Disclaimer: Way back in Chapter One, if you haven't noticed~
A/N: Hey guys~ I'm back! So, has anyone else heard America and France's new songs yet? They sound so amazing! You guys should really listen to them~! If you're wondering why I'm talking about this *off-topic*, it's because I just want to get you guys hyped before I start. :)
Better Chapter Summary: Selena distresses over her vision into the future, which makes the nations prepare themselves immensely. The crew back in La Puente meet up to discuss about something that Jazz found out about. Plus, Elias figures out how to make the intricate design of the transporter not-so-intricate.
Enjoy~!
Chapter Four
Her rough hand stretched forward, reaching for something she couldn't see. Her vision was blurry, and she wasn't sure if she was asleep or awake. She kept reaching forward until her hands grasped something slender and wooden. Wrapping her dry fingers around it, she pulled her arm back to examine what exactly it was.
Pulling back, Selena looked down at the wooden object in her olive-colored fists. It was a wand, more majestic than the wand she used during her training sessions with Arthur. Instead of the dark maroon color, it was a pale orange, almost like the skin of a fuzzy apricot. The end was not crooked, but rather straight, with a little, feather-like shape on the end. The carvings depicted a phoenix flying through the apricot-colored wand, seeming too real to only be a carving.
"You finally found out..." a mystical, disembodied voice whispered eerily, making Selena jump in fright and whirl around. Confused over not finding the source of the voice, Selena gulped nervously.
"What did I find out?" the Filipina girl squeaked nervously, still looking around for the source of the voice.
"Don't act stupid with me, Selena," the voice harshly scolded, giving Selena the chilly goosebumps on her arm. How did the stranger know her name? "You recognize this wand, yet you don't know what I'm talking about."
"...Are you talking about my magic?" Selena murmured softly.
"Yes, yes, that's it," the voice approved mystically. "For a long time, you pretended to believe in magic, but deep inside, you thought that magic was always fake."
"W-Well, I still think it is," Selena honestly sighed.
"Oh? Why is that?" the stranger's voice asked curiously, making Selena shudder. Was there going to be a punishment for her if she didn't answer correctly?
"...I've grown up knowing that witchcraft is bad," Selena indirectly admitted.
"Well, this is not witchcraft," the voice sighed impatiently.
"It isn't?" Selena hesitantly asked, unsure.
"It isn't," the voice confirmed. "It is nothing like those you see in evil or anything. No, this shouldn't be even called magic, but something completely different. You call on your own energy, the energy that builds on your character, and simply use them to your own potential ability."
"...That sounds very messed up in some way," Selena confusedly stated.
"Look, the point is,'" the voice impatiently continued, "this isn't that type of magic, okay? Now, you've got to use that wand for something I need to tell you." The wand began to glow the same shade of turquoise as the light that made Selena vanish. "Wave this, and say 'arcessentes'."
"Okay then..." Selena muttered reluctantly, beginning to wave the wand. "Arcessentes."
At once, four objects appeared; three were columns with seemingly fragile orbs floating atop them, and one was a silhouette of a man who seemed deadly. Selena gasped in fright at the silhouette, falling down scared and trembling on the grass floor. During this time, Selena barely realized that she was in a forest and is talking to someone unseen.
"During your battle with the President," the voice explained carefully, "you will have a choice of sacrifice." The orbs floated upwards and began levitating towards Selena and surrounding her face. "Who will end up as the ones who are hurt the most is up to you during your battle."
"Hold on, what?! That totally stinks! Who came up with this bogus idea?!" Selena shrieked terrified.
"It is what will happen. One, two, or all of them will be hurt in one way, but one of them will be hurt the most somehow," the voice explained. "I'm only telling you what will happen eventually."
Selena gasped in realization at the word "eventually." "A-Are you the one who showed me what will happen in the future?" Selena asked curiously.
"Yes," the voice confirmed for the girl. "Now pick!" The orb that glowed a pale green levitated closer to Selena, showing an image of Selena's favorite family memories. "Your family can be affected by the President's sinister torture magic, which is very bad if somehow he allows it to happen."
Another orb that glowed pink took the place of the green orb, showing an image of Selena's closest friends in a group hug and the Hetalia characters in the background. "Of course," the voice continued explaining, "you can tell how your friends will be affected. They will fight alongside you, but the friends you have back at your home are currently looking for you, so they might join the fight as well."
The last orb, which was glowing pastel yellow, appeared, showing a reflection of Selena. "You will be affected a lot, mainly because of your inexperience with magic and war," the voice sighed sadly. The orbs soon formed a semicircle around Selena, startling her a bit. Family and friends meant the most to her, more than she values herself. But... Won't her family and friends be affected by sadness if she chooses herself, too?
"So, Selena," the voice sighed impatiently, "what is your choice?"
Selena bit her lip, glancing back and forth at the three orbs. Sighing sadly, she looked down at the ground. "I-I'm sorry," Selena wavered sadly, pointing her wand at one of the orbs. "Hoc elegi."
The orb Selena pointed to popped like a bubble, allowing the other two orbs vanish into thin air. "Selena, once you'll wake up, you'll forget about this for a few moments," the voice instructed Selena carefully. "When you do remember this, don't tell anyone about it until you hear this." A sort of wind chime sound sounded through as if it was merely a breeze fluttering through Selena's ears, imprinting the sound freshly into her memory. "Only then can you tell whoever the person may be what you did here. Are we clear?"
"Crystal," Selena sighed sadly, understanding her new secret.
"Good. You'll wake up now," the voice informed her.
"B-But, wait, I have a question," Selena quickly spoke up, halting the awakening from happening yet. "W-Who are you, exactly?"
Somehow, Selena imagined the stranger smiling softly at Selena. "You've met me before. You even knew my name before I introduced myself," the voice chuckled as the forest began to dissolve into green sparkles.
"Wait.. Videntis? Hang on!" Selena screamed before the forest shattered into glass shards of green and-
"-lena? Sel-? Are you-? Hey-"
Selena could barely process what the person tried to say, as she was still half-asleep. Her brown eyes fluttered open, revealing a worried Arthur Kirkland tending to her and the other nations crowded around the bed she was currently on. Selena shook her head in wonder. What was she dreaming about? It felt so long and... mystical, as in somehow Pan's Labyrinth mystical (although she heartily disliked the movie).
"Oh, thank goodness. You're finally awake," Arthur sighed in relief.
"Dude, what happened to you?!" Alfred interrogated the sleepy Filipina worriedly. "Your eyes were glowing orange and you had wings that just disappeared! And you have some tattoo on your right shoulder or something-"
"Tattoo?" Selena murmured softly, rolling her sleeve to reveal her fresh insignia and shocking herself. It was in the shape of a flame ("like in Fairy Tail," as Selena thought) and a phoenix was soaring through it. The sun was seen shining down in the insignia, as well as a cross glowing nearby. "Whoa snap..."
"It looks really... odd," Kiku whispered softly, to which Selena nodded in agreement.
"Anyways, with that aside," Ludwig began quickly, "we need to ask you something. Arthur had a theory that you saw something... troubling while you were up there in your magical whatever-it-was. Did you see anything?"
Selena began stuttering, trying to put her thoughts into words. Memories of what she saw during her training session with Arthur flooded back to her like a flash flood, making her head spin and giving her a dizzying headache. She groaned in pain, holding her head where it began throbbing. "Are you okay, aru?" Yao asked worriedly. He was actually at a small table preparing some breakfast for Selena.
"N-Not really," Selena stuttered sickly, feeling sweat beads form on her forehead and her cheeks heating up into a red blush caused by heat. Yao, giving her a pitying look, handed her a glass of water and a small medicine cup.
"Here," Yao murmured as he handed Selena the cups. "Drink the medicine. Your headache should go away afterwards."
Selena complied obediently, drinking the medicine and water down. Afterwards, she did feel a little better and sighed gratefully. "Thank you, Yao," Selena gratefully acknowledged, to which Yao nodded and smiled softly.
"Are you okay?" Feliciano asked worriedly, clasping his hands. "You seemed pale after you were asked the question."
"I'm fine..." Selena murmured in an almost ghostly tone. "It's just... The memories of what I saw just came back too quickly."
"Do you need some time to think on it?" Kiku asked curiously.
"...Maybe," Selena shrugged carelessly.
"Then, take your time, comrade," Ivan encouraged Selena softly. The girl nodded softly and closed her eyes, slowly recalling what she saw during her time in the air...
"Can you remember now, dear?" Francis asked softly, making Selena giggle inwardly and blush lightly. She was never called "dear" by either of the France's. Wow, Violet would be totally jealous of her...
"Y-Yes," Selena stammered, still blushing. Suddenly, her eyes opened and she gasped in realization. "Oh balls."
"What is it?" every nation asked her worriedly, worrying about how she suddenly gasped.
"Y-You guys need to get out of here," Selena quickly informed them as she jumped out of bed, flailing her arms as she tried pushing them out the door. "You must go now!"
"Why? What's wrong, Selena?" Feliciano questioned her in panic. "Are we going to die?!"
"Don't say that!" Selena scolded harshly, tearing up. "You won't die! But you guys have to leave this town!"
"S-Selena, please calm down," Ludwig pleaded with the girl, stopping her from pushing all the nations and turning to her. He knelt down and stared at her in the eye, putting one hand on her shoulder and the other hand on her chin so that he could tilt her head up. "What happened?"
Selena gulped nervously as she began explaining, more sweat beads forming on her forehead. "I-I foresaw something," Selena confessed softly. "There were these type of guards who kept breaking into houses to find someone. They were all torturing others for information. B-But even worse, I think someone confessed to you guys keeping me, b-because..." Selena gulped again and began crying, stroking her hair nervously.
"O-Oh, please, d-don't cry," Kiku pleaded softly as Ludwig stood up, giving her a pitying glance. Kiku sighed softly as he gently wiped the tears from Selena's eyes. Before he knew it, small arms tightened Kiku into an embrace, wrapping Kiku in warmth. Unlike the regular Japan, he didn't flinch, although he seemed a little bit uncomfortable.
"I-I don't want you guys in trouble because of me," Selena whispered sadly, silently sobbing. "You guys have to get out of here. A-And I'm worried something will happen to the rest of the citizens, too."
Every one of the nations huffed softly, thinking up a plan. Selena was surprised at Alfred's sudden outburst of inspiration. "Dude, I think I have a plan," Alfred cried aloud. "But we will have to know what time exactly will we have to strike."
~0~
La Puente, CA:
Knock, knock, knock. Violet knew very well who was knocking on her door at this hour. Her friends all called to inform her that they'd meet up at her house to discuss the mystery, like any group of "detectives" would. She didn't have to worry, though; they wouldn't have to work on homework together.
Getting up from her bed and closing her laptop (because she was watching a certain pair of brothers named John and Hank's YouTube videos), Violet hurrie to the door and unlocked it, revealing Jazz, Laurie, Estevan, Jake, Rocco, and Edge. "Can I swing on your tire swing?" Estevan asked pleadingly, making Violet chuckle.
"Ah, like old days," Violet chuckled as she allowed the others inside. As Estevan and Rocco headed outside to play, the rest of them sat down in the living room to discuss things.
"Okay, I talked to the Wizard the other day," Jazz began, making the others groan.
"Doesn't it make sense to you, Jazz? Magic isn't the problem anymore!" Jake groaned reluctantly.
"I know, I don't think magic is the cause for this, but hear me out," Jazz sighed impatiently. "I visited that Wizard that would bother us during elementary. Apparently, he's got a new group, but that's not important. I told him our mission, and he said that it's possible that the transporter could have been the cause. But he also said that it may be possible she's in some other dimension."
"Alternate dimensions?" Laurie asked curiously.
"Yes," Jazz confirmed. "If she is, I'm afraid the transporter idea for Elias building a replica won't work."
"Then why did you have me ask him in the first place?!" Violet exclaimed, upset over this.
"It's just my theory," Jazz continued, sighing. "I'm sorry, I sound flipping weird when trying to be intelligible. But, I'm just saying, I need to know if that transporter would be able to transport into other dimensions."
"...Hold on," Rocco spoke up quickly as he can Estevan came back inside. "When Violet and Selena went missing last year... I overheard Violet's conversation with her parents on the phone."
"You creepy stalker! Why were you at my house?!" Violet screamed in shock, throwing a pillow at Rocco. After he blocked the pillow with a smirk, Rocco continued.
"Hey, I had to find out if the rumors were true," Rocco answered carelessly. "Whatever... Anyways, I heard something about Hetalia, and I decided to look it up that day... It kind of annoyed me."
"How is it annoying? It's the best show ever!" Violet argued defensively.
"Well, that's in your humble opinion," Rocco sarcastically retorted. "Anyways, if Hetalia can be considered a dimension since they're cartoon-"
"Anime," Violet corrected impatiently.
"-how did they even get into our 'dimension' in the first place?" Rocco continued on, startling the others. For once, the mischievous, troublemaker Rocco has questioned something in an intelligible tone. That was a first.
"...I think magic is the answer, although it seems odd," Edge softly murmured, inputting his thoughts. "Violet, is that right?"
"Uh... Well..." Violet mumbled quietly, scratching her head in thought. Suddenly, her laptop started beeping, startling the others in the living room. Violet hurried over to her laptop, only to see that it was Annabel and she wanted to chat with her through Skype. Unplugging her laptop from the charger, Violet brought the laptop outside. "Annabel has always been fascinated by magic, so maybe she can answer that question, Edge," Violet told Edge as she logged in.
Immediately on the screen came Annabel, who looked relieved. "Violet! Oh thank goodness!" Annabel sighed in relief. "I heard what happened to Selena. What happened?"
"That's what we're trying to figure out," Violet informed the British girl. "Do you remember how the nations came to our... 'dimension' in the first place?"
"Oh, well... England told me something about magic spells," Annabel recalled softly, shocking the non-believers. "Why?"
"...Do you think maybe magic is what caused Selena to vanish?" Estevan asked quietly.
"If you call transporting instantly magic," Annabel sighed softly, "then I believe so. If you want, I can help look more into this. I am currently looking more into the mysteries of magic."
"Whatever you say," Jake sighed impatiently. "But in the direction we're going, I believe I am going to win that bet."
Jazz sighed disappointedly. Jake sure was a stubborn person...
~0~
Uniendis, 5:00 P.M.:
Thud, thud, thud! The sound of the President's special guard army marching echoed throughout the small town and brought panic to some of the citizens. They haven't heard that sound in years, and yet, they could hear it clear as day. Was the President coming to examine their work or torture someone?
The guards, dressed in dark suits that covered every part of their body except their eyes, kicked down doors and demanded only one person.
"Where is she?!"
"Where is the Chosen? Tell us, and you won't suffer!"
In this town lived the nations that were once so strong, but were now conquered by the President. That meant most of Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Lovino stood at his door, growling and cursing the President under his breath. "Why can't that jerk leave us alone?" Lovino growled angrily as his brother and Antonio stood in the doorway with him. Feliciano shivered nervously, rubbing his arms to stop the cold wind nipping at his shoulders. Antonio sighed sadly and wrapped his arms around both of the Italy brothers worriedly, glancing back at Emma who looked sadly down at the floor. Emma was standing by, worrying silently, while Morgens looked out the window with an intimidating aura.
The door to Lovino's house was slammed open, and almost immediately, the guards pointed their guns at Morgens and Antonio, making Emma yelp and Feliciano whimper in fright. "Where is she?!" one of the guards demanded menacingly.
"I-I'm sorry, but I don't know who you're talking about," Antonio stuttered nervously, only staring at the gun pointed to him. "Can you please put the gun down so I can focus?"
The guard laughed darkly, never budging. "We know, Spain, that this gun cannot hurt you," the guard growled lowly. "But if you insist, I will put it down." The guard lowered his gun, making the Spaniard inwardly sigh in relief. He won't be hurting anyone of his friends-
BANG!
"Spain!" Lovino cried out in panic.
"You monster!" Emma growled angrily.
"Big brother!" Feliciano whimpered sadly.
Antonio wasn't shot, but as that guard was lowering it, he shot at the floor, making the others yelp in fright. Although, maybe that bullet hit Antonio's thigh by mistake.
"Whoops," the guard "innocently" gasped, enraging Lovino and making him charge. Quickly, Morgens held him back, struggling to keep Lovino from lashing out at the guard.
"You stupid freak! What the-" Lovino cursed at the guard. "-are you here for?!"
"I think you know of a girl called the Chosen," the guard began explaining. "Do you know where she is? We have reports stating that she is here."
"I'm sorry, amigo, but I don't know who she is," Antonio rejected. "I don't know where she is, either. Maybe somewhere else?"
The guard grunted, picking up his gun and storming out the door. He stopped, turning to look suspiciously at the four of them. To him, he thought that one of these people could know something...
Soon, the guard left, slamming the door shut and moving onto the next house. As soon as they all felt the guard was out of earshot, Feliciano began crying and embraced Antonio. "I'm so sorry for putting you through this, big brother Spain!" Feliciano apologized sadly, only having Antonio pat his back awkwardly.
"It's okay, Italy," Antonio chuckled kindly, petting Feliciano's hair softly. "You needed to."
"Still, are you okay, Spain?" Emma asked the Spaniard worriedly, kneeling down and checking his thigh. She gasped dramatically at seeing the flesh wound, which was still fresh and oozing small, scarlet droplets. The Spaniard chuckled softly, smiling at the Belgian girl.
"Really, Belgium, I'm fine," Antonio reassured the Belgian girl, smiling. "It's only a wound. It can heal in a few days. That guard was right; it cannot hurt me."
Feliciano sighed, thinking about the others. Just an hour ago, he had to get out of the house where he lived with his friends and go back to his brother's house, where Antonio, Emma, and Morgens were waiting. Ludwig and the others did the same, going to the houses where their relatives stayed, with only Arthur and Francis staying behind at the original house.
Quietly, Feliciano crept to the window, checking outside to see if the house across them was occupied. Dimly, he could see Alfred's glasses glinting through the other house's window.
Tap, tap-tap, tap, tap. Tap, tap.
Feliciano knocked on his window to the rhythm of "Shave and a haircut," grabbing the attention of Alfred, who jumped up and looked through the window. The Italian nodded to Alfred, who got the message.
They moved from our area. Let's move, too.
Alfred gave Feliciano a thumb's up and moved away from the window. Feliciano turned away from the window and sighed, saying, "Well, I have to go now." He hugged Antonio goodbye, whispering, "Be safe, big brother."
"Si, I will," Antonio promised the Italian. Afterwards, Feliciano said his goodbyes and thanks to both Emma and Morgens, who bade him farewell as well.
"I'll see you around, fratello," Feliciano whispered to Lovino as he hugged him.
"What are you talking about, Veneziano?" Lovino scoffed mischievously. "I'm going with you."
"Wait, you are?!" Feliciano exclaimed in surprise, only having Lovino nod in confirmation.
"I have to," Lovino murmured. "After all, I don't think I'll be needed back here."
"Besides, we'll watch over Spain," Emma assured the younger Italian. "You guys just go."
Feliciano hesitantly nodded, gesturing for Lovino to follow him outside. "Goodbye!" Feliciano and Lovino bade before going out of the room. Quickly, they hurried into the kitchen and went behind the counter. Feliciano softly knocked on the hollow wall, and immediately, a secret door flew open, revealing a dark staircase into a secret room. Lovino hurried inside, with Feliciano followed behind and closing the door.
Unbeknownst to the guards, all houses were connected through secret tunnels. These tunnels were made during the President's first year of leadership for the purpose of underground housing if some emergency were to happen. But after the President went insane, the tunnels were completely forgotten about.
Alfred planned that they would all escape after being confronted about Selena in different places, using the tunnels to travel through house until they reached the last house that led to the end of the neighborhood. Their neighborhood was surrounded by hills which would soon lead to plains and, afterwards, the woods.
The nations informed their relatives about the danger, so that the others could be prepared to fight. Selena was hidden in the tunnel underneath Ludwig's house and not the house in which the nations were all were in before.
As soon as all the nations meet up in that same tunnel, they'll escape into the hills and keep on going until they reach the plains, where they're far enough from both the guards' reach and their neighborhood. There, they'll think over what they should do afterwards.
Alfred was a total genius.
Feliciano remembered the tunnel path to Ludwig's house, remembering how he used to take this road to surprise him on his birthdays. Soon, he arrived at the underground room of Ludwig's, relieved to find Selena there.
"Feli! You made it!" Selena sighed in relief, only realizing that Lovino was there as well. "Hey there, Lovino!"
"How in the world did you know my human name?" Lovino demanded, only being told by Feliciano that she was some mind-reader.
"I just do," Selena mischievously giggled, startling Lovino a bit. Soon, Alfred arrived soon after Feliciano did, only he brought Matthew Williams with him. "You guys are killing me!" Selena giggled cheerfully, upon spotting Matthew. "Al! You brought Mattie, too? That's awesome!"
"How did she...?" Matthew wondered, before being cut off by someone else.
"She's just peculiar that way," Arthur chuckled softly as he entered with Francis.
"How did it go?" Selena asked them.
"They didn't suspect a thing," Francis proudly informed Selena, making her grin.
"Great. Alfred's plan worked!" Selena cheered happily, turning to the American. "You're a flipping genius, Al!"
"Ah, well, that's what heroes are for!" Alfred guffawed loudly, to which Matthew sighed in annoyance.
"And the original personality of Al's is back," Matthew sighed in exasperation.
"Nah, just kidding," Alfred chuckled nervously. "I just thought these tunnels would work."
"Well, they certainly did," Kiku agreed softly as he arrived with Yao and Ivan quickly. "We were able to escape before they suspected anything."
"I-Is that bad?!" Lovino stuttered in fright.
"No, I'm just saying," Kiku assured him. "They were suspicious, but they didn't have any second thoughts about us."
"Good thing we have a friend with a poker face here, da?" Ivan chuckled heartily, patting Kiku on the back, who grimaced before Ludwig arrived.
"Okay! I think we're all here," Ludwig announced as he climbed inside the tunnel. "I'll check... Count off!"
"Uno!" Feliciano called out immediately.
"Ni," Kiku cried aloud.
"Tre," Lovino mumbled softly.
"Four!" Alfred exclaimed cheerfully, making Matthew cover his ears.
"U-Uh... I-I'm here, too," Matthew stuttered softly.
"Six," Francis spoke up, being sure to count Matthew in before counting himself.
"Seven," Arthur counted himself aloud.
"Vosem," Ivan counted himself in Russian.
"Gow," Yao spoke up.
"Ten!" Selena squeaked, silently fangirling over the respective countries' count-off.
"Elf," Ludwig murmured softly, counting off everyone including himself. "Well, I guess all nine of us are here, plus two siblings brought by Alfred and Feliciano."
"He insisted on it!" both Feliciano and Alfred immediately explained, pointing at their respective siblings in sync. Ludwig sighed at their antics, turning to Selena.
"Now, I know you're worried about the other citizens..." Ludwig began, making Selena sigh sadly. "...but don't worry. We warned the nations in our house, and once the guards are gone, they'll warn the other citizens as well. That way, they'll all be aware, and they will all be able to fight. The ones who won't be able to fight will escape through these tunnels with the help of Emma and Gilbert." Ludwig placed his hand on Selena's shoulder comfortingly, murmuring, "They'll be fine, Selena."
"T-Thanks for doing this, guys," Selena acknowledged sadly, smiling softly at each of the nations.
"You're welcome!" Alfred chuckled cheerfully. "After all, you're the Chosen, so we're supposed to be doing this!"
"That kinda makes me feel bad," Selena sighed sadly. "It makes me sound like I'm controlling you guys..."
"Well, you're not controlling us," Arthur stated to Selena. "You're leading us, and that is completely different."
For a brief moment, Selena realized the heavy weight of her new status, and tears began to prick at her eyes. She knew what she was going to do. She was going to take down this President so this reign of darkness was over. She'll be the one to defeat the President... but she was never one to resort to violence. How can she do this without actually killing him...?
"Well, you can't take him down by magic alone," Ludwig suddenly spoke up as he brought his backpack, which was filled with some weapons. "You're going to have to depend on physical combat as well."
Selena sighed in exasperation. So much for trying to think of a Pacifist way to solve this, right?
~0~
Potsdam, Germany:
"Hey, it's Elias!" Liang excitedly chuckled on the screen, making Elias smile softly.
"Hi, Liang," Elias greeted softly. He spotted Shen next to Liang, silently reading a book. Elias sighed in relief. Perfect. He's here.
"So, what are you doing?" Liang asked curiously.
"Ah... Well..." Elias murmured softly, trying to explain his situation. Quickly, he explained what he has to do to Liang and Shen, surprising both of the Chang brothers.
"What?! Seriously?! How does something like that happen?" Liang exclaimed in surprise, making Elias shrug.
"I have no idea," Elias sighed in exasperation. "Maybe Shen can help me, though." He held up the picture to Liang and Shen, which the oldest Chang brother examined closely. "There's a math equation in here I can't seem to solve, and I believe that it may help me with the wiring. But it's college-level, and I need someone to solve it... Can you help me out, Shen?"
"Hmm..." Shen hummed in thought, seizing a pencil and paper. He quickly began writing, the pencil dashing madly across the paper as he worked out the problem.
"F(x) = 3x + 1
G(x) = (x - 1)/3
F(G(x)) = ?"
"My head hurts just by looking at Shen write," Liang groaned in pain, holding his head. "That math is way too complex!"
"I can't wrap my head around it," Elias chuckled softly, "but Shen can."
"Of course he can! He's like a math Amadeus!" Liang proudly confirmed as Shen continued. In a breathtaking silence, Elias and Liang focused on Shen's writing, seeing how quick he wrote down numbers and variables. Finally, Shen threw his pencil down and looked up at Elias.
"It's x," Shen answered intelligibly, to which Elias just banged his head on the desk.
"How did you do that?" Liang asked his brother.
"I don't know," Shen shrugged carelessly, noticing Elias's despair. "What's wrong, Elias?"
"X is practically nothing," Elias groaned. "How can I figure out which wires to plug and how to build a flipping transporter if I only have 'x'?!"
"I have a weird theory," Liang spoke up, "but I think it's a secret message. It's not about the variable 'x'... Maybe it's about the letter or shape X!"
"What?" Shen and Elias confusedly asked.
"Quick! Are there types of metal that start with X?" Liang inquired excitedly.
"Uh... The closest one would be zinc," Elias responded softly.
"Maybe you have to build the transporter out of that!" Liang suggested helpfully as Elias looked at the picture again. It did seem like it was made out of zinc...
"Maybe you're right," Elias agreed softly. "What else about X?"
"Connect the wires in the shape of an X?" Shen suggested jokingly, when Elias checked the wires again.
"...It actually is in an X!" Elias laughed cheerfully. "Weird."
"Maybe charge it with one watt of electricity, since 'x' equals 1 anyways?" Liang suggested questioningly.
"Not sure, but I'll test it," Elias hesitantly agreed, hoping Liang was right.
"You can use xenon for the blue light it emits," Shen also suggested, making Elias take out his notepad and write down every single suggestion the Chang brothers came up with.
"You guys were a big help," Elias thanked the two Chinese brothers gratefully. "Thank you so much!"
"No problem, bud!" Liang cheerfully dismissed. "After all, we're going to be paid back by you allowing us to come with you on your traveling mission of there is one anyways, so consider it already paid!"
"Heh, well, you're going to have to wait for that," Elias chuckled before bidding them goodbye and signing off. He sighed tiredly, looking down at the pictures of the transporter. "Okay, transporter... Time for your twin to be made!"
End of chapter. :)
Next Chapter Summary: After Selena chooses her weapon, she and the parallel nations make their hasty escape into the woods without looking back. Plus, Annabel comes back to help the La Puente gang! And then, America (you know, the one we all know and love) finds out just what he has done after his incident at Tony's.
See ya~!
-Forever