Oh joy, another fanfic where I get to pick on America. *Rolls her eyes* Sorry, people. I just had this thought and... Well, I just had to write it. Get ready for the USUK angst~!

It is very difficult to kill a nation. That goes without saying, of course. Who knows what chaos would arise if countries only lasted as long as an average human? They are almost immortal... Almost. A nation cannot die unless murdered, which is very hard indeed. You can't just stab one and hope they die. They are beings that represent their people, and thus are connected emotionally and physically by a special bond to their citizens. Their personalities, preferences, etc. is determined by their people. When there is a war, for example, the country feels every death and damaged structure. This also applies to economy and such, putting countries in a bad mood or making them sick. The bond also works the other way around. If a country is injured, their people feel it. A small scratch can kill from just one person to a hundred, depending on the size of the nation. It hurts immensely, yes, but countries must be prepared for these facts. They must be ready, or they will be eaten up by guilt and pain.

So, how do you kill a nation? How do you kill someone who will stay alive, no matter how much damage you cause them? The answer lies with the people, the innocent citizens. They are the reason countries survive, why they exist. Nations are connected to the land, but they are not bound to it. They are bound to their people. Let's take Prussia, for instance. Considering that the country "Prussia" no longer exists, why is the representation, Gilbert, still alive? It is simple: because there are still people with Prussian blood who are alive. Prussia's citizens still exist, though it is a little strained. They are no longer "Prussians," per say, but it doesn't matter what you call them. "A rose by any other name, just as sweet," to quote Shakespeare.

Now, back to the question at hand. The answer is simple: to kill a nation, you must kill their people. Every last one. As long as even a single descendant is left alive, the country will just barely survive. Of course, you could do it the other way around and just keep hurting a country until all of their people are dead, but that could take even longer than hunting their people down. It all depends on the population of that specific nation.

Of course, this is all theoretical. No nation has ever truly died before, and it's not exactly something one can test. What kind of sick, twisted person would want to kill a nation, anyway?

When America had started exploring his boss's laboratories out of sheer boredom, he never expected to find anything important. He just figured he could have some fun tormenting the scientists, or possibly playing with some harmless, new toy- er, invention. How was he supposed to know that he was about to stumble upon the most devastating object he would ever encounter - literally.

America was simply walking along the brightly lit hallway and eating a lollipop, when his foot caught on a switch and he tripped, just barely catching himself on the wall. He whistled and declared to no one in particular, "Whew, that was a close one!" He looked down and realized he had tripped over a little switch. "Hey, what's this...?" he wondered out loud, bending down and fiddling with it. It must have been stuck or something because it was difficult to flip, but he idid/i have superhuman strength, which finally forced it to flip. A panel in the floor immediately melted into the ground, revealing a staircase leading down. "Woah," was all America could say.

He slowly descended the dark, muggy stairs, looking around wearily as if expecting something to jump out at him. A drop of water landed on his nose, causing him to shiver and give a tiny yelp. "K-Keep it together, America," he told himself shakily, running his fingers through his hair. "Everything's okay." Something fell somewhere far away, landing with a quiet crash that echoed throughout the dark place. He flinched when he heard this, almost turning back. But something pulled him forward, closer. It felt like something was calling him...

He finally reached the end of the staircase, and found a very well lit room, startling his dark-adjusted eyes. He squinted, and saw that there were all kinds of computers and machinery all over the place. There were also a few scientists, five, and probably more behind the door at the back of the room.

"Hi!" America called cheerfully, stepping into the room. "What are you guys working on?" Every single scientist froze and stared at him.

"W-What are you doing here?" asked a small man in a too-big lab coat. He lifted his goggles, staring at America accusingly.

"What do you mean?" America asked, puzzled by the reaction he had gotten. Being the United States of America, he was allowed wherever he wanted in the top secret lab. Why were these people so surprised that he had dropped in?

"Nobody is supposed to know about this lab," a woman with short black hair said, stepping closer. "Not even you." The small man glared at her obviously annoyed that she had revealed they were working on something important.

"Please leave immediately," the man said curtly.

America pouted. "Aw, but I wanna know see what you're working on!"

The man shook his head. "No."

America frowned, then decided to try something out. He stood up as tall as he could, towering over the tiny man, and made his best scary face. Narrowing his eyes and trying to surround himself with an aura of danger, he said darkly, "Show me what you are working on. Now." The man shivered, disturbed, and looked at the woman.

"O-Of course, Mr. America," she squeaked and led him to the door. America grinned. It looked like all that time doing impersonations of Russia had paid off after all! The woman put her hand on the door knob, but didn't open it. She looked up at America fearfully and said, "Remember, this is top secret. You cannot tell anyone, okay?" The sudden seriousness in her voice caught America off wondered if he really wanted to know after all, but quickly nodded. The woman turned back to the door and turned the knob, making a little panel come out. She blew on it softly, and the panel disappeared as the door swung open.

"Cool," America commented before stepping through the doorway. His eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat as soon as he stepped over the threshold. There was a feeling beginning to well up in his stomach, a feeling pulsing in the very air. A horrible, dangerous feeling...

Power.

That was the only way to describe it. That feeling of absolute power, not so far away. Almost close enough to touch. That feeling…

It scared America. It scared him because he had never wanted anything so badly before.

The aura seemed to be coming from a tiny machine sitting on a pedestal in the center of the room, too small to make out any details. Trembling, he asked quietly, "What… What is that?"

"We call it the Šalis žudiko." Seeing America's clueless expression, she added, "It means… Nation Murderer."

America stared at her. "W… What?"

"The Šalis žudiko. It…" Her tone became disgusted. "It kills nations."

The words didn't seem to register in his brain. He just continued staring at her. "It kills… Nations?" he repeated dumbly. She nodded, a grave look on her face. "No…" he whispered. "No, that's impossible…"

"I thought so too, when I first heard about the project," she said, narrowing her eyes with dislike. "This just isn't natural… It's just… Evil." She sighed, and continued. "I didn't want to work on it, but I had no choice. I'm one of the few people in the entire world with enough scientific knowledge and experience to create something this… This… Monstrous. And I guess your boss wanted it pretty badly, to pay so much for it."

"What does it do?" America asked cautiously.

The woman walked forward and carefully took the machine off the pedestal, holding it out for America to see. It was just a little thing, about the size of an iPod. It looked almost like black laser pointer, with glowing blue stripes. "You point it at a country," she explained, "and a laser shoots out and analyzes them. Then it… It uses the information to… To instantly kill anyone related to that country. Instant murder." She shook her head, true sadness showing in her grieving amber eyes. "I fear I will never be able to repent for helping to create this thing…"

America stared at the tiny device, trying to get over his horror and disbelief. This couldn't be real! "Was my boss… Really planning to use this?" The woman nodded solemnly. America growled and said, "That thing has to be destroyed."

"We can't."

"What?"

"If it is destroyed, the nation closest to it will be killed. It is designed to take down with it anyone who tries to get rid of it…" The woman put her face in her hands and started to sob. "It's horrible! Absolutely horrible!" America patted her shoulder, nodding.

"Yeah…" Suddenly, an idea came to him. "Oh! What if I took it?" he suggested. The woman peered up at him curiously.

"You what?"

"What if I took it? You know, for safekeeping!"

She eyed him distrustfully. "How can I be sure you won't use it?"

America grinned and gave her a thumbs up. "Because I'm the Hero, and heroes never lie!" She laughed weakly.

"Okay." She took his hand and put the little machine into his palm, closing his fingers around it. "Be careful," she said, her voice making the words have more meaning than America had thought possible.

"Of course," he replied. "I'll guard it with my life."

She wiped her eyes and said, "I fear… I fear you may have to."

Dun dun dun! XD So? What did you guys think? I was sort of rushing that last part, but I promise it will get better later. A lot more drama to come! And of course, some USUK too~!

Also, anyone have a better title for this...? ^^;

Two more things: yes, the name of the machine is Lithuanian for "Country Murderer," and please please please please Review! Reviews are what inspire me to write more and show me that people actually care about my silly soap operas!