Author's Note: For all intents and purposes, this is the last chapter, and I am DONE with this story. I will probably tack on a brief epilogue to tie up a few last loose ends, but as of right now, I will call this complete. I hope you all enjoyed!


After breakfast the following morning, England immediately went out. When the other nations asked, he merely said he needed to find a few things. It wasn't until after everyone went back upstairs that France quietly explained that England needed to prepare components for some of the spells he would need to augment the serum.

"He also said that Amerique's boss gave him the uninfected sample of Amerique's DNA yesterday," France said. "Where is it?"

Canada cleared his throat. "He gave it to me before we went down to breakfast," he said. "It's in my room. I'll go get it…"

"I think it would be easier if I just went with you," France said, falling in step behind Canada and America as the two headed for their room.

The rest of the nations all went back to their respective rooms. Canada opened his room door, waiting for America and France to enter before shutting it. He opened the drawer of the desk and withdrew a test tube, which contained a small sample of blood.

"Here's the sample," Canada said.

France gestured for Canada to set it on the desk, then reached into the satchel, which he had been carrying on him all morning. He withdrew the serum and placed it beside the test tube.

America looked at the test tube and tiny, capped flask, then at France. Confusion was written all over the American's face.

"Now what?" he asked.

"Ordinarily, we'd have to take all of this to a lab and extract some DNA from the blood," France said.

"We don't need to do that?" America asked, still looking puzzled.

France shook his head. He removed the cap from the flask that contained the serum, then took the test tube of blood and carefully poured a drop of it into the serum. Setting the test tube aside, France recapped the flask, then set that down as well.

"Now, I'm afraid we have to wait on Angleterre," France said, taking a seat on Canada's bed. "I don't know what he needs, or how much of it he needs. We could be waiting all day."

America let out a frustrated sigh. He knew that it was a very real possibility that he could be cured within just a matter of hours, but he could already feel impatient anticipation surging through him. He wanted to be cured now.

"What're we going to do while we wait?" America asked.

"Lie low; don't draw attention to ourselves," Canada answered. "We don't know if Charles has more allies, either already in the area, or on their way."

America sighed again, but it was louder this time.

"We should have someone keeping an eye out," France cautioned, turning his attention to Canada.

"I think Scotland and Japan are doing that," Canada said.

"Whatever," America said. He jumped onto the bed and grabbed the TV remote from the bedside table, then turned the TV on, looking for something to watch while they waited on England.

(-)

England's journey to find everything he needed for his spells took longer than it should have. Having borrowed Japan's rental car, England ended up going all over DC, checking every store he could think of until he found everything. And even though he had left early that morning, England did not return until late in the afternoon.

He came back into the hotel lobby at almost five o'clock, carrying a canvas bag filled with all his spellcasting supplies. He wasted no time in hurrying up to America and Canada's room, and was let in within seconds of knocking on the door. It was Canada who opened the door; America and France were both seated on the bed, watching TV.

"You got all the stuff?" America asked as England entered the room.

England unceremoniously dropped the canvas bag on the desk. "More or less…" he said.

France frowned, and reached for the bag. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"It took me a while to find everything," England said. "And even then, I still had to improvise. Still, what I've got will work."

England reached into the bag, looking through its contents. He pulled out several vials, each filled with different substances. After that, he produced a fairly large and wide roll of tracing paper, a roll of Scotch tape, and a black permanent marker. America, Canada, and France all stared at the items, nonplussed.

"I told you I had to improvise," England said. "Ordinarily, I'd have to inscribe the magic circles directly onto the floor, but since we can't do that…"

America had to stifle a laugh.

"You're gonna draw your magic circles… on tracing paper… with Sharpie?!"

"It was the best I could come up with the limited time and resources I had," England snapped. "The only alternative was to inscribe it on the floor with paint, and that won't come off. Now shut up and let me prepare the spells, you git."

Somewhat to England's surprise, America did as he was told. Satisfied that he wouldn't be distracted by the American's interruptions, England immediately went to work. He tore out several pieces of the tracing paper, then ran back to his room to fetch the spellbooks. He came back, opened some of the binders up to the pages he needed, and began drawing the magic circles on the paper. Once that was done, England went to his canvas bag and withdrew a mixing bowl and spoon. Next, he opened the vials containing the mysterious substances and poured them all into the bowl, then stirred the mixture for a few minutes with the spoon.

"France, what are the instructions on how the spell is put into the serum?" England asked when he finished stirring.

France got up and fetched his satchel, where his laptop was. He set it up and turned it on, then inserted the USB and displayed the document with the instructions on the screen. Quickly skimming through until he found the paragraph he was looking for, France then waved England over to look at the instructions himself. England read the paragraph silently, then nodded and went back to his improvised spellcasting supplies.

"Is America's unaffected sample already in the serum?" England asked.

"Of course," France said, taking the flask with the serum in it off the desk and handing it to England, who promptly set it on the floor.

"I didn't need that just yet," England said, sounding mildly annoyed.

He took the tape and taped together the pieces of paper that had had magic circles drawn on them, set them down on the floor beside the flask, and then he took the flask, removed the stopper, then placed the flask on top of the taped papers, squarely in the center of one of the circles. England stood back up to double check something on the page of one of his spells, but quickly returned to the papers on the floor.

"America, hand me the mixing bowl," England said.

America grabbed the mixing bowl, and, after staring suspiciously for half a second at its contents, slowly handed it over to England, who proceeded to pour a small amount of it into the flask. He then dipped a finger into the bowl and spread the mixture over the contours of the Sharpie-drawn magic circles. Several minutes later, when the bowl's contents had been thoroughly spread over the papers, England set the empty bowl aside, then stood on top of the largest of the magic circles, directly in front of the circle that the flask stood on.

The room was awkwardly quiet for almost a minute. Then, England began chanting the incantation.

At first, nothing happened. But, as England's chanting went on, the circles began to glow a greenish-blue color. The longer the chanting continued, the more intense the glow became, until the whole room was awash in bright, blue-green light. France, America, and Canada even had to shield their eyes before England finally finished.

After having chanted for several minutes in what sounded to the other three like total gibberish, England abruptly stopped, and the blue-green light gradually faded. He stepped off the papers and regarded the other three nations.

"What was that?" America asked, his eyes still squinted from having been nearly blinded by England's magic.

"I cast several spells at once," England said. "I had to more or less… how do I put this… blend all the spells together; separately, they'd be practically useless in this situation."

America's blank expression made it clear that he didn't get it, but England wasn't about to spend the next half hour trying to explain it.

"Is the serum ready for use?" Canada asked.

England nodded. He picked up the flask and walked over to the desk. France dug through his satchel and produced an empty syringe, which he then put into the serum. When the syringe was full, he took it back out and gestured for America to stand next to him.

"Roll up your sleeve, Amerique," France instructed.

America rolled his sleeve up just past the elbow, and held his arm out so that France could inject the serum. France carefully stuck the needle in America's arm, and within seconds, the syringe's contents had been emptied into America's bloodstream. France put the syringe away, and America rolled his sleeve back down.

"That's it? I'm cured?" America asked.

"Yes," England said.

America inspected his arm, even though he had already rolled his sleeve down. He looked around with a quizzical expression, apparently nonplussed as to what had just happened.

"I don't feel different…"

"Well, you probably didn't feel different when you were initially infected," England said quickly. "Give it time."

America shrugged, and he looked unconvinced.

"So what about Lithuania?" he asked. "You can cure him, too, right?"

"Yes, but not at the moment," France said. "We don't have his DNA sample."

"Russia told me last night that Lithuania's boss has been contacted regarding that," England said. "We just need to get a flight over there, and then…"

"Shouldn't we go tell the others about what we just did?" Canada interrupted. "And then, you guys and Lithuania can book your flight as soon as possible…"

"Where are Russia and the Baltics anyway?" England said, having somehow not heard Canada's comment. "Are they still in their rooms?"

Without waiting for an answer, England left the room. A somewhat flustered and confused France quickly followed him, leaving Canada and America alone. The two brothers exchanged bemused glances, then went back to watching TV.

(-)

As it turned out, England, France, Russia, and all three Baltics managed to get tickets on a flight scheduled to leave early the following morning. Having recovered from his latest episode, Lithuania contacted his boss personally this time to inform him of the arrangements, and what time they expected to arrive. The group of six headed out at midnight to catch their flight, while the remaining nations – Canada, America, Japan and Scotland – elected to stay at the hotel for two more days.

However, earlier that evening, Canada and America had gone to return the rest of America's blood sample to the president. During their visit, they met briefly with the president, who informed them that the UN had been contacted, and a trial date had been set for Charles, Ian and the fake America. Upon Canada and America's return, they relayed this information to the other nations.

"That's good; those bastards will finally get what they deserve," England remarked upon hearing the news.

"What day is the trial?" Lithuania asked.

"Three days from now," America replied. "The UN has called for every nation involved in this incident to appear and testify."

"Even though he wasn't involved, Switzerland is going to be the host country for the meeting," Canada said. "The meeting itself will be held in Geneva."

(-)

America, Canada, Japan, and Scotland all turned in for the night just a few minutes after the other nations left for the airport. They all fell asleep fairly quickly, however, not all of them managed to stay asleep.

At approximately two o'clock in the morning, America suddenly jolted awake. He sat up, staring at the wall, trying to figure out what had just happened.

I wasn't having a bad dream… and I feel fine physically…

America couldn't recall being woken up by any loud noises, or being roused by anybody either. He glanced over at Canada, who was still sound asleep in his bed. As far as America could tell, there was no good explanation for why he was suddenly wide awake.

Deciding to not worry about it, America lay back down. However, as he did so, he rather suddenly sat back up. For some inexplicable reason, America was having a massive rush of adrenaline. He felt energized enough to get up and run for miles, and while it felt good, he was puzzled as to why this was happening.

America got out of bed and walked around, hoping the bizarre rush of energy would wear off and he could get back to sleep. Instead, he felt a second wave of energy and euphoria rush through him.

"It's not that I'm complaining – I haven't felt this good in a while – but what the hell is going on?" America wondered aloud. He walked over to the sink and looked in the mirror.

He tried staring at his reflection until he calmed down. Several minutes later, when he was just starting to feel like he was indeed calming down, America turned around and headed for his bed. He laid down, and was hit with a third, much weaker wave of energy. It wasn't the rush of energy that disrupted America this time, so much as the images that flashed through his mind at that instant.

He saw himself, clothed in a blue uniform, and surrounded by an army of men wearing similar uniforms. He turned at the sound of gunfire, and saw more blue-clad men exchanging fire with an army of men clad in red uniforms. Judging by the weapons and uniforms, America realized this was a picture from a battle of centuries past.

This looks familiar…

America realized almost immediately that this had to be a flashback from some major event in his past. However, the nation-killing drug had erased much of his early memories, and he couldn't recall what this was a memory of, other than the obvious fact that it was from a war.

Knowing that it would be futile to try and puzzle out what he had just seen, America tried once more to lay down and relax. It took a while – longer than America thought it should have – but he finally calmed down enough to fall back asleep. When he did fall asleep, he did not wake up until late the next morning.

(-)

For the next three days, time seemed to drag on. Charles and Ian had already been sent to Switzerland, where they would be held in Swiss custody until the trial. The fake America, on the other hand, remained in US custody; his medical condition had rapidly deteriorated, having suffered another episode at approximately two o'clock in the morning. The episode had significantly increased in severity since the last one; his headache had been accompanied by involuntary convulsions, followed by shock and ultimately loss of consciousness. At ten o'clock the following morning, the fake America finally awoke. The severity of the fake America's condition led the president to decide to send the imposter nation to a high-security medical facility, and after several phone calls to the UN, it was determined that the fake America would have to be tried in absentia.

In Europe, the fake Lithuania's condition wasn't much better. Several hours after England and France had managed to cure the real Lithuania, at roughly the same time that the real Lithuania had reported bizarre feelings of energy boosts and euphoria accompanied by flashbacks, the fake Lithuania experienced another episode of severe headaches, followed by loss of consciousness which lasted for just under five hours. The fake Lithuania's condition was also deemed such that he would have to be tried in absentia as well.

At the same time, it was unclear what was to be done with the China lookalike that China and Japan had captured. Everything that China and his doctors had tried showed that the lookalike had absolutely no memory whatsoever, and no one could find any evidence that suggested he had acted as an accomplice in Charles' schemes; all evidence pointed to him being a prisoner to be used by Charles. Finally, on the day of Charles' trial, China's boss decided to turn the lookalike over to England, who had volunteered to attempt to restore the man's memory via magic.

The memory restoration would have to wait, however, as England had to attend the UN meeting to testify, along with all the other nations that had been involved since Brandenburg. At ten o'clock in the morning Geneva time, all the nations took their seats in the tribunal room, and Charles and Ian were escorted inside by Swiss security.

Charles remained quiet and calm the entire time that the charges against him were read. Ian, on the other hand, looked noticeably upset, but was trying desperately not to show it.

"Charles and his allies managed to devise a serum that could strip a nation of their status and kill them. They also used similar procedures to turn ordinary humans into replacements," Germany said. "All of the documentation of the methods and procedures used are stored in this laptop, which was taken from one of Charles' bases of operations, in one my cities: Brandenburg."

"So far as we know, only America and Lithuania had been infected," England added. "But both of them can give detailed accounts of the effects of this nation-killing drug on a nation's body and mind."

"And innocent humans are stripped of their original selves, from appearance to having their whole memory wiped, just so they can be made into nations themselves!" France interjected. "The China lookalike that was captured in Beijing is proof."

"Charles and his allies have committed atrocities against nation and citizen alike!" America said right as France finished.

The meeting threatened to dissolve into total chaos several times, but Switzerland was doing a remarkable job at quieting everyone when they got out of hand.

"Everyone, shut up!" Switzerland yelled. He waited a few seconds to make sure no one was about to interrupt. "How thoroughly have Charles' operations been investigated? Does anyone even know where all of his bases are?"

"That's still under ongoing investigation," England admitted. "However, with all the evidence we currently have standing against this man, it's clear that he was after nothing short of world domination. And, this Ian fellow is just one of possibly dozens of hitmen Charles has hired to assassinate infected nations."

Switzerland nodded thoughtfully. "Russia," he said.

Russia looked up, almost looking surprised at hearing his name called. "Da?"

"You said that, prior to Charles' capture, you had shot him in the head, correct?" Switzerland said.

"Correct."

Switzerland looked at Charles, his eyes narrowed. "How did he survive? He didn't even need medical attention, according to the reports."

"That, I'm afraid we don't know," Russia said.

"Actually, while I was interrogating the fake Lithuania," Germany interrupted. "He revealed to me that Charles thinks of himself as an actual nation. He didn't give us a name for the nation he allegedly personifies, however."

Russia chuckled. "That would explain how he survived being shot in the head."

"Well, if that's the case, then there's a major problem," Switzerland said. "If he is a personification, he can't be executed for his crimes, not unless we officially dissolve whatever he represents first."

Russia laughed louder. "Oh, just give him a shot of his own nation-killing drug."

The whole room erupted in a mixture of reactions to Russia's statement. It took too long to quiet everyone back down, but when they did, Switzerland had run out of patience, and the meeting was quickly adjourned. The only productive thing that happened in the whole meeting was the unanimous decision to execute Charles and Ian, but no decision was reached concerning a date.

"Russia actually had a point, though," England said to Switzerland as they made their way out of the room. "I can't think of any other way to actually make it possible to execute him. If he really is a personification, then he's immortal otherwise."

"I think you and the other nations that were involved need to finish your investigations," Switzerland said. "I suspect if you can dissolve his organization, then he'll have nothing left to personify, and will become mortal."

"Or, he could pull what Prussia did," England countered. "He's not supposed to be personifying anything, but here he is, still immortal and everything."

"Keep investigating," Switzerland said. "And, you might also want to look into restoring the fake America and Lithuania's human status. Based on what I've seen of this whole thing, they're innocent humans being used by Charles. There's no need for them to die as well."

"Will do."