Thanks to Kramburg, camry72 and NadiaJA627 for reviewing. Finally I finished this, I'd had a busy week so sorry for the wait. But I'm glad you liked the first chapter! Now, on with the show!
(Deltarune OST: Cliffs)
Hungary woke up feeling dizzy, disoriented, confused as hell and with a slight headache. But otherwise, she didn't feel any pain in her limbs or any strong urge to throw up. Good.
Her eyes fluttered open and she groaned as she covered her eyes, her vision was blurry, and the dizziness she was feeling wasn't doing her any favors. Hungary wondered if the victims of her frying pan felt like or worse this after she hit them. Ugh, she might consider starting to go easy on them… Nah, they'd probably deserve it.
Groaning and rubbing her head, Hungary sluggishly managed to sit up, albeit with some difficultly and a bit of nausea, but she did it anyway. She rubbed her eyes as the nausea thankfully seemed to pass, and the dizziness began to vanish. Now she could regain her sense of reality.
Ugh… What happened…?
Then it quickly hit her like she'd hit Prussia with her frying pan. Closet. Door. Creepy darkness. Fall. America.
Where's America?
Where the hell are they anyway?
Hungary's head snapped up once the fact fully sank in, and she began to panic.
"Sweet! You're up, Liz! Awesome!" A familiar voice spoke in a relieved tone. "First trip always sucks, am I right?"
"A-Alfred?" Hungary blinked, looking around, and she made herself turn around towards where she heard his voice. "Alfred, are you… whooooa, what?"
Oh, she found America alright, but boy, was she not prepared for the sight that was waiting for her.
There, kneeling next to her with his usual goofy but energetic smile as if nothing's wrong, was America dressed like a cowboy. He had the hat with string, a red neckerchief, black fingerless gloves, a white shirt underneath a dark brown bomber jacker with sleeves that reached up to his elbows and a white circle with a yellow star in it located on the small pocket, two belts that crossed to form an 'X' with a gun holster, black pants, and brown cowboy boots.
That wasn't the only thing different from his appearance. America himself looked different. His hair was longer, it's now chin-length. It reminded Hungary of his brother, what's his name again…? Oh, Canada! Except America's hair was only a little messy instead of being wavy.
He looked… very handsome. N-Not that he wasn't before, but…
Oh, scratch that! That's not important right now! What in tarnation- Gah, she meant what the hell was going on?
Hungary tried to speak, but she was still in a bit of shock because she had no idea what's going on, so all that came out was, "H-Huh? Why...? You… look…"
But America again didn't appear to be bothered, and he smiled proudly as he posed. "Ya like it, Elizaveta? This is pretty much my default look whenever I cross over here. I dunno why it happens or why a cowboy look, but I always look pretty cool, so it's all good!"
"Wha…?"
"And you look pretty awesome too, Liz!" America gushed, flashing a thumbs-up. "So that's what you look like in this world… I gotta say, I really like the inverted style! Whoe"
"What- What do you mean?" Hungary inquired, sure that the dizziness's starting to return from all the question piling on top of her head, and she looked at her clothing. "I mean, thanks, you're really sweet, but… huh?"
Seriously, what the hell? How… what… but why… Huuuuh? Did Prussia switch her clothes again? Because she didn't remember changing into her traditional dress... or at least it kind of looked like her traditional dress… and she definitely didn't remember owning a dress like this! Not to mention she's pretty sure she had Prussia-proof her closet before today.
Hungary really liked her traditional dress, especially all the little flowers. This dress had a beige top with red trim and short loose sleeves, a brown and gold, patterned piece of fabric wrapped around her shoulders and tied in front… and the skirt… Well, it's a little hard to describe… other than being very pretty, was embroidered with different patterns with colors like purple, burgundy, indigo, dark blue… and of course, it had many flowers. Also, she was wearing black boots.
Worried, she also touched her hair, but to her relief, her hair was long as always, thank goodness. Who knows? Maybe the flower on her hair changed, but whatever. This was weird, but other than that…
She looked… pretty damn cool!
"Huh, you're right, I do look awesome…" Hungary found herself smiling. And not Prussia's shabby definition of awesome, truly awesome! And- Hey, a wait a minute! Hungary shook her head and gawked at the still smiling America. "Hey, wait! Where did this come from? Why am I wearing this? Where are we? What's going on?"
America's smiled vanished, apparently finally getting that Hungary's freaking out, and he raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Hey, Lizzy, chillax-"
"I will chillax when I get answers, dammit!" Hungary exclaimed, already imagining herself slamming whoever changed her clothes into oblivion. "Prussia better not have tried anything funny again or he's going to get the frying pan!"
"Dude, Hungary-"
"Wait… Do I even still have my frying pan with me?" Hungary asked distractedly as it dawned on her, and she quickly searched through her pockets. She smiled when it appeared in her hand, and her eyes twinkled in delight. "Oh, good, I still have it."
Boy, whoever changed her clothes must've been an idiot! Definitely Prussia.
"Hey, Liz!" America called out, and she turned to him, he smiled a little nervously. "I know you don't say this to girls but calm down. I know this a little freaky at first, but you said you were gonna trust me, remember? Just let me explain."
Hungary's anger at Prussia, who's probably not even responsible for this, evaporated and she lowered her frying pan. She let out a sigh. "Alright, fine. First, why are we wearing different clothes? And why is your hair all se- I mean, long!"
"I told you, that's what happens when someone from our world crosses over to this world." America explained simply with a smile, as if it were common knowledge. "Or at least I know now that it doesn't just happen with me. It's funny because back in the 1900's, I looked more like a real cowboy. Guess it changes as the years go by… Oh, and I dunno what's the deal with the hair. I mean, why me and not you? And weird story: I tried cutting it once, but…"
"I'm sorry, what?" Hungary finally cut of after pending a few moments wondering if she heard him right. She smiled, but even she could tell it was strained. "Alfred… could you repeat what you just said."
America blinked. "I said weird story: I tried cutting it once-"
If Hungary wasn't baffled beyond words, she probably would've giggled at that. "No, before that."
"Guess it changes as the years go by…"
"Before that."
"It's funny because back in the 1900's…"
"No, before and before that. I mean what you said at the beginning!"
America thought about it for a second or two, then his face brightened, and he snapped his fingers. "Oh, yeah! I said that the different clothes and hair thing happens because we crossed over to this world! Pretty cool, huh?"
Hungary stared a him dumbly. "Another world? What are you talking about?"
America stared at her, then took a deep breath before regarding her in a serious manner. "Okay, dude, this is gonna be a lot to take in… but we're in another world right now. Like, another planet Earth everything and nothing like ours, and we're currently in this world's version of the United States."
Hungary couldn't believe what she was hearing. "…You're kidding."
"I told ya I'd take you to somewhere they'd never find us, didn't I?" America said innocently, and he smiled warmly. "Well, here we are! This world is my special place."
"We're in another world…" Hungary echoed while looking a little at her surroundings. She couldn't help but widen her eyes at what she saw. It was dark, dimly lit up by the lights, and it looked just like the hallways of the UN Headquarters. B-But still… "We're still in the UN building?"
"Yep, 'cept we're in this world's version of the building." America cheerfully corrected, emphasizing the two words. "We actually landed in this building's supply closet, but I carried ya out here to the hallway when you were unconscious."
"Oh…" Was Hungary's response to that. "So… we're in another world… right now?"
She already said that, but she still couldn't believe it.
"We totally are, dude!" America nodded excitedly, and chuckled. "It's kinda complicated, but basically, that supply closet? It's one of the portals I can use to go to the other world! That's how we got here! Whenever I want to go to the other side, the place gets dark, and ta-da! I end up here!"
"You can't be serious…" Hungary said in disbelief. She wanted to believe, really, especially since America looked so happy. "I'm all for escapism, and I want to believe what you're saying, but Alfred, I'm not sure I can believe… any of this."
She was worried America would be upset by this, but his smile only widened, and his glinted in excitement. "Sure, ya can, Liz! Just look out the window, there's all the proof you'll need! I mean, there's still other evidence, but come on, look, look!"
Not seeing why not, Hungary looked in direction of the windows… and almost immediately her jaw dropped to the floor.
(Deltarune OST: Hip Shop)
She was seeing Manhattan… but it was dark, with cars and buildings illuminating the city. She couldn't have been out that long, could she? But then she realized… it wasn't that it was nighttime, it was that the sky was purple.
There's a purple sky… But that shouldn't be too weird, it's possible for the sky to be purple… right? And the clouds… looked a little off… But then she looked up, and instead of seeing the moon or something, she saw something that could only be described as a red sun… except for some reason Hungary's eyes didn't hurt as she stared at the sun in utter shock, and she wasn't going blind either.
This wasn't normal, but it looked real…
"Really pretty, don't ya think? America asked brightly.
"I… yeah, it is." Hungary agreed as she stared at the… unbelievable and rather gorgeous view.
Could it be?
"Welp…" America wrapped his arm around her. "Elizaveta, welcome to my special place: The Dark World."
"The Dark World, huh?" Hungary repeated; it certainly does fit. "So, it's… true…"
"Told ya." He quipped.
"Huh…"
"This… this world… this is my biggest secret." America admitted sorrowfully. "I've never shared it with anyone, not even Mattie, not even any of my humans, not even to my best buddies. I couldn't, I was…worried what could happen if I told anyone about this and took them here. I guess I was scared that they'd blab or something… some friend I am, am I right?"
Hungary blinked, and she tore her gaze away from Manhattan to stare at the American, who had a sad smile on his face. Hungary wanted to hug him. "You mean I'm the first person you've ever told about this place?"
"That's right, first, and probably the last." America nodded, frowning at that last part. "I hope you're the last. I mean, Tony knows, but that's pretty much it. You're the first person I've ever brought to this place."
"Why would you want me to be the last?" Hungary couldn't help but ask.
"I told you, I… was a little worried they'd blab… Or that someone would get suspicious and make them blab…" America rubbed the back of his head, looking ashamed. "But you, Liz, you don't crack under pressure, you wouldn't cave in to the bad guys. You're brave, and stubborn and cool…"
Hungary stared at them in surprise, and she's sure she felt her cheeks heat up. "You think I'm cool?"
Yes, it's not the most important question, but still…
"Sure I do, Lizzy! You're cool, sweet, crazy like me, not to mention pretty scary cool with your frying pan." America stated fondly with a big smile on his face. "And you get me, and I get you, and the hero can't stand by doing nothing while a cool lady is all depressed. I wanted to share this with you. I didn't want to see you all upset anymore, and…"
"You're too sweet, Alfred." Hungary chuckled, elbowing him gently..
"But I mean it, really dude!" America insisted, and his smile became sheepish. "And… I've always wanted to bring someone with me to the Dark World."
"Wait, is this why you brought up the whole thing about trust?" Hungary asked him, eyes widening, as the realization dawned on her. "You wanted to see if you could trust me to keep this place a secret, right?"
"You got that right, missy." America chirped in a slight Southern accent as he tipped his hat. Hungary had to smile at that. "Like I said, this is my special place. The last thing I want is for someone to come in and ruin it, or worse, that they might wanna do something awful to this world."
"Ah, I see…" Hungary nodded in understanding, now it made sense. "Well, you can trust me with this secret, Alfred."
"I sure hope so…" America murmured distractedly. "I'm trusting ya."
He didn't sound very confident.
"And don't forget that I'm trusting you too." Hungary reminded him with an amused grin. "Remember, you said that if anything goes wrong, I get to beat you up with my frying pan."
That brought America back to Earth. He laughed nervously. "Don't worry, I don't think I'll forget that."
They shared a brief laugh, and they want back to staring at the 'dark' Manhattan.
"I know it feels all freaky and scary at first, but trust me, this place is all kinds of fun." America assured her as he patted her on the shoulder, and Hungary could see from the reflection that he's smiling. "And not only is this place fun, but we're free, Liz. Here, we're completely free of politics, bitchy nations, and problems in our homes. No one, not Artie, not Germany, can come here and ruin that."
Hungary blinked and her eyes drifted to him again. "Wow, not even England can find a way in here? Not even with all that silly stuff about magic and whatnot?"
"Not even him. Believe me, I'm the only one who can go back and forth between the worlds." America reassured her, and then he sighed. "I'll… also explain that later. Man, you'd be surprised how complicated this all is…"
"Wait… We… have this place to ourselves?"
"Guess you could say that."
It's just the two of them here.
No one will ever think that they went off to a whole other world.
No one will ever think of trying to make a portal to this world, not that they could anyway according to America.
No one will ever find them.
They could have fun all the fun they want here, and there's no one to stop them.
And America… despite them not being close friends, brought her here… because they understood each other, because they're tired, because they wanted to get away from all the pressure and trouble… Hungary wanted a special place to escape to… and America took her to his… because he cared…
"Alfred F. Jones…" Hungary grinned from ear to ear. "You might be the most awesome man I've ever met."
America laughed sheepishly as he blushed, cutely doing his best to look calm. "Yeah, well, don't tell Prussia that."
Not able to help herself, she took America's hands in hers and twirled him around like she'd sometimes do with Austria. She laughed in joy. "Oh goodness, Alfred, we're in another world! I can't believe it! This is… this is… this is amazing, Al! I don't know what to say…"
"No need to, Liz! Real heroes don't demand gratitude!" America's eyes sparkled, though he obviously appreciated it. "And… uh, do you mind if you stop spinning us around? I think I'm getting dizzy…"
"Oh, of course!" Hungary let him go, and America gasped and leaned against the wall for support. "Sorry."
America forced himself to laugh, and he staggered a little. "No… No worries, Liz… I'm feeling just dandy…"
Hungary smiled apologetically and patted his back, then a couple important questions popped in her mind. "Wait. So how did you find this place? And how are you able to go over here, and bring someone else along too?"
"Trust me, Hungary…" America smiled mysteriously. "You wouldn't believe me if I told ya. Like I said, you wouldn't believe how complicated this whole thing is…"
"More complicated that the fact that there's another world?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Try me."
"You'll think I'm bat-shit crazy."
Hungary raised an amused eyebrow. "Maybe, but I've already fell into a bottomless pit of darkness with you, woke up with my clothes changed, and found myself in a world where the sun is red, and the sky is purple. If there's something crazier than that, I'd sure love to hear it.
America chuckled, and he tipped his hat. "Good point. Well, I promise I'll explain everything… after we meet Allen. Things will make more sense that way."
Hungary stared at him, puzzled. That name didn't ring a bell. "Allen? Who's Allen?"
"The personification of the United States of America in the Dark World." America answered proudly, and then he happily added, "And my very best bestie!"
Say what now?
"…Say what now?" Hungary's mouth dropped.
"Don't ya see, Hungary?" America said as if she should've figured it out by now, but no, she's still kind of digesting this whole thing. "I know I said I'd explain everything, but I'll make an exception. You see, Liz, there are two worlds, duh, one of them is our home, again pretty duh. The world we're from is called the Light World, or the World of Light, and the world we're in right now is the Dark World, or the World of Darkness, whatever you think's more epic."
"Okay… that's easy enough to follow." Hungary said uneasily, but she just knew she's going to find her head spinning sooner or later. "Light World, Dark World… fitting, okay so two worlds, then what?"
"The two worlds are like, just like the view of Manhattan here," America gestured toward the view, glancing at it fondly for a moment. "Pretty identical at first glance, but there's actually a ton of different stuff here that you won't find in our world and vice-versa, like the red sun there. You with me so far?"
"Yes… I think I'm understanding what you're saying."
"Wow, really?"
"Really.
"Cool! So anyway, what I'm trying to say is, this place is everything and nothing like our world. Think of it like… like…" America's eyes brightened, and he snapped his fingers. "An alternate reality! Yeah, that fits right? It's like our world, but at the same time, it's not! In fact, you know in Marvel comics the Earth where our heroes are is called Earth-616 and that other Earths can also count as alternate realities? I swear, there was an issue where they explained this better…"
Hungary's eye twitched as her friend began to go on and on about one of his favorite series, again. She briefly wondered if this was a thing America did often. Well, she's not really in the mood for this, and this wasn't the best time, you know…
"You know, I feel like you can put all this in a simpler way." Hungary interrupted a little irately with a tight smile. "Why don't you just tell me?"
"Hey, I told you, this whole thing is complicated." America held his hands up, smiling apologetically, and he scratched his cheek. "But I'm telling you all this complicated stuff so that you won't be so shocked with what I'm about to tell you."
"What?" Hungary demanded, suddenly a little nervous.
"The Light and Dark Worlds are like twins, you know what that means, right?" America smiled knowingly. "This world has personifications of nations too."
…Huh.
Hungary blinked. "…Oh."
The Dark World has personifications too… That… actually made sense…? You know, that didn't shock Hungary as much as it probably should've, she likely had America's alternate realities spiel or her earlier shock at falling into a portal in a supply closet, finding her clothes changed into ones Hungary should really have Poland make for her, seeing a red sun and purple sky and discovering that there's another world to thank.
If these two worlds were really like 'twins', it should make sense that this world, the Dark World, World of Darkness, whatever she should or wanted to call it, had personifications of countries and whatnot too, right?
But then a realization struck her, and this realization just brought forth all kinds of questions.
"Wait, WHAT?!" Hungary shrieked, causing America to cringe and cover his ears. "T-There's personifications here too?! Then does this mean…"
"If you're thinking that the personifications here are alternate versions of ourselves and are our dopeygangers, then you win A BRAND-NEW CAR! You know, cause you're right!"
"Alfred, it's doppelgangers, and are you serious?!" Hungary exclaimed, imagining that there's another her, another Hungary, somewhere out there in this world. "I mean, then this means there's… another me here, and another you, another Roderich, another Gilbert… and another version of everyone here?"
"Correctamundo!"
"Wow…" Was the only thing she could say….
"And trust me, it only gets weirder from there."
"Do I even want to know?" Hungary asked with an amused but tired smile.
America placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "How about we save that for when we meet Allen. So… how you feeling, dude? I get that this might be… kinda hard to digest…"
Hungary laughed dryly, and her gaze went to the view of Manhattan again. "This is all a lot of shocking information that's been dumped on me on such a short amount of time... I feel like I've been hit by a ton of bricks…
"My thoughts exactly when I first ended up here." America sympathized, nodding.
"This is weird."
"And pretty freaky too."
"Yeah…" Hungary agreed dryly, and she let out a sigh. "But still better than being at the World Meetings. So… have you… met the other me?"
America's face noticeably brightened. "I sure did! She's one of the nations who knows about me and the Light World, you know! Her name's Erzsi, and let me tell you, she's a real sweetheart! Like a super-duper sweetheart! And her cookies rock! You two should totally meet!"
For some reason, one of Hungary's eyebrows twitched. "Is that so…"
"Yeah, you'd love her!"
"Looking forward to it…" Hungary muttered, and she put one her best smile as she tried to change the topic. "So, we're meeting your double, huh?
"Allen, yeah." America nodded, thankfully going along with it. "Before we do cool stuff, I gotta introduce you to him, if he's anywhere near here of course. He likes moving around, but there's a good chance that you can find in NYC. So, what do you say?"
Two Americas, huh?
Hungary nodded, smiling eagerly. "Let's go meet your twin."
"Awesome! But first, I just gotta find the phone…"
"You didn't bring your phone?"
"Nah, I have it right here, but it doesn't work here, obviously. Trust me, I've tried, but all I heard was this creepy soundbite noise…"
"I'll take your word for it."
/ / / / /
Meanwhile, somewhere in downtown Manhattan…
(Jet Set Radio Future: Humming the Baseline)
A certain redheaded nation groaned loudly for what to be the thousandth time and let his head hit the desk. This sucked, no, this fucking blows!
America felt really tempted to pick up his bat and smash something to unwind, he didn't want to deal with the repairs later. Again, this sucked.
It's only been a few days since the last World Meeting, or as America had taken to calling it (that Romano hadn't scolded at him for) the Criminal Convention… The original version was ten times more original and insulting. But anyway… few days since the meeting, and he's still stressed out. How the hell did things get this bad so quickly? He's sure that it totally wasn't his fault this time…
Yeah, it wasn't him and his big mouth this time! He promised Prussia and Romano that he'd tone it down with his… you know, attitude… and America wasn't stupid. He knew that if he screwed it up, then he'd up end up screwing his country and anyone close to him over.
…But he ended up getting screwed over anyway, so what was the point?! Okay, maybe he's exaggerating a little, probably the stress… The situation wasn't that bad… yet… While a war seems to be on the horizon, it's still not official. And as much as America wished to finally beat the crap outta Italy, war was the last thing this world needed.
Damn that cocky, sadistic, annoying as hell, bat-shit crazy, sick bastard. There's a lot of people America would call the bane of his existence, maybe it had something to do with the fact that he didn't like people in general, but Italy's sure been occupying the top stop for a long while. Lately he's been losing more of his marbles, and he didn't have a lot left in the first place.
And Italy's not the only one America needs to keep a good eye on…
Dammit.
It was times like this when America kinda-maybe-a-teensy-weensy-bit regretted getting involved in international politics, but he'd always end up smacking his own as soon as the damn thought crossed his mind. No, hell with that. You know what you were getting yourself into, and this was the only way to make sure you and the few people in this world you'd actually die for wouldn't get screwed over.
Plus being a world superpower was a badass accomplishment!
But why did it have to be such a shitty job sometimes?
"Well, aren't you the one who's fond of the quote 'With great power comes great responsibility'?"
"Awwww, bambino… I knew you cared!"
America cringed. Oh hell no...
He turned around and lo and behold, America found the closest things he had to parents right now, AKA Prussia and Romano, standing in front of the door, the former looking as exasperated as always and the other smiling stupidly. How the hell did those two get in here?!
"Hey, what did I tell you about using my favorite quotes against me, Gil?!" America growled in annoyance. "…And… I was talking to myself again, wasn't I?"
"For a very concerning amount of time too." Prussia helpfully added with a worried frown.
"I told you, I'm stressed out! You know that kind of stuff when I'm stressed!" America couldn't help but shout angrily, but they're too used to his shitty temper. "And how did you two get in here?! I told you to leave me alone and I locked the door!"
"I told you, we're not leaving you while you're all grumpy and destructive, bambino." Romano said stubbornly as he ruffled America's hair, much to the readhead's chagrin. "
"Ja, while we respect your need your privacy, we both decided that support is what you most need at the moment," Prussia stated patiently, resting a hand on America's shoulder, and suddenly his infamous exasperated scowl made its appearance. "Also, you slammed the door close so hard that you ripped it off his hinges… again."
Angrily, America looked towards his bedroom his door, and his eyes widened when he saw that the door did get ripped off the hinges… and got broken in too… again.
America blinked, stunned. "Oh yeah, I did."
Prussia was still scowling.
"…Uh, sorry?" He said lamely.
America's not gonna lie, he really did appreciate that they put up with his anger issues and try their best to be good wingmen, friends, allies, or brothers as Romano kept insisting as always (oh please, he's more like a nagging mom more than a brother, still at least he cared). But really, nothing's helping him calm down!
"Remind me to call the 'door guy' again later. But anyway, listen to me, Allen…" Oh boy, here we go… Prussia crossed his arms. "I told you, Allen, you need to calm down."
"And I told you, I need to smash something!" America snarled, his fingers twitching as his gaze landed on his trusty bat. He grinned. "Or even better, thrash someone! Hey Flavio, you sure you haven't heard anything from the mafia?"
Romano put on a thoughtful look as he stroked his chin. "Hmm… no, not really, Allen. Oh, but I've heard that-"
"Flavio, you are not helping." Prussia deadpanned, cutting him off before America could get too excited. "Allen, you can't keep brooding here alone forever. It won't make our problems go away, unfortunately."
"Well then, what the hell am I supposed to then?!" America demanded loudly, boy he probably sounded really douchey right now, huh? "Negotiate? Puh-lease, all he wants is the world under his foot, so we can throw that idea out the window."
"That I can agree with." Prussia said gravely, nodding. "Obviously we can't reach an agreement with him, and he's not one to listen to reason…
"And as his fratello, I can tell you he's extremely stubborn… though I think we all know that." Romano remarked with a bitter frown, but then he brightened. "But maybe I can try to reason with him! I'm sure if I pester him enough, along with a bit of harmless blackmail of course, I can get him to back off and things will go back to normal!"
America sighed, and he resisted the urge to facepalm. "Yeah… no offense, Flavio, but it looks like your usual 'stern talking-to' plan will become useless sooner or later. You've seen him at the Meetings, and you live with the creep. He's slipping."
Romano frowned, and he shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt to try…"
"Wrong, if he's slipping, then you will get hurt. And yeah, yeah, I know that you know him better than anyone and shit, but even you gotta admit that-"
His really good point was cut off by his phone ringing.
America muttered a few curses under his breath. "Give me a minute."
As he grumpily picked it up, he wondered… Who the hell wanted to bother him right now?
"Ugh… Who the hell are you and what the fuck do you want?" America demanded gruffly, hoping that Prussia didn't hear so that he wouldn't be scolded for bad manners again.
"Language." Romano playfully reprimanded and America shot him a glare.
America already had a few possible suspects as to the hell decided to bother him now in mind, most of them belonging to the dumb category. What, did Cuba stow away in a plane to Florida again? Did Mexico attack again? Or worse… Was Belarus trying to visit him again? Why, he oughta throw her in a crate to Bahrain's house for not cutting the bullcrap after…
He bit his tongue and opted to not jump to any conclusions unless he wanted more problems in his hands. He'll just take care of this then get back to convincing Prussia to let him thrash something or someone for his sanity's sake.
But he was so not ready to hear his own voice cheerfully scream in his hear, "HEYA, ALLEN! LONG TIME NO SEE!"
America screamed, and not like a girl mind you, unintentionally causing Prussia to flinch and adopt a fighting stance with his hand going for his sword, and for Romano to drop the plate and jump into Prussia's arms. America would've burst out laughing if he didn't almost have a heart attack.
America regained his balance before he could fall of the chair like an idiot, and he stammered, "Wha…. A-Alfred? Chops? That you?"
"Alfred?" Prussia echoed while he tried not to drop his 'boyfriend', heh.
"Lightner bambino?" Romano blinked with his shades all messed up.
"Course it is!" Alfred chirped, and the redhead felt a little stupid after asking that. As if Canada will ever sound that cheerful. "So, what's up? Been a while since I've crossed over."
Once he fully digested the fact that he's talking with his counterpart,
"Too long if ya ask me, I could've used some support here. Still, man, am I glad that you decided to come over," Allen said grumpily, and he loudly groaned, again, in annoyance. "Meetings and politics are a fucking pain in the ass…"
"Dude, you're telling me." Alfred snorted. "I've been getting shit over immigration again, dunno how much more I can take. But that's why I'm here."
"Figures. And thank fucking god, I really need to unwind…" Allen muttered in relief, maybe his twin's (no, not that northern bastard) impossible amounts of optimism could help him calm down. "So, where are you right now? Which portal did you use?"
"NYC, meeting building. Where you at right now?"
"I'm at the old penthouse downtown." America replied, glancing at Prussia cursing in German while he tried to put Romano down. "Oh, and Gillen and Flavio are with me too. You mind if they tag along in our hangout?"
"You kidding? I'd love to see them again, dude!" Alfred said excitedly. "So you're not busy right now?"
America scoffed at that, and smirked. "Even if I was, Chops, I'd ditch it if it means I'll get some alone time with you~… plus Shining Armor and Zoolander here. If you're ditching work, then I don't see why I can't."
"Yeah, good point." Alfred laughed loudly. "This is awesome. You three gotta come over right now. I've got this awesome surprise for you guys."
America arched an eyebrow. "Surprise, huh? This isn't another alien that creepy buddy of yours brought from home, is it?"
"Nah, don't worry. It's got nothing to do with aliens." Alfred snickered, that bastard. "Sound cool?"
"Sounds great, blondie. So, the usual meeting place?"
"That okay with you?"
"I don't see why not."
"Great! We'll start going to Central Park. See ya, dude!"
We? "Hey, wait-"
Annnnnddd… Porkchop hanged up on him.
America smirked, and he turned to Prussia and Romano. "Guys, get your shit, cause we're going to Central Park."
/ / / / /
Meanwhile, back with the Light World America and Hungary…
(Deltarune OST: Hip Shop)
America had to smile as he watched his new best buddy gawk at their surroundings after they left the building, as if she still couldn't believe this was real. Not that he blamed her, this was a pretty freaky, but freaky cool, experience. For all she knew, it could've all been special effects or something. Seeing the scary cool purple sky and not-blinding red sun (He still hasn't figured out the science behind it) outside with her own skies finally must've finally confirmed that this wasn't a dream.
He thought back when he first found himself in this weird world, by accident no less. America would freak out at every little thing that was colored different, had a little breakdown when he discovered that Walt Disney still hasn't made a cartoon, and when he found about the Statue of Liberty situation in this world… Heh… eh, not really his best moment.
Maybe Hungary won't be so panicky. If anything happens, she'll just hit someone with a frying pan.
"This… is weird… but really pretty." Hungary remarked in awe. "I wonder how this place looks at night."
"Even prettier!" America piped up cheerfully. "And wait till you see Central Park!"
"Speaking of Central Park, how are we going to get there?" Hungary asked as she looked around. "That place shouldn't be THAT far, no? I'd suggest a taxi, but I'm worried what might happen if we use our world's money. I don't think it'd hurt to walk…."
"Hmm… not sure if that's a good idea, Lizzy." America pondered with a serious face as he tapped his foot. "We don't want to draw attention to ourselves."
Hungary gave an amused snort and gestured at their clothes. "Alfred, you're dressed like a modern cowboy and I look like I came from one of Japan's anime, I think people will stare no matter how we decide to travel."
"Psssh, don't be silly, Liz!" America waved dismissively. "This is New York! Unless we're naked, no one's going to give us a second glance."
Hungary's stifled a guffaw and covered her mouth… and was it just him, or was her face a little red? "Th-Then why do we need to keep a low profile?"
"Isn't it obvious, Liz?" America "There's already an America and Hungary here, and they're pretty well-known. If people see us, they'll wonder why their cranky leader and his buddy suddenly look and act different, they'll ask questions. So, we gotta avoid in staying around in public places for a long while."
"Oh, well, I guess as people from another dimension we should…" Hungary trailed off when she did a double take, and she gaped. "Wait. What do you mean they're 'well-known'?"
"Because in this world, people don't just know about us like in our place, they know who 'we' are. And the nations here are the leaders of their countries, they don't have bosses. We call the shots while the humans go along with it."
Hungary blanched, which was how America reacted when he found out about this. "…Seriously?"
"You know, that's actually what I said when Allen explained it to me."
"They… They rule their nations… just like that."
"Pretty much."
"And there's… like, no limit? No rulebook?"
"No limits. Their word is law. And it's real tough to overthrow them."
"That's... so…"
"Not fair!" They finished at the same time, and America offered a sympathetic smile as Hungary started to rage.
"Are you kidding me?! They get to rule and do whatever they want while we obey whatever corrupt human we get stuck with?" Hungary snarled, face red with anger, then she calmed down for a moment. "I mean, my current boss is great and smart and all, but… So it's actually possible for us to rule without the humans there to influence us and burn our country to the ground? How come no one ever tried this back home?!"
"Okay, okay, I know you don't say 'calm down' to women, so I'm gonna say… please chillax, dude." America pleaded with a nervous smile, holding up his hands. "So what if we're stuck forever with our shitty system and our bosses? So what if the nations here get to live freely? Doesn't mean they're perfect or good leaders."
Thank Washington, Hungary stopped raging and then lowered her frying pan, frowning. "I… guess you're right. I can't imagine some of the nations back home being able to completely manage their countries."
"Yeah, that's right!" America beamed, glad that he got through to her. "I mean, can you imagine Italy running his country?"
"Oh dear no!" Hungary exclaimed. "The poor thing. And forget Italy, what about Romano? He'd end up slacking and ditching his work!"
"North Korea would probably say 'screw it' and nuke me at the first chance he got if he were in charge..."
"Poland would paint all the cities pink with sparkles and declare a national holiday for fabulousness…"
"Iran's bat-shit crazy and bipolar, he wouldn't do a much better job than his jerks for bosses..."
"And poor Moldova, I know he's older than he looks but he's a child. How would he do it?! Carlisle on Crack would end up doing all the hard work for him…"
"If Russia was in charge…"
They shuddered, and Hungary cringed. "…Maybe I overreacted."
"Yeah…" America muttered, and then he remembered they're supposed to be on their way to Central Park. "Oh! And as for the travel problem, the hero has just the solution!"
Hungary stared at him. "Hmm? Really?"
"Of course I do!" America grinned and took out a key from his pockets that he picked up from the supply closet. "We're going to travel badass-style!"
And that's that! This was more of an exposition chapter, I know, but I wanted to explain the basic information of the 2P World, which in this story is the Dark World, and introduce the main 2Ps. More details will be explained eventually. Hopefully it won't take as long for me to get to the next chapter! Please review if you have a minute.
Oh, and this is what Hungary looks like in the Dark World:zerochan /929585