Chapter Thirteen: Fire in the Streets
A single spark had grown into a roaring flame. Sides were drawn, protests became large-scale fights, and despite a state of emergency being declared, the police were powerless to stop the hordes. Guns that had been banned for decades in Unova sprung out of nowhere. People attacked each other unprovoked. Sometimes the results were fatal. Other times, like the case of an aggressor within Aaron's own apartment complex, the victim had wished it was fatal. A trainer and his rhydon had attacked their neighbor, pinning him down and breaking most of the bones in his body. The more gruesome details Aaron wished to forget; it wasn't clear if the other guy would survive.
Nathan was in constant contact with him. Classes were conducted online until further notice to prevent people from grouping together. For the first time in Aaron's life, the university was locked up. With this arrangement, he had little else to do aside from work – though that now carried with it additional risks. Shoplifting had increased, though not yet to looting levels, and everywhere one turned, it seemed as though another confrontation was just waiting to happen.
"I don't know what the hell is going on," Aaron said over the phone. "I feel like it's the end of the world…"
"No," Nathan said, "it isn't. This will blow over eventually. It might sever ties between Kanoma and Unova for the rest of time, but at some point this will calm down. Just focus on keeping your team and yourself safe."
"Easier said than done."
"Well, you have one big advantage going for you. You haven't made any enemies, right?"
"I guess not."
"Then you don't need to worry about someone targeting you. If you see a crowd, get away from it. If Delta or Alpha are in the area, just lay low. Those two are out to kill each other."
"And anyone they don't like…"
"Which is why you should avoid them at all costs," Nathan repeated.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Aaron sighed, glancing at Marcus in the corner of the room. While Aaron sat at the dining room table, the lucario was performing handstand pushups against the wall. Marcus was about to crawl out of his skin not being able to go out and battle, but that wasn't even remotely in the question now. There was no telling who had a weapon tucked away at this point. "So I guess our Friday meetings won't be a thing for a while…"
"I see no reason for that. We can avoid the cities, you know."
"I guess."
"I'll just pick you up. Plenty of calmer places in Unova. Undella hasn't seen most of this crap. Worst of it is neighbors giving each other mean glances, but nobody's said or done anything like what you're seeing."
"Alright," Aaron said. "I look forward to it. It'll be nice to go somewhere without burning cars or people screaming at each other."
After the call ended, Marcus thrust himself up, landing gracefully on his feet. "We could just spend all day there," the lucario stated.
"Why's that?"
"There's got to be someone to battle. Hell, I'll even sign up to get my ass kicked by Aiden again if it means getting out of this house…" Aaron knew him well enough to know he was telling the truth with that statement.
"I know, Marcus, but we can't risk getting fucking shot out there because some redneck is having a bad day, or our skulls bashed in in the name of social justice or whatever. I can't take chances with you guys…" The lucario sighed.
"Yeah… I know."
"Have you spoken with the neighbors?" Aaron asked. "Maybe some of them have pokémon willing to—"
"I have. Just about all of them." Marcus took the seat opposite to his trainer. "How fortunate we are to be in an apartment complex full of pets…" Aaron paused, then shook his head.
"I… that's not what you guys think you are, right?"
"No! Not at all!" He looked embarrassed for even implying such. "That's not what I meant, I just… I'm just frustrated right now."
"You and me both."
This had thrown a wrench in his plans. Alexander looked over the reports – the only reliable, impartial source of information available nowadays. The data that Omega had collected behind the scenes. In the week following the death of Senator Hawkins, sixty-three people had been killed, both including humans and pokémon. Those were the bodies that had been found so far, and more deaths were being added to that list every day. Eleven were from those aligned with Alpha, forty-eight from Delta, and four unfortunate people who had merely been caught in the crossfire, two of which were police officers. Many more had been hospitalized.
Alexander ran through all the data, trying to see if there was any way that the invasion could be carried out sooner. Less than three weeks remained, but day that passed added more to the body count. Genesis was napping on his lap while Reshiram and Zekrom sat on either side.
'In a way, I envy her,' Alex mentally said to them. 'Despite all she's been through, her innocence remained. That childlike naivety that understands little of what is going on right now. But… I suppose we all have to grow up at some point. See the world for how it really is.'
'Unfortunately,' Zekrom replied.
It didn't take long for the individual Alexander requested to show up. The door opened as General Zadoc hurriedly stepped inside, firmly placing his right fist to his chest and quickly bowing. "If you could," Alex said quietly, "keep it down. Genesis is asleep." The general paused for a moment, quickly shaking his head.
"Alright, fine. What seems to be troubling you?"
"What is the current status of the artillery? Would we have enough to launch the invasion now if I chose to do so?" The general looked puzzled. His dark brows shifted.
"No, I'm afraid not. That should be finished in a week's time, and the final preparations are being made with respect to unit exercises and training. We should be ready by the scheduled date, of course, but not now."
"I see…"
"If I may ask, why would you ask such a thing? The first of March has been the plan for over a year now."
"Because the people of my world are killing each other as we speak. Once we disrupt that, I expect the slaughter to stop, but right now people are dying." Zadoc folded his arms, giving a curious look.
"And why is that a matter of concern? Alpha and Delta killing one another? Are you not opposed to both groups?"
"Strongly," Alex replied.
"Then what does it matter if they kill one another?"
"Because their destruction is reaching outside of their political enemies. Even then, radical and foolish as they may be, they are still people too. I don't care what stupid cause they choose to forward. Each of them is someone's child, sibling or friend. Everyone's made mistakes, Zadoc. After what your people did to Necrozma, you should know that. But the punishment for those mistakes shouldn't be death, especially when it's simply due to a tactical decision." He felt, rather than heard, Zekrom's approval.
"Very well, but the answer is still the same. We aren't ready to launch the invasion yet and doing so now would likely lead to many deaths within our own ranks. Would you trade the lives of those idiots for ours?" Alex shook his head.
"It was only an inquiry. I was hoping to prevent further bloodshed."
"I will see about speeding up the remaining preparations, but I cannot give you my word that anything will change. Our troops have little rest between training sessions and our factory lines are already producing at their maximum capacity."
"I see."
"Is there anything else you wish to inquire?" The general asked.
"No, that was it. Thank you, Zadoc." He bowed once more before leaving the room. Alexander sighed, slowly stroking the mew with his mind occupied.
'You have now witnessed the burden we carry each day,' Reshiram telepathically said.
'What do you mean?'
'There is no easy solution. Morals are black and white, but situations are grey. Your kind has created one in which you are forced to make the lesser of two bad choices. Unfortunately, inaction is a choice with consequences of its own.'
'I don't like it.'
'Neither do we,' Zekrom said. 'But the fault does not lie with you in this case. You did not create this situation but must make a decision all the same. It is unfortunate, but that is the reality you face.'
Alex looked down, seeing the pink feline yawn in her sleep. Tiny, practically harmless white teeth were exposed as she did so, and she shifted closer to him in her sleep. He smiled despite the circumstances.
'Well… I cannot trade the lives of their own for those of radicals back home. I only pray that their blood not be on my hands.'
'It is not,' Zekrom said.
Aaron signed out of the virtual lecture before closing his laptop. He still had yet to adapt to the virtual environment; though it was convenient in certain regards, the change had happened so suddenly that nobody had been prepared for such a different curriculum. Not only that, but it was also clear that some of his professors had little knowledge of computers despite having grown up in a time where their use was widespread.
Wednesday rolled around. Amid the chaos that had gripped the world, commercials for Valentine's Day had fallen on deaf ears. Few were brave enough to go out any more than they absolutely had to in the cities. Restaurants were empty that day as jewelry and flowers stayed on their store shelves. Not that it would've made a difference to him either way. Aaron hadn't dated in two years. That night, Nora made a heart-shaped cake for everyone. The whole world may have been falling apart, but at least they had each other.
That Friday, Nathan stopped in front of his apartment. Aaron's team wasted no time in scrambling to their balls. This was as good an opportunity as any to safely get out and about. Battling wasn't on the agenda today, though he had little doubt that Marcus would try to start one anyways. But that was then. Honestly, Aaron was just happy to go somewhere aside from work. As usual, Nora remained out, joining him in the backseat.
"So what's on the agenda for today?" she asked happily.
"I'm not sure," Nathan replied. "No real plans today. I'd say let everyone do their own thing." He turned onto the freeway as quickly as possible, avoiding narrow roads or city streets. Early in the afternoon, there didn't seem to be many people on foot outside of the typical areas. That much was good; the less they saw, the better.
"You live in Undella, right?" Nora asked.
"Yep. That's where we're headed."
"And you have a boat?" Aaron looked at her, hoping she would drop the subject. Joking or not, he wouldn't put it past Nathan to sneak a few fishing rods onto it.
"A pretty decently-sized rowboat. Paint's chipped a bit, but there's nothing quite like floating out there without a care in the world. No motors, barely any cell service. Just you and the sea."
"That does sound nice. I'd really like that…"
"Perfect. And I'll bring the fishing rods in case we get bored." Dammit Nora… He could hear Adira's nearly silent laughter from the front seat.
"Will it just be the four of us?"
"I'd imagine so," Nathan said, replying to the typhlosion. He pulled out of Nimbasa and onto Route 16. In the distance the Marvelous Bridge was visible. "Usually, Naomi tags along. She likes to tease me when I don't catch anything – but since you've brought Aster, it'll likely just be us four."
They were nearly at the bridge when they came to a stop. Loud voices could be heard ahead of them among the car horns. Nathan looked out the window for a better view, then released a heavy sigh. "Well, that's just great…" Aaron's stomach churned.
"What is it?"
"Delta." People formed a blockade, turning their own cars to impede traffic each way and standing in front of them. Aaron caught a glimpse of a nidoqueen and an altaria alongside their trainers, though they certainly weren't the only pokémon present. No signs were visible, and all of them wore black clothing and facemasks to hide their identities. Several vehicles were behind Nathan and Aaron, trapping them in.
"What're these idiots doing here?" Aaron asked.
"Pretending to be heroes or something." Any other time, Aaron would have laughed, but right now he was annoyed. They were blocked in and would have to wait until police showed up to break up the blockade. And that was if they even showed up at all…
"Well, what now?" Someone honked at a nearby protester who kicked the side of their car. Nathan turned around, and despite the situation, grinned.
"Seems to me they came here looking for a fight. What do you say we give them one?"
"What?" Aaron glanced at Nora, who didn't have a response either. "You're joking, right?"
"Not really, no. Do you realize why they're blocking traffic?"
"To make some stupid political statement?" Aaron asked. That tended to be the reason.
"No. That would be suicide with everything going on right now. Look closer." He shifted positions, only being able to see so much from behind the driver's seat, but finally managed to make out a few magnezones stopping briefly in front of people's cars.
"They're… scanning the cars?"
"Looking for specific people. Or guns, for that matter. That's an easy way to identify a member of Alpha right about now."
"Shit…"
"They're not making a statement. They're targeting people. And while I might not be a member of Alpha anymore, what do you think they'd do if they found the son of Clay's right-hand man?" Aaron froze, trying to swallow the lump in his throat to no avail.
"That's… kind of scary," Aaron murmured. "Well, what now?"
"I'd say we step out and release our teams before that magnezone is able to disable the electronic release on our pokéballs. That is, if you'd like to join in. If not, I can take care of them with my usual three."
"There are like… twenty of them."
"I know. They should've brought more." Nathan reached into his pocket, then slipped his mega ring onto his right hand. "You have your bracelet?"
"Yeah… that might not be a good idea. They'd steal it if—"
"They'd take it anyways if we lost, or if they found it on us. As it stands, you don't have much to lose either." His heart started racing. In the front, Adira sat calmly, seemingly unconcerned by the events at hand.
"Alright then." Aaron grabbed the three occupied balls from his belt. "What's your plan?"
"Glad you asked. Naomi will focus on crowd control. If you use Aster alongside her, the two of them can provide ranged damage and keep them a good distance away. Marcus and Aiden can punish anyone who tries to close that distance, and Trina can flank unsuspecting enemies."
"And Krista?"
"I'm assuming she knows heal pulse?" Aaron nodded. "Good. She would be best used as a supportive role this time around. Keep everyone healed up and protected. Otherwise, she can join Naomi and Aster." He nodded towards his wife. "Alright, showtime."
Everyone got out of the car, and before any of the Delta members could intervene, released six pokémon in front of them. The apparent admin – what appeared to be a young woman from her figure – pointed towards them as they walked in front of the first few cars. A rainbow band was on her right arm, and through her black hoodie, Aaron could make out dyed red hair.
"It looks like we found some Alpha fascists. Take them down!"
"Definitely not Alpha. Just want to get back to my place and go fishing, but you guys are holdin' up the line." He nodded towards Trina as the various humans and pokémon approached them. Before anyone could react, the espeon acted. Two of the humans were shoved to the ground, and no sooner had a pistol levitated from one individual's pocket. Everyone froze. "That looks an awful lot like the police standard issue. Wonder where you got that." Aaron looked to his friend, fear and shock claiming him in equal part. Trina pulled the slide back, removed the frame, dropped the magazine and hurled the lower portion over the side of the bridge.
"You're about to wish you'd stayed in that fucking car," the admin said, clutching a pokéball in each hand. Nathan nodded to Aaron.
"It's time. Mega up." They tapped their ring and bracelet, respectively, causing three of the pokémon to begin glowing.
"They've got key stones!" one of the Delta members yelled.
"Pry those fuckers off their bodies," the admin yelled. Aaron's mouth went agape, and immediately he regret taking part in this. But as Nathan said, there really wasn't much of a choice but to get involved in this case, and he wasn't about to let his friend take on all these thugs alone. Even if Nathan was confident in his team's abilities.
"Alright guys," Nathan said aloud, "as you can tell, we can't afford to lose this one."
"Oh dear…" Aiden said, before addressing the approaching altaria. "Well, I'm sorry in advance…"
"You know, Alpha's right about one thing: y'all are nothing but a bunch of cowards. Ganging up and attacking people you don't like. Unfortunately for you, you've just picked a fight you can't win." In a flash, one of the magnezones attacked, and as their pokémon dodged the blast, everyone closed in.
Marcus rolled ahead, leaping into the air and bringing the bone staff down onto the steel-type's head. The mechanical creature fell from the impact, and with a swift kick, the lucario sent it rolling. Without any time to gloat in his victory, he dodged a swoop from a pidgeot.
The audino hastily launched a jolt of electricity towards the bird, then another. The third connected, sending it to the ground. "Krista! Look out!" She barely managed to avoid a flash cannon attack from one of the other magnezones. As she continued to evade and protect, swirling green projectiles formed, shoving her opponent back. She nodded at Aster before returning to work.
"Great job, Aster!"
"Aaron," Nathan stated. "Keep them off Naomi for a minute."
"You heard him! Marcus! Target the bisharp!" The dark-type sliced towards Aaron's pokémon with his bladed hands, cleaving the bone staff in two. Marcus leapt back as a flamethrower forced his opponent to do the same, then lost his footing to an earthquake attack from the nidoqueen. She charged him. He pushed himself onto his feet, catching her in the gut with a swift uppercut. Though she towered over him, the large creature doubled over, having lost the air in her lungs. He could smell the stench of poison. With a hard punch behind her jaw, that fight was over.
In the midst of the fight, Aiden cried out. The lucario launched an aura sphere towards the bisharp from before, ducking under Aster's continued attack as he supported his friend, now bleeding from a large gash on his chest. But the charizard showed no sign of retreating. Another slash, but this one never even came close. The opposing steel-type was knocked off his feet. He tried getting up until Aiden planted his foot in his back, flinging him into one of the cars blockading the road. A loud swear came from the direction of the Delta trainers. Flames encompassed everything in front of the dragon, and Marcus covered his eyes.
The momentary distraction was all they needed. The battlefield came to a near standstill as massive columns of water rose from each side of the bridge. Nathan folded his arms, nodding to the sea serpent. "Naomi, use depletion."
A swirling vortex trapped everyone on the opposing side. The trainers yelled, fleeing as quickly as possible as their pokémon were consumed with the rapidly freezing droplets. The altaria tried to flee, but Trina flung her back into the twister, causing her to disappear within the white mist. When it finally settled, most of the pokémon that hadn't been defeated prior were frozen to the ground. Several red beams retrieved unconscious forms.
Both Krista and Trina managed to disorient the few remaining enemies with dazzling gleam. A vaporeon and a golduck were both finished off by Aster's leaf storm. A loud snap was heard.
The leavanny that Marcus was fighting released a traumatic cry, grasping a leg that had likely broken from the lucario's bone construct. A point-blank aura sphere silenced him, and as Aiden bathed the battlefield in flames again, Aaron realized that there were no enemies left standing.
A warm mist rose from the bridge. The six of them relaxed, half of their mega evolutions reverting, but still kept their guards up. Nathan nudged Aaron sharply. "Lot different when your opponents aren't that good, huh?" he asked. The younger trainer only managed a brief nod.
"What… the hell was that?" one of the Delta members asked. They backed up, the aggression they had previously shown nowhere to be found.
"Alright, let's make this quick. I want your car keys now." Aaron said nothing, uncertain as to if he'd heard correctly. Seeing that they were out of pokémon, he found little resistance aside from the typical swear directed at him. Nathan seemed to mentally say something to Trina, who nodded in agreement, and the two of them went about moving the cars to the side of the road and parking them there. Interestingly enough, Nathan had partially lowered the windows. He made eye contact with the admin. "This is why your team is so pathetic. Y'all have all the courage in the world grouped up, or from behind your screens, but out here in the real world, that all falls apart the second you can't win. You're a bunch of cowards. Now get in the cars. All of you."
With the espeon at his side, ready to act if any of them stepped out of line, the members of Delta took their place within the vehicles. A few of them stood in front of him expectantly. He walked over to the side of the bridge, held his arm out, and dropped the car keys into the water below.
"Hey! What the fuck?!" the admin shouted.
"What? You didn't seriously think I'd let y'all drive away after all that, did you? No, you're gonna wait here until the cops show up. Get in the car. I'm not asking again." A glimmer of light raced across Trina's eyes. Aaron turned to Nora, who was equally dumbfounded. He didn't stop there, though; once everyone was in, Nathan nodded to his milotic. "You know what to do." Water gently pooled around the vehicles, slowing to a halt as it quickly solidified. Nathan had frozen them all in place. Without anything else to say, he returned his three pokémon, signaled the few cars ahead of his truck with a wave of his hand, and made his way back to the driver's seat. Aaron got in, staring at the older trainer with disbelief. "What?"
"Doesn't… that count as kidnapping?"
"They could be charged with that, especially since the traffic cameras caught just about all of it. Stopping traffic and searching people's cars isn't exactly legal. Not to mention one of 'em stole a gun, likely off of a dead cop. So if you want to be technical, what I did was a citizen's arrest. I'm just not sticking around for it."
"What? You just froze twenty people in their cars and you mean to tell me that we're leaving?"
"Yep."
"Why?"
"Because I'd like to be on my boat right about now." The truck started up and sped off. For a moment, Aaron didn't say anything. They exited the Marvelous Bridge, crossing through the woodlands on their way to Undella. A single eye met Aaron's in the rearview mirror. "You seem disturbed."
"Well yeah. All that's still processing a bit…"
"Understandable."
"If they caught all that on traffic cams… wouldn't that mean they could see your license plate?" Nora asked.
"Typically, but I've got a license plate blocker. Unless you're looking at it from a direct angle, you won't be able to see a thing."
"And why do you have that?" Aaron inquired.
"Now that I'll keep to myself. But I'm not breaking any traffic laws if that's what you're asking."
"That's… not the point that I was trying to make…" Nathan seemed eager to change the subject, flooding Aaron's mind with even more questions. What exactly was he trying to hide? True, his father may be a leader within one of the world's most threatening organizations, so that could have been it, but if Nathan himself had nothing to do with that, then what was he so afraid of? What warranted hiding one's license plate from traffic cameras?
In the end, he decided to let the matter go. Maybe he should have pressed it further, but Aaron didn't want to risk upsetting his friend. The ride to Undella was mostly quiet.
Nathan released his pokémon in the living room, making his way to Aiden. A clean gash had been made through his chest, cleaving through scales, but fortunately it didn't seem very deep at all. The older trainer inspected it with all the care of a surgeon, spraying it with disinfectant and bandaging him up. The dragon, despite his ferocity, winced during the process. Naomi made her way to his side and nuzzled him lovingly; a pit formed in Aaron's stomach. He glanced at Aster who had looked away awkwardly from the scene. Damn… I'm sorry bud…
"Alright everyone, the four of us are headed out to the boat. Y'all have fun." He retrieved the two fishing poles by the back door in one hand and the tackle box in the other. Aaron fought the urge to groan. Nora smiled at her trainer, taking his hand and eagerly leading him out the door and towards the dock. Nathan waited for the other three to take their seats before untying the boat from the post.
The sound of oars breaking the water's surface was all that could be heard. Adira gazed towards the distance where the bay opened up into the greater ocean. The smell of salt drifted with a breeze so light that it was barely detectable. Small ripples in the surface gently rocked the boat once they came to a stop. Nathan lowered the anchor and grabbed his pole. "Feel free to join in at any time," he said.
"Yeah, sure…"
"Only joking, bud. Thought I'd bring the other in case you decided to change your mind, but don't feel pressured in the slightest."
"If last time was anything to go by…"
"Now you know a bit more. Making mistakes is part of the learning process," Nathan said. "But if this isn't something you care for, then that's totally fine." Aaron said nothing as his friend cast the line, slowly pulling it back a bit, then allowed for it to relax. He checked his phone; Nathan had not been kidding when he said there was hardly any service.
For some time, there remained a serene silence. Adira clasped her husband's hand as he lazily held the rod with the other. Aaron was secretly impressed that they seemed to have always remained in that honeymoon phase. None of his own relationships had managed to accomplish that; after time, eventually things would mellow out. Affectionate gestures became less common, or reserved for the bedroom, or absent altogether. Maybe it had simply been the type of people he had often dated back then. Whatever the case, he hoped to have such a relationship as theirs one day.
Nora curiously watched over the first few casting cycles as if taking mental notes. Nathan must have caught onto this, laughing as the typhlosion studied him. "Interested in giving this a shot?"
"I might be…"
"Well, other rod's right there. Do you know how the reel works?"
"I think so," she replied, holding up the fishing pole. "I watched you, and this one seems to be the same." A lure was already on the hook – one that Nathan had mentioned being a favorite of the local fish. At least, from his own observations. She observed his cast one more time, pulled the rod back, and mimicked it almost perfectly.
"Hey, that was pretty good. Maybe release just a little bit earlier, but that was impressive." Aaron sighed, very much annoyed by the fact that she had seemingly effortlessly done what he himself had great difficulty with last time. Nathan, as if reading his mind, offered a comforting thought. "You were pretty tense then – that or impatient. And I get it; we come from two different worlds. Back in my hometown, things were pretty slow and relaxed – just like you have to be when fishing. But here, in the heart of Unova, everything is so frantic and fast. It definitely doesn't help that neither sports or battling are any different."
"I guess…" Looking back, he had been somewhat impatient for something to happen, and even once he'd gotten a somewhat competent cast, nothing ever did. Nothing productive, at least, and the two bites he'd managed to get over several hours both ended with him losing the lure…
"After our second battle," Nathan continued, "you seemed disappointed that my team held back, as if it made your accomplishments and your improvements any less impressive."
"…It did," Aaron replied.
"Only if you feel that the value was in winning. In being the absolute best." Nathan continued looking at the ripple in the water, slowly reeling it back in and giving the line a slight tug every so often. Nora did her best to imitate his actions. "Back when I first started grad school, which is when I was taking my introductory classes for nuclear engineering, I had this one nuclear fuel cycles course that was a ton of work, even for the smartest students."
"Alright…"
"We had this project that was worth twenty percent of our grade, and it was an absolute nightmare. We had to solve this problem for a four-batch core for a particular nuclear power plant – which was already ridiculous considering most plants use three-batch cores – but it was a hypothetical exercise. He was asking for reactivity changes, incremental and overall burnup over multiple cycles – the whole nine yards. None of us could figure it out at all. We had two weeks to do it, and I think I spent well over a hundred hours during that time trying to work out the problem with no success. Nothing in the book was even remotely like it, and depending on the answer that we got for the first part, it would significantly affect every other part afterwards. So you can imagine how scared I was."
"I bet."
"One night, I decided to call it quits for the day and went out with a friend. Adira didn't want to come, though, and decided to stay back at the apartment. I was running out of time, but given how frustrated I was, I doubt I'd have had any luck that night. Sometimes it's best to take a breather and try again later, you know?"
"Yeah, makes sense," Nora responded. She too, was focused on her own fishing. "What happened?"
"I came back that night. Went over to my desk. All the papers had been pushed aside, and in the middle there was a single sheet. She had outlined exactly what parts of the book to look at, shown me mistakes on my previous attempts, and pointed me in the right direction."
"What?" Aaron asked.
"In the hour and a half I was gone, Adira managed to figure out what I hadn't been able to in over a week." Aaron remained still, not knowing how to respond to that. Eventually he muttered a response.
"Go on."
"That event taught me something very valuable. It took me years to build up to the point where I understood the math necessary to even take that course. It took Adira a few months of casual reading." Nathan laughed. "But then I realized that there was always a bigger fish. Only, I lived with one." He looked at Aaron. "You don't have to be the best in anything you do, Aaron. You just have to be your best." Adira gave a single nod.
"That's right," Nora agreed. Aaron smiled; Nathan was right. For now, he needed to stay in his lane, to improve wherever possible. One day he might rival Nathan's team – or maybe not. If the latter was the case, then he could at least say he tried. It was then that Nora's line snapped to attention, and the typhlosion jerked it in the ensuing panic.
"…You've gotta be kidding me."
Soldiers marched through the streets, armed to the teeth. They weren't carrying non-lethals. Aaron locked the door, annoyed that his hours had been cut but glad that gunfire was no longer a constant companion throughout the night. Well, only the occasional shot or two…
But as the president declared a state of emergency, bringing the military in and establishing a curfew for the entire metropolitan area, the results had been swift and effective. No large groups of people, regardless of their purpose, were allowed aside from religious services. Despite the security the national guard offered, though, there was no denying that things had changed. People wanted each other dead now, and there was no coming back from that. Over a hundred had died to the violence that had ensued following Hawkins' death, and it probably wouldn't take long for the extremists to clash again if the military was told to stand down.
The police had limited effectiveness – and many of them had only been willing to do so much, too. After decades of being called every name in the book by Delta, it turns out that more than a few of them were willing to let Alpha slide, despite a law that clearly favored their opponents. The whole thing was a mess. Armored guards and vehicles at every turn. It was preferable to the anarchy that had just taken over the cities, but it was a sad state of affairs. Sad that something like this was even necessary. A pair of arms gently gripped him from behind, breaking him out of his thoughts.
"Hey… is everything alright?"
"Yeah. Just a lot on my mind right now." That was an understatement. "That and a bit frustrated that my shift got cut a few hours."
"Oh… well, at least you have more time with us, right?" He looked over his shoulder to barely catch a glimpse of her smirk.
"There's that, I suppose." Her features became more serious. Nora placed her head against his back.
"Hey… I'm sure everything will work out."
"Maybe, but… I didn't want to be involved in this," he answered.
"You aren't."
"That might not be the takeaway that Delta has. I just helped Nathan get like twenty of them locked up. And I don't regret that at all – I wouldn't have left him to fend for himself in that situation – but that doesn't change the fact that I got involved to some extent."
"Do you honestly think that we'll ever run into those people again?" she asked. "They don't know your name, or probably even your face with how fast that battle went."
"You're right," he said, turning around to face her. Her smile had come back.
"Of course I am. Didn't your mother ever teach you that women are always right?"
"Something of the sort." He laughed. "Thanks, Nora." A wide grin appeared on her face – one that he had come to enjoy immensely – and she brought her hand up and gently tapped him on the chin.
"Whatever happens, happens. We can only decide how we respond to it. And as for what happened on that bridge, I think you responded very bravely."
"He was ready to take them all himself," Aaron said, shaking his head. "And he seemed to be more focused on getting to his boat, too…"
"Well, it was a nice boat."
"Yeah…" That moment at sea made his mind wander towards something else. "It's crazy what he said about Adira. Nathan's probably the smartest person I know… at least, he was."
"I… still feel like something's off about her," she said.
"Like what?"
"I don't know – but something isn't adding up. A lot, actually. No formal education and yet effortlessly outsmarts someone like Nathan? There's got to be something more to it."
"Maybe. But there are also some crazy smart people out there. And besides, you heard it yourself: there's always a bigger fish."
"Uh huh. There is. But I don't know what to say. I can't explain it, but I just feel like there's more than what he's saying." She folded her arms; it looked adorable to see the typhlosion deep in thought.
"Honestly," Aaron admitted, "we might be overthinking this, but who can tell?" He passed her and made his way to the fridge, grabbing one of his legally purchased beers.
"I don't know. Call it a gut feeling." He popped the cap off with a bottle opener; she looked at it curiously. He fought the urge to laugh, extending the bottle experimentally towards her. She took the bottle, sniffed it experimentally, and took a small sip. The typhlosion stuck her tongue out and handed it back. "Yuck."
"Yeah, it's not for everyone." She grabbed a glass from the cabinet, filling it with water and taking a deep drink as he sipped from the bottle.
"No kidding."
"But you should always try new things, right?" he asked.
"Yep!" A flickering blue light caught his attention between the blinds. The siren was absent, but the presence was clear. His own apartment complex, after all, had been the site of an incident.
Maybe this was the world's new normal. The 'new thing' to try for the unseen future. And that was a frightening thought; were people so far lost, so far radicalized, that essentially being at gunpoint was required to keep them from killing one another? He didn't want to think of such things, but there was no denying the effectiveness. At least, in the short term…
All Aaron himself could do was not participate. To not contribute to any of this violence or spreading of hatred. Perhaps that was hard at times; both of the prominent political teams could make that a considerable difficulty.
But at the end of the day, all he could do was his best.
A/N: Special thanks to FuryWrites for beta reading this chapter.