Thanks for the reviews! Well, I think I give up on saying that I'll improve my updates. I don't understand why it's so hard to move on my writer's block for each chapter. All I can say is that I'm trying my best to improve. But I managed to get myself to finish today as my final update of the year! Happy New Year everybody. Now, on with the show!

(Deltarune – Hip Shop)

…How come Flavio bought as much gay crap as he wanted, but whenever Allen bought three more monster trucks than he should've, he'd get his ears nearly yanked out of his head?

It's pure hypocritical bullshit!

"Jeez, I know I've already said this before, but look at the amount of crap you've brought all the way from home." Allen gawked in disbelief at all of Flavio's luggage that he brought all the way from the monster that was Flavio's closet.

There's really no other way to describe the damn contents inside the eight unzipped bags/suitcases of different fucking shapes and sizes. Crap. Gay crap, bull crap, just pure crap. Allen didn't care how fashionable, no sane bastard should have that much clothes, cologne, accessories and bath products! Like, seriously!

Flavio huffed at, and flicked Allen's head. "Crap! In the suitcases happen to be the finest, most fabulous clothes in all of Italy!

"Yup, definitely crap." Allen wrinkled his nose in disgust while a hand was pressed on the spot where he was flicked, and he had the gall to ignore Flavio's glare. "Even smells like it. What kind of gay shit did you dump on all this?"

"Well! Excuse me if I don't want my stuff to smell like horrible airport stench." Flavio harrumphed, folding his arms defensively over his chest.

"But I guess it's good that you brought so much cr- stuff." Allen quickly corrected himself when Flavio gave him a warning look, the look. "Spares us the damn trouble of going to the mall to buy some new cr- stuff to wear here. God knows I don't wanna see you try on a gajillion outfits."

Flavio folded his arms over his chest, displeased. "There's nothing wrong with making sure you buy the perfect outfit."

"Still, did you really have to bring at least – what – fucking thirty outfits on what's supposed only like a two day stay or whatever?"

"I always come prepared, mio bambino." Flavio said proudly, eyes sparkling.

"I can see that," Allen remarked dryly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Huffing again like an offended diva, Flavio glared at him. "There's nothing wrong with being prepared for any situation, Al!"

"Nah, there isn't." Allen conceded, but that's all the blonde's gonna get. He wildly gestured towards the whole smelly mess laid out in front of him, snarling." But this is all kinds of wack that I don't even know where to start!"

"So is your wardrobe, but don't see me complaining about it now, do you?" Flavio snorted, head held high.

Now it was Allen's turn to glare at the guy. Eye and fingers twitching, he scowled resentfully. "Flavio, you complain about my clothes all the time!"

"Not always, Al! But you don't see me trying to change who you are!"

"Bullshit! You're always trying to 'subtly' convince me to try out gay crap whenever you drag me to the fucking mall!"

"But only at the mall! I would never force you to change!" Flavio cried, and he started wailing as he put his hand over his chest. "You may be one of the most rude and cussy nations I've ever met, but that doesn't I'm ashamed of you. I know I can be overbearing but I'll always care about you and be there to support you until the end no matter how many horror movie t-shirts you own and wear in public! I love you! Ti amo, mio fratello!"

"Well, I love you too, dammit!" Allen snapped, stupidly feeling tears pricking his eyes already, but dammit… "Even if you reek, act stupidly flamboyant and try to pull my ear every time I swear or act like a jackass, I know you're just looking out for me. You're always there for me even when I screw up and disappoint you. I'm so happy I have you as my brother!"

Flavio practically sobbed as he shook his head. "Oh, Allen, you've never disappointed me! Sure, maybe a little with your fashion sense and hopeless manners, but my love for my little brother far outweighs those things!"

"Same here, big bro!" Allen nodded vigorously, desperately trying to hold back his tears as he patted Flavio's shoulder. "You can pull my ear and try giving me those damn etiquette lessons as many times as you want, but I'd chainsaw my legs off for you any day!"

"I'd burn all my precious clothes for you!"

"I'd throw out my entire collection of G.I. Joe merchandise for you!"

"I'd demolish the Leaning Tower of Pisa if it means you'd be safe!"

"I'd nuke every single Disney Park if it'd save your fabulous ass!"

"AL!"

"FLAVI!"

Then they promptly shared a loving brotherly hug, with Allen having a real smile on his face until he heard the record scratch…

"Wait. What just happened?" Allen could only ask in pure bafflement as he blinked in Flavio's admittedly bone-crushing hug.

"I have absolutely no idea but we're hugging and happy so I don't care!" Flavio cheerfully sang as he hugged Allen even tighter.

But Allen did care, and he had some serious questions right now. Unfortunately, before he could ask what kind of gas leak's going on to make them act this way, he felt himself pale when he heard Gillen's voice.

"Al! Flavi! There's something urgent we need to…" Gillen's scowl (did he imagine that? Did he see Gil scowl?) melted off his face when he strolled into the room and saw Allen and Flavio's… ugh… brotherly hug.

Although, sadly, it's not the worst position he'd been caught in.

"Oh," Gillen said, blinking, and started scratching the back of his head. "I-I'm sorry, Flavi, did I… interrupt a personal moment?"

"No/Si!" Allen and Flavio gave each other accusing glares, and the former, fed up, then broke the hug before he could get any more embarrassed.

Gillen, the poor sap, looked helplessly confused. "Erm…"

"It's nothing! NOTHING! Nothing happened, see?" Allen exclaimed loudly in the most subtle, inconspicuous and convincing way possible, haha. Oh, and his face wasn't on fire. See? It wasn't! It totally wasn't. "

"What the hell do you want, anyway?" He cut him off quickly, definitely not blushing, and sidestepped Flavio's attempt to pull his ear again. "If it's about Flavio's crap, then you… Uh…"

That's when he really got a good look at Gillen's expression. And boy, did he feel like a shitty moron for not realizing it earlier.

As soon as Allen (rudely) brought up the question about what Gillen wanted to talk to them about, the albino's face darkened, no, really. Gillen's previously perfectly harmless, and more importantly, normal, confused look became a full-on scowl. He flinched. Seeing that on his older brother figure sent shivers down his spine. No, it wasn't just that. It's wrong. And Allen's known Gil long enough to know that he wasn't scowling because of Allen's behavior or a bad memory.

"You… might want to take a seat." Gillen said finally. All the usual gentleness was gone from his voice, now it's cold, tired, and most important, worried. "I think I have much explaining to do for the two of you."

Oh, this oughta be good.

/ / / / /

(Bird Noise - Deltarune OST)

China never requested any assistance to travel to the hidden place, much less notify anyone where he was going on.

They knew better than to pry into their nation's business. To believe they have the right to do so would be arrogance and entitlement of the highest kind, and they would surely be punished for their insolence.

Fortunately, no humans asked any questions this time. Good. They're finally learning.

All told them was he was going on a short trip for a day or two and that any attempts to interrupt him without a good reason will be sent straight to a cell. Well, it's not like it's something he very rarely did. Whenever he wasn't at work, a walk or a peaceful trip to the empty forests was always a good way to clear his stress, and he never notified where he event went to.

It took him an hour to vanish from sight, and then a few more to arrive at his desired destination.

And now here he was at the entrance of this ancient place, still standing and closely protected and hidden, so that no fool would ever be able to get their hands on the evil within. Let's just say that it was a cavern hidden deep in the vast woods of his land, guarded by certain forces, and concealed via a certain method.

This place had been fashioned into a peculiar getaway place, hidden and unreachable by all except for himself, by a younger, more irritable China around three millennia ago. It was a place where he'd come to collect his thoughts and organize proper plans away from all the badgering humans, or in his less busy days, to simply sit and let himself relax with the sounds of the wind howling and the birds flying overhead.

China patiently strolled into the cavern, briefly slowing to breathe in the familiar smell of wet rocks and dust, before immediately resuming his normal pace without glancing back. He only had one thing in mind. He did not come here to hide away. He would never hide to begin with.

He scoffed.

This cavern, or at least, the part that China had been using for several millennia, was not too big or distressingly complicated. And even so, it was hardly an inconvenience for him. He had long since memorized every nook and cranny of this quiet place, every rock and pattern of the earth. It was virtually impossible for him to get lost.

And so he did not.

He inwardly expressed a small amount of relief when he had finally reached the little hiding place inside the hiding place, perhaps the most secret part of all, and was pleased beyond measure when he had spotted no hint that someone – anyone other than him had been here, especially very recently.

But he must see. He needed to move it after all.

He moved a rock or two. He pulled a lever hidden especially well, camouflaged by all the rocks, cobwebs and gathering dust. He lit up a lamp that was in the room to make things easier while he was at it. And he opened the space.

Here it was. There it was. The weapon to end all weapons.

An object that he will not describe, but that he will say was extremely deceptive in how mundane and non-threatening it looked. If an ordinary (foolish) human or even nation so much as gazed upon it, they wouldn't ever assume its true purpose and power.

Releasing a breath that he not been aware not care that he was holding, China steeled himself, swiftly crushing any and all emotion as he should, and carefully took the object with his two hands and removed it from its spot. He gently laid the accursed thing in an old table, located a few feet from where he had stood. And then, with equal grace and caution, he took another object, an identical copy of the weapon, into his hands… and placed it where the real one had

He sealed the little secret place shut and placed everything the way it was. He made sure to erase every single trace and evidence that he had been here today. No will ever know. No one will ever even suspect it until too late.

China will not lose. He could not afford to lose 'it' to the other nations. This was something he could not even trust to the siblings who did stay loyal to him. This was a situation he must take care of himself.

And he was.

But it was not over. No, it was far from over.

Now he must hide this where no one will ever to hope it.

He happened to have just the place.

/ / / / /

(Danganronpa V3 – Despair Searching)

"YOU WERE TALKING WITH THAT BASTARD?!" Came Allen's enraged shout, and Gillen couldn't help but wince slightly.

Still, he was not surprised or anything of the sort. He had known and been with Allen long enough to no longer be startled or even flinch when the red haired boy would abruptly snap and give in to his short temper. Granted, Gillen still had not given up on his hope that one day Allen will finally let go of all that anger, or at least somehow get it all out of his system, but it's practically something anyone desiring to spend time Allen will need to either get used to or have plenty of patience for.

And he had expected such a reaction from Allen from anything remotely concerning one of his old colonizers, his most hated one in fact. Gillen had only spoken England's said name after explaining that he had received possible intel regarding Italy's plan when it immediately caused Allen to snap.

Breathing in, then out, Gillen then calmly answered the seething boy's question. "That's right. Believe me when I say that I didn't like it either, bu –"

"WHY?!"

"Allie, stop interrupting Gil," Flavio lightly chided as he pulled Allen's ear for his aforementioned rudeness. The blonde then looked at Gillen, concerned. "Please, go on. "

Gillen had proceeded to tell them every detail of his phone call with England down to the various mood swings, and he did not sugarcoat anything regarding Luciano for Flavio's sake, more than just due to moral reasons. Whether England was honest or not, this concerned them too. So he did not spare them any detail.

And if England was telling the truth and there's indeed a much larger plot going on, then… Well, the Alliance won't let that stand. They couldn't, they mustn't.

Once again his two friends reacted pretty much exactly as Gillen had expected them to this alarming yet unreliable news from one of their most infamous enemies.

"I-I…" Flavio surprisingly stammered. Gillen had actually expected him to be surprised, but he looked mortified. "I… I can't believe this."

"It appears, if England was being truthful, that Italy's madness is worse than we ever thought possible, or it could all be a front for a plot of some kind." "Either way, the possibility of a breach of security in our lands is enough reason to worry."

"Are you serious, bro?" America asked angrily. "You sayin' that you actually buy a single crap of what that freak told ya?"

"Nein, I can't say that I do." "We have absolutely no reason to trust him. England has more than often been a wild card, unpredictable and a cause of many troubles."

"So why the hell–"

"But that does not mean we should immediately disregard his words, especially in the fragile situation we're in right now." Gillen finished with a slightly pointed look at Allen so that the latter won't interrupt him again. "It would not hurt to investigate into these claims. There might be at least some merit to them."

"I know you trust him least of all," Gillen tried again, though that little sentence might a bit of an understatement. "Oliver does have… a twisted affection for you. While he has tormented you for most of your life, he has never wished you destroyed, which is what Italy obviously seeks to do. He could have uncovered a plot to do just that, and wanted to warn you. He did say that you were the one he wanted to speak to."

"Gee, how touching." Allen scoffed derisively, and crossed his arms, averting his gaze. "And how do you know Oli – that bastard's not working with Italy, huh? What if this is all part of a sick fucking trick? What then?"

"That is a possibility, but that is why we must investigate." Gillen reminded him patiently, ready to convince Allen of this as long as it could take. They could not afford any risks. "I'm only asking you to give this chance, for the Alliance, for us. The moment I detect that something is very wrong, we will turn back immediately. I promise."

Allen offered no response to that. His shoulders hunched as he crossed his arms even tighter, his gloved fists clenched tightly, as a notable conflict raged in his eyes and face.

"Do you not trust me?"

At that, Allen's face slowly did soften, his bitter scowl melting off his face, but in place was worry. He let out a long exasperated sigh and finally looked Gillen straight in the eye again, no longer being stubborn but still uncertain.

"Fine. I won't whine about it." Allen bit out, but no longer was he scowling or even angry. "I'm gonna trust you on this, but you trust my judgment too, okay?"

"I will. Danke. But before we can do any of that…" Gillen trailed off and his cleared his throat before turning his attention toward the pale Italian. "…Flavio? Are you… alright? You're pale."

"…Huh?" Flavio murmured in a sort of shocked daze, before blinking, looking worryingly shaken. "O-Oh, si, I was just… thinking about what you told us. I…"

The blonde then trailed off, the words explaining his reasons unspoken, and he lowered his head.

Frowning, Gillen shared a concerned glance with Allen, who he could tell was having similar thoughts to he was. Taking a deep breath, he asked the question that had been burning in his mind ever since the call from England.

"Flavio you know of these artifacts or items that Luciano might be seeking?" Gillen asked gently, careful not to seem as if he's pressuring his still emotionally fragile friend. "No, perhaps the question that should be asked first is that were you by any chance aware of these in the first place?"

Allen narrowed his red eyes suspicious, yet seemed hesitant. He obviously did not want to believe that Flavio was not only aware, but purposely kept the knowledge from them this whole time as much as Gillen did. If Flavio did know and purposely neglected to inform something so important, he must have a good reason.

"I… I…" Flavio repeatedly faltered, his voice unusually silent and weak. "Gil, I… I can't…"

"You can't what?" Gillen asked carefully.

"I… I don't know!" He suddenly exclaimed, startling Gillen and Flavio, before biting his lip in guilt. "I mean, I'm not sure. I just… Gil, are you sure England said that Luciano wanted to look for artifacts..?"

Gillen couldn't for the life of him figure out what's paining his friend so much. "He did. I'm sure."

From beside him, Allen growled. "Jeez, what's the deal, Flavio? Does any of this stuff ring a bell or not? Or don't tell me you just don't want to risk your jackass brother getting hurt."

Gillen shot him a reproaching glare for the insensitive last question.

Flavio also looked understandably. "No! No, of course not. I just… I mean, I could be wrong, for all I know..."

Trailing off into a serious of incomprehensible mutterings, Flavio's breathing began to quicken and he became even paler, which alarmed Gillen enough to finally get tired of Flavio's panicked state and try to alleviate it. God– He will not press him for information if it meant he'll get a panic attack!

"Calm down, Flavio. Please," Gillen said softly, gently raising his hands and resting one on one of Flavio's shoulders. "Breathe. You're in no danger here. We just want to know if you were aware of this. If you didn't want to tell us, I'm sure you must have a reason."

"There's… um… Let's just say that I have a theory to what Oliver might've been referring to," Flavio finally admitted, his eyes darting around warily as if someone might be watching their conversation. "It's something I came upon a long time ago and my memories of it are a little hazy. L-Luci might know because..."

He trailed off, leaving the rest of his words unspoken.

"What is it, Flavio? What do you know of this?" Gillen tried to ask him again. "Any kind of information would be immensely helpful."

Flavio opened his mouth, closed it, and then shakily opened it to speak in a frightened voice. "I-I don't want to say… I promised myself that I wouldn't ever bring this up again."

But bring what up again, Gillen wanted to ask?

He didn't understand what's going on with his friend. There had been a few times where Gillen had seen him afraid, usually in a similar manner to this, especially when his brother was involved in some way, but this felt… different. Why was it different? What was making react like this?

Allen was similarly confused. Or rather, frustrated.

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm not following any of this!" Allen snarled in frustration. "So you probably know what are these special McGuffins that Luci's looking everywhere on the fucking planet for. But you won't tell us what they are? Why can't you trust us?"

"It's not that I don't trust you–"

"Then what the hell?!

"…I can't risk you two with this information. What if someone pried your mind open? Then we'd be doomed!"

After releasing a long exhale, his turned to Gillen and Flavio again, looking calmer than before.

"I need to verify this first." He spoke again in a somber voice, but his face tightened in guilt. "I'm… I'm sorry, but this is something personal. I promised myself that I wouldn't speak of this to anyone, even myself. I need to see if this is really what I think it is, and you better all hope it's not, because then we'll need to do something about it fast."

Gillen felt a mysterious dread at that, but he kept his calm and nodded nonetheless. It was a reasonable deal.

Despite scoffing, Allen softened and grumbled, "Yeah, fine, fine. But you better tell us everything after this."

"I will." Flavio promised solemnly, nodding.

"So, what's the plan now?" America asked in a low voice, looking at them back and forth. "How are we gonna get freakin' Luci to tell us all about his master plan?"

Ah, yes, there's still that they needed to think through. Gillen shifted.

"You got any ideas, Gil? Any gears turning?"

"I am not quite sure, honestly," Gillen admitted, and he put a hand on his hand as he reluctantly voiced the only idea they had at the moment. "But England had recommended that we have Flavio meet up with Luciano, presumably under the pretenses of joining him, and record all the vital information revealed before fleeing back to safety and security."

Flavio flinched back as if struck at the idea, which brought Gillen no end of worry. Allen, in particular, became incensed.

"WHAT?! You can't be serious!" Allen shouted furiously. "We just convinced Flavio to stay here, and now we're just gonna hand him off to fucking Italy?"

"Allie…" Flavio murmured.

"Of course not!" Gillen barked, honestly offended at the notion. "I am merely stating that it's the only idea we have at hand so far, although it's a rather… err… poor plan for my comfort and standards."

"Damn right it is." Allen grunted.

"We'll obviously need a better, safer plan."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"Allen…"

"Hey, no offense! I'm serious."

"You two… are aware that I'm here too, right?" A chilly voice coming from none other than Flavio interrupted their little discussion, and Gillen saw the aforementioned blonde with a strained (pained) smile. "Honestly, you two are talking like I'm not even in the room right now. Can't I have any say in this? This is my brother we're talking about."

Gillen cringed, and was faced with an immense wave of guilt. Oh, yes, how could he do this? Falvio

"It's not that," Gillen frowned, with Allen echoing similar sentiments. "I'm sorry, Flavio."

"We didn't mean to leave you out." Allen said, rubbing the back of his head. "I just… I mean, I thought that you wouldn't wanna…"

"Oh, it's fine." Flavio's smile became only a little less tighter, and now appeared more like a sad one. "Just don't leave me out of this. Luci's still my brother. I know how to handle him better than either of you and I want to help. I mean it."

Gillen nodded his approval. "I know, we trust you. Now then, let's all think up of a plan."

And so they fell into a pensive silence as they pondered their options and tried to formulate a good, reasonable plan. Gillen, for one, wasn't having much luck. His ideas would only work if they were on Alliance or neutral land, which Italy will obviously disapprove of. Flavio would be in enemy territory.

"You know…" Allen piped up in an unusually easy tone. "There's one other way we can trick Italy into spilling the beans and getting away with it."

Instantly having his curiosity piqued, Gillen glanced at Flavio and they both looked expectantly at Allen. "What are you talking about?"

A devious smirk spread across Allen's face, and Gillen had no idea if he should be intrigued or terrified. "Well, gee, let me think, bro. Who do we know and trust not only has the power to teleport at will, disguise his appearance, hide his presence, and easily crush Italy in a fight?"

He waited patiently, a rare feat in itself, with that smirk while kept his arms folded and his foot tapped while both Gillen and Flavio tried to wrack their brains for answers. It didn't take long to figure out who Allen was referring to, however, because there weren't a lot of nations of with all of those things.

And when the answer dawned on him, Gillen blanched.

"Oh no…" His mouth dropped.

"Oh yes!" Allen cackled. "People, I hereby vote that we go to-

"Mamma mia, NO!" Flavio cried out in horror. "Please don't tell me that we're going to involve him in this too?"

"Hey, what's wrong with that guy?" Allen demanded defensively.

Flavio made a sound akin to either a scoff or a squeak and glared. "What's wrong with him? Why, I don't even where to start? I could make an entire fabulous resume about all that's wrong with that man and the terrible, terrible influence he is on you."

Allen groaned loudly. "Ugh, not this again! Come on, we can trust him! He's helped out before!"

"But are we really going to trust him with this?!" Flavio squawked, and he shook his head frantically. "No. I refuse!"

Gillen didn't even sigh at the ensuing argument that he had already heard one too many times of the same topic. But even so, his face darkened. He couldn't quite blame Flavio for being paranoid, not only because of the 'secret' he seemed hellbent on keeping even from his two closest friends, but because of the man in question's nature. He's afraid to say that nor he nor Flavio were too fond of him.

And believe him when he says that the feeling was reciprocated, especially in Gillen's case. The man didn't outright hate him, but he clearly carried resentment whenever they would end up in the same room together.

It's… complicated.

"Well then, Mr. Good Influence, why don't you tell us your grand plan, do ya?"

"I don't have anything yet!"

"Ha! Even if you did, it wouldn't be as good!"

"You two, please, enough!" With that yell from Gillen, the other two bickering nations fell silent. Rubbing his temples from his growing headache, he tried to reason, "Allen, not I'm entirely opposed to that idea despite my current strained relations with him, but are you sure that we can trust him with this?"

"'Course we can!" Allen said hotly, smiling toothily. "Y'all are being ridiculous. We can trust him. He wants to take Italy down as much as we do. He's a member of the Alliance. I trust him a lot as my buddy. And he just happened to be crazy-strong. It's genius! This is the best way we could pull this off.

Gillen's eye twitched, while Flavio pressed his mouth in a thin line as if to hold back whatever strongly worded protests he wanted to hurl at the redhead.

"Well... He does love helping Allen, even if he doesn't extend the exact same sentiments to us." Gillen hesitantly pointed out, then gave Flavio a pointed look.

The blonde winced. "But… if he finds out about what my fratello might be after…"

"I think previous experiences have proved our ally's loyalty to the Alliance and the world, despite his hatred for humanity." Gillen said evenly, his hand going to clutch at the cross hanging from his neck, as was his habit. "And if not, he wouldn't dare to have any risk come to Allen. If he won't do it for us, he'll at least do it for him or even his family. "

Allen nodded in complete agreement, looking quite happy with what Gillen was saying in that man's defense.

Gillen anxiously sweatdropped. "And right now, I can't think of another plan, much less one that we could pull off, ahem, 'without a hitch'. And Italy does fear him for a reason."

Slowly but surely, Flavio noticeably began to overcome his stubbornness. "And if there's anyone who can face my fratello, easily defeat him in a surprise attack and get us all to safety without any issues, it's him."

Gillen restrained the urge to bang his head on a wall or even facepalm. Oh dear Lord…

Still, he couldn't help but chuckle.

"More important, I promised Allen that we'd trust his judgment with this entire situation, didn't I?" He smiled directly at Allen. "And he trusts that man, who trusts him in return. So that means that we should trust Allen to know what he's doing. He wouldn't suggest that man if he didn't trust him enough now would he?"

Flavio said nothing else to that. If anything, he seemed to be slowly warming up to the idea.

But… it's the only thing they had right now. Time's of the essence.

Allen looked ridiculously smug, but Gillen could tell he appreciated the trust. "You bet. So, is that a 'yes'?"

The priest and the blonde shared a nervous glance and released a simultaneous sigh.

"…Fine. Go call him. He'll listen to you."

/ / / / /

(Case of Missing Gary – Silvagunna: King for Another Day)

"Well, that was a lot more productive than I thought it'd be." Argentina softly remarked in a not-so-great attempt at alleviating the tension while he and Cuba made their way into the break room.

It's true. Today's been a great day for their side. While he did always prefer to keep a positive attitude about the future outcomes, he wasn't expecting today to be as huge of a success that it was. He was expecting the Italians to start confessing, but not a breakthrough like this. Granted, they're still talking as they speak, but the fact they've made this much progress in a day's more than a reason to throw a party over at the ovenbird aviary.

Did Argentina... really terrify people that much?

He couldn't even begin to describe how relieved he felt when Cuba's little scheme to coax the Italians into confession by threatening... His shoulders went tense. Argentina wasn't sure what they'd do then if the human didn't crack and he had to drop his 'decoy' plushie... but he trusted Cuba. And wow, did it pay off.

Argentina really had to give Cuba credit for the genius idea. He didn't- would've never thought of doing that. And who knows if he would've had the courage to go through with it without Cuba or someone else there to tell him it'd be okay, even if it's for a good cause. But it worked. It worked.

But right now, he's afraid his friend was too absorbed brainstorming over the answers they just got to care about any compliments... which was really saying something.

"Hey, Tina?"

"Si?"

"Do ya seriously still think that all this news can wait until tomorrow?" Cuba asked him, frowning. "I mean, I doubt they're in the boss's land too, 'cause he'd have pummeled them and told all of us by now, but damn it, this is serious!"

"…I still think we should wait until tomorrow." Argentina decided calmly, and quickly spoke up again when he saw the anger on Cuba's face and the latter's mouth open to obviously protest. "But not for the reasons you think."

Cuba promptly closed his mouth.

"Por favor, I know you're worried about him, but rushing in without taking into account anything else could potentially be disastrous."

"Can't we at least tell him that something's up?"

"Max, we're still not… done with them." He carefully and gently explained to him, hoping he'll understand. "They are still in the process of, ah, how did it go again…? Oh, si, spilling the beans. Before we go running to Allen to tell him the news, we should take some time to extract the information and make sure it's legitimate."

"Legitimate? You sayin' that you don't actually believe them, Tina?"

"I… Personally, part of me wishes that what they're saying isn't true. But that doesn't matter. The fact that this whole story sounds a little too nonsensical to be true doesn't help either…"

"So you don't believe it? I mean, honestly, it doesn't make much sense to me either. But…"

"I'm saying that we need more time. And… as much as I don't like it, we might need to continue pressuring them…"

"Even after we saw how that guy spilled before you could drop that fake doll of yours?" Cuba remarked skeptically, scratching his head.

"Even so," Argentina nodded slowly, always calculating his movements to never reveal more of his face. "I hope that they're telling the truth, as much as I don't like it, but it's still too early to decide. It could be a desperate attempt to lead us scrambling on a wild goose chase so they could avoid making Italia angry and stall for time for their extraction, if there is one. Or- or maybe us rushing to tell Allen could be part of their plan too…"

To his relief, this seemed to resonate with Cuba, seemed to help him begin to understand. He could see the taller man's eyes widen slightly in realization at the possibility, and probably of other, darker, possibilities, the brief anger, the obvious worry for Allen's safety, and finally the understanding that passed over his face.

Feeling encouraged by this, Argentina tried again.

"Come on, you know how much Allen hates it when you jump to conclusions." Argentina pointed out in a more lighthearted tone, even though it's probably not an appropriate moment, even smiling behind the mop of hair. "Remember that time when you thought the Undertaker kidnapped him and planned to sacrifice him in a satanic ritual if Stone Cold didn't defeat him, so you went to 'rescue' him?"

If Argentina was someone who enjoyed seeing people embarrassed, he probably would've snickered at the utterly embarrassed jaw-dropped look that replaced Cuba's expression at the mention of that infamous incident. The Caribbean's dark face somehow became completely red from shame. Argentina had rarely seen him be this embarrassed.

And Cuba had a habit of getting himself into a lot of embarrassing situations.

Oh, he always hated to be reminded of that disastrous show. Allen still hadn't even fully forgiven him for putting one of his favorite wrestlers, in the hospital for six months. As a matter of fact, to Argentina's strong disapproval and exasperation, he even beat Cuba up in the final match in live television. Yeah, it might have been a little cruel, considering Cuba beat up a lot of security and the Undertaker when he legitimately thought Allen was in danger.

…But then again, Cuba unfair beat up a lot of security who were just doing their jobs as well as the Undertaker. So, um… fair's fair?

To this day, Cuba was still banned from attending any wrestling match.

"N-No one ever told me that it was all just for show!" Cuba stammered defensively as his face became an even brighter red.

Argentina sighed, but it's in an exasperated-fond manner. "Max, everyone knows that the WWE storylines are purely fictional!"

"Well, I didn't!" Cuba huffed angrily. "But fine, fine, I get it. Don't jump to conclusions and gather all possible data first before doing anything else, right? I can do that."

"I know you can't. You just needed a bit of a reminder." Argentina smiled at him from behind his mop of hair, hoping that Cuba could notice the gesture. "So are… we um, in agreement then? We won't notify America or the others of any of this until tomorrow."

"Si, I agree." Cuba nodded, and he puffed his chest as he spun around. "Which is why we need to head back there right now so we can squeeze every last drop of truthful intel outta them as soon as possible!"

"U-Uh, Max, do you even remember a word I sa-"

"TO THE INTERROGATION ROOM!"

/ / / / /

(Danganronpa – New World Order)

Damn England, damn his cryptic shit, damn his suspicious shady stuff.

America grumbled all kinds of curses at his former caretaker, completely not giving a shit that some of them were really politically incorrect and would warrant him getting his ears pinched by Flavio, as he blew off all his steam in one of his absolute favorite ways: ranting.

Shit. Why now? Why today, you crazy pansy? Dammit, this was supposed to have been a fun day. Alfred came to visit him for the first time in freakin' forever and now you call me– Gil and dump all this crap about spies, plots, artifacts and other crap? Why do you have to ruin…

Growling, he snatched up his phone. Well, not like complaining will do any good now. He needed to call that guy. They'll need his help.

If anyone could help them and make the plan completely foolproof, it's this bastard. The others may doubt him, and sure, maybe there was still that incident between Allen and the guy lingering over them like a curse, but Allen knew he could trust him. They're friends. Unlike this guy's version in Alfred's world, he did value his friendship with Allen. He didn't put up with any bullcrap. He always got things done.

Allen quickly browsed through his contacts and found the guy's phone number. Sighing quietly, he put the phone near his ear and just waited for him to pick up.

He better pick up, or Allen's gonna lose it.

Fortunately, the universe was on his side for once and the call did get picked up. He didn't waste time in being the first guy to talk.

"Hey, buddy. You busy?" Allen greeted curly, cutting straight to the chase.

"A pleasure to hear from you too, Allen," The silky voice from the other side of the line responded cheerfully, too used to Allen's less than stellar manners like everyone else. "But honestly though, how have you been? I heard you've been under quite a lot of stress as of late."

"I'm fine, thanks for asking and shit." Sighing, Allen rolled his eyes, but he held in whatever urge he had to lash out for no reason out of respect for the guy. "But answer the question. How much free time do ya have today and tomorrow?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I… I need your help." Shit. No matter who it was, it's always hard to get the friggin words outta his mouth. "It's important."

Silence. Allen scowled, gritting. He never liked using those words. Weakness. Weakness. People might– Sometimes too much for his stupid pride to take, but since this was incredibly important, he couldn't afford to be ridiculously stubborn. They needed help. Gil and Flavio needed help. The whole damn world might need their help. He could put aside his pride and standoffishness for all that.

Then guy finally spoke, thankfully not laughing at him or anything. Not that he would, but it's something Allen always expected people would do. "I see. Well, I do have paperwork, but you know how little that matters to me compared to you. If this is important, then I will gladly rush to your aid."

"It is that important." Allen stated sharply.

"Oh my…" The bastard chuckled, too amused for Allen's comfort. "Very well, you have my undivided attention and support."

"Perfect." Allen grinned, pumping his fist in the air, before he remembered another important thing. "Oh, and is your brother with you? Can he come and help out too?"

Yeah, they could definitely use the other guy too. What if Luci decided to bring his two lackeys or something? They may be shitheads, but they're not pushovers. They'd need all the help they could get, and this bastard's brother was just the guy. With those two together, they got this in the bag.

Unfortunately, all of Allen's rising enthusiasm promptly vanished once the guy sighed and crushed that hope.

"Ah, I'm afraid I have sent off my brother to take care of human rats sniffing for any secrets I might have. He will be busy with them tomorrow as well." The guy lamented softly, and Allen struggled not to explode into a mountain pile of swearwords. "However, if this is truly urgent, I will have him return to my side, if you wish."

"Oh, well, in that–" Allen then blinked, and did a double take, gaping. "Wait. Wait a minute. Did you just say your bro's out hunting for humans?"

"You heard correct." His buddy confirmed serenely, but Allen could just hear the sadistic joy creeping into the guy's voice. "As I said, I have detected a few rats in my garden. Italian rats to be precise. I have sent my brother to neutralize the nuisance at once."

"I – You–"Allen spluttered, twitching dangerously as he processed this new info dump. God, it's as if the universe decided that today was 'Drop one ton of bricks after another on Allen and co. Day' or something. "Italian spies?! You have Italian spies roaming in your country?! Since when?!"

"For a while now, but I finally decided to crush their false sense of security today." The guy had the nerve to laugh like a maniac while Allen stood gaping like a moron.

"Why didn't you tell us?! This is something the Alliance should really know about considering all the shit that's going on!"

"Ah… I don't think I'm supposed to tell you that yet."

"Yet?! Tell me what yet?!"

"Absolutely NOTHING~!"

"YOU–"

He stopped himself. It was hard, but he stopped himself. No. No, no, no. Calm down, Allen Jones. You ain't got time for this bullcrap. You want to get the guy to help you, not yell at him until your throat's sore. Do it for Gil. Do it for Flavio. Maybe he'll have all his money from the swear jar back if he didn't cuss anymore while…

Allen took a deep breath, trying very, very hard not to crush the phone in her hands.

"Okay…" Allen sighed loudly, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "Let's start over, okay? I don't have time to yell at you. I'll tell you my story, and I promise you that you'll definitely be obligated to share yours.

"Oh?" God, he could hear the smirk in that voice. "Then by all means, explain away, my friend."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it. Ya see…"

I think next chapter's gonna have the timeskip, or at least after a segment or two. Wanna move on the plot more already. Don't worry, what happened in between will be explained. I hope you're enjoying how things are going. Please review if you have a minute.