Chapter 1

The World Meetings of the Nations had been going on for decades at least, and never once had one gone peacefully or orderly. As he watched the various countries stagger into the conference room and take their seats, Germany suspected that an orderly meeting for them all was simply an impossibility.

"Everyone, this is unacceptable!" he said, when they were all seated and as calmed down as he felt they could get. "This meeting was scheduled for ten o'clock, and you all have come in at eleven-fifteen! How are we supposed to solve the world's problems if we cannot even make our meetings on time?"

There was a flurry of excuses, ranging from "My alarm clock didn't go off!" to "I was, like, totally busy fixing my hair!"

"Nein," said Germany, cutting them all off. "We have been slacking off far too much, as of late. Lateness aside, far too many of you have not been taking this seriously. Romano, there were complaints from the janitors about stains from the tomatoes you threw at Spain at the last meeting! Don't do that again! China has still not shown up! Also, America missed our last meeting, and it looks like he's missing this one as well!"

France raised his hand. "Pardon, but when you say 'America', you mean the actual United States of America? Or are you mistaking him for Canada, who has also not been at the past few meetings?"

"I've never missed a single meeting," Canada said. "I've also been on time to them all."

No one heard this.

"By 'America' I meant America, yes," said Germany.

"I'll speak to the boy," said England. "Don't know what the idiot is up to. He usually loves showing up to these things, boisterous wanker that he -"

England was cut off as the door flew open with a bang. "Hey guys!" shouted America. "The hero has arrived!"

"America, you are very late," said Germany. "Go take your seat."

America laughed loudly and tried to navigate to the only two empty seats left. As he walked to the other side of the table, he staggered into the table's corner. He swore loudly and coordinated himself by bracing himself on the table's edge, any chairs he passed, and the nations sitting in them. Finally, he took the empty seat next to England.

"What the bloody hell is the matter with you?" England hissed, as America crashed into the seat. "Are you drunk?"

"Ha! A hero does not attend meetings drunk!" said America, speaking so loudly that several nations jumped.

"Shhhhh! Shut it!" whispered England, clapping his hand over America's mouth. "What in the world has come over you?"

"If America and England are quite finished over there, we can begin our proposals," said Germany. "Now, first on the agenda is -"

"Ni hao! I apologize for being late. I was having a terrible time with traffic."

Germany rubbed his temples and nodded at the Chinese man that appeared in the doorway. "Fine, fine, just take your seat."

"With pleasure," said China.

"I think the chap's starting to get senile," muttered England. "Getting stuck in traffic, what next? What the bloody hell is wrong with you?"

The last comment was directed at America, whose eyes were glued to China. The instant the nation had entered the room, America had sat up, with his eyes narrowed and his face scowling. "Him," America growled. "Its his fault."

"His fault for what?" asked England. He was used to not being able to follow America's train of thought, but this was starting to bother him.

"He did this to me."

"Did what? Ban your movies? If that's what it is, you've hardly been bothered by that before."

By now, China had taken the last empty seat, which happened to be next to America. "Ni hao, America," said the older nation. "I hope you are in good health."

"You would know, wouldn't you?" America asked menacingly.

China raised his eyebrows but refrained from commenting. Germany was continuing the meeting, and his expression made it clear that if there were any more interruptions, the consequences would be dire.

Still, it was impossible for China or England to ignore the fury radiating off of the nation sitting in between them. It was frightening. America was almost always in a good mood. The times when he reached such levels of anger - when he and Russia had pointed guns at each other, or when Japan attacked him - everyone knew what caused it. Now? There was no reason for him to be in such a state, especially towards China.