Author's Notes: Wow I can't believe I uploaded the wrong chapter for the wrong story here! I'm so very sorry about that.

Soft pale light burrowed through the crack of the faded pastel curtains of the hospital room. Faint shadows flickered on the bed as people rushed in and out of the room. Quiet peace masked their panic. Egypt twitched his hands and he pried open eyes against his groggy state. With a confused frown, he wondered what all the commotion was about.

Frantic whispers buzzed around and his name popped out to him the most. He shifted himself into a more comfortable sitting position. The bed creaked with the dip of his movements. At last, they turned their attention to him.

Their eyes went wide. Many faces paled. One of them even dropped a clipboard that they were holding; the clack echoed in the room. Egypt fidgeted and cleared his throat. The human's Jittery hands trembled as the clipboard was picked up again and the individual fled the room. Another brave nurse edged closer to him.

"S-sir? "

He nodded back. Even in moments like these, he felt no need to waste words.

Hesitantly, her hand reached towards his forehead while it quivered. Egypt stared at it as a finger lightly poked him. She retracted her hand with a jolt and her eyes squinted. Slowly but surely her mouth formed an 'o' and backed off to give Egypt some breathing space.

With a tone of perplexed relief, the nurse announced, "He's right here. He's right here."

Two tugs on her arm returned her attention back to the nation. Egypt scrunched up his brows and the nurse recognized his concern. She bit her bottom lip, hummed a little to think it over then glanced around. She requested one of the others to bring in a hand mirror.

Soon enough, someone brought one in and handed it to Egypt. Cautiously, he raised it up.

Normal. His face looked fine. Red spots hadn't sprouted, a brand new nose hadn't grown, and not even rash had broken out. Actually, he looked pretty good. A small smile reflected back at him as he smiled at himself.

Hold up.

Egypt paused as he tilted his head a little. His teeth appeared discolored? … … W-why…was he…SEE THROUGH?

The mirror plopped into his blanketed lap as his grip lost its grasp. His hands searched his face; Flesh met flesh. Sweaty palms met the now sweaty forehead. Muscles un-tensed. At least, he wasn't among his pharaohs yet.

Boom! Germany burst into the room and demanded in between his pants, "America's URGENT danger better have been real. Everyone else seems fine. Is Eygpt al-" He stopped as he raised his head to Egypt.

The blond man choked on his words. Egypt had somehow become as transparent as a ghost. Egypt's presence projected itself onto the bed, as if dust had hovered together there to form a figure. The man could be very easily missed, had he not been paying attention closely. It looked like he could slip right through the bed. After a few more blank stares, Germany's mind rebooted itself and asked if France had been informed.

"No, we haven't sir...he's still asleep."

"Then wake him up! I know we're all tired but there's work to be done. There is NO way I am going to let him shrug it off unto me! Throw a bucket of water on him if you have to!" the man stormed out and massaged another headache.

Back at the hotel room, Australia sat in a chair facing the door, ready to face whoever would try to come after them. Canada hooked up America's phone to his laptop and sat on the floor while he analyzed the pictures. He typed tiny notes on the other half of the screen. America, like the impatient ever-moving kind of guy he was, paced the room.

An hour had passed since they had warned Germany. No reply yet. For now, out of fear of another attack, the group locked themselves up in their room.

"UGH! Why does Germany have to take so long to reply back?" America groaned while turning again on his heel for the umpteenth time.

"You do realize it was four in the morning over there when you phoned him Al? It should take him a while to get to the hospital. "

And knowing Germany, he would never think of speeding. He also had multiple patients to check in on. Along with that, in case there was an emergency, the health committee would need to re-organize its priorities.

However, in the face of all those facts, America's nerves gnawed at him. Being thousands of miles away deep within China's place, unable to do anything in their state, it only frustrated him more. He had already eaten the several bags of McDonalds that he had bought for lunch on the way. Greasy goodness still stunk up the room. Unfortunately, nothing could sooth him.

"But-"He started to stay but then gave a sigh. He stopped pacing and crossed his arms, "I hate hanging around here and doing nothing and not being a hero…"

"Al, try taking a chill pill. Your constant moving is stressing all of our nerves." Canada mumbled then looked up at his brother. He echoed his twin's sigh then motioned him to come over. The complainer hustled over; his mind yearned for a distraction. Australia kept his post but also tuned in.

"Notice how the words continue to overlap the corners of the room?," he zoomed into the image, "Look how they don't seem distorted at all," With a couple clicks of the mouse he cropped the spots and compared them with other shots, "it continues on no matter what angle until you get really close to it."

"Wait...how?"

"It's famous technique by Michelangelo; you can see this in the Sistine Chapel's ceiling that he painted. It's quite an impressive skill."

"Sistine Chapel...Hey! Isn't that really near Italy's place?"

Australia turned his head, "Yeah, that'd be right in Vatican City's area. Pretty chilling place when I peeked around but it needed more alligators." The twins stared at him with squinted eyes and tilted heads, both mirroring the other's confusion. He drooped his head down. "Mates, that was a joke."

"Okay…but anyways," Canada held out his hand for the other to examine. Faint ink smeared over the back of it. His finger traced over it. "This isn't cheap wall paint. It feels like it's oil paint, something an artistic painter would use. In consideration of the technique being used, it's as if restoration painters were responsible for this. Like those from Italy…"

"Huh. That sounds a little far-fetched…but…it does sound crazy enough to be true!"

"We should visit there nex-"

It's a party in the U.S.A!

In great disbelief, two sets of eyes bulged upon sight of the phone responsible for the ringtone. First of all, why in the world did he choose that song? Secondly, Why was America HUMMING along with it? They looked away, while America feigned oblivious to their reactions.

He spoke with the German in short coups of sentences. The other two struggled to follow along and tensed with America's different reactions. His eyes widened for a second which frightened his group, but then went on to nod with a grimace.

"Mat-I mean Canada is typing our report as we," he replied then glanced at Canada. The blond resumed his typing "-speak. Yes, good luck. Yes. Bye then!" Beep!

Australia turned his head, "What's the news?"

"It's just like that weird mask person warned us... Egypt's apparently gone...transparent... ". He stopped to let that word sink in.

That didn't sit too well among all three of them and Canada hurried his typing. Australia gestured that the American continue.

"They're not sure how or why it happened. All they found odd was this magnet beside his bedside table. He said it was some sort of gimmicky tourist magnet in the form of a beetle with the words 'Cairo' on it. Germany has run out of a plan, so he says we can decide how we want to carry this investigation out. However, he did suggest a visit to Egypt first. That beetle could be something. What do you guys think?"

No one responded. At this point, Canada finally entered in the last button on his laptop. He got up to stare outside the darkening window but neither paid mind to him. America paced around again and Australia watched him go back and forth. Enveloped in their own thinking bubbles they weighed their choices.

The decision daunted them into a gamble. Splitting them up would only make them more vulnerable to any attacks. They could only head to one destination. However, choosing the wrong place over the other could cause a risky setback. Time had them cornered.

"No, we have to go to Italy's place," Canada announced out of the blue, surprisingly the first to come to a conclusion.

They stared at him. Australia performed a double take to make sure that he hadn't accidentally mixed up the twins again. Nope, it was still the same Canada. America crossed his arms.

He spoke up again with quieter yet stern tone, "What if we can prevent this from happening to Italy? We might be able to catch them in action quicker. Think about what we have learned here. Someone is stealing nation's belongings, sabotaged our original plans and even tried to do us harm or scare us off. They know about what we are and they already knew Germany wanted us to come here. Let's do the unexpected and catch them with stuff they didn't want to leave behind."

"Didn't expect you to come up with such a bold act Matt. But what if this leads us off and we end up back tracking anyways? You know how we can't waste time." Australia pointed out.

America nodded in agreement, "Now that this has come up, I think it gives a better solid ground."

"And that person foretelling us outright about this incident is totally trustworthy, not a leading us off at all!"

America flinched away by the other's pointed sarcasm, "You gotta a point there…but…"

"Hmm…" Australia got up from his post, "Well we have to make a move. I say book ourselves to…" he took a out a coin, "Heads it's Egypt, Tails it's Italy."

The coin mesmerized the group as it flipped through the air, soon to be caught on the back of Australia's hand. They crowded over to see the reveal of... the queen. Egypt it was then. Canada frowned and bit the inside of his cheek. America was just about ready to dial up the private company but then a knock came from the door. All three of their heartbeats spiked.

Australia inched himself towards the door. Heavily armed with chairs and cushions, they raised them to greet the visitor. No one stood there. Only a card.

In it was a watercolor style card with a cartoon train painted on the front of it. Two cute little bunnies rode the carts and a tiny bear wore a conductor uniform. There was no words to accompany the image. America opened it up and the rest of them hunched over his shoulders to look. Inside it appeared the train had crashed and smoke clouded up the wreck. A few words were scrawled underneath.

"Last chance. Give up."

America laughed hard. Both Canada and Australia knew that it was as faked as it could be. After his forced fit, he folded it up into his pocket for evidence, "Heroes don't give up. Never EVER!"

"Alfred…"Australia said worriedly.

They watched that very hero put on a shaky grin and excused himself to call the airport company. Canada was left frozen for a bit but a determined deep breathe cured himself of it. The 'Dangers Expert' checked his cleverly hidden daggers near his sides, still there ready to be used.

Since it was already really late, they decided to take a flight early next morn and sleep for now. Once they got into their pajamas, they decided to take turns sleeping. There were two couches in the main room and they wanted to keep an eyes out on the door.

"We are…totally…ready," America yawned as he tumbled onto the couch.

Warm smells entered the hospital room, as a young lady with bright pink flowers in hair brought soup to the patient. A soundless filter shrouded the man's consciousness. His face sagged from lack of sleep. It stabbed her warm smile to form a thin line, almost nearing a frown.

"I had a strange dream, Taiwan," China remarked while the girl placed the food in front of him. His voice, though it tore the silence, held no spark.

"What was it about?"

And at this the man returned a little more, with words dyed of greys and hints of blue.

"I was really small, almost like a child. Some tall giant was holding something out of my reach, something I once owned…I think. Tears started to trail my eyes but they still wouldn't give to me. Soon they were just toying with me and making me follow it like a puppet. There was even a voice that said 'they now owned me and there was nothing I could about it.' I…i… couldn't stop trying to reach for it. Yet, my body refused to listen to me. It was horrible!"

Taiwan hugged her former teacher, "Please don't worry yourself over such things. It was only a dream."

"Y-yeah…a dream…" he paused, "We're nations…yet...how did I get in this state."

"I honestly don't get it either. However, we did have a dedicated team sent out there. Don't you fret we can trust those three."

"Somehow I still don't find that reassuring..."