Italy awoke inside of a tall glass box.

He couldn't remember what had got him there. Hadn't he gone to sleep in his own bed the night before?

He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't see anything. He couldn't feel anything. He couldn't anything anything. His skin felt numb and strange and even his nose seemed not to be working properly. And Italy had a very good nose, at least for things like pasta.

Pasta was good...

At the thought of pasta, he realized how hungry he was. And when he thought about his hunger, he found that he was thirsty too. And once he realized that, he realized that he was very, very scared.

"Veh...?" He put his hand on the wall in front of him (the glass wall was closer than he expected, and this freaked him out), then knocked lightly. "Could somebody please let me out?"

Nothing responded. Italy banged a little harder. "Is anyone there? Is anyone there? Let me-" The misty space felt like it was shrinking over him.

He took a breath, then kicked the wall. "LEMMEOUT!" Italy screamed, pounding the glass with his fists. "Help! Help! I don't like it! I don't like it! Please, someone, get me out!" What if he ran out of air? And wouldn't he run out of air faster screaming like this?

This thought made him scream louder. "Let me out! I can't get out! I'm running out of air screaming like this so get me out! HELP!" In his panic, he could think of only one thing to do. "GERMANY!" he shrieked. "HELP ME, GERMANY! HELP MEEEE!"

He heard the sound of a loud but muffled grunt, and a ringing, crystalline crash. A second later the door swung back so suddenly that Italy squeaked in terror. Then he saw the short blond hair and tall, husky frame, and he giggled a little, fear vanishing like a soap bubble.

"Oh. Hehe. There you are. Veh, I knew you were out there somewhere, Germany," Italy chirped. "Are you okay? You look pretty angry..."

The other nation snorted and pulled Italy out of his pod. "Do you know vhere ve are?" he demanded, declining to point out that extreme worry could often be mistaken for anger on him.

"Oooh!" Italy exclaimed. "Look at that!" He pointed at a pod across the way, one whose glass front had completely shattered, the pieces sprayed all the way across the round room.

"Yes, I know," said Germany irritably. "I did it. Never mind zat. Again, do you have any idea vhere ve are?" But he had a feeling that this was a hopeless line of questioning. Who could possibly expect the bubble-headed Italy to have any of the answers?

Or expect him to stay in one place? Germany reached out a hand and grabbed the back of Italy's shirt, which, along with its owner, was currently drifting towards the exit. "Italy," he growled. "Zere could be anyvone out zere. Stay close und don't even zhink about running avay."

"But I just wanted to see if there was anything to eat! I'm hungry." Italy had never really grasped the idea of an indoor voice. So his squeaky outdoor voice reverberated throughout the room, and Germany angrily slapped a hand over the other nation's mouth.

"Be qviet!" Germany looked around wildly and put a hand on his belt, instinctively searching for a pistol. There was a holster on his hip, but it was empty. "Verdamnt! Nozzing!"

A quiet, reasonable voice came from behind them. "Do you really think that you would still have any weapons? Whoever put us in these boxes would not risk leaving us armed."

Both Italy and Germany spun around. "Japan!" exclaimed Italy happily. "I'm so glad to see y- mmfff..."

"How on Earth did you get out of your-?" Germany asked, a bit astonished.

Japan sighed, looking like he wanted to cover his eyes. "I simply assessed the situation. There are levers on the inside of each door that allow the occupant egress. If you had looked harder, you might have found them, too."

"Oh," said Germany.

"Oh," said Italy. Then he laughed. "So you didn't have to bust out of your thingy, then, huh, Germany?"

"Shut up," Germany hissed, looking embarrassed. "It vas you who started screaming like a pig on a butcher's table-"

"And you know all about pigs in butcher shops, don't you, Germany?" Italy said cheerfully. "That's all you ever eat, even though pasta is so much better and-" He didn't get to finish that sentence either, because there was more muffled thumping from another of the pods.

"Oh, bloody hell," its occupant swore. "What the hell is this thing? Who did this? Let me out of here this instant!" The shape in the fog shifted and its hands pushed up against the glass.

Italy perked up even more. "Hey! That sounded like Britain! Veh, do you think the others are here too?"

"Out!" Britain demanded crossly. "Is anybody listening to me?"

Germany took two giant strides and slapped his hand on the button by the pod, then pulled the front face open, revealing a man with spiky yellow hair, a green uniform, and thick eyebrows, which had formed a very annoyed 'V' on his forehead. "I say, this is rather unkind of whoever-" He halted, seeing the other three nations. "Oh, hello, old chaps," he said, a bit nervously. "Is it just us, then?"

He clearly was thinking of the last time in history when those particular three countries were working together. And his memories were very fuzzy and mixed up, so he wasn't sure if that was still the present or if it was in the past.

Cue the banging on two more glass doors. "Let me out of here, aru!" exclaimed a voice with an Asian intonation.

Britain leaned out of his pod and looked off to his left. "China?" he asked. "Is that you in there?"

"You can get out with the little lever thing inside the door," Italy called helpfully.

The voice was a bit frantic. "What lever? I can't see any lever!"

"On the lower right side of the door," Japan clarified. "It should be there."

"I'm not used to being confined to such a small surface area!" China was griping. "Except for in my coastal cities, of course... but that is most certainly not all of me!"

"Let me get it," Britain said quickly, stepping down. He took a few steps towards China's pod and then had to jump back as the wall of the pod between them exploded off and a figure leaped through the debris.

"Never fear!" the newcomer yelled. "I'm here to save you all with my super-awesomeness! The hero is-"

Britain struggled to his feet, but slipped on glass. "America! You blasted moron! You nearly killed me!" He felt even more annoyed because if it hadn't been for this, he might have actually been happy to see him.

America swiveled, caught sight of Britain, and his face lit up. "Oh, hey there, Britain! Whatcha doing on the floor? Here, I'll get you up!"

"Don't need your bloody help," Britain mumbled, turning beet red as the other nation hoisted him off the ground easily and dusted off his hands. Behind them, Japan was quietly opening the door to China's pod. "There was a lever, you know. You didn't have to blow that door off."

"Aw, who needs levers? They're for losers." The blue-eyed, bespectacled America cracked his knuckles. "That was awesome!"

Still shaking off shock, Britain ground his teeth. "You're an imbecile."

"And listen to zat! For once words of wisdom escape Monseigneur Britain's lips. Zis eez a cause for celebration, no?"

Britain twisted on the spot. "Oh, very amusing, France. Why don't you stop croaking like the frog you are and focus on what's important!"

And as France thought up a biting bit of repartee to respond with, another voice joined the hubbub.

"I wake up inside glass box. I have headache from vodka last night. Why is there so much talking going on out here? Please do not be so loud." Russia waited for the other countries to quiet down.

They didn't. Germany was raging at the bickering France and England, trying to get them to shut up. America and Italy seemed to be trying to outdo each other in overexcitement and shrillness.

Russia sighed. "I would perhaps like to get back inside box now."

Nearby, Germany was trying to grab hold of both of the quarreling nations, but they were surprisingly agile, and did not seem to notice him. "You dummkopfs! Ve're trying to be qviet!"

"Yeah, well, what about that time you-"

"Zat was hundreds of years ago, and eet was you who-"

Japan sidled up to Germany and patted his arm urgently. "Germany-san! I cannot find Itary-san anywhere! I think he may have wandered off!"

Immediately Germany turned away from the other European nations and swore. "Zat fool! Vhere could he have gone?"

Italy was humming to himself as he tiptoed down the corridor. He sniffed the air again. There had been the faint aroma of food coming from this direction. His stomach was rumbling. It sounded just like Germany did when he was trying not to punch someone in the teeth. And, like with an angry Germany, Italy obeyed his growling stomach without question.

"Pasta, pasta, pasta is so yummy..." They weren't the most original of lyrics, but he wasn't exactly the most eloquent of nations. His voice was good, though. Italy had an artistic soul.

"Pasta pasta... Huh...?" Italy trotted through a door, and immediately a far stronger scent hit him. It wasn't a nice one. It was very metallic, like the way his hands smelt after holding cutlery for a long time (this was a common occurrence for him). He stepped towards the door where the nasty smell was strongest, curious. It sensed him and swished open.

"Are you sure zat he's gone?" Germany demanded. "Sometimes he gets lost in large groups of people..."

"Can you hear him?" asked Japan skeptically.

"Good point," Germany conceded. But he was still very angry. "He is not here. I zhink I vill go after him und teach him not to vander off like zat."

Mildly alarmed, Japan's eyes went wide. "Try not to hurt him too much, Germany-san," he said worriedly, then rubbed his ears. "If only these nations would stop talking so much. We are giving away where we are."

And right then, there was a long, drawn-out scream. "EEEEE! GERMANY! There are dead bodies here, Germanyyyy!" and Italy came whizzing back into the room to hide behind his ally's legs, quivering.

Every voice shut off. Every nation froze in their motions. And at last, there was silence.