(Nobody POV)
"I should have known. You and your infuriating abilities ruin everything. Oh well, perhaps next time then."
Unfortunately for him, they were not going to let him leave so easily. Especially America and NATO who immediately leapt into action.
"Ame, with me! Russia, back us up!"
"Just like old times huh," Ame chuckled as the sparks in his eyes flickered back to life. The enemy lifted his arms and a giant wall of smoke began to slither and snake towards the Superpower but it vanished before it could reach him. NATO took off towards the nuisance of a man.
"Thanks NATO!" America nodded as he rounded on Afghanistan, who was still somehow able to fight on. It was rather impressive that she was still conscious, seeing that she had lost a crap ton of blood.
A shield of ice shot out of the ground to block a few daggers that had approached from his blind spot. "Pay attention America," Russia barked.
America snatched a small shard and threw it to hit another incoming one, sending both of them clattering back to the ground.
"Thanks Russ." he grumbled as a tingly sensation returned to his body.
In a split second, a wave of light and heat rolled off his figure and was once again coated in a molten golden glow. He grinned slyly as he made his way to the trembling girl before him. Nothing could touch him now.
NATO glanced back to see his pupil alight and immediately felt his heart drop.
"America, if you use your Awakening like that, you won't go for much longer! Conserve with the Partial Awakening or we might be screwed over later!" NATO called but he knew it was falling on deaf ears.
Afghanistan was powerless against him. There was no way she could defeat the Superpower this time. Her body shifted back, trying to get away from the flames that wrapped around his glowing form. America's blazing eyes bore into hers, with a ferocity that burned brightly.
In her eyes, he was a god, about to cast divine judgement and for her, it meant death but she did not waver. Not once did she retract her gaze from the enemy.
America smiled and lifted his hand. Afghanistan braced herself for the pain.
All there was, was a gentle warmth that brushed her face, and a rush of light and air from the world she was hidden from. Her chadri had been flung away and set ablaze. The brilliant hot red hues, brought the fabric back to life just before it charred into a crumbling black. Her eyes widened in awe as she gaped at the sky and earth that she had almost forgotten about, finally unobstructed by the red veil.
She sat within a cage of fire, unable to move but it was alright. For some reason, she didn't mind staying put.
"Why didn't you end me?" she whispered as her eyes began to water.
"Maybe it was pity, or perhaps I respected your determination. Whatever the case, just don't give me another reason to kill you and it will be alright." he replied before dashing off to regroup with his instructor.
NATO was having a hard time obstructing the hooded figure's Awakening and attacking at the same time. The enemy was also surprisingly resilient too but luckily he had Russia's help.
A pillar of ice suddenly lifted NATO into the air, just in time to avoid a wave of smog and few more erupted from the earth to give him the high ground. NATO smiled to himself as his energy veil smothered the smoke once more to give his pupil a cleared path.
"There you go." he chuckled as America suddenly appeared behind the villain and swung him into a pillar, sending them crashing down.
It was three against one; terrible odds to ever be in but escape was nowhere on his mind as he ducked around, avoiding multiple attacks. Afghanistan was nearby. All he needed was to get closer and that was exactly what he did.
Suddenly, a streak of silver whizzed past America and planted itself into the man's leg. With a shriek of pain, he stumbled and lost his balance.
America didn't skip a beat and descended from above, pummeling the other into the ground right in front of a very frightened Afghanistan.
"You're both useless to me now." he rasped as he pulled his secret trap.
(America POV)
If I had reacted any slower, I would have been dead but I was not fast enough to evade it completely.
The side of my torso was warm and wet. With trembling fingers, I parted my shirt to see a giant shard, cutting through my flesh. Luckily, no vital organs were hit.
"Now this is getting ridiculous," I exclaimed, "Just how many abilities does this dude have?!"
Afghanistan's face was frozen mid-scream but she was not as lucky as me. From what I could tell, the unknown bastard had somehow manipulated her blood from inside her body to form a spear and try to kill me. Of course it also meant that it had to go through her own body too.
Rage and pain colored my vision red as I slowly pulled the spear out of my side. I couldn't move too carelessly with it, or else she would die.
"AMERICA!" a familiar voice cried out, "HOLD ON WE'LL GET YOU!"
I looked back and my eyes widened as my guess was confirmed. What the hell was Canada doing here?!
A storm of bullets forced the man to retreat back and leave me.
NATO ran over and hoisted me up, his expression was grim as he regarded my wounds, "You reckless little bastard, let's get back before you lose anymore blood."
"Don't worry about me, look at her," I coughed, each breath sending shocks of pain rippling through my torso. He hesitated, unsure whether or not to take her but eventually gave in.
"Fine. You'll have to hold on to me since I have to keep her steady."
We were able to catch our breaths once we drew back. Russia shielded us with a dome of ice before collapsing onto the ground. The consequences were already starting to take hold of his body.
"Hold still now. This will sting but still," my brother demanded as he unpacked a first aid kit. NATO was busy patching up Afghanistan's wounds. The poor girl had finally fainted.
"Surprised to see me?" Canada laughed bitterly as he disinfected my wound.
"Absolutely. How the hell did you even get here? I thought the gate was broken?" I winced slightly as he finished cleaning.
"Yeah but NASA was able to get me here. I had a pretty hard time convincing her to let me tag along but it all worked out in the end. She even gave me this."
He lifted his sleeve to show a sleek, silver firearm that matched a cartridge of silver bullets in his other hand. They were identical to the one that had hit the unidentified man.
"So it was you who shot that bullet. Your gunmanship never ceases to amaze me."
Our focus was suddenly directed to a loud bashing sound, followed by cracks slowly crawling down the walls of our safety dome.
"We need to move, NOW!" Russia commanded. NATO took the unconscious girl while Canada and Russia dragged me like a rag doll behind them. We got out just in time to see our dome collapse. A hoard of iron statues surrounded the wreckage, seemingly searching for something.
"They're searching for us," Russia exclaimed as if he had read my mind, "The iron statues are being controlled by the enemy!"
My eyes lit up as I gazed curiously at the jumbling mass of metallic humanoids, "So they're iron zombies basically? THAT'S AWESOME!"
"Yeah no," Canada disagreed, "I wouldn't call things that are currently trying to kill us awesome."
Suddenly, one of the zombies swiveled around to peer directly at us and a shrill sound of grinding gears erupted from it's disgusting mouth hole. The next thing we knew, the entire army of zombies came charging full speed at us and they were anything but slow.
"OH NONONONONONO," Canada shrieked as he began to run as fast as he could, which was very unpleasant for me since I was still being lugged around like luggage.
"We can't run forever! We have to stop them somehow."
"But how? They're iron zombies! My bullets won't do anything!"
"And there are far too many of them for me to fight. Not to mention they are made of metal."
Suddenly, Canada's eyes lit up like a lightbulb. He had an eureka moment just then.
"The ductile to brittle transition! Iron becomes brittle in low temperatures so they'll be easier to break! We were supposed to have a test on that today."
It was ingenious! I beamed brightly as my heart swelled with pride and Russia nodded.
"A flash freeze it is," he agreed as he pulled off his woolen coat and handed it to NATO, who bundled Afghanistan in it.
"Stand back. This might get really windy," Russia cautioned as his aura began to pulse and expand. It began to ripple through the air until he slammed his hands onto the ground. A sudden gust of freezing wind from the north swept into the area. His chilling blue aura had now expanded over the entire range, conjuring up a tempest as temperatures began to drop rapidly. Soon, a layer of ice and frost covered everything in sight and the iron zombies were stopped in their tracks.
They creaked and grinded as they tried to move but their feet were frozen to the ground. Many snapped at the ankles and shattered to the ground while others just couldn't budge.
The army was successfully neutralized.
(Canada POV)
Our breaths appeared in small puffs in the frigid air as we gazed upon the frost-covered landscape. Bits and pieces of ruined iron statues littered the ground and everything was still once again.
"Don't lower your guard yet," NATO cautioned. Suddenly, a whip of smoke lashed out and we dove to the ground. Two more snaps sounded and I looked over to see America's cuffs in pieces.
"Oops," he grimaced sheepishly. The cold had also made the metal cuffs brittle and the impact had shattered it.
"It's alright," NATO reassured, "Actually this is good. As long as you are careful, your full power may come in handy. You too, Russia."
At these words, his cuffs were lifted off his wrists too and just in time for another dozen whips to slam down at us.
America triggered his Awakening in short bursts, enhancing his speed and reflexes to dodge the barrage of whips.
"Piece of cake," he chuckled as he cartwheeled around, antagonizing the enemy, "Oi shithead! You're getting desperate aren't ya?"
Unfortunately, the rest of us were having a very hard time dodging. Russia was suffering the backlash of his Awakening which made his movements stiff and sluggish. NATO had the task of keeping Afghanistan safe as well.
Me? I was just clumsy like always. Luckily NATO was brave enough to help us out as much as he could.
"Duck!" NATO instructed before yanking me down as a whip nearly decapitated me but a different sensation also flowed into me through his touch. My spatial awareness was suddenly sharpened like I had the experience of a seasoned soldier.
I was somehow in tune with NATO's instincts but now was not the time to ask questions. I reached out to grab Russia to pull him out of the way as the ground split open to reveal more lashing whips but then the strangest thing happened as I made contact with him. An invigorating rush had passed through my body, and out the other arm that held onto NATO.
His icy aura dimmed exponentially as his ice structures fell one by one. The air became heavy as a crushing layer of energy fell across us all and the writhing whips abruptly stopped and disappeared. Even America was smothered as he fell to the ground like he was experiencing a sugar crash.
"Holy cow," NATO exclaimed, startled by the sudden rush of energy he had gained. He turned to look at me and his face expressed pure astonishment.
"No way. Did you just Awaken into an Amplifier?!"
Russia dropped to his hands and knees. His gaze was distant and unfocused as his Awakening began to flicker.
"No it must be different," he panted, "because I suddenly feel like I'm about to pass out instead."
I removed my hands from them and stared in awe. That rush that I felt... was it energy being transferred? I placed them back onto their shoulders and tested it out; this time taking some energy from NATO and giving it back to Russia. Sure enough, his aura re-stabilized and his body stopped shaking.
"I- I think I can transfer energy between people," I concluded, "Maybe even with myself too."
Russia went silent as he processed the new information but the enemy did not give us much time. He took this chance to raise an army at least triple the amount from before. To make matters worse, there were a couple supersized statues as well. Of course, it seemed to have cost him quite heavily but there was no sign that he was ready to give up.
"Quick Canada! Give me another boost," NATO ordered as he sent another crash of energy but the hooded man grinned as he sank his teeth into his hand which amplified him to counteract NATO's quelling. This was a man that had gone mad.
Luckily, we were able to reduce the army into a more manageable size but there were still three giant monstrosities that we had to deal with. Russia sighed as he got to his feet, "We don't have time to take them all but they'll be our downfall if we ignore them completely. Sorry to burden you, Canada, but we'll need to use your abilities."
"I'll do what I can," I gulped as I tried to calm my shaking hands.
"NATO and I will hold them back while you and America aim for their ringleader. Can you do that?"
I nodded and leapt into action right away. I took Afghanistan from NATO and ran to my exhausted brother's side. He nodded after I ran through the plan and he extended his hand as I placed my hands on his shoulders.
A surge of energy immediately poured from me to him and flames enveloped us.
"A Sunbomb should work," he hissed as a glowing sphere of energy compressed smaller and smaller. Once it was the size of a ping pong ball, he aimed and fired. It zipped through the air but suddenly it began to fizzle and spasm. A giant stepped in to block the bomb but it had dimmed and only managed to blow up half of the giant.
"Dammit! I need a steady stream of energy to fire off a Sunbomb." he demanded but I was not having any of it.
"Your energy consumption is insane, brother. Just keeping you alight is hard enough and now I need to send a steady flow?! I don't have that level of control yet, nor do I have that much energy. At this rate, I can only provide two more Sunbombs."
America looked back to the enemy forces. There were still two giants left that would undoubtedly take a hit for their master. The flames suddenly disappeared.
"Ame? What are you doing?" I urged him, "Oh come on, I'm sorry. Don't give up now!"
He was silent as he stared intently at his hand before he lifted it, ignoring the pain from his previous wounds.
"Hey 'nada. Help me direct all my energy to my right side," he instructed but still did not trigger his Awakening. I was confused but I decided not to question it. Instead, I placed both hands on his right shoulder and guided all his remaining power to his right arm.
"Wind all the energy around your hand, like knitting a mitten. You only have a bit of yarn, not enough to make an entire bodysuit so condense it to just a well-knit mitten."
A bright red blaze enveloped his right half of his body and he concentrated harder.
It shrank to just his arm, glowing bright orange, then it crawled down to his elbow and finally it was just his hand that glowed hot-white. The light was so blinding that I had to look away since it felt like I was staring at the sun.
"He actually is doing it..." NATO breathed in awe as Ame grinned through the pain. A new Sunbomb was formed and fired. It was smaller than the last one but it followed a much more controlled trajectory. It swerved at the last second and nailed both giants in one shot. The orb suddenly expanded and with a burst of heat, both statues were completely obliterated.
"And that leaves us with one last shot," America smirked as he lined up the final Sunbomb.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: yay Canada :D
LONGEST CHAPTER YET. It was going to be longer but I'll leave y'all hanging here for now. I can feel my writing skills deteriorating though so I might come back to rewrite it later. Or maybe it's fine and I am just delusional.
See you next week and have a nice day.