Chapter 3 of Absolutely Anything
Sorry for the late post. I posted this earlier on DeviantArt.


The two black cars pulled into the drive of a large wood and brick mansion. Feliciano was still held at gunpoint, but he had relaxed a bit during the drive. Nadine's butler opened the door for Nadine to exit the vehicle, and she strode over to the second car. The man who held Italy at gunpoint rolled down the window.

"Take them out back." She said. "I'll meet you there once I get my things."

"Yes madam." The man said, and continued to drive up a path that led to the backyard. There was a large building there, and they parked beside it. The three men led the two nations inside and sat them down and tied them to their seats by their hands and ankles. They were captives; and nations or not, they'd be treated as captives. Feliciano murmured about how he didn't like being tied up, but having a gun shoved into his face made him immediately apologize and keep quiet.

'What's going to happen to us now?' Ludwig thought. 'I have a pretty vague idea due to knowing just the name of her plot… But I don't know. Maybe she'll tell us, like the usual villain.'

After a few minutes, Nadine walked in with her butler. Her appearance was slightly different due to her change in clothes, but her sarcastic smirk and ice cold eyes were still the same.

"Comfortable?" she asked. Ludwig didn't answer, hearing the sarcasm dripping in her voice.

"What do you want with us?" he asked.

"It's quite simple really." Nadine strolled over to the far side of the warehouse. With a clap of her hands, a pair of lights lit up the back wall, revealing a large banner.

Was that… a swastika?

No, it's reversed. Ludwig thought. But what could that mean?

"I'm very much aware that you were around during our great Deutschland's time of power." Nadine said, walking back to the two. "So I'm sure you understand the mistakes he made. And by 'he' I mean Adolf Hitler."

"He was a madman." Ludwig said. "That goal of his was completely unattainable—"

Ludwig barely got through that sentence before he was sent flying to the ground, chair and all. His cheek stung and grew red as Nadine twirled a whip around her hand.

"I don't support that kind of talk, Ludwig." She said coldly. "This is your first warning. Now allow me to make another thing clear to you. I do not tolerate failure, disobedience or back talk. If you do either of the three, not only will you receive punishment, but your little friend here will as well."

With those words, Nadine flicked her wrist and whipped Feliciano across the face, as she had done to Ludwig. He didn't fall back because one of the men held his chair in place. As his cheek also turned red, Nadine returned her attention to Ludwig.

"Do I make myself clear?" she asked. Ludwig glared at her in a silent defiance, but nodded. He would have to comply in order to keep Italy safe. Nadine straightened the chair Ludwig was strapped to and patted his head.

"Good boy." She said, and waltzed over to her butler to obtain some papers.

"I've already acquired the first target." She said, striding back and looking through the papers. "I believe you know a Gilbert Beilschmidt?" Ludwig's head shot up. "Dein Bruder, correct?" Ludwig nodded. "Good. Now my orders are simple. Bring him back dead or alive and we won't have a problem."

"Wait, Dead?" Ludwig exclaimed; which earned him another whiplash to the cheek, and causing it to bleed. He didn't fall back thanks to one of the men keeping his chair straight. He should have thought before speaking. "Es tut mir leid…" he mumbled before Nadine to do the same to Italy.

"Ah, so you're learning." She smirked, putting her whip down. "That's what I expect from you, Germany. Anyway, I know for a fact that you nations cannot die. What I meant was don't hesitate to wound or dismember him in any way, as long as he gets here within the allotted amount of time. Understand?"

Ludwig nodded.

"Remove their bonds and take Feliciano into the house." Nadine commanded the three men. "I have a room prepared for him. Ludwig, I have a few more things to say to you before you head out."

With a salute, the three men and Nadine's butler un-tied Germany and Italy and led Italy out of the warehouse. Nadine led Germany into another room and stood before a large world map.

"The plan is simple." She said. "One by one you'll capture each country and bring them to me. We'll start here in Europe. Once Europe is mine, then we'll head to the Americas. Once done there, we'll head on to Asia and Africa. With each country to deliver to me, I will use them to take over their individual governments, and use their people as soldiers in my army. And as I had stated before, you will not hesitate in using any methods of violence to attain each country. Now, seeing as how you distracted me before, I will tell you my motive. Sit."

Ludwig moved back a step to sit in the single chair in the room.

"You see, my family has been residing here in Deutschland for hundreds of years." She began. "My relatives during World War II were treated well, since they were purebred Germans, and as a child I was taught that Adolf Hitler was not mad, just going at his goal the wrong way. Well, I've decided to go at his goal the right way. Instead of a massacre of whoever was unclean or simply not worthy, I plan to unite the whole world under one rule."

'I guess that's how she convinces herself she's doing something right…' Ludwig thought.

"And maybe then I'll go at creating a perfect race, we'll see." Nadine shrugged, removing the previous thought from Ludwig's head. "Anyway, it's already five o clock, and dinner will be at six. You must go and collect Gilbert Beilschmidt, Elizaveta Héderváry and Roderich Edelstein—"

"Madam." Nadine's butler stood in the doorway.

"What is it Augustus?" Nadine asked.

"I have received a message from your troops surrounding the Edelstein house." He said. "It turns out that Mr. Roderich Edelstein is not present within the house."

"What?" Nadine's icy eyes glared daggers into the older man. "Where is he then?"

"According to your men," Augustus said, unfazed, "he is out visiting a Vash Zwingli."

"Zwingli?" Nadine asked, heading for her papers. "If I remember correctly—"

"Vash Zwingli is Switzerland." Germany said. "And Lili Zwingli is Liechtenstein. I was looking for an opportunity to ask, but what are you going to do about those two and their permanent neutrality?"

"There's not much I can do." Nadine said. "At least not yet. Once I have Europe, the Americas and Asia, I'm sure they'll willingly join my empire."

'Vash would never do that,' Ludwig thought, 'even if his life depended on it. The only way she'd get Switzerland and Liechtenstein is over his dead unmoving body. That of course can't happen since he's a nation.'

"Anyway, your orders aren't that much changed." Nadine said. "Since Roderich isn't present, you'll just have to skip him. Go and collect Gilbert Beilschmidt and Elizaveta Héderváry and bring them here before dinner at six. Understood?" Ludwig nodded. "Then here." Nadine tossed his Walther P-88 onto his lap. "My men brought it to me when you were captured. You might as well be comfortable with a weapon. It increases the chance of success. Now go."

With an obedient bow, Ludwig got up and left the building. A silver Mercedes-Benz was waiting for him outside. Once he was in the passenger seat, Nadine shared a few more words with him that finalized his decision. He was going to follow her orders to the fullest extent. He didn't want to, but he had no other choice. As he was driven to Austria's house, he made sure his gun was fully loaded.

In Austria's house, Gilbert and Elizaveta were getting ready. Having spotted some of Nadine's men outside and closing in, they knew they were going to be attacked soon.

"There's a pretty good chance he'll be here too." Gilbert said. "If that's the case, you run."

"What?" Elizaveta asked, shocked. "I'm not going to run—"

"If that Nadine girl has convinced West into doing her bidding," Prussia said, "then you will run. You will run to Switzerland and hold the fort there. You're one of our strongest fighters, and we can't have you captured."

"Fine." Hungary said. "But you'll have to cover for me while I plow my way through the others."

"I will, don't you worry." Gilbert smiled. But this was a sort of empty smile. He knew what was coming, and he knew West didn't want to do it, but he had to.

The two stood back to back in the center of the living room. They could see the shadows moving outside, getting ready to pounce. Weapons drawn, they waited for them to make the first move.

They didn't have to wait long.

Ludwig pulled up in the Benz well into the fight. Gilbert and Elizaveta were easily matched with Nadine's men. Ludwig checked his watch. It was 5:15. It took fifteen minutes to get there, and would take fifteen minutes to get back. He needed to move quickly. Without being seen, Ludwig snuck into the house and went straight for the kitchen. Hungary would need to be taken care of first; he knew how rough she could get. Grabbing a skillet from the rack, he headed into the fight.

Again and again Gilbert and Elizaveta would come back to back as they fought Nadine's men. They couldn't afford getting too much distance between each other, or else they wouldn't be able to back each other up. The next attack they made however, would lead to the end of it. They had gained too much distance from each other, and Gilbert wasn't able to warn Elizaveta in time before the skillet impacted with the back of her head, knocking her unconscious.

"West…" Gilbert breathed.

"Take her." Ludwig said, nudging Hungary with his foot. "I'll take care of this one."

Quickly, Nadine's men picked up Hungary and took off for Nadine's mansion. Now it was just the two brothers.

"West, I know you don't want to do this." Prussia said.

"I know…" Germany said, pulling out his gun and pointing it at his older brother. "But I have to."

"He's a nation too you know." Prussia said. "He won't die, no matter what happens."

"That's not the point." Germany said, finger on the trigger. "I don't want him to go through that."

"I don't either." Prussia said. "But you know better than this."

"Just shut up." Germany's hand was beginning to tremble. "You wouldn't understand."

"Wouldn't I West?" Prussia asked. "Wouldn't I?"

"Just… Just SHUT UP!"

And with that, he fired.

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"One last thing, Ludwig." Nadine said. "If you behave yourself and do as you're told, no harm will come to your little Italy. But if you fail me, I'll put him through every method of torture in the book. And since he won't die, it'll be all the more fun, don't you agree?"

Ludwig stood over his brother's body. A small puddle of blood began to pool around Prussia's head, staining his silver-white hair. The bullet had entered his head right between the eyes. It was quite impressive marksmanship on Ludwig's account. Choking back sobs of regret, he picked up Prussia and slung him over his shoulder, carrying him back to the Mercedes-Benz. Placing his brother in the backseat, the car drove away. While it glided through the black night, Ludwig could hear his brother's voice from the backseat.

"You idiot."