The President of the HPSC was furious. One man had managed to infiltrate a top-secret facility being guarded by some of their most elite agents. Even worse, that one man had then stolen the dimensional constant from them and disappeared via helicopter. They didn't even have any information on him. Whoever he was, he was skilled. There was no security camera footage of him, no DNA evidence, and unreliable eyewitness testimony. The best they had was some semblance of a face and two logos for two unheard-of organizations.
Yet Dr. Night Owl seemed to have ignored these problems, the man's smug smile never leaving his face even after his greatest failure. Still, this could be solved. The public did not know about the event or the project, so the facade of the truthful and loving HPSC still held firm. This new group though, would pose a temporary issue. They didn't act like a regular villain organization. They usually run in guns blazing, blowing up everything with their quirks, and announcing the attack to the whole world.
No, this was one man being sent to sneak into the area and get out with no one noticing. Even stranger was the equipment. A good majority of the agents at the base were found to still be alive. They were shot with an unknown type of anesthesia that somehow didn't over or underdose them. As well as the military-grade helicopter that resembled a Blackhawk, but wasn't. Normal villains could never afford such equipment, normal villains could barely even hope to acquire it. It would have to wait, however, currently the public had questions about a new hero that had made headway in the polls. Someone with a pair of jeans as a costume.
Izuku was tired. He remembered the hours of testing they had put him through on the first day. Strapping him to a strange machine as electricity went through him. After the first hour, they gagged him to stop the screaming. It never let him sleep. Every time he closed his eyes the scientist would greet him, and the cycle would begin again in his dreams. It's why he was so tired. He had just awoken from another nightmare of it, trying his best to regain control of his breathing.
It helped when the medic who bandaged him came to assist, having him follow him in a breathing exercise. It reminded him that he was safe. Rescued by someone who seemed like a hero, though he didn't have their name. They acted like a hero, saving him from the bad guys and keeping him safe. But Izuku doesn't remember many heroes who used guns or had their helicopters. Maybe he was a member of the top ten he missed.
He seemed too busy to ask though, talking to someone next to him. He didn't understand what they were saying though. As much as he wanted to be like All Might, he wasn't close when it came to speaking English, he assumed it was what they were speaking. They seemed to notice him though, as the blond one looked over to him. The hero would do the same and seeing that he was awake, moved over to him.
"Hey kid, you doing better?"
Izuku simply nodded his head, unable to notice his own star-struck eyes. He was talking to a hero! He had to get his autograph, he could show it off to Kachan and the others at school, and his… mom. He felt tears begin to form again as he remembered. It was so easy to forget thanks to the experiments and the pain, but now the memories came flooding back to the forefront. He tried to remain strong, but the dam eventually burst.
The hero looked concerned but didn't know what to do exactly. He stumbled with his words for a moment before he opened up his arms. Izuku didn't care as he wrapped him in a hug. He clung to the hero as he silently cried, his tears soaking into their clothes. He didn't know how long it had been, he just cried. Letting out what he had kept in for five months. The hero didn't seem to mind, at least Izuku hoped he didn't. He didn't want to be rude to his rescuer or burden him any further.
Yet they simply stayed there, unmoving as he cried. Slowly, he stopped hugging the hero, his eyes all dry and puffy now.
"I-I'm s-sorry," he said, looking at the hero. He only responded with a calm smile, trying his best to comfort the boy.
"Don't be, it's ok to cry after something like that."
The hero sounded so understanding and caring. He said something else to the man behind him quickly, before turning back to Izuku. He had to know who he was, he acted so confident and heroic, for Izuku to not know who he was bugged him.
"A-are you a hero?"
The man paused for a minute as if contemplating how to answer the question.
"I'm… no hero kid. Never was, never will be." the man answered. That only left him confused, was he a vigilante then? He had to be a hero, who else saves people the way he did?
"W-well, y-you already know my name. W-whats yours?"
"Snake," he said, "call me Snake."
The name alone made him giddy, it was so cool! Then the other guy approached him as well, causing Izuku to tense up a little. He relaxed when Snake began talking.
"It's alright, he's with me. Midoriya meet Kazuhira Miller."
Miller stuck out his hand. Izuku was confused for a moment before he shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Midoriya," Miller greeted, "now I know you're nervous and all, but I'm going to have to ask you some questions."
Izuku went pale for a moment before Miller continued talking.
"Don't worry, we can wait as long as you like. First I think there's something you'll want to see."
He didn't understand what he meant by that. Miller began stepping off to the side of the helicopter before Snake did the same. Curious he slowly walked up to the window. His eyes widened. It was incredible, above the water rested a massive set of structures. They were all huge, encompassing a large surface area of the ocean. It was like a city on the water. It was so cool to look at, every second he would find some new detail while looking at it.
He felt Snake tap him on the shoulder, and he turned to face him.
"Want me to open the door?"
Fear struck him again, but it became overwhelmed with curiosity and excitement. He stepped back, allowing Snake to open the door of the helicopter. The door now open, Snake himself, approached the opening. He angled his legs outward and sat down on the edge. Shakily, Izuku moved next to him, carefully sitting down. It felt amazing, the cool air darting past his face. His hair blew with the wind. All while the helicopter began landing on the structure.
"Welcome, to Mother Base." Miller introduced.
Around him, Izuku could see hundreds of people walking around. They all wore the same logo on their sleeves and carried rifles in their hands. Now his feet touched the concrete, walking out of the helicopter. He couldn't help but hide behind Snake when a few of the people looked toward them. This was especially true when someone came running towards them.
"Commandante!"
The person approaching them stopped quickly, saluting Snake. The new boy was taller than Izuku but smaller than Snake. He couldn't have been more than a few years older than him. He then began speaking to Snake in a language he didn't understand, switching between it and what he assumed was English. Though he heard the word Chico being used over and over again, maybe it was his name.
Soon though, a look of surprise covered the boy's face before his eyes fell onto Izuku. He didn't know what was being said, but the conversation had turned to him.
"Midoriya," Snake began, "this is Chico."
Chico gave off a small smile, before waving at him.
"He's going to be watching you for a minute while we go discuss something. Now he doesn't speak Japanese so someone else will accompany you soon."
Panicking that Snake would be leaving, he grabbed the man's leg tightly. Snake only looked down surprised, before he slowly pried Izuku off. Crouching down he looked him in the eye.
"Don't worry, I'll be back soon, I just need you to be brave for me. Can you do that?"
He was brave, he could be brave like a hero. Like Snake, like All Might. He couldn't voice the words so he nodded, wiping his eyes with his arm. Then Snake was gone, walking off somewhere with Miller. Leaving him with Chico. They looked at each other silently. Chico looked like he wanted to talk, but both knew they wouldn't understand the other.
An idea seemed to form, as Chico began searching for something in a bag he had. It took him a minute, but he pulled out a large chocolate bar. It was already open and had some pieces missing, but the rest of it seemed fine. There Chico held it out, offering it to Izuku.
The conversation with Miller hadn't been pleasant. The man himself became as furious as Snake when he learned what was going on at the facility. Now they made themselves a new enemy in a foreign dimension. Snake needed a new plan of action. That became clear after some scouting parties were sent out. The world itself was frighteningly different from what Snake was used to.
They were two hundred years into the future, with almost every human being on the planet possessing some form of supernatural power or mutation. With the most powerful of those falling into two categories, heroes or villains. The militaries, police forces, firefighters, and other first responders of the world seemingly took the back seat on the national stage. Superseded by organizations of professional heroes using their abilities to fight threats once viewed as impossible.
Villains, who once before had acted in the shadows hidden by the world, now broadcasted themselves live on the news. Waging a bare-knuckle brawl with some spandex-wearing hero in the city streets. The Cold War was also over, the Soviet Union being no more, and the US still standing. And even stranger, it was a world without Metal Gears. Everything here was completely alien to Snake.
Before he had a purpose, a goal, a use for society. Did he even have that here, in a world where soldiers have seemingly been replaced? It sure didn't seem like they were replaced. Wars were still being waged across the world, yet everyone acted as if they had been peaceful. One scouting group had discovered a country-wide gang war being waged in the jungles of Venezuela. A conflict between the socialist government, fascist rebels, and Colombian cartels. Not a word of this or any other conflict was found in any foreign press, instead displaying the ranks of new up-and-coming heroes.
If anything, his purpose had shifted now. The world had become blind to conflict somehow, and now the market demanded someone to pick up the slack. MSF would stand strong, if somewhat weaker at the moment. For now, their first objective was the most obvious, rebuilding. While the majority of MSF's three hundred members survived, a lot of them were wounded and Mother Base itself was heavily damaged. They needed resources, and Kaz already knew where to begin.
"Saudi Arabia?" Snake asked.
"It's the perfect opportunity. One of our scouting parties did more than look around the area they managed to score us this beauty of a contract." Miller replied.
"It certainly pays a lot," Snake commented.
"Not to mention the mission itself provides extra benefits. Mossad wants us to sabotage the Saudi oil fields, but they never said what to do with the oil. And right now Mother Base could use some fuel Boss."
"Hmm, I'll keep it in mind."
Carefully, Snake set the paper aside, the desk in front of him already covered in other documents. He still wasn't used to the management side of MSF, being in the field was more of his forte. The reports themselves were simple numbers compositions of resources.
"So," Miller started, "what are we doing about the kid?"
Snake sighed as he looked back at Kaz, pulling out a cigar. He tried to light it but Kaz swatted it away, quickly pointing at a no-smoking sign.
"He'll have to stay with us for the moment until we can find where his folks are."
"I don't think it's going to be that simple Snake."
"Neither do I. Considering what they did to him, I wouldn't write off assassination as implausible."
Kaz looked back at him curiously.
"You think they're already dead?"
"There would have been news about his disappearance, at least on a local level, but there's none."
"I don't know, this HPSC is a government organization, they likely covered it up."
"That makes the likelihood of them being dead higher. You know how some agencies are."
Kaz couldn't find it in himself to disagree. The entire Peacewalker fiasco was enough evidence for Snake's Point. They wouldn't have even been in Costa Rica without interference from the KGB and CIA.
"What were they even doing to him?" Kaz asked, a somber look on his face.
"I don't know. I haven't been able to ask, and I don't think he's ready for us too."
"Makes sense, still though what were they even trying to achieve? Open a portal into another dimension, and then what say hi?"
Kaz began thinking it over as he spoke, putting his hand near his chin.
"No, something bigger is at play here."
They both looked at each other, coming to the same realization. They didn't know what their plan was, or why, but they had just gotten themselves in the middle of it. Snake then remembered Night Owl, he knew who he was. The heat of battle caused him to forget about it, but how did he know? Kaz himself was stumped when Snake told him. Whatever was going on, Night Owl was involved.
It had been a few days since he had been rescued, as Izuku scribbled on the paper in front of him. He tried his best to capture the likeness of All Might, but the yellow kept mixing with the blue. Snake still seemed to like it though. He had shown it to him as he left for a mission. Izuku didn't know where he was going, but he hoped he would be ok. For the most part, he was left alone on Mother Base, with Miller or Paz coming to check up on him. Paz was nice in his opinion. Like everyone else, she didn't understand him, but she always helped however she could. Of course, both of them asked who he was drawing, with only Miller being properly able to.
Both times he would smile and exclaim "All Might!" causing Miller to chuckle, and Paz to become confused. It was strange to him though, they didn't seem to know who All Might was. Maybe they never heard of him before, they did live in the middle of the ocean. If only he could tell this to Kachan. It was so cool he would want to see it for himself. Maybe even Mom… he shook the thought out of his mind, refocusing on the drawing on the ground.
He scribbled away before the red crayon snapped. That was fine, just focus on the picture he thought. He grabbed the blue and continued to draw before it snapped. Then the yellow. Focus on the drawing he thought. The orange, the green, the purple. His breathing became erratic. The brown, the pink, the white. He couldn't breathe. The black crayon hovered above the paper. He shouted at himself, draw!
He couldn't breathe, the world becoming a void around him. The only thing visible was a blob in front of him. An unmistakable blob of green hair and red blood. He couldn't breathe.
"Midoriya!"
He couldn't think, he couldn't move, he couldn't breathe. He barely noticed something grab him, or did it? He felt pain, or did he? He couldn't feel, he couldn't think, he couldn't breathe.
"Midoriya, I need you to breathe with me, ok?"
He couldn't think, he could barely hear. His body follows the instructions of something. Something guiding him along. Slowly, the world came back to him. He breathed. He felt something wet across his face, something soft in his hands. His drawing was ruined, stained with all the crayons and tears.
"Breathe, there you go," Snake spoke softly. Izuku became confused for a moment. Hadn't he left for a mission? He looked up, finding the once-lit sky dark. Had he been here that long? He didn't care. The experience was too much for him, subconsciously pulling himself closer to Snake. He didn't object, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.
They just sat there for a moment, Izuku staring up at the sky, Snake sitting next to him. He didn't want to talk, he wasn't ready to talk, and Snake understood. He didn't notice his eyes beginning to drift off, or his grip on Snake loosening. He didn't notice being lifted, as Snake stood up. He didn't notice arriving at his room, Snake entering it quietly. He didn't notice his bed, as Snake carefully put him in. He didn't notice as the man pulled up a chair, and continued to sit with him.
Snake himself was deep in thought. It was clear letting him roam Mother Base on his own was a bad idea. Not to mention the problem of only a few people knowing Japanese. They might need to teach him some English. Possibly inform the rest of MSF to keep an eye out if he needs help. He only wondered when MSF's therapist would be released from sick bay. Perhaps, a gift was in order. The kid seemed like a massive hero fan. Maybe something like that would help.
The experiment was going accordingly, even without the constant. Sure it had become more difficult, the portals becoming harder to stabilize and even harder to create. But they were making progress. Already they had gone from a one-foot portal to a one-foot-five. It made the President of the HPSC disappointed since the last portal had been twenty feet with the constant, but Night Owl didn't care.
"Begin test one o seven," he ordered into the microphone. An aide on the other side of the blast shield cautiously approached the portal. In their hands was a small steel pipe. The pipe was pushed into the portal slowly. Once half the pipe was through the aide stopped, and pulled the pipe back. It was a melted slag of its former self, with every Geiger counter in the room maxing out immediately. The HPSC representative that was next to Night Owl sighed.
"And you said this operation would be a lucrative investment." he sneered, focused more on fixing his worn-out tie than the test in the room.
"Even Einstein had a few failures." Night Owl countered.
"Einstein managed to prove his successes, you've brought nothing but trinkets and soil samples."
"Science takes time Gecko."
"No, science takes capital and lots of it. The very fact that I was sent down here, means your science hasn't reimbursed what we gave you."
Night Owl simply smiled at the man like he always did. Yet instead of his usually shiny grin, he was down to a lowly smirk. The only sign that he was getting annoyed with Gecko. Gecko himself was a rather uncreative man, giving himself the codename due to his scaly arms. Always so business-focused, oh how it annoyed Night Owl so much. But he held himself back, continuing to smirk at the man.
"Trust me, once your agents manage to relocate the constant, my research will bear fruit early."
"It's better. The President already has you on thin ice. The amount it cost us to cover up your failure will come knocking."
Sure it would, just like the last seventeen times Gecko had made that threat. Truly uncreative. Night Owl moved back over to the microphone, watching as the portal closed again before it reopened. It was smaller this time. The same aide moved forward, putting a new pipe through. It barely went through, before something snapped forward, ripping off the aide's arm. The portal was closed instantly. The aide, of course, turned purple as he clutched his broken arm before he fell apart like sand. A shame, he kinda of liked that aide. But that's just how it goes, both Gecko and Night Owl looking on uncaring as the next aide walked in, hoping to not trip over the chains on their legs.
"Your target is the Alqafr oil depot Boss. After that is the field itself. Blow up some pumps, extract the oil, and the contract is good." Kaz relayed over the codec. Snake himself checked over his weapons a final time. A tranq gun, an MRS assault rifle, a Renov sniper rifle with tranq rounds, his knife, a collapsable cardboard box, several Fulton extraction devices, and a dozen bricks of C4. This time, he had replaced his sneaking suit with basic desert camouflage. More than enough to finish the mission.
Already he could feel the dry sandy air against his face, as he opened the door of the helicopter. He could see the oil pumps ahead, a few being guarded by soldiers. It would have surprised Snake, but the Saudis did take their oil seriously. His feet touched the sandy ground below, the helicopter leaving the area of operations. He made the trek over the vast dunes, surveying the land in front of him.
The oil field itself was quite small for how wide open it was, only housing six oil pumps. Next to the field was a convoy of six trucks, waiting for a final shipment from the pumps. Seeing the trucks were almost ready to leave, Snake decided to extract those first. Slowly he got closer to the trucks, marking the several guards there. Now resting on a small dune overlooking the convoy, Snake drew his sniper rifle. He lined the scope up with the head of a guard, the man talking to one of his compatriots.
He fell over suddenly as Snake pulled the trigger. His buddy looked over the body shocked, trying to figure out what happened to his unconscious friend. Snake had finished cycling the bolt and then, pulled the trigger again. Another called out to the others, already knowing what was going on. The remaining ones ducked behind the engine blocks of their trucks.
Rookies, Snake realzied. Who else would be dumb enough to hide behind oil for cover? They were lucky he was using tranq rounds. Seeing he couldn't get a clear shot, he began moving to get closer. He heard the soldiers talking fast and panicked, more than likely into a radio. He was right next to them now, standing on the other side of the truck. All they had to do was look down, but none of them did.
He crawled under the vehicle, pulling out his tranq gun, before sweeping the leg of a guard. The others looked over shocked before they turned pale seeing Snake under the truck. They didn't react fast enough as he shot them, one by one. They fell unconscious like their peer, their faces getting covered in sand. He crawled out from under the truck, surveying the area around him. Seeing it clear, began putting the fultons on the trucks.
He tied down the oil and made sure the containers were secure, before sending off the first balloon. Kaz would then call him to confirm the pick up of the trucks before he moved and restarted the process on the next. Nearly fifteen trucks were extracted. Snake didn't even know how much oil was in them, but it was hopefully enough for now. Turning around, he began moving toward the first oil pump.
There were luckily no guards around, so he quickly placed the first brick of C4 on the machine. With the bricks now secure, he made his way to the next pump. This one was unfortunately guarded, as two soldiers sat leisurely on the pump's foundation. They were discussing something, but he couldn't understand what.
"[Why are we even out here in the first place? There is nothing around except sand!]"
"[Would you calm down, it's at least better than my last assignment."
"[Really, what could be worse than this barren sandy desert?]"
"[A barren sandy desert, on the Iraq border.]"
Snake carefully approached them. He spotted a lone piece of concrete, chipped off the foundation. Having an idea, he picked it up as quietly as possible, before throwing it at a nearby dune. The soldiers became whipped their heads to the noise.
"[What was that?]"
"[A snake maybe?]"
"[All the way out here?]"
"[Just go check it out.]"
One of them began moving toward the cement, the other remaining behind. Snake then snuck behind the soldier staying behind, grabbing him. He pulled him to the ground fast, restraining and choking him out. With one now unconscious he sprinted over the other soldier.
"[Huh, there is a snake over here.]"
The guard began turning around, right as Snake slammed into him. They hit the ground hard, sand flying up into the air. The guard spat out the sand in surprise as he tried to get up. It wasn't for long though, as he was silently tranquilized. The same as the last, Snake placed the C4 on the pumps. He did the same for the third, fourth, and fifth pumps. It was as he was finishing the sixth pump, that he spotted something. It was a small dot on the horizon, no bigger than his thumb.
Yet it was getting bigger fast. He pulled out his binoculars to see what it was, before silently swearing to himself. It looked like a Magloader tank, yet it possessed slight deviations in its design. Whatever the type though, it was unmistakably a tank. He shifted his gaze to the second pump, finding the soldiers still unconscious, but their radios showing they were on. Someone must have called for an update.
The tank itself seemed to have spotted Snake, its secondary machine gun firing when it got close enough. He ducked behind a dune, the bullets being caught in the sand. Already the tank was too close for comfort, and he had no true anti-tank weapons, but Snake had two advantages. Unless the gunner wanted to blow up the entire oil field, he was relegated to only the machine gun. So long as Snake stayed somewhat near the pumps he was fine. That was advantage one, advantage two was a bit more difficult.
Tanks themselves have one glowing weakness, they are incapable of fending off close-up infantry. If he could get close enough, he might be able to Fulton the vehicle. Slowly, he began crawling around to a different dune, attempting to flank the tank on the right side. He slowly made his trek across the sand, occasionally peeking up to view the tank. He would continue moving when he saw the tank still distracted. This wouldn't last forever, as the tank arrived at the dune. It rolled over it, finding the dune vacant and Snake gone. The tank's turret began turning, surveying the nearby area.
He ducked down into the sand, as low as possible. The turret passed over him, as the tank simply stayed put. It watched the area, knowing he was nearby. All the while he approached it carefully, pausing every time the turret would pass over him. He was only a few feet away when the turret stopped. He rolled out the way barely in time, round grazing past his leg. The machine stopped as the turret turned, Snake now running up towards the tank. The tank's chassis began to move, the treads backing the vehicle up to Snake.
The turret then lined up again, Snake leaping out of the way. Another round grazed his arm, Snake gritting his teeth from the pain. He could feel his leg beginning to slow him down as blood pooled onto his uniform. He forced himself to keep moving feeling another bullet graze his arm as he dodged. The closer he got the faster the turret was able to react, needing less time to turn. Every bullet that hit him made it clear. The chassis was rapidly approaching him as well, the treads nearing his position.
Quickly he dived forward to the ground. The tank rolled forward, its occupants now trying to crush him with the treads. Bits of his uniform were torn off as he rolled out of the way. He could feel the tank on top of him, barely an inch of room above him. Then it stopped. The tank sat there for a few good minutes before it moved back.
Painfully, Snake grabbed a Fulton device with his hand, watching as the tank rolled off of him. He moved quickly when he was finally free, strapping the Fulton almost immediately. The tank lifted off the ground at an odd angle, slowly increasing its height. Not one to look at a gift horse in the face, Snake climbed up the slowly lifting tank, grabbing the tether on the Fulton. Then as they lifted into the sky, he activated the detonator and watched the fields explode.
"It's surely something, I'll give you that," Strangelove stated as she stood near Snake reading the reports. Snake himself was holding a bag of ice on his now patched-up wounds. No amount of bandages seemed to remove the paint.
"Something?! What this is, is incredible! An entirely new dimension the likes of which, we have never seen!" Huey called out, the man looking over the documents from his wheelchair, "The possibilities from this discovery alone are unsurmountable!"
Grumbling as he shifted the ice pack, Snake looked over to him.
"You seem to know a lot about this," he commented.
"Not at all," Huey replied, "I'm afraid I have no true knowledge on any of this. The very principle itself is completely theoretical."
"He's right, as much as I hate to admit it," Strangelove added, "the best source of information we have for this, is Murray Leinster's Sidewise in Time. Even then that's not providing much for our situation."
That was upsetting. Snake was hoping for them to at least have some knowledge of the situation. Now it just told him how unprepared they were. Every day this seemed to become clearer and clearer. For example, after the operation in Saudi Arabia, the R&D department tore apart the tank he extracted. In it, they found technology far superior to whatever was in theirs currently, both Soviet and Western tanks.
Their equipment was now heavily outdated, and now the R&D department was playing catch up. The only good news was from Huey surprisingly.
"It should be relatively easy to catch up to future, or I guess now modern standards." Huey remarked, holding up a blueprint from the now-named 'Abrams'.
"How do you mean?" Miller asked.
"By my estimates, were only forty years behind them technologically. Not one hundred or two hundred, but forty."
"Forty years? Hold on this doesn't make any sense, why would we only be forty years behind a world that is two hundred years into the future?"
Huey set the blueprint down on the table in front of him. His hand began tapping on his wheelchair as he thought.
"I'm not entirely sure, my best guess is that technological advancement has somehow become stagnant. Maybe some sort of grand cataclysm or event took place, I mean, we still know little about these powers the whole world seems to have. Maybe it was that?"
"Still, this is rather fortunate no?" Strangelove added, "A stagnant society means we can play catch up quickly."
"That's not the only thing a stagnant society means," Snake grumbled. He had seen it far too many times in his experience. Stagnancy more than always became one thing, a status quo. He could see it now when looking at the world. Its worst issues were being covered with a bandage, while the bullet was still lodged into society's artery. Sooner or later, something was going to break the status quo, like it always did, and chaos was going to follow.
"So, what now?" Snake asked them, looking around.
"For now, I recommend completing ZEKE. It's the one piece of technology we have that outpaces everything here." Huey stated.
"I concur, unless they found a way to safely shoot down a nuke in the last two hundred years, then ZEKE is our best option," Strangelove agreed.
"Good to know, I'll see if we can find more parts somewhere in the world. In the meanwhile Snake, I've-" Miller stopped as he saw the door crack open. Snake turned to see who was entering, finding Midoriya cowering behind the door. He stood there nervous for a second before he began to leave.
"[S-sorry, I'll l-leave.]"
He attempted to at least. Strangelove noticed him far too quickly. She walked up to him and crouched down to his height surprisingly fast.
"Oh, now who might you be?" she asked. Midoriya immediately became nervous again. He began breathing faster, more so than Snake liked. He walked up to him quickly, the kid seeming to calm down with his presence.
"This is Midoriya," Miller started, "he was the kid Snake rescued back at the facility."
Strangelove immediately became solemn, pitying the child in front of her. She opened up her arms for a hug, hoping to comfort the boy. It took a minute but Midoriya got closer to her, nervously accepting the hug.
"The horrors someone so young was forced to go through," she muttered quietly.
"Who in their right mind tortures a six-year-old!" Huey stated angrily.
Strangelove soon let go of Midoriya, as he began looking towards Snake. Snake himself crouched down to his level, speaking in a quiet tone.
"[Did you need something kid?]"
He could see tears pooling in his eyes then. Midoriya tried his best to wipe them away, but they lingered on no matter how hard he tried. It almost hurt Snake with how broken the kid seemed.
"[W-when c-can I go home?]"
Snake could feel himself mentally crash for a moment. He didn't know what to say here. They were still looking for his parents and they couldn't ask the kid if he knew anything. Yet every part of him wanted to say yes, to comfort the boy in front of him. The boy nearly pleaded if he could go back to his family.
"[Soon, ok?]" It broke Snake to say it, to see the little light in the kid's eyes get slightly dimmer. He was going to get him home, or at the very least bring him solace.
The president of the HPSC stood with a fake smile in front of the cameras, the new hero Best Jeanist standing next to her. This entire ceremony was a waste of time, yet it held some sort of significance to the public, so here she was. At the grand opening of the new hero's agency. She could understand why it was significant. Best Jeanist had risen through the ranks at an astonishing speed, reaching the number ten spot in months.
Still, she couldn't help but have her mind on other matters at the moment. This new organization continued to elude them even with their best efforts. The best they had was merely theoretical, it didn't help that Night Owl was hiding things from them. That much was obvious. It was better than nothing though. So long as this didn't interfere with the public, that is. She could already see the headlines should the world learn of this. Their carefully crafted picture of truth and justice shattered by some unseen shadow.
That was her ultimate fear, that everything the HPSC built would come crashing down. It's why, a plan was coming to fruition. Night Owl said that Agent Matter's quirk was the reason they could open up portals to other dimensions. Excluding the dimensional constant, the portals were created by a quirk. A quirk, not a machine or magic, but a quirk. So by this line of logic, what would happen if they introduced something new to the equation?
After all, a new quirk enhancement drug had just hit the streets, and they did have connections. The President's face remained a calm friendly smile, as she shook the hand of Best Jeanist. The smile hid the plan she had already thought of.
It had taken some time, but Kaz had done it. He didn't know how it was possible, but he found the kid's parents. Every intel team on Mother Base had been searching for this one piece of information for weeks, and now it finally bore fruit. It would take time to verify, but they had a general location. Of course, Snake was already on another mission, sent out to the midst of the Caribbean, so it fell onto him to investigate.
He made sure to bring along only two other soldiers with him. He didn't want too much attention, but some form of backup in case things went wrong. Now with him accompanied MSF's best fighter Striker Osprey, and MSF's best intelligence operative, Death Whale. In all seriousness though, Kaz was gonna need a talk with Snake about how dumb these codenames were.
Already he could see the town as the helicopter made its arrival. Mustafu it was called. Kaz didn't remember it on any map, so it must have been exclusive to this dimension. Maybe. He didn't completely understand the whole other dimension stuff. Regardless, the helicopter made its descent on the outskirts of the city. There they disembarked and began walking to the apartment complex itself.
The walk was honestly quite strange for Miller. All the way there he spotted people with all varying powers. Some had more practical or cool powers, like one man whose entire upper body was made of solid concrete. Others were, unique was the polite way of putting it, as Miller tried not to stare at the walking Windex bottle. It made Snake's discussion about Operation Snake Eater all the more plausible. If only because it made Volgin seem tame in comparison.
Every person on the street had something majorly different, than the person next to them. It felt as if Miller stuck out like a sore thumb oddly enough. With everyone so different the ordinary seems strange. They continued moving forward though, making their way to the apartment. It wasn't in the best neighborhood, nor was it the worst. Simply somewhere in between.
It was, however, empty. The majority of the hallways were vacant, and barely a third of the apartments were rented out. It was suspicious, to say the least. Up to the apartment, Miller couldn't help but feel something was off. It continued as he stood outside the door of the apartment, a lone strand of police tape covering the door. He brushed past it carefully, noticing the near-empty room.
The kitchen countertop was void of appliances, and the fridge was removed from the wall. Dust lined where a couch and TV stand used to be along with an empty shelf. It wasn't the most worrying thing though, as Miller looked away. The window near the living room was shattered, with blood covering the ledge. Already the three of them spread out, Osprey moving to watch the door, Whale inspecting the bloody window, and Kaz going around the rest of the apartment.
He found the kid's room pretty easily. The hero he was drawing had his face all over the walls. Several journals, calculators, pens, coffee mugs, action figures, and all other sorts of merchandise littered the shelves. But why was this the only furniture? There was still a desk, a chair, a bed, and other possessions. Whoever cleaned out the apartment left this here, but why?
It was the only room to have anything left behind. The bathroom had its shower curtains removed, the floor mat was gone, decorative towels were missing, and someone had even taken the sink. Then the master bedroom was the same case, with no furniture anywhere.
"Commander!" Whale called over to him.
Leaving the room, he began walking over to him. In his hand, he held out an Idroid, lifting it away from the faint steam appearing from the floor.
"What's the situation?" Miller asked.
"I found traces of blood on the ground, sir, more than what was on the window seal."
Whale stood up at that moment, using his hands to gesture around the area.
"It gets weirder still, the blood itself appeared in an irregular pattern. Instead of a normal splatter, it was seemingly cut off."
"So someone did a sloppy cleanup?"
Whale shook his head no.
"That doesn't seem to be the case, it was as if something stopped the blood from reaching that spot. Now if I were to base this off a usual household…"
He began moving around the area, listing off pieces of furniture. The couch went where the dust outline was, the TV stand at the other. A lone chair in the corner with a small stand. And a coffee table, right where the blood would have splattered.
"Ok, so if you are correct, the victim was hit by something and landed awkwardly on the table. The table shields that section of the floor from blood."
"By the look of it yes, it's a cut-and-dry murder case."
That was not good news. There was only one person the victim could be, and that only made their job much harder. The only question now was what happened to the body? Was it buried, or was it still missing? Not to mention who was the killer? Miller already had some assumption on who it was, but who specifically eluded him. He was about to leave the apartment with Whale when Osprey came running back in.
Catching on, they ducked behind whatever wall they could find before Osprey threw a cardboard box into the living room. The room stayed silent for a minute before voices could be heard.
"I'm telling you, no one would be dumb enough to come here."
"And the higher-ups think otherwise, so if you want to get paid, then shut your trap."
Trying his best to remain hidden, Kaz peeked around the corner of the master bedroom door. The individuals themselves were oddly dressed, to say the least. Both wore what could best be described as a costume. The first one that spoke wearing a bright red suit with green trimming on the knees, elbows, and shoulders, along with a green domino mask on their face. The second one who spoke was the same as his companion, the only difference being color. A bright blue with yellow trimmings, and a yellow domino mask.
"I swear, we should be signing autographs by now at the casino by now!" the red one exclaimed angrily.
"Yeah I know, but you know how those HPSC bastards can get."
The acronym made Miller grit his teeth, as he ducked back behind cover. He was right then, the HPSC was involved somehow. Looking over to the kid's room, he saw Osprey pulling out his sidearm. He looked over to Miller for confirmation but waited as the man signaled for him to stop.
"And here I hoped I'd seen the last of this dump months ago."
"You and me both. I couldn't get the blood out of my suit for weeks."
"You had it lucky, the tears of that damn kid, uh they wouldn't go away. It was like they were made of tree sap or something."
Already Miller could feel his anger rising as the two men spoke. It was an odd twist of fate, the killers being ordered to return to the crime scene. Was it enemy incompetence, or sheer convenience? He began drawing out his sidearm as well, motioning for Osprey to follow him. They moved slowly, approaching the two men on light feet.
"Tears? You're comparing tears to bloodstains? You really are an idiot."
"Am I, my suit is red. The blood would just blend in, I mean… was that box always here?"
"What box?"
It was their opportunity. The two men became distracted with the box, bickering with each other about who left it.
"Hands up, both of you," Kaz ordered.
The two men froze, for a moment. Both slowly raise their hands into the air. Yet their hands began changing, the blue one seemingly becoming a liquid, as the red began to smoke. The men whipped around fast, only to be shot in the chest. It left Kaz confused at how easily they had been defeated. They weren't even shot anywhere vital, they pretty much just had the wind knocked out of them. He wasn't complaining though, they didn't seem all that competent to begin with.
What he had now though, was living answers to his questions. Yet as he zip-tied the wounded men, and began wondering how they were going to extract them covertly, his eyes began to wander back to Midoriya's room. And an idea began to form.