The sun was halfway above the horizon, its rays warming up the forest and causing most of its inhabitants to wake up and begin the day.
Birds began chirping as the forest became more alive with every passing minute.
This, however, also caused some much more unpleasant inhabitants to wake up.
A giant bear-like monster roamed the forest, letting the early morning sun warm it up.
As it was walking, it spotted a group of small children moving through the forest.
Assuming they were an easy meal, it approached the group slowly. Stalking. Studying their movements.
But within the group of children it was stalking, an unknown variable remained ever so vigilant.
That variable was Damian.
The giant bear had long noticed the four adults, who were walking a fair distance behind the children, but it figured it could at least snatch one of the children before any of the adults could react.
It was wrong.
As it got closer, one of them immediately locked eyes with it.
From 200 meters away.
Damian stared at the bear monster. 'You better turn around.'
But it just kept approaching.
Omari reached out to Damian.
"Hey, Damian… you good?"
Damian's voice came out low and serious.
"Something's coming."
The moment he said that, everyone tensed.
Savien began turning around towards where their fathers were walking. "Oh, then I'll inform our—"
"They're gone." Damian's tone was low and serious.
Everyone else turned around to confirm what Damian said.
There really was no one there.
Omari pinched the bridge of his nose.
"So they really abandoned us the moment trouble rolled around… what great fathers we have," he said sarcastically.
Savien's hand began glowing a faint red. "This is probably part of the trials. It's a test to see how well we do in battle."
Jackson manifested an FGM-148 Javelin and swung it over his shoulder.
"I guess we have no choice. Time for some action!"
He pointed at Omari and Damian. "You two, attack it head-on."
Then he turned over to Savien.
"And you, do that microwave thing you're always talking about."
Jackson turned around, jumped up a tree, and began scaling it before stopping on a high branch.
"I'll provide covering fire!" he screamed.
Savien sighed and began walking. "I guess I'll flank around the area and wait for you two to engage. While you distract it, I'll activate the microwave."
Omari stomped his foot in frustration.
"GODDAMMIT!! I don't want to fight whatever that thing is. Can't I sit this one out—"
Damian grabbed him by the collar. "Let's go, no running away from this."
Omari froze for a moment, then… he sighed.
He knew how scary Damian could be.
...
The bear monster took a few steps back in confusion as its prey began walking toward it.
Omari carried himself casually as he stopped a few meters in front of the bear monster and began assessing it.
Omari scratched the back of his head. "So… can we eat it?"
Damian dropped into a low fighting stance and raised his hands, his focus intensifying and his senses becoming razor-sharp.
"No, it's just something that we have to deal with before it becomes a problem."
Omari rolled his eyes in irritation and raised his arms, initiating a boxing stance. "Hey, Freddy… you don't want this fade, bro."
The monster ignored him and roared intensely, the sound echoing through the forest. Its crimson eyes filled with hunger.
Omari shook his head in disappointment. "Your loss, bro."
The monster lunged forward and opened its mouth, revealing its rows of jagged teeth.
It quickly closed the distance between itself and Damian, its jaws snapping shut around him.
Damian easily caught the monster's open mouth, preventing it from closing around him.
He pushed the monster back hard, causing it to stagger backwards.
Omari used the opening and dashed toward it, landing a clean punch to its face.
Pain surged through the monster's head as irritation built up.
Then, it roared again. Its roar was filled with malice, making one thing clear—it was no longer holding back.
Omari suddenly appeared in front of its head and opened his palm. A bright, blue light began emanating from it.
Its energy shifted the air pressure slightly as Omari spoke.
"Biden Blast!"
A bright blue beam of light shot from his hand, momentarily blinding the monster.
The beam struck the monster's head, leaving a deep bruise.
"Damn, still don't have enough output!"
Omari quickly created distance between him and the monster before it could counter.
Damian, taking the opportunity, dashed at the beast and hit it with a knee to the head.
It retaliated with a swat of its paw in a wide arc, which Damian easily dodged. It quickly regained its composure and chomped down on Damian.
Too bad that won't work.
Damian grabbed the monster by the head and swung it to the side. He quickly built up momentum as he spun the beast around in circles before letting go, sending it flying through multiple trees.
Jackson, noticing the distance between them, aimed his javelin at the beast. Its internal system locked onto the monster.
Then, he shot a rocket at it.
The beast got up, slightly disoriented.
It shook off the pain and prepared to launch another attack.
That's when it heard something flying toward it.
It turned its head but was too late to react as the rocket hit its abdomen and exploded.
The explosion created a large hole in the beast's abdomen, causing pain to surge throughout its body.
It staggered.
But now, it was irritated.
The monster began growling loudly, its crimson eyes glowing with intent as it moved forward.
Its saliva turned green and acidic, dripping to the ground and burning through it.
Then it shook its head, flinging acid in all directions.
Trees and grass hissed as they melted away.
Damian dodged.
Omari simply activated his barrier.
"No, no, don't touch me there. This is my no-no square!" he sang mockingly.
As the monster flung acid around, another figure appeared behind it, his entire body enveloped in a red hue.
It was Savien.
"Microwave oven"
A 20-meter zone engulfed the bear monster in intense heat.
The air became superheated and began burning everything inside.
Trees, grass, leaves, and even fur all caught fire inside the immense heat of the attack.
The monster howled and groaned in pain as its fur heated up, followed by its skin, which quickly began to burn.
Jackson—noticing the monster's lack of focus—shot another rocket towards it.
The rocket screeched through the air as it flew toward its target.
Boom
The explosion echoed through the forest as black smoke enveloped the area.
As the smoke began to thin out, the monster's silhouette remained upright.
Then–
Thud.
It collapsed.
Dead.
Savien slowly began approaching the body, still on high alert as he reached the carcass and examined it.
He sighed in relief as he raised his hand. "It's down!"
Omari smirked as he jumped up in celebration.
"HELL YEAH!"
Jackson smiled proudly as he jumped down from the branch and walked toward the body.
"Nice teamwork, guys."
Damian just dusted his hands off and put them in his pockets.
He gave the beast a small nod of acknowledgement.
Savien scratched the back of his neck. "I still have to increase the amount of heat my attack has. It should have completely incinerated the entire area of effect."
Omari placed a hand on his chin. "Well, I should also increase the output of my attack because it's still too weak."
He then shrugged his shoulders. "But, oh well. At least we beat it."
Jackson stopped in front of the beast, pride surging through his body as a smile began forming on his face.
He lifted his arm into the air with an open palm, and a flag suddenly appeared in his clutches.
The flag's black, blue, and red horizontal colours reflected and absorbed the sun's rays. A lone white star sat dead in the middle of the flag.
He placed the flag on the beast's carcass and stood firmly on its body as he struck a triumphant pose and smirked proudly.
"Another challenge tackled in the name of the greatest country in the world—America!"
He shouted, his voice laced with unapologetic nationalism.
"YEAH!! USA! USA!" Omari chimed in enthusiastically.
Jackson paused his posing and raised an eyebrow at Omari. "… USA? What's that?"
Omari blinked.
"Isn't that what you're talking about?"
Jackson frowned.
He began twisting the flagpole deeper into the carcass as he spoke.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Maybe our versions of 'USA' are different, because my version was an ice hockey team."
Omari's eyes widened slightly, and he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "… Oh, sorry, man. Forgot about the differences between our worlds."
Savien—using one of the bent trees—sat down with a relaxed posture.
"Well…" He placed a hand on his chin. "My version of 'USA' was actually a democratic party in Angola."
Jackson's curiosity spiked. "What does it stand for?"
Savien shrugged slightly.
"United Sovereignty Alliance."
"Speaking of countries…" Omari interjected.
He placed a hand on his chin. "What did you mean by 'America' being the greatest country in the world?"
A huge smile appeared on Jackson's face. "Well… it was my home country. The biggest, most powerful country in the world. The greatest place to live on the planet."
Then, his tone softened, and his smile shrank a bit. "But, of course, the rest of the world eventually became jealous of our superiority and waged war on us."
Omari shook his head with a smile as a slight chuckle escaped him. "No fucking way."
The chuckle soon became a giggle.
Then a laugh.
Finally, it turned into a full-blown, unrestrained fit of laughter that sent him tumbling to the ground.
"Ain't no way, bro!" he said between laughs.
Jackson frowned.
"Why is he laughing?"
Damian spoke up, his tone low.
"He doesn't believe you."
Jackson raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
Savien spoke up. "Well, no reasonable leader of a country would start a war over something as dumb as… jealousy."
"They were jealous! America was a global powerhouse! The best place to live on the planet!"
Omari laughed even harder at Jackson's words, eventually rolling around on the floor.
Jackson shook his head and jumped off the carcass, arms crossed. "Whatever! You guys clearly can't understand how amazing America was!"
Omari stopped laughing, tears still in his eyes as he stood up with a smile still lingering on his face.
"Whatever you say, brotato chip."
"Wait…" Savien spoke up. "How big was your America?"
Pride immediately shot through Jackson as a smile appeared on his face.
"It occupied an entire continent!" His tone was laced with pride.
"ZAMN!!" Omari exclaimed.