The sound of the gunshot attracted wary eyes. Not of humans, however, but the rest of the countries: France, Italy, and Japan. They lurked in the shadows of the surrounding buildings, watching the chaos before them. None of them wanted to move. However, they each had someone special in the mix that they had to defend.
China leapt at America, pushing him out of the way just in time for England's bullet to miss. "You can't be serious?" England chuckled darkly. "You're both injured. How are you going to defeat me again?"
Japan jumped from the shadows, holding a rather sharp katana, the tip digging gently into England's back. "I wouldn't underestimate eisehr of us, Mr. Engrand."
France took his turn next, pointing is own gun at Japan. "As if I would let you 'urt my little Angleterre!" Germany made a move toward France, but France stopped him with a second pistol. "Not anozher step or you both die, oui?"
Italy shook with fear. He didn't want his friends to die. But all of those strong countries... They were certainly stronger than him. Still... I beat the Ottoman Turks when I was a bambino! He clenched his fists and ran up to France, pushing him out of the way and pointing a pistol at him. "I'm-a sorry, Big Brother. But I can't-a let you hurt my friends!"
The group was a tangled mess of limbs and weapons. Finally America spoke. "Guys. We don't have to kill each other, you know."
England sighed. "I'm afraid America is right, for once."
"Ja, I agree," Germany added. The rest of the group all agreed.
But none lowered their weapons.
America continued. "It's safe to say that since _ belongs to my military, she's going to have to do as I say. And I say to hell with all of you, leave us alone!"
"Not very heroic, are you?" England sneered. "Did you really think we would listen to you?"
America shrugged. "It was worth a shot. Quit trying to steal my girl, Limey. That's going against international laws."
"To hell with your international laws!" England shouted, threatening to pull the trigger. China blocked his way and Japan tightened the pressure on the blade, resulting in France threatening to shoot and Italy ramming his fist into France's nose.
Suddenly England knocked China to his feet and advanced towards America. Analyzing the situation, America reached for his former brother's wrist, and with a swift twist a small cracking sound informed the two that England's wrist was fractured, if not worse. England felt the weapon slip from his now weaker grasp but before he could reclaim it, America had mustered up enough strength to yank the smaller country over himself and bring him down hard onto the ground. The asphalt cracked and gave way under the force of the nation's body, sinking him a good six inches into the bedrock.
England, however, appeared to be fine. A country's body was much more resilient than a human's. Even so, the force of America's strength shook the Brit. America's body was weak. But his strength had nothing to do with it. It almost felt as if America's entire military beat his body into the ground. But this force was more than that. It felt like something heavy was being dropped on him.
America was bombing London.
England's mind was spinning. He didn't have the force need to launch an all-out war against America in the next five seconds. And America wasn't going to give up that quickly either. While England was trembling from all the bombings, America zipped over to Germany and landed a powerful blow to his jaw, drilling him into the ground as well.
It soon became clear who the strongest nation in the group was.
The battlefield was all a blur. France slammed his fist into Germany's face; Italy responded by shooting a couple rounds at France, hitting him in the arm and leg. Then, China turned his attention to Germany, the other country who was threatening his investment, and was immediately stopped by Japan. The two brothers battled it out with their various forms of martial arts. It was a battle worthy of being called the Second Antietam.
England finally managed to stand and he rushed toward America once more. But he was intercepted by China and thrown into a fight with the martial arts master. Their fighting styles were so different, it was almost chaotic. England was throwing punches and dodging all of China's attacks, while China was knocking England's punches away and pulling every trick he had up his sleeve. Finally, England got his shot and he dug his knuckle into China's injured hand. China cringed back and England threw himself at China.
America turned just in time and he knocked England off his course. "You're fighting with me, remember?!" he shouted.
England let his fist do the talking, landing a blow on America's face, throwing him on the floor like a brick. "My, don't you look pretty!" he grimaced. "Who do you think you're dealing with? I'm over two thousand years old! How much more experience do you think I have over you?" England climbed onto America and started throwing punch after punch on the young nation's face. His glasses cracked easily, and it wasn't long before America was a bleeding mess. "You may be stronger than me, but your body is weak because of that girl. I don't even have to try to hurt you to leave you like this."
America spit out the blood that collected in his mouth. His azure eyes met England's emerald ones, and they shared a moment of loathing. "I think I'm going kill you now," England smirked, retrieving his pistol from the ground where he dropped it. "And this time, do me a favor and stay dead, yes?"
You managed to maneuver your way around the ruble to the entrance of the building. Your eyes widened when they saw the handgun pointed at your country. "NO!" you shouted, running as fast as you could toward them. But it was too late. The deafening sound of a firing gun rang in your ears. Your heart skipped a beat. America's body fell limp on the floor where it once stood. England huffed and turned his attention to the rest of the crew, uncaring that America was wounded.
Your legs moved subconsciously, speeding toward America's body. The long red skirt fluttered in the wind behind you. You dropped to your knees in front of the American. He was still before you "Oh, no..." you whispered. "No, no, no, no, this can't be happening..." Tears rolled down your eyes effortlessly. You gently lifted your country's head and rested it anyone lap. "Alfred..." you said, your voice cracking. "A-Alfred, wake up..." You knew he wouldn't wake. But something inside you didn't want to accept the fact. "America..." He stayed silent. "America, I'm so sorry..." You pressed your forehead to his bloody hair, feeling the warm liquid on your skin. The tears came harder now, but you dared not make a sound out of fear of being taken away from America again.
Finally, you looked up. The rest of the countries was killing each other, unaware of your presence. You opened your mouth to speak. But no words came out. You wet your lips and tried again. "...gland...nce...ger..." None of them were listening to you. You watched in horror as Japan made a quick move to cut down England from him lashing out at Italy.
"ENGLAND!" you shouted. "Italy... France... All of you, stop! Please..."
As if on command, they stopped. "_?" England started carefully. "Do you remember us now...?"
Your voice left you alone. All you could do was cry out loud, holding your lifeless country in your arms.