Chapter Thirty-Eight: Hellfire

With the orders to stand down for the time being, Omega's forces remained in woods, surrounding the metropolitan area's northern and western flanks. Nathan woke up in good spirits that day, not having been visited by one of the countless nightmares that had plagued his mind over the past year. Images of all the suffering that humans had caused, of bones staring from loosely-hanging skin to people festering with disease – from the victims of terrorists to cartels – there wasn't much that he hadn't seen. But that night, after holding his wife close and embracing her warmth until sleep claimed them, Nathan finally felt a glimmer of peace.

He remembered what they had for breakfast – of sitting and eating with Larek, discussing what the officer would do once all this was over. "I guess it sounds silly…"

"No, no – I want to hear it." Larek gazed out over the woods.

"It's been half a year," he said, "but it still doesn't feel real. Seeing life everywhere I look. I think… I'm going to make a farm, so that my family and I can enjoy that feeling forever. Plant some vegetables and berry bushes…" Nathan laughed, taking a sip of his bitter coffee. Maybe it was a simple aspiration, but it was one he could respect.

"I'm sure you'll do great."

"What about you?" the officer asked. Nathan looked down.

"I have a lot on my plate, even once this is all over. I don't think retirement suits me."

"Yeah, but you're also half my age. We'll see what you think in thirty more years."

"Touché." Another sip of coffee. Nathan shook his head. "Even with all your technology, it will take time to get the world into a truly functional state. The developing world is only hanging on by the threads we've built. With Larsen's help, I plan on advancing them far beyond the living standards that the West has grown used to. That's my project for the next thirty years."

"You always were an ambitious one." He raised his cup, shaking his head with a wide grin.

The morning went by with the usual preparations. Tomorrow was the big day – that final push for Unova. Their politicians had fled to their bunkers and safe houses, nowhere to be seen. The proponents of "liberty" were such cowards when their own was at stake – when they couldn't hide behind their cameras and talk shows and podiums. The new world had no place for such cowards; Nathan hoped that they stayed in hiding and never crawled out.

Kanoma was a different beast. Sure, they had a great deal of the same – despite being polar opposites on the political spectrum. But there were a lot more people there willing to actually die for their autonomy, and death was something he had hoped to avoid. A war of attrition had proven more effective against them and likely would continue to do so.

Nathan released Solgaleo, words not necessary as the legendary read his mind. A portal was formed to the western encampments, and without looking back, Nathan stepped into it.

He glanced towards Mistralton, knowing that his friend was still fighting them. Admittedly, he had kept tabs on Aaron and his team. Disagreement or not, they were still his friends and he wanted them safe - even if they would resist until the very end. But there was still hope; Nathan believed that they could come around. He knew there was good in Aaron. Right now, it was just misplaced.

It was ten minutes past two when it happened.

The world went bright and silent, a shrill sound ringing though his ears as his balance faltered. The split second before the flash, Nathan saw the outlines of skeletons throughout the camp, a brief silhouette that was swallowed by the light. Everyone fell, disoriented and scared, and in that silent, frightful confusion, he tried to make sense of everything. And yet, before he could, two more followed. It was when he looked to the north that Nathan realized what he was looking at.

Mushroom clouds were forming in the sky.

"No… no…" he kept repeating the words as though it would change the scene ahead of him. He stumbled towards the armory, nearly toppling in the process, and found his suit. The first thing he did was check the communication features. "Larek, do you copy?!" There was static throughout the communication lines. He went for another. "Surge?! Are you there?!" There was static, but an answer came.

"Holy shit!" the general yelled over comms. The camp Surge was stationed at was west of Aspertia, even further away from the blast. But people even hundreds of miles away would see this.

"How is this possible?!" Nathan cried. "I thought we got them all!" The glowing cloud, pulsing with lightning and fire, grew larger as the flames spread, joined by the other two. The sky was dark and orange. His breathing became erratic, and for the first time since the start of this conflict, Nathan felt fear.

"I thought so too!" People in the camp stood frozen, looking at him as though he had the answers. But he didn't.

"Alexander! What do we do?!" one soldier asked him. He was starting to freak out as the monstrous clouds rolled outward, expanding into terrifying bulbs that dwarfed Unova. Three of them cut through the northern part – right where half their encampments were.

Nathan threw out the four legendaries he had with him. "I need your help – please! We have to stop this! The fallout could even hit Opelucid and Mistralton if we don't do something!" he stammered. Zekrom and Reshiram looked down, and for the first time since he had seen the higher legendaries, Nathan saw tears that matched his own. "Necrozma! You can absorb it! You've taken a supernova – you can take this!"

"Of course." The golden dragon spread his four wings, ready to open a portal until Nathan ran towards him.

"I'm coming with you!" The soldier from before reached out.

"Sir, that suit isn't designed for—"

"I don't care!" He hopped on Necrozma's back.

"I shall protect you," Necrozma said. Nathan turned to the other legendaries.

"Keep everyone safe, alright?!" They nodded. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for the worst as they headed through the portal.

But what he saw far exceeded that.

The sky was a glowing orange, tendrils of fire laced throughout smoke as the explosion sucked in air from below. Flames stretched out as far as the eye could see beneath them, consuming the burning forests and rubble. Necrozma flew towards the ground and Nathan quickly jumped off. The legendary climbed into the sky, a disappearing into the flames, and spread his wings. Nathan felt the heat rush past him, his suit crackling and malfunctioning as the titanium plating began to glow. The suit wasn't lead-lined; he shouldn't be here now. But he needed to. Hell had visited Earth, and he was standing right before it. Fire and radioactive particles raced upwards, absorbed by the legendary and leaving dust and ash in their wake. Necrozma had dropped him off in front of what Nathan had assumed was the thermal radiation radius, but he still felt it – a feeling that he had been careful to avoid when he worked at the plant, transporting nuclear waste.

Radiation.

He felt the fatigue, like he was suffering from a potent virus. His body was burning up and it felt like he could vomit at any moment. It slipped between the slim cracks and joints of his suit while static raced through his visor display. If Nathan stayed here for much longer, it would inevitably build up and he would die. But the heat rushed into the sky, towards that blinding light that had already saved one world.

And just as soon as it had happened, it was gone. The land was black and dead, charred around the massive craters spanning over a mile in width. Necrozma touched down beside him, lowering his head and closing his eyes. The energy he had absorbed was nowhere to be seen, but neither was the life that had once been here. "How… how could this happen?" His voice cracked from a dry throat. "E-everything was… it was going so well…"

"I do not know," Necrozma mournfully said, a wing gently touching the back of Nathan's suit. "But I will take to the skies and ensure that no more can land." The human wordlessly nodded as the golden dragon flew off. He tried in vain to compose himself before contacting the camp. "Call off the mission and get every person we can spare into Unova. They… they just hit us with nukes…"

Aaron stood outside the flower shop alongside his team as the fire claimed the sky. Nora buried her face in his chest, choosing not to look at the scene before them. The shockwave had blown the windows out, flinging them to the ground and rattling their insides as they tried to make sense of what was going on. Vivian crawled towards Lily, pulling the younger flygon to her chest as if to hide her from the growing monster. There was nowhere to run as the heat grew ever outward, encompassing everything in the blink of an eye. Fear potent enough to stop his heart made Aaron's mind go numb.

Nora had moisture streaming down her cheeks, embracing him as they prepared for the worst. "I love you guys…" he murmured as his other pokémon tearfully joined the embrace. They held each other tight as the world became hotter and hotter.

A breeze of frigid air swept through the land. Aaron slowly looked up, and within the heart of one of the mushroom clouds came an even brighter flash, shining like the sun amid the fires of hell. The flames distorted, twisting towards the light as it was siphoned inwards. They looked up with astonishment as the flames throughout the land stopped spreading, instead leaping into the air as the three clouds leveled into swirling heat and dust, all orbiting around that blinding light. And just like that, as a roar carried across the sky, the flames diminished and left a serene blue in their absence.

Lunala formed the portal towards him, followed by Reshiram, Zekrom and Adira. The former looked around frantically. Scared. And now that the initial shock had worn off, he realized why. "Hop on!" Lunala cried, the panic in her voice unmistakable. He knew where she was going without her saying anything. And Nathan wanted to go anywhere but there.

Dust lingered in the air, a dark grey cloud that coated the ground where grass had once been. Nathan tried to deny what was before his eyes, but the more he looked, the more it ingrained in his mind, joining the images of every other horror he had witnessed across the world. The only indication that a camp had once been here was the metal fragments of airships and exosuits, taken apart as if they were nothing more than aluminum cans. Eyes became blurry as they looked, and as Nathan still attempted to wake up from this nightmare, something that he thought impossible lay before him.

Solgaleo.

His mouth fell open, tears falling anew as he approached the legendary. Lunala saw it a split second after Nathan, falling out of the air as her wings crumpled weakly and she fell to his side. "NO!" She pushed the lion desperately with her wings. His fur was charred black, large chunks of his body missing and revealing bones that gleamed like bronze. "GET UP!" Nathan shook his head, removing his helmet and dropping it as he fell to his knees. He openly sobbed with the others, hoping that Solgaleo would somehow move. But the visor-like surface that made up the top of his head was cracked and shattered. There was no light inside it. "P-PLEASE…" Lunala sobbed. "PLEASE GET UP!"

This wasn't supposed to happen. Solgaleo could leap across dimensions – walk the surface of stars. But there was a massive difference between even the core temperature of the sun and that of a nuke. It then dawned on him that Solgaleo had likely tried to stop the explosion.

The world went silent as Lunala continued to beg and plea for her mate to show any signs of life.

The other camps were in similar condition. All except for one. One that Nathan had to visit, though for the rest of his life, he would wish that he hadn't. This camp had not been so close to the third and easternmost detonation. One would think that made things better.

Instead, they had been close to the edge of the thermal pulse: the region where third degree burns were guaranteed. The other three legendaries had joined the Megalopolans in looking for any signs of movement among the bodies, the stench of burnt flesh lingering in the air. A million questions raced through Nathan's head. How had he failed to stop this? They had scoured every known military base in the world within the first few days, shutting them down and confiscating nuclear weapons wherever they were. While the camp locations had been jointly decided, he was still Omega's leader, and as such, he shared responsibility for every death today. Including those of Larek and Solgaleo.

The worst part wasn't the corpses that they fished out from wreckage, the mangled and burnt bodies or their separated limbs. It was those who were still alive. Those became the nightmares that plagued his mind. And when he drifted in and out of conscious thought, mindlessly trudging through the death and wreckage as he did what little he could to help, Nathan found something that brought him back to reality.

Or rather, someone.

It took him a minute to recognize who he was looking at. There was no hair nor skin left on her body, and the suit she wore was as blackened as her flesh. Her eyes were open, though, and with the one arm that still had some flesh on its bone, she reached for him. The fingers were burnt all the way to the lowest knuckle, and a strained gurgle came from an exposed throat. He wanted to look away. She tried again. This time something clearer sounded from between strained gasps. And that third time, as he kneeled by her and tried his best to keep her from closing her eyes, he heard it. Faintly.

"N…Nathan?"

"Oh shit…" There were only a handful of people who knew his first name from their world. And given who was stationed here, it didn't take long to realize who he was looking at. "S-Soliera?" His eyes scanned over what was left of her body. "I need a medic! Now!" he yelled over comms. His suit was able to pick up on weak vital signs, though for her entrails, he didn't need a suit to see them at all. He couldn't deal with this; he couldn't take any more loss today.

"We don't have any—"

"Well free someone up! I've… I found Soliera…"

Nathan rushed through the overfilled hospital, humans and pokémon lining the halls as doctors sprinted in every direction. The stench of burnt flesh had now become nulled, stretching everywhere throughout Unova as Omega did its best to keep people alive. The sight of a lucario, its muscle stripped down to the bone, made him pause. Half the pokémon's skull was visible, eyes melted out, and the heart monitor had long gone flat. His help was needed – they didn't have nearly enough people here at the moment – but he had to check.

He stopped for a few seconds to make the call, continuing to jog through the hallway as the number rang. If there was any good news today, the fact that it was answered was it. "Nathan!"

"Oh thank Arceus!" he said, leaning against the wall for a second to collect his thoughts.

"What the fuck is going on?!"

"Unova just nuked itself." Nathan helped a doctor push a bed, this one holding the top half of a human that somehow was still breathing. He needed to be strong right now; this was no time to lose his mind. There would be plenty of time for that later, but right now there were people that needed help. And for many of them, a few crucial seconds might make all the difference. The line went silent as he rushed forward, wheeling the patient into a room so crammed that the few doctors in it had to squeeze themselves between the beds. Those with 'lesser injuries' had to sit or lay down on the floor. More images that would never leave his mind. He was about to glance towards his phone when Aaron spoke up.

"I don't… understand. Why? Why did…"

"Because that subhuman piece of shit would rather burn this country to the ground rather than lose it!" Nathan said. He made no effort to save face, his voice cracking. "He… he killed Solgaleo…"

"What?!" Aaron said. "That's… that isn't possible…"

"I saw it myself." Nathan needed to take a moment, but that moment meant someone might die. Ignoring the plethora of emotions he felt right now, Nathan grabbed a box of syringes from a supply closet and ran towards the elevator. He stepped off in the atrium. The large decorative reception desk was crammed with dwindling supplies, and in front of it, people were crowded throughout the entrance. "Altoma City and Velum Town are gone. Just gone, Aaron."

"No…"

"We're talking hundreds of thousands dead. Even more injured." He looked towards one of the soldiers, not knowing who was inside the exosuit but snapping at him all the same. "Where is the thirtieth division?! They should have been here by now!"

"Sir, they're almost here! It's hard to land the ships in the city—"

"Drive 'em through buildings for all I care! We were supposed to have medics here ten minutes ago!" The soldier nodded and ran towards the hospital entrance. "Tell them to raid every hospital or medicine stockpile they can! We need all the neupogen and DTPA we can get!"

"What is that?" The soldier asked, the acronym not familiar to their people.

"Diethylenetriamine pentaacetate! Now hurry!"

"Yes sir!" the soldier replied as he headed out the building. As Nathan rushed through whatever tasks he could, he almost forgot Aaron was still on the line.

"…Why did you call me?" Aaron asked. He made it sound as though they were strangers.

"I had to make sure you were alright," Nathan replied, helping administer an IV to a patient that had the same odds of survival as winning a coin toss. He knew in the back of his mind that there were going to be practical decisions made as to who received the limited medicine and attention. Those were decisions that he didn't want to make. And yet, right now, he wasn't sure what other decisions could be made. "I can't lose anyone else today. I don't have it in me…"

"…Thanks," Aaron murmured. He had little doubt that this didn't change things between them.

"You should thank Necrozma. Had it not been for him, the fallout alone could have killed millions more. Look, I'm sure you still have all sorts of grudges, but this isn't the time for any of that. Right now there are a lot of people that need help. People that are going to die if they don't get it. If you're half the person I think you are, then I'd ask that you step up and do something for them." There was a silence over the phone, but in the background he could hear the others, likely still at the flower shop. Had Necrozma not intervened, they very well could be in this building.

When the call ended, Nathan's mind went blank as he did whatever was asked of him. Eventually the medics arrived, though it still didn't seem like there were enough. Omega's forces were distributed over hundreds of hospitals, each dealing with the exact same scenario: overcrowded and understaffed. At some point this nightmare needed to end. But until it did, he and the legendaries kept at it.

Nathan and countless others spent more than forty-eight hours on their feet, doing whatever they could to help. During that time, Necrozma could be seen flashing through the sky, jumping around the world and leading Omega's personnel to hospitals in multiple regions. By now the thousands of burnt bodies seemed to amalgamate into a single creature, one that would lurk around in his mind for all time. But as they moved supplies and people around, dispersing them as needed, Omega was finally able to reestablish order.

The death tolls were still climbing when he was finally able to take a moment to breathe. Right now, despite the exhaustion in his body, he needed to check on Lunala. Soliera was still unconscious, somehow kept alive by the very technology her people had developed. He didn't know if he had the strength to walk into that room yet – not after everything that had happened. The fact that she was one of his closest friends didn't help, but he also knew just as well as anyone else that she was on borrowed time. And that wasn't a thought that he was ready – or able – to accept.

From what he had heard, Lunala was in the same boat. The only difference was that Solgaleo had already reached the inevitable. Every fiber of his being loathed the fact that he couldn't be there for her – that he hadn't stayed by the side of one of the legendaries who had been with him for four years now. She knew Nathan better than he knew himself, even. And he hadn't been with her. But he couldn't. Not when there had been so much to do – so many people to save. It would just have to be one of the hundreds of things that continued to keep him up at night. Nathan had long accepted the fact that he would never find peace.

A car had been brought at his request. Nathan drove to the site, knowing that Lunala had hardly moved since they had first arrived at the former encampment. And that's where, despite all the resistance he had built up over the past few days, Nathan broke again. The legendary was curled around her mate's body as though she were listening for the faintest pulse, hoping for a heartbeat that would never come. Reshiram and Zekrom had kept her company, each standing back a respectable distance. He brushed away fresh tears at the scene as the black dragon touched his mind.

'She has been like this since you left.'

'I figured,' Nathan answered. 'He… he was my friend. To her, he was everything.' His time on this side of eternity would only be a hundred years if he was lucky; that same time would pass by in the blink of an eye for them. What had just happened to Lunala would have been like him losing Adira during their honeymoon. 'I have never once questioned you or the others. Arceus knows I'm not nearly smart enough for that. But if I may… just this once… why did you want me to wait? If we had just stuck with the plan—' He trailed off, feeling as though he were being disrespectful by even asking. 'I… I know you all had to have a reason. I just… if I could know…' He looked at Zekrom through blurry eyes. A slow, solemn nod was what he saw.

'The person responsible for this knew the collateral damage it would cause. As you can see, that did not stop him. The future is not my domain to see - there are only two in this universe that bear that burden. But we know to listen for that faint voice, that nudge in the right direction. I think… had we not held back, the remnants Unova that you sought to conquer might not be here.'

'You think the president would have nuked Castelia had we been there?'

'Whoever it was, they had no problem with the idea of killing millions. I doubt a few more would have made much of a difference. I suppose... this was the outcome that led to the fewest deaths...' A thought raced through his mind, almost rebellious in nature. The best outcome would have been to avoid this altogether. But reason returned to him; the legendaries could not force human will. They could try to influence it, but they could not revoke it. This didn't fall upon them for not knowing what would happen or for not taking any preemptive actions; this was solely upon humans. One human in particular. And his action had just murdered countless people. Nathan grit his teeth. Through their mental link, he felt Zekrom's shared wrath. He remained calm out of respect for Lunala's grief, but the two were on the same page. Nathan donned his helmet once again and stormed off a respectable distance before finally snapping. A call was made. "How quickly can I go live?" he asked over comms. A few seconds passed before Malva responded.

"I can have you up in five."

"I want to be on every screen across the world. Every television, every phone - every fucking smart fridge," Nathan said. "And let's see if we can make it three."

"…Yes sir." Zekrom looked over towards him.

'Are you certain this is a good idea? I think now is not the time to make any hasty decisions.'

'A hasty decision saved millions of lives a few days ago. I'm not Necrozma, but this one seems pretty obvious.'

'Very well. I would suggest choosing your words wisely, though. The world is hurting and there is no need to add to it.'

'Only one person is about to be hurt right now.'

Malva contacted him once everything was in order. A drone descended towards him, and once he gave the signal, a blue light shone. The image of him standing in front of a wasteland was plastered across the world. Trees had been stripped of limbs and leaves, leaving only charred stakes as far as the eye could see. The wreckage of what had once been a sizeable city was visible in the distance. Nathan motioned back with his left hand.

"That used to be Altoma City," he started. His voice was devoid of any character this time around. His charisma had left him, and in its absence, a single goal had taken its place. But he wasn't about to crack; the world needed stability at this time. "There were five hundred thousand people there before President Ellis decided that nuking Unova was a better option than losing it. Three Minuteman-V missiles were launched, each with a half-megaton payload, all to inhibit our progress in the region. To kill me and those who aligned with me. As you can see, I'm still very much alive." On the outside, at least. Nathan clenched his fist hard enough to make the titanium creak.

"You couldn't accept the fact that you had lost. I allowed the politicians who would not submit to retreat to their ratholes. Rats, after all, can easily be ignored. But then you had to go and do something like this - to murder over a million and a half people, including several people very close to me. A legendary fell just a few days ago while trying to save a nearby city from the very weapons you built to end worlds. He was my friend, and he died a hero – a hero who vowed to right the wrongs that people like yourself have wrought upon this planet. You would sooner burn your country to the ground than lose it. It wasn't enough for you to do nothing while your country sunk into anarchy – while looting, rioting and fires spread throughout Unova. We have cleaned up your mess and restored the peace, and even now, after you have unleashed hell upon Earth, Omega is tending to those you have wounded.

"You shot through innumerable hostages only to kill a few of our forces. Because of what you have done here, you're about to feel the full weight of Omega. As of now, I'm ending every single non-humanitarian mission across the world. I am shifting every single resource at my disposal towards finding whatever bunker you're hiding in, and if I have to personally search every square inch of this planet myself, then so be it. I will rip you out of whatever rock you're hiding under and make you pay for what you've done. And nothing – not your soldiers or your nukes or anything – will be able to save you from me." With that, he ended the broadcast.