question afterward, but maybe he should of. Then again who exactly was Snake? He seemed knowledgeable on heroics and even had a name that sounded like a hero, but Freezer Boy didn't recognize him. Eventually, Snake finished and took a quick puff of his cigar.

"Tell me, what's someone your age doing out here?" Snake asked him, it had been bugging him since he saw his face.

"I'm not, I was in an internship in Wisconsin." Freezer Boy replied calmly.

"An internship?" Snake looked at him confused.

"Yeah, to get experience as a hero."

"That doesn't exactly sound right to me," Snake told him, taking a puff of his cigar.

"How do you mean?" Freezer Boy asked confused.

"You're what, sixteen, and they're sending you out to battle terrorists. Legally you can't even vote, and you're expected to learn how to fight for your life in the field."

"Well, I'm under the protection of Infini Leap." he reasoned.

"Funny, he appears to be signing autographs. Or attempting to." Snake noted. Sure enough, the hero was trying to give people his autograph. It only confirmed his suspicions about the fake applause, especially as an old lady threatened to beat him with her purse.

"He does that often?"

"...Occasionally." Freezer Boy muttered.

"I'll assume you mean a lot, but that's the point. You're young, you should be learning how to fix a fridge, not be dressed as one. You should be hanging out with friends on the weekend, not trekking through the jungle."

Freezer Boy didn't waste a second, determined he replied, "I don't care, if this is what it takes to be a hero, then I'll do it."

"And what does being a hero entail to you?" Snake asked, pointing straight at him.

"Saving lives, stopping the bad guy, making sure everyone is safe."

"Well," Snake began, "are you doing that now?"

He had Freezer Boy look around the area. His eyes followed him as he watched. All the other sidekicks were following Infini Leap's lead. Attempting to give autographs, talking with reporters, stopping for pictures, or just lounging around. They weren't doing anything. At this very moment, someone could have needed their help, and here they were, doing nothing. It bugged him ever since he got this internship. The very first day they had done nothing but talk with fans. The next few days had been the exact same, then they dragged him to Colombia. Not bothering to tell him why.

Where they arrived to find an already defeated villain. And Infini Leap was given an award for it. He wanted to be a hero, but it didn't seem like heroes, wanted to be heroes.

"Look," Snake started, seeing Freezer Boy beginning to look down, "there is more than one way to be a hero. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, assist the homeless or just be there for someone. Punching bad guys isn't the only option."

He couldn't help but admire the words. Freezer Boy felt almost stupid for not realizing the other things he could have done. Why hadn't his school taught him this? Snake wasn't done though.

"Here, when you're old enough, and you want to do some real good, give us a call."

He handed him a small card, MSF's logo visible with a small number. He took it carefully, looking over it, while Snake walked away, with the medic finally arriving.

The birth of Strangelove and Huey's son had been a chaotic affair. She had attempted to keep it a secret, but the rest of MSF had found out regardless. It started with the calm moment of Midoriya saying hello and ended with the disaster of Miller trying to sing for them. That last one had been solved by Paz and a broomstick.

It lasted for a while as Strangelove fell asleep, and gave time for Huey to look after their son. They named him Hal, the name being a reference to the 2001 Space Odyssey. Huey still couldn't help but be amazed by his newborn son. Yet his mind remained elsewhere. The prototype was slowly developing. Soon enough they would have it active.

He could see its uses, but the one he was hoping for was to transition the controls from it to ZEKE. If he could make it pilotable, then perhaps something like Peace Walker wouldn't happen again. The only problem he could think of was that the pilot wouldn't be able to fit in ZEKE. They would have to be small to do so, and the only person who seemed small enough for it was Paz.

Of course, he brought the idea up to her, to which she proceeded to ignore him. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he assumed it was due to her being a spy. Of course, he went and checked in ZEKE and could handle the necessary modifications. Surprisingly enough the majority of the work for ZEKE was already finished. He didn't remember adding pilot controls, but it made the job easier. All he needed for its success, was someone small enough to test it.

Ocelot double-checked the location the President had given him. It seemed to be the place, what with all the heroes and representatives. The World Heroes Association was supposed to be an impartial international organization. A UN for heroes in a way. Ocelot knew otherwise. His time spying on the HPSC showed him the power the Japanese branch had gained.

How else would they be able to evacuate the Brothers to Cuba? As he went forth he noticed all sorts of heroes and Ocelot could only wonder. How many of them worked for their government, or the HPSC? He spun his revolver as he went, walking past the first checkpoint. Much to his annoyance, they made him leave his revolvers. He felt naked without them, walking into an unknown place with no protection. But he went on, keeping the mask that he worked for the HPSC.

Soon enough he arrived at his destination, the office of the WHA's Chairman. Walking in he laid his eyes on a portly man, lounging about in a rather large chair. His desk was littered with sweets and burger wrappers, and his suit had a visible mustard stain. The Chairman looked over to him and his face turned to a quick panic.

"O-oh, hello! You must be the rep Madam President told me about."

Ocelot could already sense alarm bells by his response.

"I am."

"W-well everything is going smoothly. The rest of the world is still in the dark luckily."

If Ocelot were a naive man, he would have assumed the chairman meant the operations of the WHA. He was not, however. The President never told him exactly what he was checking, just the vague task of making sure things were in order.

"That's all well and good, Mr. Chairman, but the President wants more concrete details."

"C-concrete, I can do concrete sir. As of right now, I've managed to assign some of our representatives to other countries' HPSCs. As of right now, we have people in Israel, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, the US…"

He kept going on, with Ocelot secretly recording every word. By the chairman's admission, the HPSC had infiltrated almost every other branch in the world. The only ones untouched were in the third and second world. Where heroes were viewed differently.

"...And the funds have also been redirected to where the President asked. I hope this isn't out of line, but why is Madam President buying arms from sub-Saharan Africa?"

Ocelot didn't know himself, but he responded, "It's on a need-to-know basis, chairman."

"Well, ok then. Is that all?"

"I believe so," Ocelot replied, beginning to leave the office. He heard the chairman mutter, "Could've done this over a phone call, but no. Her old paranoid ass had to send a cowboy."

Needless to say, he had found MSF's newest lead, along with some surprising information. So, as he walked out of the building spinning his revolvers, he called Snake.

"So this is a videogame?" Snake asked, sitting next to Midoriya in a recreational room. A console sat ahead of them, with a controller in Snake's hand. He remembered hearing something about them back in his dimension. But he never really tried any of them out. Midoriya hearing this, dragged him to a console someone in MSF bought him.

The game Midoriya had booted up, was something called Splinter Cell. The fans must have liked the games, because this said it was a remaster, of a remaster, that was remastered, two hundred years ago.

"You move the joystick to move, you press the left trigger to aim, the right trigger to fire-"

"Why are they're two triggers on this gun? Wouldn't one be easier?"

"No for the controller, you press the left one to aim."

"Why doesn't this Fisher guy just aim normally, why does he have to press a button?"

He was not understanding this in the slightest. How was Fisher able to survive so many bullet wounds when hit? He should have bled out by the time Snake finally got away. Wasn't this supposed to be a stealth game? In the end, he folded and handed the controller over to Midoriya.

"It's easy, see," Midoriya told him, as the character on the screen interrogated an enemy.

"This still doesn't make sense."

"Would you rather do this, or practice CQC with me?" Midoriya countered.

"I'll try one more time. Are we trying to escape the building he's in?" Snake asked.

"We're looking for a computer," Midoriya answered handing the controller back to Snake. He seemed to have gotten some of it down, figuring out how to crouch now.

"Is there a cardboard box I can use?"

"No," Midoriya told him, as Snake was caught by the guards again. He ran for a few minutes ducking behind anything he could find.

"I thought this was supposed to be realistic, and you mean to tell me you can't use a cardboard box?"

"Not really no."

"Unbelievable."

And then Snake died, the guards surrounding him and finishing him off. He sighed as the death screen arrived, handing the controller back to Midoriya.

"Can we do CQC now?" Midoriya asked. Snake hesitated for a second. Earlier he was dead set on saying no. But the alternative was playing that again. They were outside in a matter of minutes, with Snake adjusting Midoriya's posture.

"Remember, the goal of CQC is to restrain or eliminate your enemy as quickly as possible. No flashy kicks and flips. Only simple precise strikes."

He went to the opposite end of Midoriya, before assuming his position. Midoriya became confused for a second before Snake told him "Attack me."

"W-what?"

"Attack me."

"...Ok…"

Cautious, Midoriya approached him slowly, still remembering what had been taught so far. Once he was close enough, he threw a punch at Snake, aiming for the gut. Snake quickly sidestepped before grabbing Midoriya's arm. He then swept his legs, and as Midoriya fell, Snake flipped him over. He landed on the platform face first, as Snake restrained his arms.

"Owww!"

"I said attack me, I never said I wasn't going to protect myself."

"A warning would have been nice."

"Perhaps, but what do you think you did wrong?"

He thought about it for a moment, going through his previous actions. He had approached him slowly, getting close enough to punch him. He thought he had an answer but it seemed too simple. Unsure he answered, "I gave you too much time to prepare?"

"Yes, you were hesitant and wasted time. It messed with your nerves and allowed me to take advantage. You need to think and act quicker"

He let go of Midoriya then, allowing him to stand back up. Snake went back into position and took his stance. Midoriya did the same, ignoring the slight sting on his face. Taking note of what he learned, he acted quicker that time. Rapidly he ran up to Snake and threw a kick. Snake grabbed his leg and instead threw him away. He landed on the ground hard, before Snake then restrained him again.

"This time?" Snake asked.

"Uh… I rushed in?" Midoriya guessed.

"Exactly, there's a fine line between rushing in unprepared and taking too long to act. You need to learn where that line is."

Snake let go of him again, walking back into position and taking a stance. Midoriya, would slowly do the same, and get ready. He took a quick breath as he thought out his first move. Snake was out of arms reach, but close enough to see what Midoriya would do. Soon enough he remembered something. Both times Snake had grabbed him. Not blocked or punched but grabbed.

More than likely he would grab again, so he thought of a way around this. He approached Snake, keeping him in sight. Acting fast he threw a feint punch at Snake. As predicted Snake would attempt to grab him again, so Midoriya sidestepped. He then kicked Snake in the gut before he could react.

His face lit up in a smile when he realized he had hit him. Then he found his face hitting the concrete again, with Snake restraining him.

"Good, you're learning," Snake commented.

"I still ended up losing," Midoriya replied downtrodden.

"Winning wasn't the point. This is training remember, you're not expected to do everything perfectly. The important thing is that you're able to learn from this, which you are. Just remember, you're pretty good"

"Oh, ok. Thanks, da- Snake."

"You're welcome. Now, return to position, I want you to try again"

"Got it."