Canada paced nervously near the border of his country, the one that met with the United States of America. The bridge connecting the two nations was named the "Peace Bridge", and he only smiled when he saw it. It was a reminder of the close bond he shared with his brother, and he knew nothing could take that bond away.
Canada stared down at his watch and paused for a moment to check his phone for any updates. None. No new texts or calls. He clicked on his weather app and frowned, then began to pace again when he saw that the storm was not going to be dying down anytime soon. It seemed to almost be following his brother's path, if Canada could believe in such a thing. Funny, the way the clouds moved sometimes. It almost seemed like they had a mind of their own. He scrolled down the page of the application and clicked on the radar, checking his watch again as it loaded, and glanced back down to the screen, only to be met with several alerts and warnings for the region he had focused on. He squinted at the screen, his glasses giving off a dull glare from the sun that was peeking out from behind the heavyset clouds hovering above him, and breathed in deeply to calm himself.
"He has done this before. Nothing to worry about," Canada spoke softly to no one in particular, and no one seemed to be paying him much attention. They knew who he was and why he was there, and they were skeptical at the idea, but no one would dare to tell him otherwise. He was a nation, after all. He represented everything his citizens stood for, and they trusted him, backed him in everything he did, no matter how trivial it seemed.
Canada turned to his car, where he had left it parked an hour ago, and sat down in his seat, his nerves making his legs feel weak. If his brother could do this, then so could he. Why was he so nervous? It's not like he has not encountered something like this before. And besides, it cannot hurt him, right? Only his economy can hurt him, and he was in fair economic standing, so no need to worry. It was only the fact that his brother was late. That had to be it. He's known for being late. It was in his nature at this point. But…
Canada took out his phone again, which he had shoved into his hoodie pocket, not wanting to look at it anymore, when he heard the screeching of tires and a few shouts of complaint. Canada smiled out of embarrassment when he saw the blue sports car roll up next to him and the shaded windows roll down to reveal a low bass theme from a song that was probably seconds prior blaring out of the speakers, and a bright white smile underneath messy blonde hair.
"Hey Mattie. Ready to head out? Storm's not gonna wait forever, you know," the United States of America reached over and unlocked the passenger door and pushed it open.
"You know," Canada started, slowly seating himself in the car, knowing full well that as soon as the door was shut, America would slam on the gas, "I was hoping we could take my car. It's a bit more reliable for the situation we are going to and-"
"No, Mattie, we need speed. I need speed. And this baby can give it to us," Alfred stroked the steering wheel lovingly, saying a few precious words to his car in a sickening baby voice.
"No, Alfred. We need something that will not slip on the ground, and can withstand the high winds and rain, and not only that, the sheer velocity of the-"
"Oh, don't you go getting all sciency on me and stuff. Whatever, we'll take your car. You have the cool gadgets equipt for this stuff anyhow, right, like I asked? Man, the NWS is gonna be so psyched when they hear about this one!" Alfred turned off his car and beeped the lock twice once Matthew made it out as well.
"This is only for the advancement of the research on tornadoes and tornadic activity. Luckily, we as nations have full service to the equipment that is used in that type of research. I am glad that you asked to to come along, Al." Canada walked over to his car and watched as Alfred pouted from the other side.
"You want to drive?" Canada less asked, and more just stated a general fact. America ran over to the other side of the car and took the keys.
"I cannot believe you are over 237 years old, and yet you still act like a child," Canada sighed as he plopped into the passenger seat and turned on his laptop, which tracked the local storms. He had it located on one that was going to be sweeping through most of Ohio and New York in the next few hours. They planned on catching it in Ohio, before it hit Lake Erie and turned up into Canada as just a simple rain storm. Canada had been tracking this storm for the past day and it seemed most promising. His stomach twisted into a few knots thinking about what they were about to do. 'I am only four hours away from facing down a tornado on purpose. Alfred's crazy must be spreading,' Canada thought nervously and touched the screen of his laptop, spreading his fingers out to single in on the spot they were heading to. The car had already started and was racing toward the gates from Canada to America. He always felt a strange thrill when leaving his own borders by car instead of by air. It just seemed so much more physical, as he could always pinpoint the exact moment he left his country and set foot onto a new territory. It just seemed different at ground level.
They made it through border control with ease, as they had a special clearance gate just for them, and then they were off. Canada felt his stomach fill with butterflies as he stared out over the water and watched the cars lined up to come into his country. His people, the ones he loved, coming home once again. Or perhaps some tourists, taking a day trip to see his beautiful landscapes or cities. He would never turn anyone down. The border control was heavily pushed by his government, and he had to accept it to make them happy.
Canada took in a deep breath and closed his eyes as they reached the high point of the bridge. This scene was always wonderful, but Canada simply wanted to revel in the feeling for a moment; the feeling of his country, for it would be gone soon. Canada opened his eyes and felt a sense of nostalgia wash over him as he heard his brother sigh next to him when they made it to the bottom of the bridge.
"Home sweet home," he heard his brother say, knowing exactly what he was feeling at the moment. Before them, Buffalo, NY loomed, causing Canada to long for his beautiful city of Toronto, just a hundred or so kilometers up the QEW, construction permitted. Alfred's cities just never seemed to compare to his own. 'But,' Canada thought, 'there really is no place like home.'
"Hey, bro," Alfred finally spoke up next to him, catching Canada off guard, "Wanna check those radars again? Wanna make sure I'm heading the right way. I can take I-90 all the way to Cleveland, then head south on I-77, or, I can-"
"Alfred, hold on one second. I'm trying to focus,"Canada cut Alfred off, sighing in annoyance, and he rolled his eyes when he heard his brother mutter a few unpleasant things under his breath. Canada scanned over the radar feeds in front of him and pulled up another tab he had been saving. "Alright, just," Canada punched in a few directions into the GPS that was stuck to the front of the window, "follow these and we should be there in no time."
"Not even giving me the challenge of having to navigate my own country? Not fun, bro. Ya know, next time we are going to a state with a better average. Tornadoes might pop up around here sometimes, but the really goods ones happen more to the west and south. I've totally watched all of the documentaries and stuff, and if we really wanna get good footage, we have to-"
"I know, Alfred, but this is the best we could do with our short schedules. I was already in Toronto for a meeting, and you were in New York for… I don't know, but, either way, this is the only storm we have time to see together."
"You know, bro, we work too hard nowadays. I remember the good times when we would be able to spend hours on end just staring at the clouds, or contemplating world domination."
"That was only you, Al."
"Yeah, but, think about it, Matt, the whole world as America! How cool would that be?"
"Only if I was still allowed to eat things that were not deep fried," Canada sighed, already tired of the conversation he knew was about to ensue.
"Hey, fried bubblegum is good. You can't diss it til you try it," America shot back, a wry grin spreading across his face, knowing Canada hated this argument. It was simple brotherly banter, and Alfred only brought it up because of how annoyed it made Matthew. Canada stared out the window, obviously trying his best to ignore his brother, but sighed and stared back down at his computer screen then up at the GPS.
"This better be worth spending four hours in a car with you," Canada looked over at the American, who let a wide grin slowly spread over his face as the speedometer suddenly began to steadily rise.
"Oh, four hours you say? We'll see about that," America said, a challenge in his voice, and Canada buckled his seatbelt, closed his laptop and fisted his hand in his jeans. This was going to be a fun day.
"Oh, come on, that is not a fair argument for my education system," America whined while Canada pulled up yet another fact about a few of the local colleges in his own country.
"You do realize that teenagers coming out of highschool do not have the funds necessary to take up a proper education in your country, and yet an average college tuition at a public university costs about $12,000 a semester? Not only are my tuitions costs significantly lower, the gover- hey, radar is picking up something new." Canada's boiling passive-aggression was switched out when his laptop suddenly picked up a warning on his radar. America leaned over to get a look, but glued his eyes back on the road when the car swerved a bit out of the white line and he hit gravel.
"What is it Mattie? What do your elf eyes see?" America joked then flinched when he saw a flash of lightening in the distance in front of him.
"You need to stay away from your own pop culture a bit, and it looks like an F-3 tornado has touched down near Akron. We will be passing through there in twenty minutes or so. I think we should change our direction to a bit more to the east and catch the side of it. The way the clouds are developing here and here," Canada pointed to the spots in the screen, and Alfred glanced over to see what he was pointing at, "have a higher rotation than the rest of the storm. This," Canada dragged his hand across his screen, creating an invisible line on the monitor, "is where the current tornado is." Canada looked up from the screen when he saw flashes of lightning out of the corner of his eye. He looked out the window and his stomach twisted into nervous knots. The clouds here were a darker shade than the rest, almost black, and Canada might not be the recipient of as many tornadoes as the United States, but he knew when he saw one, and he could feel that they were close.
After a few minutes of silence, a siren in the distance broke the brothers out of their reveries. Alfred glanced nervously at Matthew and gave him a tight smile.
"Ready for this?" he asked, feigning his worry for an eager calm. Canada swallowed thickly and nodded, not wanting his voice to betray him. He looked back down at his screen again, and audibly gulped when he saw the dark red clouds surrounded by a shaded in red box on the screen was directly above them. Maybe 'fun' was saying too much. This day was going to be terrifying.
"I suppose," Canada tried to swallow, but his throat had dried up, and his eyes were busy following the clouds. After a few minutes of silence, the brothers heard another siren go off in the distance.
"Think I should follow it?" Alfred asked, then jumped when he began to hear heavy pelting on the car. His knuckles became white when the hail slamming into the car began to grow in size and frequency, causing tiny dents to begin appearing on the windshield.
"Al, take this side street here!" Matthew yelled over the raucous caused by the almost marble-sized hail.
"What?!"
"Al, turn here!"
"Bro, you gotta speak up. I can't-"
"I said here!" Canada reached over and took hold of the steering wheel just long enough to make a sharp turn to the left, just barely avoiding a large branch that had fallen from a nearby tree in the road.
"Woah, Mattie, I'm driving. You're navigating. Let me do my-"
"What?!"
"Oh, never mind," Alfred puffed, then jumped yet again when the windshield suddenly shattered. Alfred swerved a few times, then hit a telephone pole off the side of the road. The airbags deployed and left the two brothers dazed and bruised.
"Augh! Dammit. Mattie! Hey, bro, are you okay?! I'm so sorry! I promise, I'll-"
"Glad to see you're fine as well," Matthew sighed and pushed the airbag out of his face, then pushed open the passenger door and fell out. Alfred came out shortly after. Canada walked around the car to meet America on the other side, then became acutely aware of his surroundings. America felt it next, knowing all too well what it felt like to be in the epicenter of mother nature.
"Bro, I sure hope that camera still works, 'cause we're about to get some pretty sick footage," Alfred said quietly, staring up at the rotating sky and watched as the wind picked up on the surrounding trees. The calm before the storm. Alfred knew of this all too well. Tornadoes did not hurt as much as they used to, but he had never truly been in the middle of one before. He did not have an interest until all of those storm chasing shows began popping up everywhere. Now look where they are. In the dead center of a storm, without their cool gadgets and no way out. Hopefully mother nature was merciful today.
Alfred's wish was wiped away when the rotating in the clouds a mile in front of them began to intensify and the direction of the wind changed drastically.
"Al, I think," Canada began, having to raise his voice over the sudden freight train sound coming from directly in front of them, "I think we should find a place to hide."
"And miss out on why we came here? Not a chance," Alfred yelled over the winds and opened the back door of the car to fish out the recorder they brought. He was glad to see it undamaged, unlike all of the other equipment they brought.
"Al," Canada stared at the menacing shape that now loomed before them, "Al, we need to leave!" But his twin was having none of it. He was a nation after all, and he could not be hurt by a mere pinprick on his giant map. He never let nature win before. He was not about to let it win now.
"What do you think it is, Mattie? An F-3 again?"
"We shouldn't be this close! The wind is beginning to blow around-" Matthew ducked out of the way for a piece of fencing and yelped when another, much smaller piece hit his leg, "There is too much debris! Al, we need to get underground! This is not-"
"Don't worry, bro! The hero will protect you!" Alfred shouted cockily as he hit record on the camcorder. Another piece of fencing and parts of branches from nearby trees began to whip by. The tornado then finally hit the ground, the dirt and grass seemingly coming up to meet it in a giant, twisting dust storm. Then, it changed directions. The winds began to blow directly into the two nation's faces.
"It's changing direction, Al! It's coming right for us!" Matthew nearly screamed next to Alfred, but the other seemed oblivious to the warnings, entranced by the sheer destructive power of the force of nature in front of him. Then he began to walk towards it.
"Wh- No! Alfred, didn't you hear me?! I said we should-"
"No, bro, look at it. It's just so… raw. I have to get closer. It's for science and stuff," Alfred yelled back, his attention fully on the gathering winds converging before his eyes. The tornado now loomed half a mile away, and the wind velocity was simply too much to handle. Canada cursed as he was pelted with more debris and wished he were somewhere safer. America simply did not seem to notice the welts that were steadily showing up on his arms and face as small rocks and twigs slammed into him.
"Look! It reminds me of that bottle trick the kids do in school. I wonder what the inside looks like?" Alfred pondered, while Matthew began to panic as the tornado slowly drew closer. He knew from studying that they were way too close. One mile is too close, and this thing was less than half a mile away. Canada steeled himself as another large branch brushed past him, ripping away a chunk of his sleeve and leaving deep cuts in his arm. He was being pushed back by the full force of the wind as he pushed forward and grabbed his twin's sleeve. He tugged on it, moving Alfred's arm by only inches, his strength not anywhere near his brother's and his battle with the wind a losing one.
"Al! Please! We have to get back to the car! Or under-" Canada pushed his brother forward with his whole body and moved him in time to avoid the electrical wires from the telephone pole they hit. "Al! Oh," Canada huffed and stood in front of the camera, making Alfred glare at him angrily.
"Mattie, a little bit of nature cannot hurt us! I'm too strong! I told you, I'll prote-"
"Is this protecting, Alfred?!" Matthew showed Alfred his arm, which was now bleeding steadily and soaking into his hoodie. Alfred frowned and looked back up at the tornado that was gaining ground every second. Then, making up his mind, shut the camcorder, grabbed his brother, and headed off to the side of the road, where, thankfully, a ditch had been carved into for water drainage. Alfred pushed his brother in first, looked back at the swirling vortex behind him, then jumped in after him.
"Hands over head, Mattie! Fetal position! I'm stronger, so I'll be on top!" Alfred shouted over the storm, and Matthew followed his instructions without hesitation. Alfred pulled his jacket over his and his brother's head, then waited. The wind around them picked up immensely, then, silence. Or, at least what he thought was silence. Alfred, out of curiosity, looked up, and gasped at the sight before him. Lightning, winds, debris, all swirling dangerously above him, like a beautiful dance, but one that could end in blood and destruction. His glasses were pulled off of his face and he closed his eyes, pulling the jacket back over their heads and waiting for it to be over.
The winds picked back up and the boys were pelted with all forms of debris. Finally, after what seemed like hours, the wind died down again, and Alfred lifted himself carefully off of his brother. He touched his back, which was covered in mud and cuts, and groaned when he thought about having to clean that out later. He tapped Canada's shoulder, and Matthew tensed, then let his hands fall from the back of his neck. He stared up at Alfred, his glasses crooked and his face covered in a thick layer of mud. Then, everything seemed to finally dawn on them both and they began to laugh. The United States of America and Canada laughed for all it was worth, knowing full well they just faced down and lived through what not many would ever experience. And they both prayed no one else would ever have to go through this. Tears began running down each twin's face, leaving small streaks in place of the mud that coated both from head to toe.
After both calmed down a bit, Alfred began to search for something. Canada, finally gaining enough composure to speak, asked him what he could possibly be looking for.
"My camcorder. I bet it has some sick footage on it!" Alfred said excitedly, searching through the debris and mud. Canada picked himself up and walked out into the middle of the road where they were standing before the tornado swept through. He bent down and dug through a few branches, then noticed a red light, beeping on and off.
"Hey, Al!" Canada called to his brother as he picked up the camcorder, miraculously unharmed, and dusted off the leaves that stuck to it. Alfred ran over and grabbed it out of his hands, raising it to the sky and cheering for all the world to hear. He opened it up, and turned the camera on Canada, who was caught unaware and scowled at his brother.
"Alfred, I don't think this is the best time for that," Canada huffed, annoyed, but also in a light-hearted mood after their close call.
"Mattie, come on! Smile for the camera! You will be famous after this. Now-"
"Al, I already am famous."
"Tell all your adoring fans. How do you feel?"
"Like I need a shower and some ibuprofen," Canada sighed and looked over at the car, which was no longer where they had left it. Canada brought his hand up to run through his hair when the realization dawned on him that he no longer had any form of communication with his country, and they were, essentially, in the middle of nowhere.
"Woah, hey, car's gone," Alfred said, swinging the camera around to zoom in on the empty location that once held a totalled car, "Cool."
"Not cool, Al. Not when I tell my finance manager how I wrecked and lost a car. Again," Canada sighed and squatted down to the ground, rubbing a clear spot in the muddy road.
Alfred did one more quick monologue, and hit the record button, to stop. Then he hit the playback button and found the latest footage. He hit play and watched as the street they were standing on came into view, dark looming clouds off in distance.
"Mattie, this has got to be the coolest stuff ever. I am so making a movie out of this. What do you think it should be called? 'Facedown with Mother Nature: the Tale of Two Nations'? How does that sound? Man, this is so cool!"
"Yeah… I guess it is, Al. Just, next time listen to me when I say we're about to die," Matthew sighed and rubbed at his temples, exhaustion setting in. He stood up, took his glasses off and rubbed them with whatever clean part of his hoodie was left available as he listened to Alfred whooping at the camcorder of the 'awesome and cool' footage they were able to catch. He shoved his glasses back on, not getting anywhere with them, and smiled. It was fun to hang out with his brother sometimes, even when life and death are not involved. Maybe they would do this again sometime. But now, he needed a shower.
"Yo, bro, come over here! Check this out!" America flipped his touchscreen phone horizontally and held it out in front of him so his brother could see it as well. Canada pursed his lips and adjusted his glasses as he leaned down next to his brother and sighed when he saw the heading of the video.
"You know," Canada sighed, "You could give the whole tornado thing a break for a minute or something. You still have dirt in your back."
Both nations were exhausted from their trek back to one of America's homes. Thankfully, he had one in every state, and he had one conveniently located in Summit county, close to where they had crashed. Canada had yet to get in contact with his government since the crash and close call with nature, but he decided it'd be best they did not know for now.
"Bro, come on. I'm sorry I got sucked into it… almost literally, let me remind you, but I want you to at least see this video. It's just going over the storm. It says it didn't harm anyone. I just thought you'd want to know," America stared at the screen of his phone for a few seconds in silence, then stared back at his brother who had not moved from next to him, then took his glasses and smiled mischievously.
"Al!" Canada whined, reaching for his glasses, but his brother evaded him and Canada yelped when he fell onto the chair America had been sitting on a moment before.
"We need to get you some new glasses," Alfred stated, having put the glasses on and noticing all of the tiny scratches and dents.
"Yeah, but I still use them to see. But… I guess you can borrow them for a while. You are more blind than me after all," Canada shrugged, and America smiled, catching Matthew's passive-aggressive undertone.
"You know, this movie is going to be the best movie ever. It's going to get, like, ten billion dollars at the box office and stuff," Alfred said, changing the conversation. Canada went back to where he had been leafing through the first aid kit Alfred had in his house and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm growing on the idea of making a movie. It took a little while to get over the whole 'almost getting swept into a tornado thing', but now I can see the cinematic pleasure that could come from a near death experience." Alfred grinned, deciding to take his brother's words at face value and ignoring the heavy sarcasm.
"So, you wanna help me? I know your country isn't known for it's movies and stuff, and I have the big old Hollywood, but, it would be great brother time. We could even get ol' Iggy and the frog in on it if you wanna?"
"Hold still," was all Canada answered as he walked over with a damp cloth and a bottle of disinfectant.
"Oh, no," America said shortly, backing away from his brother who was now smiling a perfect copy of America's mischievous smile from a minute before.