Spain, in contrast to Italy, was giddy with happiness. His former henchman was coming to visit! Now they could sit and catch up! Spain hoped that Romano would want to sit in his lap like he did back when he was a child.

When he heard a knock on the door, he jumped up like a man who had gotten tazed and skipped joyfully to the door.

The first audible words exchanged were far from pleasant. "You bastard!" Romano greeted Spain. (This was Romano's idea of a greeting).

"Long time no see, Lovino," Spain responded. "You're still as cute as always." He reached out to tug Romano's brown curl playfully. Seeing this, the younger country dodged Spain's hand and delivered his signature move, a head butt, to his former boss's stomach, with a "Chigi!"

"Ow!" Spain cried, hugging his sore torso. "You still hit as hard as you used to."

Romano smirked knowingly and entered the house. Something caught his interest and he immediately ran to it. Moments later, chomping could be heard.

"Glad you still like tomatoes. If there's one thing I taught you, it's to appreciate tomatoes." Spain took a seat on the couch next to Romano and watched him eat in silence for a few minutes. When Lovino had finished eating his snack, he demanded that Spain bring him some wine.

"I'm the boss, but I guess sometimes a boss should do things for his henchman," Spain sighed, sounding resigned. "Just wait here while I go down to the cellar, okay?"

Antonio disappeared down the steps leading to his wine cellar. He searched for his best wine, but ceased when the sound of battle reached his ears. Oh no! What has Lovino gotten into now?

He dashed up the stairs blindly without stopping. "ROMANOOO!" he cried when his former henchman came into view. Not thinking, he tackled Romano to the ground just in time to avoid a pitchfork-stab to the head.

Romano did not appreciate Antonio's quick acting. He roughly shoved Antonio off of him and commanded, "Stay out of my way, douche bag. I can handle these bastards."

Spain remained adamant. "I can't abandon you like that. I'm not the cruel boss who would sacrifice his henchmen. Besides, in terms of numbers, they have the advantage."

"Fine," Romano pouted. He rolled up his sleeves. "Let's do this."

Antonio was like a missile, dodging and weaving through Ukraine and the Baltics' attacks. He frequently participated in bull fights as a matador, so he knew the quickest and easiest way to evade an impending blow. He could also land quick but effective hits in between dodging. It was easy for him; there was no trace of sweat upon his sun-tanned skin. He might even have been enjoying himself. The glister in his green eyes reflected his amusement. He was slowly wearing down his adversaries.

His henchman, however, was considerably less precise and agile in his fighting style. He fought like a ruffian, charging in recklessly and delivering fully-loaded, crushing punches. He did manage to knock Latvia out with a punch to the forehead. Now the opposition was down to three.

Lovino then ran straight for Ukraine, the only one with a weapon. Spain yelled, "Stop! Romano! Can't you see she has her pitchfork ready to stab you?"

Romano stopped dead in his tracks halfway to his target. "But we have to aim for her first. She's probably the most dangerous. C'mon, back me up."

"Okay," said Antonio. The boss and his henchman dashed forward together. Out of the corner of his eye, Spain spotted the bowl of tomatoes sitting on the table. He grabbed it as fast as he could and took out a tomato. He handed a second one to Romano. "Throw this at the other two. Try to hit them, but if you don't, it will at least distract them enough for us to decapitate the senorita." Lovino looked doubtful, but he wound up and tossed his tomato at Estonia anyways. Eduard was not prepared for the unlikely projectile and the tomato exploded all over his face with a loud SQUIRT! The same thing happened to Toris when Antonio launched his tomato. And unbelievably, the tomatoes were as effective as grenades. The red explosions knocked both of the Baltics out.

Ukraine was the only one left to beat. She was scared out of her wits, but she stood her ground. As her two enemies charged her, she laid her pitchfork on the ground with the handle under her feet and raised her hands in the air in submission.

Both Spain and Romano screeched to a halt.

"Are you surrendering, senorita?" Antonio asked. The boss and his henchman were both gentlemen. They wanted to avoid wounding a lady if possible.

Ukraine gave a nod. The two men approached cautiously and each took one of her arms. They were going to escort her out.

I'm sorry, guys, Yekaterina apologized silently. Her bright blue eyes teared up as she slid her feet out from under her, causing the pitchfork to zoom at Antonio, go in one side of his lean body, and come out of the other. It was a truly hideous sight.

The blood of his boss stained Romano's curl. He released Ukraine and leapt to catch Spain before he hit the ground.

In his dying moments, Spain's familiar goofy smile sprang onto his face, though it clearly pained him to move.

"You bastard," Lovino whispered, sadness written across his face. "How can you still smile like that? You're freaking dying."

Antonio replied with some difficulty, "Ah, I haven't taught you yet? Well… my last lesson to you is…" here he paused to hack up some blood. "Always smile in a bad situation. It will help you in some way. Even if it just gives you a feeling of happiness. Lovino, joy is the greatest gift a person can receive. So… live a joy-filled life. I… hope… you… remember… that…" his voice faded away. His once-scintillating green eyes saw no more. Yet his smile was still present.

But Romano had no intention of being happy. He gently lowered Spain's corpse to the ground. Then he stood and whirled on Yekaterina. "I don't care if you are a lady!" he roared furiously. "I'LL KILL YOU!" He withdrew the bloody pitchfork from his former boss's carcass. Yekaterina turned to flee and made it to the doorway before the enraged Italian chucked the pitchfork at her with all the might in his body. The pitchfork did not hit a vital region, but it did put a huge, five-inch gash on Ukraine's side. She cried out in pain but managed to scamper away from her oppressor and lose him while he was picking up the weapon again.

Ukraine felt like an evil person. Killing Spain had put a large void in her heart filled with guilt. She wanted to go back, to apologize to Lovino before he killed her, but there was something she had to do first. She was not going to play her little brother's game any longer! Ivan had to be stopped.