Note: Keeping in the same style as VoidViper's videos, the next couple chapters will be in sets of around 700-word drabbles, short stories in their own right. They won't have much to do with each other, but will eventually merge into the main storyline.

Reviews:

GuestThanks! As much as I love a good comedy/romance-based Hetalia story, it's a pity we don't have more action-based ones. Think of all the possibilities!


January 24, 2016

Moscow, Russia

Russia smiled to himself, happily stirring his coffee as he, Belarus, and the other Central Asian nations sat around his polished dinner table. Next to him, Belarus was grinning ferally and muttering to herself (about marriage, probably), as Kazakhstan nervously fiddled with her braids and tried to calm down the Eastern European country.

On his other side, Tajikistan was re-reading some of her country's papers while Uzbekistan was rubbing a runny nose (poor guy seemed to get the flu every time it passed through his country). Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan were muttering to each other at the foot of the table, Kyrgyzstan looking disgruntled but resigned and Turkmenistan just tired.

"So has it all been set in order?" Tajikistan asked, setting down his papers. "My government has fully agreed and so has yours. I guess all we have to do is sign the document."

Russia sipped his coffee, unable to hide his grin behind the steaming mug. "I'm so glad to find that you all are serious about this proposition," he commented happily. "It's been so long since I've had a full house."

"Yes," Kazakhstan hummed, twirling one of her braids in her hands. "It's about time we established a union with all the Central Asian nations, even if it was with you." A dark aura began to penetrate the room and Tajikistan shot a glare at the older woman, who blushed in embarrassment.

"What Kazakhstan means," the brown-haired woman accented the last word. "Is that we're all still pretty unstable from all the fighting with radical Islam and ISIS, and we need to protect our people, as you very well know. A union with you was the best choice. After all, we were part of your Soviet Union. And a union without the communist party is very tempting, I have to admit."

"Then the Eurasian Union it is!" Russia raised his cup as the other nations murmured their agreement. "We will sign the treaty and make it official now, da?"

Tajikistan nodded, quickly whipping out a pen and signing the document, passing it to Turkmenistan, and so on. As the paper moved around the table, Tajikistan turned to Russia.

"So, I hope you really aren't planning to institute communism again," she warned. "We have reserved the right to leave this union if we want to, but I'm putting my trust in you to lead us."

"Ah, I have had my fill of communism for a long while," Russia reassured the Central Asian, raising a hand in a soothing manner. "You have no need to worry, da?"

"If you say so," Tajikistan sighed, before straightening and changing the subject. "So I've heard that America's pulled out of world politics—drawn out most of his standing army in the Eastern Hemisphere, actually. Is it true?"

"Da!" Russia affirmed, nodding happily. "I'm quite excited about it, too. He was saying something about paying off his debt to China and upholding the end of some deal, I wasn't paying too much attention."

"I bet Israel wasn't too happy about that," the Tajik remarked. "Though the situation in the Middle East certainly has stabilized compared to last year. On the other hand, though, China has started to become a definite threat to both of you. He declared war on North Korea the other day; I'm sure you've heard."

Ivan shrugged. "It was about time someone put that crazy nation in his place, da? China was not very happy with the North Korean landmines along his border, plus Kim Jong-un was starting to frighten a lot of people. China's also a bit scared of his water and pollution issues. America's research teams have come too little too late, and North Korea has a lot of resources Yao wants. Maybe they will become one with me, too?"

Tajikistan snorted to herself, ignoring the last comment. "The poor kid doesn't stand a chance. I guess us Central Asians won't be the only countries to be losing our independence—this year."

"Da."


February 27, 2016

Sunchŏn, North Korea

If someone had told Hyung Soo a month earlier that before February had passed, he would be losing his independence to China, the communist country would've laughed and walked away. However, the Korean teen reflected as he weaved through the broken-down tanks and his own people, alive and dead alike, he did kind of deserve it.

Hyung Soo, better known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or North Korea, wasn't really as bad as everyone made him out to be. Sure, he followed his leaders' rules, but didn't everyone else? And no, he wasn't some deranged follower of Communism. It just happened to be the best form of government. Yes, he hated America (Capitalist Pig[1]), but no, he did not want to kill South Korea, even if he was an annoying little brat who just couldn't keep his mouth shut and would run behind America whenever he came close—

North Korea took a deep breath, held it, then let it out again, ignoring the pains in his right lung as he did so. It was not time to get like… that… especially at a time like this.

After all, everything really had gone down the drain after China had invaded. His people were revolting, his armies deserting, and Kim Jong-un's body, hanging from a noose, still echoed painfully in North Korea's mind. His upper body was covered in scratches and injuries, and now the Chinese army, standing just outside of the town, was less than fifty miles from Pyongyang.

Hyung gritted his teeth as he passed a young teen, probably no more than sixteen, clutching the body of another boy around his age, tearfully asking him to wake up so they could fight off the Chinese and go home. North Korea forced himself to look away and sped up, walking almost at a jog, to try and get away from the carnage around him.

He really had messed up, hadn't he? His people hated him, Aniki was trying to kill him, and he hadn't seen Yong Soo in years.

No allies.

No friends.

No one.

Hyung sighed, rubbing his face with a hand. Maybe falling to China wouldn't be so bad. It certainly would be better than getting taken over by America or Japan.

Well, he thought, fingering the white fabric he was holding in his left hand. There's only one way to find out.

Finally, he reached an abrupt end to the buildings around him, and Hyung found himself staring right at the Taedong River, separating Sunchŏn from the eastern half of the city by only a thin bridge. The other side of the Taedong had already fallen to the Chinese. Personally, North Korea did not know why his enemies had not attacked the western half yet; maybe they were amassing a large attack force to push towards the capital, but the communist nation planned to stop that from ever happening. He had already lost so much; seeing Pyongyang in ruins would destroy him.

Taking a deep breath, North Korea forced his hands to steady, reaching into his bundle and pulling out an old metal pole. He knelt, keeping one eye on the Chinese line on the other side, and pulled out the faded white sheet from its place wrapped around the pole, letting the white flag flutter in the wind.

Hyung steeled himself and stood up, raising his flag high in the wind. His officers had already been notified of North Korea's surrender. Now the only task left was to go through with it.

North Korea stood up straight, determined to have as much dignity as possible, and strode out onto the bridge, feeling the Taedong rush below him. Slowly, he took one step, then another, and then he was out on the bridge, feeling the wind buffet him and the flag, making it snap back and forth.

Across the river, Hyung heard the Chinese scramble behind their own lines, and he knew that several snipers were being trained on him as he walked across the bridge. But they wouldn't shoot. Not if they wanted the whole world after them. Hyung's heart pounded in his chest as he walked across the bridge. It was really over, wasn't it?

By the time he had crossed three quarters of the bridge, though, the Chinese had reacted and an achingly familiar person was entering the bridge, flanked by three soldiers. His hair, tied up in a ponytail, swayed in the wind and his eyes were wide and flustered.

"This isn't some trap, is it?" Aniki questioned as the soldiers rushed forwards, pointing their rifles at Hyung's heart. "I'll have you know that I have no less than a dozen snipers trained on you as we speak, aru. You better be telling us the truth."

Hyung could help but laugh quietly to himself. "I remember a time where you used to welcome me with open arms," he remarked. "My surrender is official. Kim Jong-un is dead. Just annex me already."

Something unreadable flashed across China's face, but North Korea didn't look long enough to decide what exactly it was, falling down on one knee and keeping his eyes trained towards the dirt-laced bridge. He really didn't deserve such mercy.

Suddenly, Hyung felt a strange warmth envelop him, and his eyes widened in shock as he realized that he was in an embrace. His hands relaxed and the white flag clattered to the ground as he felt China nearly squeeze the life out of him. His vision blurred.

"It's so good to have you back home, Hyung."


May 7, 2018

Islamabad, Pakistan

Pakistan frowned, hurriedly walking through the halls of his capital building. He was late. Again. The Islamic nation scowled to himself; he needed to hire a better secretary, one who wouldn't tell him at the last minute that his neighbor from the east was coming for a 'visit.'

Pakistan's frown deepened. Meetings with India rarely went well, and the last thing he wanted was to have another headache today. Two and a half years had passed since the eradication of Radical Islam, and he still was having immigrant problems. Why couldn't Afghanistan just deal with his own problems and people?

Normally, Pakistan thought himself a pretty okay guy. All he wanted was for the world to leave him alone. But no, India couldn't just leave him alone. First it was his nukes, and now it was that stupid drone!

Shaking himself, Pakistan roughly turned a corner walked a couple steps, and took the last door in the dead-end hallway, entering a small conference room, with two hard backed chairs facing each other, a wooden table in between. And of course, India was already there, arms crossed on one side to the table, his brown hair neatly combed as always and annoyingly friendly dark eyes glancing up towards him as he entered.

"Good morning, Iskandar," he welcomed warmly. "I assume you've been having a good day?"

Pakistan 'tsk'ed at India's false—for what else could it be?—friendliness and almost scoffed [3]. "You can drop the pretenses, India," he shot back. "I know you want to talk to me about something and knowing you it's not going to be good, especially on such short notice. Get to the point."

India's face immediately lost its pleasant smile, instead turning an unsettling neutral. "I'm trying to stay civil, Iskandar. Please don't try to test me." He didn't give Pakistan time to reply before continuing. "If you want to know so badly, it's been a couple years since you've said you've shot my drone."

"Shut up," Pakistan cut in sharply, crossing his arms. "You just wanted to spy on and intimidate me. I had the right!"

"Are you really accusing me of that?" India replied. "You're the one who brought it up first, after all."

"And who asked you?" Pakistan challenged. "You're the one who started it by sending out the drone!"

India frowned, standing up to his full height, a couple inches tall than Pakistan himself. "Don't be a child, Pakistan," he warned, the atmosphere darkening. "You don't want to challenge me. Just apologize already."

"Over my dead body!" Pakistan hissed, unafraid. Like he would step down to India!

"Do you really want a nuke in your territory?" India shot back, and a cold tendril of fear shot its way into Pakistan's stomach. India had agreed to the no-first-use policy, so why was he bringing nuclear warfare into this [4]? It was probably just a bluff, or India had forgotten (he did have memory problems sometimes, after all). Yeah. Pakistan smirked to himself. India couldn't go against his own country's policies.

"You don't even know how to use one," he found himself replying. India's face turned dark.

"What did you just say?" he whispered. "One last warning, Pakistan."

"I said," Pakistan accented the word, leaning in close. "You don't even know how to use a nuke."

"Want to taste one then?"

"How about you taste mine?" The Muslim country replied confidently. "Or do you really want to go against your NFU policy?"

India's face snapped into an icy cold expression, and Pakistan knew his eastern neighbor knew he had been found out in his bluff. Was this really all he had come for? Pakistan rolled his eyes. This meeting wasn't going anywhere.

"This is a waste of time," Pakistan spoke after a tense moment. "If you don't have anything else to say, I'll be taking my leave."

"Not until you apologize, Pakistan," India insisted. "You shot my drone and I want an apology."

"And you'll do what? Declare war over something so simple? No one'll support you, India, and you'll lose what little world power you actually have." Knowing he had won, Pakistan smirked as India scowled. For now. "Good day, India."

Pakistan nodded his head to the other nation and turned around, opening the door to the meetingroom once again and exiting, shutting it behind him. Once safely outside, the Pakistani let out a large sigh and wiped a nearly invisible sheen of sweat off of his forehead.

He hated meetings with India.


June 30, 2020

Beijing, China

America winced slightly to himself as he shuffled uncomfortably in his chair, feeling very out of place in his seat. To his right, Tibet, a rather tall monk with gray-brown eyes, and Xinjiang, shorter than her elder brother with four long braids pulled into a ponytail, sat together, both in military uniforms and wearing menacing looks (well, Xinjiang was; Tibet had only managed to look mildly unpleasant[5]). One the other side, China, a bandage over his left shoulder, was looking positively livid, while Manchuria simply looked extremely bored, her arms folded laxly over the table, seemingly unaffected by the tense atmosphere that even Alfred could sense. Hong Kong also looked disinterested, though America had spent enough time around Delaware (that kid could be a miniature Sweden sometimes) to know that he was quite interested in the conversation (argument) that was going on.

"I don't see why you just won't give up already," Xinjiang hissed, leaning over the table. "We've already taken over the lands we want. Give up and there will be no more bloodshed."

"Never!" China shot back. "I have worked for decades to become a world power again and I'm not about to lose it because you two won't settle down! I've treated you well!"

"Not well enough!" Xinjiang's face almost mirrored China's, and America was struck by how similar they looked. They could've been twins, he noted to himself. Maybe they were. "What about the passports [6]? Both of us deserve to be treated as equal citizens of yours, but you obviously don't care enough to even do that!"

"It was to bring stability to your region after the wars with ISIS and radical Islam!"

"Not all of us are radical Muslims, Yao," Tibet put in, his arms folded neatly. "We will not tolerate your presence any more. It is about time someone showed you that you can't do whatever you want to your people, especially us. We will fight back if we have to."

"Just give us our independence already!" Xinjiang burst, and America sighed to himself, putting a hand on his forehead. Yep. Xinjiang definitely could be China's twin; they even had the same temper. He was getting a migraine from it already. "You're fighting over nothing, China! Let us become independent already!"

"No! You are a part of me!" China shot back.

"AMERICA! TELL HIM/HER I'M RIGHT!" They both shouted at the same time, and America winced, migraine worsening. The perks of being a superpower, he mused to himself.

Alfred had been warned from coming to China, but no, he just had to not listen to the President's advice and come anyways with his research teams. He had planned to get a slight vacation from politics and the chaos at home (his economy had gone down quite a bit last year due to his national debt; though his debt to China was mostly paid off, he still owed a lot to—quite ironically—himself, as well as Japan[7]) while doing something he loved. All he had wanted to do was to study science for a couple weeks and help China with his pollution problem.

But no, he just had to get dragged into Xinjiang and Tibet's war for independence.

The two territories had been struggling against China for almost an entire year now in a war for independence. Funded by various countries who supported them, they had managed to take control of the entirety of their territories before the bulk of China's armies had arrived, during which they had slowly begun to lose ground.

America had barely set foot on Chinese soil before he had been pulled off (quite literally) to mediate a 'peace' meeting between the various Chinese territories.

Then again, poor Taiwan looked like she hadn't slept in days. America couldn't imagine being a meditator for as long as she had and he couldn't say no to her offer to sub for her for just one meeting.

Curse his hero personality.

Alfred took a deep breath. "Look, Yao," he said, raising his hands peaceably. "Maybe you should just let them go. Tibet and Xinjiang obviously aren't going to give up."

"Why should I?" China protested. "My country is in danger!"

"Look, I don't like this any more than you do," America replied, feeling Xinjiang's heated gaze suddenly sweep over him. "But look at the amount of deaths that this war has caused! This war has been going for almost a year and I'm sure most of your troops are tired."

"Like, a lot of people are crossing the borders to India to escape the conflict as well," Hong Kong spoke up. "I'm sure India would be, like, agreeing with America right now as well. The pollution is bad enough. Just let it go. You have Hyung, don't you?"

"Oh, don't go taking their side too!" China exclaimed. Hong Kong only shrugged, keeping his look of disinterest on his face, and looked away.

"Just let the problem be dealt with later," he muttered under his breath.

"You need to focus on your more pressing issues," America added. "Most of your population is on your east coast, so you won't be losing too much, will you?"

China's face worsened, if that was even possible, and for a long, tense moment, America thought that he would decline out of pride and resume the bloody fight anyways, before the ancient nation tore his gaze to the floor, 'tsk'ing.

"Fine!" He spat, before looking back up to Xinjiang. "But this isn't over!"

The Chinese woman smirked, folding her arms in victory. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

America groaned, placing his head in his hands.

Why did he ever agree to these things?


[1]- North Korea has copied the Soviet Union in more ways than one.

[2]- Interpret this as you like.

[3]- Actually, Pakistan usually isn't usually this bad. He just really, really doesn't like India, and vice versa. India's just better at hiding it.

[4]- Also referred to as NFU, the No-First-Use policy is a pledge accepted by China, India, and (shockingly, I know), North Korea, to not use nukes in warfare unless someone else nukes them first.

[5]- Tibet's a monk, so I'd imagine he's not very mean, and Hima has described him as "pitiful and quiet," so…

[6]- Basically, in 2015, China restricted outside travel in Tibet and Xinjiang. In this story, he went even further after he went to war against radical Islam. Obviously, neither Tibet or Xinjiang were very happy about it.

[7]- Ironically, the USA only owes (owed in this story) about 1.3 trillion dollars to China; instead, they also owe 1.1 trillion to Japan, over 5 trillion to itself (to the federal government; I'm not sure how that even works), and 3.8 trillion to other countries (For example, they owe 264 billion to Brazil).

World News (Jan 24 2016 to June 30, 2020):

1) Ukraine splits under tension with NATO and the Eurasian Union into West and East Ukraine

2) Revolution in Venezuela takes down the old socialist government and replaces it with a capitalist one, renaming the country New Order Venezuela (NOV).

3) Greece is kicked out of the EU due to its national debt. Turkey and East Ukraine are accepted in.

4) NOV seeks relations with the USA.

5) Greece's debt crisis is slowly being taken care of.

6) Under ethnic tensions, Libya splits into Tripolitania, Fezzan, and Cyrenaica