It was another gloomy day. Storm clouds hung heavily in the sky as a warning of the upcoming storm.

America's boots were waterlogged and made a funny squelch as he exited the metal craft that had brought him to the hellish shore. The beach was soaked with the blood of many soldiers and the dead littered the ground as far as the eye can see. Planks, rods and barricades set by enemy forces stuck out of the sand. This was a battlefield.

With a gun in hand, America clambered over the muddied hills that separated the shore from the rest of the land, devoid of any signs of people. A small veil of fog made it hard to see what was in front of him but America slowly advanced without any second thoughts.

The further he walked, the thicker the fog was and it made it harder to navigate. He began to pick up the soft moans of dying people but he paid them little mind.

"Wait..."

He swiveled around and focused on his left. Faint thumps of footsteps gradually got closer and America quickly readied his gun.

It wasn't one of his people.

In other words, shoot em' down.

A strangled gurgle and an unmistakable thump told him that the coast was clear now. He let out a sigh of relief and continued forward, ignoring his trembling body.

At this point, the cloud was so dense that it looked solid. Tinges of crimson colored his vision and the sickening smell of iron flooded his senses. The illusions and sounds only got worse as he journeyed further, forcing him to relive some of his darkest moments. Unwilling to be held in the hellscape, he burst into a sprint. He didn't know where he was heading but frankly, he didn't care. All he needed to do was survive.

(America POV)

I jolted up with a start and slammed my head into something. Stars danced in my vision as I cradled my spinning head, cursing through all of it.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

NATO was crouched at the foot of my bed, writhing in pain as he held his head.

So that was what I had hit.

After both receiving ice packs and calming down a bit, I started to notice my new situation. I was breathing heavily and my pulse was rushing. Sweat beaded my face and I felt like throwing up but what alarmed me the most was my surroundings.

"NATO? Why am I back here?"

I was held in the middle of a giant, circular, windowless room that had been made exclusively for me. It's barren white walls and floor encased me and the bed I was strapped to and it was one that I was familiar with.

"You started freaking out after the tranquilizer dart started to wear off. Not to mention your thrashing and screaming." NATO answered grimly, "Honestly, that was quite a fever dream you were having. You almost killed someone on the way back."

"I-"

Slowly, I began to reflect on what I could remember, carefully separating the past from present and illusions from reality. Then it all came together and I lurched against the restraints.

"Hold on, what about Rus-" he held up a hand to stop me and eased me back down.

"Thankfully, he's going to be alright. After the coast was clear, we secured him in one of NASA's capsules to keep him from breaking away any further. Good thing we did, he was extremely close to death. Nurse WHO took the liberty of patching both of you up to the best of her ability but Russia was... almost beyond saving. From what I've heard so far, he's finally stable enough to be transported to the hospital. UN has also sent the Restoration teams down to Earth to fix the massive amounts of damage that his territory sustained."

Once I heard that, it was as if a weight was lifted off my chest and I let out a sigh of relief. Now that the panic was waning, I could also think a bit clearer.

"Ooookay... What about Afghanistan? And the hooded man, whoever he is."

"Afghanistan is being treated for her many injuries and is being kept under tight surveillance. As for the target, we are unsure. We found no trace of him but we don't know if that is because he got away or if he was vaporized into nothing by your fire. I'd wager the latter of the two but then again..." he shook his head to dismiss the downing thoughts, "In any case, UN is livid. He's doing whatever he can to find out who this mystery man is."

I stared at the faraway ceiling of the chamber as I let the news sink in. If there was a chance that that asshole was still alive, then something like this could happen again. NATO could sense my uneasiness and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"We'll stop them before that can happen. I promise."

The touching moment was soon interrupted by the opening of the door. The three powers along with NASA and my dear brother Canada stepped into the room. All of them looked rather unhappy except for Canada who was ecstatic to see me. He ran to my side and presented me with a small paper bag with something inside that smelled heavenly.

"Mom made muffins for us and I took one for you." He beamed proudly, "Enjoy!"

I smiled at my sweet little (big) brother but I soon ran into a problem, "That's very nice of you, Canada, but I don't know if you have noticed; my hands are cuffed to my sides. Please lend me your assistance once more."

"Oh sorry!"

The Powers hovered at my other side and UN immediately got down to brass tacks.

"Unfortunately, we still have no conclusive signs that the threat has been terminated. Even if it's unthinkable that anyone could survive something like that, we must presume the worst."

EU ran his fingers through his perfectly styled hair in frustration, "As you know, we Powers have been monitoring the peace and progression of the world but as it stands, this unknown enemy is a great wedge in our growth."

"Having the gall to attack two of the most... outstanding countries. This amount of confidence is extremely worrisome, not to mention the fact that they were able to influence Afghanistan and the incident of El Salvador." ASEAN pointed out.

"And the Gate." NASA piped in helpfully.

"Yes, NASA, and the Gate," UN sighed, "As you probably have understood by now, we face a very unsettling threat and-

-could you eat that later?"

Canada glanced up innocently and shoved the muffin back into the bag. I let out a sad whine and flopped back onto the pillow.

"Yeah yeah I get it," I snapped, annoyed that I wasn't allowed to finish the muffin, "What's this have to do with me then?"

"Honestly, you can be such a child sometimes," EU sighed, "What we need from you is information. Anything you remember that can help us identify the target."

UN knelt down to my level, "Did you see anything that you can describe? Did he say anything that was peculiar? What kind of ability did he have?" he coaxed.

I closed my eyes to dig through my memories. Bits and pieces of thoughts began to slowly bubble to the surface and I began to report whatever I could.

"Honestly... I got the vibe that he really didn't like me. Like a personal grudge or something."

"Yeah, that doesn't really narrow the pool of suspects," NATO snorted which earned him a glare from me, "We'll need more than that."

"I don't see you helping here! You were there with us."

"We've already interviewed everyone there except you and Russia, including Afghanistan but she was most likely kept in the dark. If what we know is correct, you were the most targeted so perhaps you also got the closest."

I shrugged and thought harder. This time I focused on recovering details about his ability- no...

"He had multiple abilities, that's to start. He could move surprisingly fast and is extremely agile, probably has experience with fighting and war, and iron zombies."

ASEAN's raised an eyebrow, "Pardon?"

"He means the army of iron statues." NATO translated for them and they nodded.

"It's probably a copy of Afghanistan's Awakening except it was stronger. Or somehow combined with another Awakening, if that is even possible."

UN nodded to NASA who recorded it down. He seemed pleased that we were making headway but he was still not satisfied. Neither was I.

"There was also another really bothersome Awakening. He could manipulate this kind of crimson smoke that induces hallucinations."

Goosebumps began to prickle at my skin as I suddenly remembered the nightmare I had had. Crimson smoke would have perfectly described the fog that covered the beach and it did indeed feel sickeningly familiar.

"Come to think of it... I do remember going up against a similar Awakening before," I mused to myself as I struggled to make the connection.

"Remind me. What was Germany's Awakening again?"

It only took a few minutes and soon, a very disgruntled Germany was teleported in by one of UN's agents. The confused country smoothed out his uniform and fixed his glasses before he decided to acknowledge us.

"How can I help you?"

As mannered as always. Typical Germany.

We quickly explained the situation without revealing too much but he was immediately aware that we were hiding something. Me strapped to the bed was probably a dead giveaway.

I decided to take my turn to describe my dream too. It seemed to be relevant to what was happening and the further I went, the paler Germany seemed to get. When I was done, NASA got the clue and retrieved a chair for the shaking boy. Obviously I had described something that had upset him and we were all curious to see what he had to say about this.

He clasped his hands together and took a few shaky breaths to calm himself, "S-sorry. It's just... you caught me off-guard with this. Crimson smoke that induces nightmares; you are correct about it being familiar.

 "The beach you spoke about... that was Normandy, wasn't it?"

And just like that everything fell into place and my eyes widened. I glanced at Canada and his expression matched my own. He had come to the same conclusion that I had.

"The Crimson Phantasm was my predecessor, Third Reich's Awakening."

"ABSURD!" EU barked, "WE ALL KNOW THAT HE DIED AT THE END OF THE WAR! ARE YOU SUGGESTING THAT THAT MONSTER IS STILL ALIVE?!"

UN grabbed his colleague and shook his head. EU deflated and a tinge of color bloomed on his face.

"My apologies. I wasn't thinking clearly." NASA retrieved another chair for the Power and the man sat next to Germany, creating the perfect gloomy pair.

"I can understand his reaction," ASEAN admitted, "The war was quite a blow to many countries but I still can't fathom that he is still alive. And I don't remember him having the ability to create -er- iron zombies."

We all nodded in agreement to put that aside temporarily. All in good time because I still had one more piece of information I was curious about.

"Did I mention that the target was an Amplifier?"

NATO silently grimaced while the Powers quickly caught on and wheeled on me, "Are you suggesting that it was one of us?"

"I'm just saying," I shrugged, "If I remember correctly, only you three are Amplifiers."

Canada noticed what I was implying and the rising tension in the room.

"Hey now, let's not jump to conclusions like that," he tried to reason, "Maybe it wasn't an Amplifier and he just had an energy support power like me!"

"No Nada. When he touched her, Afghanistan's Awakening didn't just grow stronger. It went to a different level! She was able to control hundreds of those daggers at a time and she was able to draw it out straight from her body! If it were simple energy transference, she would be unable to manipulate the daggers to that degree." I pointed to UN and gave my boldest declaration.

"If I were to be honest, I would say it's most likely you, Mr. Sky-blue fingers!"

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Ame playing detective is rather fun to write.

Anyways, I'll leave y'all with this ref of human NATO. I do like how he turned out and Five is just being Five. (I'll get back to that dude in a bit)