If I'm not posting, I don't do any writing. I think up all the ideas, don't put them down and then forget them. Which is bad. So I started this fic to pressurise me into writing. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia Axis Powers, awesome manga that it is.
The Spark
The loud drilling sound disturbed the little wildlife there was in the cold desert.
"I think we almost have it!" A man shouted in Russian to his boss who was overseeing the proceedings.
"Keep going!" He yelled back, eyeing the hole greedily. The man turned to the tall, pale haired man next to him. "It shall be ready soon, Lord Russia." He said respectfully but his only reply was a nod. At the hole, there was a loud clunk as the drill struck something solid. The boss hurried up to it and peered in.
"What is it?" Russia asked him as he walked up beside him.
"I don't know." The man answered slowly as the dark mass moved, and two yellow eyes opened up before focusing on the boss.
"Finally I have been woken up." It hissed and even though it was not speaking Russian, all the men understood what was being said.
"Get back! It's a demon!" Russia yelled almost instantly but the black wraith moved faster, engulfing the boss before moving on and leaving a withered shell in place.
"Don't run so fast." It hissed mockingly as the other men started to run to the cars. Ignoring Russia, it descended onto the men until only empty corpses were left.
"Why did you do that?" Russia answered angrily, wincing as he felt the deaths of his men again. His aura slowly got darker but the demon just laughed.
"I suppose I should thank you Russia, trapped beneath the Earth's crust until you freed me. And you can still be of use to me." Involuntarily, Russia gave a step back.
"Go back to where you belong." He said with menace in his tone. The demon smirked at him before turning into black smoke and flowing into Russia's mouth. He choked and writhed but there was no one around to help him with his struggle. Soon his eyes flashed black and he looked with disdain at the bodies that littered the area. Ignoring them, it spoke to the trapped nation.
"You shall help me get the world back." Russia's voice said to the cold, Siberian air, but a harsh undertone showed that it was no longer Russia in control. He walked up to the hole which was still writhing with shadows. "Come my brothers and sisters, my followers, minions and underlings. Earth is weak and ripe for the picking and we shall take it back!" A cheer came up from the hole as wraiths and shadows came out, surrounding Russia's body thickly as he raised his face to the heavens in cruel delight. "Let us march." He turned Russia towards Moscow and started to walk with his followers falling in step behind him.
Russia's unnaturally dark eyes glinted as they looked down on the darkness, not caused by night but by the shadows, the wraiths and the demonic beings made flesh by the freedom of walking on the surface of the Earth. They had waited so long for this chance and now it was finally here, they were eager and waiting.
"Minions, followers...equals." Russia's smirk widened into a smile, with none of its out-of-place childlike air, which somehow made it even stranger. There was a hush over the gathered beings as they waited. "Our chance at freedom is almost here - but first we must get rid of the ones that oppose us. In this twisted, insane mind, I have found truth. As before the nations of the world are personified but unlike when we were sealed, the Old Ways of magic have fallen to the wayside. Only three nations have the experience and the magical power to defeat us. England with its sorcery, Japan with its spirits and Romania with its gypsy magic. They shall be destroyed but not by our power - oh no. They shall be destroyed by the thing they hold most dear...technology." He tapped the side of Russia's head tauntingly. "And we already have the ability to do it." Then he laughed, ironic and inhuman until all the dark beings joined in with him and the room ran with the sound. As he stopped, they all stopped. "We shall destroy those who stand in our way." He said quietly before raising one finger in a silent signal to carry out his wish.
In all directions they went and soon the screams of the Moscow inhabitants filled the air. Russia's body swept out of the room, smirk still attached to his lips. Using the information in the captured mind, he headed straight towards the nuclear testing site.
Being in a nation's body had its advantages, one is that great distances can be travelled in a small length of time especially in that nation's country. No sooner had the people of Moscow started to realise what was happening and sending for help, the nuclear bombs were already on the way to their destinations.
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In the G8 meeting America was proposing another idea for global warming.
"So I think we should make these huge blocks of ice and then drop in the sea near the North and South Poles. It'll cool the sea down and stop the ice caps from melting." He looked so pleased with himself that England almost did not have the heart to quash his idea. Almost. It was fun after all.
"Not taking into account where you would get a big enough freezer to make the ice blocks but also the power used to run those freezers would create more carbon dioxide and making the Earth even warmer, negating the effect of the ice blocks. Not to mention that they would melt." He added as an afterthought.
"You're no fun Iggy." America complained, as he leaned back in his chair.
"Global warming isn't fun America and - " England cut himself off, something so unusual he immediately garnered the attention of the other countries.
"Iggy?" America asked cautiously, slightly freaked out by the look on his friend's face. The blood had drained from England's face so he looked ill. America stood up quickly as England started to breathe again, harsh panting breaths.
"London." He said in a strangled voice. "Something's happened to London." His eyes closed and he dropped like a stone. America and France were next to England's side in a heartbeat.
"Angleterre?" France queried. "Wake up Angleterre, you are worrying Amérique."
"I am not worried!" America denied hastily but this was belied by the worried glance he sent England and the tight grip he had on the still nation's hand. "I've just never seen him like this."
"He'll be fine Alfred." Canada knelt down beside France and felt for England's pulse for lack of something to do. But to his surprise, he felt nothing. "France." He squeaked, attracting the attention of the two other nations.
"What is it Matthieu?" France asked, concerned at his former's charge behaviour.
"I can't find a pulse." He whispered and his brother's eyes went wide. They all knew what it meant; no pulse meant that the country was on the brink of life or death because something horrendously bad had happened to the land which they might never recover from. America immediately started to feel for a pulse while France put his ear to England's chest, trying to find a heartbeat. However America's cry of alarm caused his head to draw back and he saw what had worried him. Across England's chest, right over his heart, was a growing pool of blood.
"I think we've found what's happened." Germany's solemn voice drew their attention to the large TV screen in the conference room. It was on one of the many news channels that it could connect to, showing a frantic newsreader who was looking from the camera to someone behind the camera. The picture behind her showed a large stretch of land that was blackened and smoking with shells of buildings looming out of the ground.
"London has been destroyed." France said numbly and Italy started to whimper.
"What?" America said quietly, disbelievingly. "That can't be London, London is Iggy's heart." He insisted and France looked at him pityingly. As America was coming to term with this, Japan froze.
"Japan?" Germany asked, the first to notice this. The other countries' attention switched to Japan.
"Help - Tokyo - burning." Was all he managed to get out before he collapsed the same as England had.
"Kiku!" Italy ran up to Japan's side while Germany hurriedly changed the channel to a Japanese news channel. Much the same was being shown, the panicked newsreader, the black land and a bird's eyes view of Tokyo which now had a large crater right in the heart of it. "This can't be happening. This can't be happening." Italy was muttering to himself as he tried in vain to stop the flow of blood for Japan's chest.
"We need to get Arthur and Kiku to a hospital." Canada said, for once the countries listened to him as they followed him out, carrying their friends to the nearest hospital. No one noticed that Russia had slipped out.
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After returning from the G8 meeting, pleased that the bombings had had the planned impact, not just on the nations themselves but also those close to them, Russia's body moved around the house silently.
"Humans are so amusing." He said to his prisoner as he eyed the picture of the last Russian royal family, Tsar Nicholas, Tsarina Alexandra and their five children. "You have so many connections to others and this makes you so weak." He thought back to the meeting where no one had even noticed Russia's eyes being slightly darker than usual and him leaving since they were so worried about their loved ones. He broadcast this message to his prisoner who lashed out against the mental cage he was in. A crash from downstairs startled the demon out of its taunting.
"Brother? Are you home? I saw you come back from the meeting." A voice called in Russian up the stairs and a smirk curved its way around the Russian's face. The demon had sensed Russia's worry and panic, even though it was hidden deep down.
"You profess to hate her but she is your darling sister. We should greet her." The demon started to move downstairs, unaffected by its prisoner fighting for control.
"Brother! I was worried, you did not stop off at my house before coming home." Belarus walked up to her brother, relief obvious on her face. She examined the other nation where they stood in the shadows of the doorway. "Are you okay Brother?" She asked, stretching her hand out to help him. The demon almost laughed at Russia's futile attempts to warn his sister, to make sure she would not get hurt.
"I am fine Sister. The question is, are you?" Belarus halted, a shiver running up her spine at the evil undertone in her brother's voice. Her brother was sweet and kind, always wanting to do the best for people. This was not her brother. As she had this thought, the man stepped forward into the light, his familiar purple eyes now clouded with shadow and Belarus fled with the demon in pursuit.
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"What the hell happened?" America asked his boss as they waited for the verdict on England and Japan. "They were Russian planes?" America asked in shock. "But I thought that after the whole thing with Cuba, even Russia agreed that a nuclear war would destroy the world." He listened to the man on the other side of the phone. "Fine, fine. I'll do what I can." He snapped his phone shut, eyes staring at the grey hospital floor.
"Alfred?" His brother's quiet voice woke him from his daze.
"Yeah Mattie?" He asked, his eyes flickering up to meet the worried eyes of Canada. Matthew's voice got caught in his throat, it was obvious that Alfred was not okay so instead he asked him,
"Did you find anything out?" The American turned to the other nations.
"It was Russia. He sent nuclear bombs to London and Tokyo, of which both cities have been wiped out." Shifting slightly, he felt the throb of the loss of his people in the explosions but this just increased the worry for England and Japan who had to be feeling it ten times worse.
"Why would Russie do something like this? There would be nothing to gain, all the other countries would not stand by him for such an unprovoked attack." France said in a confused voice.
"Does it really matter? What we need to worry about is how to deal with him." America retorted in a hard voice. "He can't get away with such a horrific and unprovoked attack." The other nations nodded their agreement and were soon joined by Italy who had just got off the phone from his brother.
"Romania has also been bombed. Bucharest has been destroyed totally and about two and a half million people are dead. Brother said he could see the smoke cloud from our house." He said seriously and the other countries froze.
"Why would Russie do this, it makes no sense. I mean Angleterre and Japon are very developed countries but Russie trades with both of them, so he would only be hurting himself. And Roumanie might irritate Russie sometimes, but Russie views her as very backward and not worth his time. What is connecting all of them?" France thought out loud and Canada nodded along with his former guardian before a nasty thought occurred to him.
"If we don't know what is connecting all of them, Russia might be coming after someone else next." Italy gasped and Germany looked grim as he said,
"Russia has already proven that he does not mind who he hits, power and alliances mean nothing to him. This makes him all the more dangerous."
"We need to tell our bosses to shoot down any Russian planes then, we can't have something like happen to someone else." America commented, pulling out his phone.
"We need to call a meeting. Every country in the world, apart from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus." Germany retorted. "They need to be warned and on their guard."
"Will do."
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It did not take long to get all the nations together, the ones in Europe and South East Asia already knew something was wrong by the thick black smoke that was starting to clog up the skies of the countries. America stood in his normal place at the head of the table but for once he looked like the superpower he was, powerful and dangerous.
"This was a completely unprovoked attack on England, Japan and Romania. Russia needs to be stopped in case he does this to any other countries, he has shown that he does not care how many people he kills or how much power the countries have behind them. Everyone here knows that we agreed that a nuclear war would be mutually destructive during the Missile Crisis in the Sixties because it would create a radioactive wasteland and cause widespread death. But obviously that does not matter to Russia anymore. And that is why," America took a breath before announcing, "America is declaring war on Russia." There was a silence as America sat down, giving the other countries a chance to talk and absorb what was being said. The next one to stand was Canada, who managed to get everyone's attention for once.
"Canada is also declaring war on Russia. We cannot stand by and let attacks like this happen. Russia needs to be shown that what he did was unacceptable." He quickly sat down again, unnerved by everyone's eyes on him. One by one the other members of the G8 declared they were going to war with Russia, followed by Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, Australia, Poland, China, Spain and Greece. Seychelles stood up to represent Sub-Saharan Africa and promised support, if not an outright alliance for those who fought against Russia and the South American countries quickly did the same, wanting to stay out of the European war but not able to condone what Russia did. There was a grim atmosphere in the room as everyone realised what was happening.
"Heaven help us." Italy whispered as he clutched his brother's hands.
And so World War III began.
This was fun. I wanted to write a WWIII fic without one nation being the bad guy (because I'm fond of all of the nations) and my weird little brain came up with this. Plus I don't think it has been done before, so another plus for me!
Bucharest is the capital of Romania which is a country just south of Ukraine and Hungary. Since Hetalia is all about stereotypes, I went with the gypsy stereotype for Romania even though gypsies apparently came from Egypt or India.
Head!canon says that Russia cares for Belarus and Ukraine deeply, his history has just messed him up (and this won't help any). Also head!canon says that all nations have a universal language - like in the Hetalia manga and anime, it's Japanese, in this story it's English. They still have their own language and use it, when they speak to other nations it's in the universal language.
There will be English spellings in this but I will try and make sure that America uses American English, if it annoys me when England says 'pants' for trousers then it'll probably annoy people if America started to say 'mobile' or 'biscuits'. In other words feel free to tell me.
This is set about ten years into the future but I avoided giving an exact date for a reason.
Please review! And Happy Easter!