Hello everyone! I sure hope you enjoyed the first chapter I am finally ready to release chapter 2. Sorry about the wait, I've been having a lot of personal troubles recently with my family since I'm going to college this fall so I've been going on a lot of retreats without internet, although I've been typing a bit on a book I want to publish eventually (if I ever finish it). Going back through UW I want to rewrite it before I advance with this one anymore but because of my lack of internet I have plenty of time to do it. Anyway, I don't own Avengers or Hetalia but all the same, please enjoy!


Chapter 2
Mirror Trouble


It was hard to look at himself in the mirror. When faced with your reflection, you saw each truth about your body, the emotion in your eyes, each human flaw. At least that was what Francis saw when he looked into the mirror.

During his first few months under Black Skull he had all completely forgotten about his looks, the very precise thing that made him Francis. He had contemplated ways to kill, steal, torture, and deceive, but never once had he looked at himself and found something he wanted to change.

Since his escape he had avoided looking at mirrors, or any other reflective surface. He had still had the awareness during his time under Black Skull to keep himself clean shaven, but shaving required a mirror, so it was only now that Francis had summed up enough courage to stare into the mirror.

Upon reaching the bathroom, armed with a newly bought razor and shaving cream, he hesitated a moment more before looking at his reflection. Francis ran his hand through his hair, alarmed by it's length. After a quick fumble for scissors, he succeeded in cutting away most of it and snatched a nearby white hair thing, putting the top layer of his hair in a ponytail, sighing in relief at the slight return to his previous state of appearance. Finally he began shaving, avoiding meeting his own eyes in the mirror, and missing the moment their color changed.


In the world of actors and actresses, appearances were everything. While Feli was famous for her natural beauty, it still took a lot of work to maintain her beauty. Everyday, Ludwig would wake her up and the two would run a number of laps around the indoor track in Feli's complex. They would cool down with a couple of core exercises before returning to their room for a shower and breakfast before looking at the day's schedule.

Their routine had been years in the making, before Ludwig had been assigned as Feli's bodyguard by Nonno the Italian movie star had taken to constantly dieting to an unhealthy extent. When Ludwig had reentered her life as her lover, her decaying health and acting skills had recovered. Few in the world of the media actually knew about her relationship with Ludwig, but it was speculated among many fans that she was dating someone.

Rushing to finish getting ready and join Ludwig for breakfast, Feliciana missed the second her rich toffee eyes flashed red.


Chun-Yan was overjoyed to hear of the Crime Lord's defeat. Her dysfunctional team had once more combined to produce one united team. That was where their name came from after all. In the beginning they lacked the teamwork necessary to succeed, only Arthur had control of his powers, but he was mentally unstable for some time. It hadn't been until Chiara joined that the team actually began to start working together.

They had bloomed into shield's brilliant creation of a bundle of unstable teenagers and an immortal Brit who were unable to handle their personal lives, given humanity as a burden they should bear for their powers. Yet, after they began to work together, it hadn't taken long for them to feel like a family. Chun-Yan had hoped that feeling would bond them together through the rest of their lives, pushing each member closer to Ivan and Kiki, Alfred and Arthur, Madeline and Gwen, Toni and Francis, Chiara and herself. Faith found a home within each member, for the first time in her life Chun-Yan felt like she truly belonged somewhere.

Black Skull had murdered that feeling.

The influence of her second player counterpart began as small suggestions. Perhaps the others didn't actually like her, but were too nice to say anything. Perhaps Ivan didn't actually love her, but was after the small fortune promised to her by the Honda family. Perhaps Kiki didn't view her as her sister, but hated her presence. These suggestions, and many more, were nurtured into full blown fears, feeding Black Skull. During this time Chun-Yan hadn't dared tell a single soul about her doubts, even once Ivan proposed to her, keeping them locked away allowed Chun-Yan to forget about them, to lose faith that these fears were true. Still, she couldn't tell the others for fear of her thoughts being confirmed.

The gap between her and the rest of the team steadily grew, seeming to span dimensions, as she began to avoid going on team missions, taking solo jobs from Fury instead. That was when the next sign started. Despite living together with Ivan, they were never home at the same time, their jobs conflicting. When she first began to faint, Chun-Yan thought, feared, she was pregnant with a child Ivan would want no part in raising due to his lack of love for her. After a week of fainting she cracked down and bought a test, it seemed like a miracle when it turned out negative.

Still the fainting continued.

There were times when she would wake up in strange places as well, no longer in her home, and Ivan, on the rare occasion they would see each other, told her of the new enemy United World faced. Encounters with Black Skull seemed to wear him out, and when Ivan once stumbled home soaked in blood and rain water, he begged Chun-Yan to join team missions once more, at least until they had defeated this new threat. She hadn't been able to do that until Kiki was kidnapped.

When Mr. Honda had heard the news, Chun-Yan was scolded for not sticking with her adopted sister to prevent such an incident. She had been raised as her sister's keeper, it was her duty in make sure Kiki remained safe in the midst of all the hero stunts she pulled. It should have been Chun-Yan who had been kidnapped by this new nefarious villain for her lack of duty.

That had been the final straw that pushed Chun-Yan into the hands of Black Skull, she had attacked the base of the villain by herself. Reckless and furious, she had pushed her powers and body to the limit by the time the others had arrived.

She knew that she should have told the team what was happening now. The doubts that had been raised in her mind. Or the suspicious whereabouts she would wake up to. She had promised herself that once Kiki was rescued, she would tell them everything. But that had never happened.

Now there was no escape from Black Skull, the only thing she could do was dwell in the backs of her own mind, testing for weaknesses. And catching the few moments in the mirror in her room when her eyes were no longer a dark red, but had returned to the rich toffee they once were.


Alfred was a rather...enthusiastic character. There were very few who could stand spending more than a few hours with him before getting frustrated. Which is why training with Captain America was such a fantastic routine. Whenever Alfred got too off topic, there was always a common interest they could return to.
But after the recent fight, Steve Rodgers had watched his fellow American's self confidence all but disappear as he began training non stop. The kid was already powerful, but throwing himself into individual training he was doing nothing but exhausting himself. There was no way up for Alfred alone, he needed to learn to work with his team more than anything. So it was not surprising when the young man broke his fourth punching bag since Captain America had entered the training floor of Avengers Tower an hour ago.

Not to mention, it probably didn't help that the younger was still recovering from his injuries he obtained from the fight with Nikoli. It didn't help that they would be headed for another battle soon. Francis and Toni had revealed the location of Black Skull's base and Arthur had told the group his plan to invade the base and get Chun-Yan out. Therefore getting rid of the threat the second players presented in the first universe so they could take the battle to them. Hopefully they would also be able to rescue Fury, gaining Shield's backing once more in defending the world while they were away.

"Alfred, perhaps you should take a break," Steve suggested. The teen punched poor bag he'd hung up to replace his last, turning to the Captain with a frown. "No can do, Captain. We've found out where Black Skull is hiding. I gotta stay on top of my game," Alfred replied, "Oh, I've been dying to ask, sir: Would you like to spar?"

"Look son, I think you've been training too hard. You should really consider taking a break, or else you'll exhaust yourself. I don't want to have you stay behind," Steve explained. He was astonished by the glare he received from the young man as, with a particularly powerful punch, he knocked the punching bag from it's hook. "I can't stay behind, sir! My team needs me on this! We can't lose to Black Skull again. What if we lose someone again? What if something happens to my team because I'm not strong enough!"

To punctuate his phrase, Alfred had slammed his fist into the steel training room wall, creating a nice sized dent in the room that had been built to resist damage no matter the backlash of the powers used. A twinge of fear shot it's way through Steve's very bones at the display of the boy's strength. Alfred's powers were great, but the teenager still lacked the control Steve had. That made him more dangerous.

"You aren't alone, son. Your team is strong, but if you want to help them you need to be in your best shape. If you keep exhausting yourself you won't be any help to them," Steve murmured, easing closer to his fellow American. "God's sake, I know," Alfred replied softly, his voice cracking, "God I know. But I can't lose them again. I can't lose Kiki, or Maddie, or Artie, or Gwen, or Liv, or Chi or even Ivan. I can't lose one of them again, not like how we lost Chun-Yan."

"I just can't."


"What's on your mind, Artie? Ain't getting cold feet are you?" Tony teased, pulling up a chair as the bar beside Arthur who was sipping a glass of ice water. Arthur rolled his eyes in annoyance at the nickname, Stark had undoubtedly been hanging around Alfred way too much. "Just thinking about the past. After all the last time we rushed into Black Skull's lair we didn't all come out, nor did we all stay together. I wonder if things would have been different if Alfred had beat me."

"Beat you?" Tony asked, tilting his head in confusion as he poured himself a shot glass of whisky. "Yeah. When Alfred first joined the team he was an egotistical, young bastard. He couldn't take the fact that he wasn't the leader of the team. How could I let the kid lead a team of superheros. He'd take everything that went wrong as his personal failure, he does that now anyway. But this little kid we had just broken out of a lab would not stop pestering me about joining United World. And once he was in, before we even had a costume design for him, that brat challenged me to a fight and the winner would lead the team."

Tony laughed, "I didn't think the kid was so ballsy. This is before he got control of his powers, right?" "Yeah, but he didn't exactly take no for an answer, so I finally said yes. The fight was over as soon as it started. I came out on top with barely a scratch and Alfred spent the next three days in the medical ward of our base. Even after that he didn't learn his lesson, the first thing the kid did when he got out of there was challenge me to another fight."

"It went on like that for nearly three months and I finally asked him why he wanted to become leader of the team so bad. What made him think that he could lead this team. He told me it was because he hasn't given up yet."

"Given up? I don't understand," Tony inquired, obviously puzzled. Arthur sighed, smiling sadly, "Surely you've seen him in action. He fights so hard, because he hasn't given up on the villains. He hasn't given up on the people he's trying to save. He hasn't given up on us, because he knows that as soon as we limit ourselves that is when we start failing. As soon as we give up on each other, there is no longer any chance that we can win."

"And he was right. We only lost to Black Skull after we thought Chun-Yan had died. We only lost because we gave up. That's not a mistake that I'm going to let my team make again."


"Sir, they are on their way as we speak," Crow, well rather the previously useless prisoner he'd been possessing, announced. "Good, our plan is progressing as planned. The forces of the Avengers and United World are a greater threat than we first anticipated, but they will not defeat us," Black Skull replied, rubbing his host's head. Chun-Yan had been fighting harder for control with the reemergence of United World. If she kept doing this, Black Skull wasn't sure how much longer he could hang on, United World would have to face their defeat soon, that would take the fight out of Chun-Yan.

Do you hear me in there, Chun-Yan? Your precious friends will die.

"But sir, when the Crime Lord underestimated them, they defeated him. Shouldn't we get help from one of the others?" Crow asked, fidgeting with the eye patch strap. "Don't you dare compare us to that failure. The Master is analyzing our fight against United World to watch strategist, it is our duty to fight them alone. If we cannot destroy them, Puppet Master and Meltdown will be the next to challenge United World."

"I will prepare the others then. We will hold them back during their little challenge." "All of them but Blizzard King. I want to feel her defeat when I kill him with her own powers."