Previously:
The paler blond rolled his eyes fondly as he laced his fingers with his American, eyes never leaving the road as he drove back to their home (and the fact that he could say their home would never be tiring).
"So what's next on the agenda?" asked America.
"Let's liberate some more nations."
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or any of its characters.
Hungary paced anxiously throughout her house, still thinking about the world meeting last week and the troubling news that had been discussed. Liechtenstein, the Italy brothers, and stupid Prussia were all missing and no one knew what to do or where to find them. She could tell by looking around that meeting table that everyone was as lost and confused as she felt inside, yet they were all trying to hide it. She hated feeling helpless like this, but there wasn't much to go off of. Four nations hadn't been heard from and no one had noticed at all, even though each nation who would be upset and concerned about their disappearance.
The Italy twins were very sociable, with Romano constantly being a tsundere towards Spain and Veneziano being sociable with the world, but especially Germany and Japan. Liechtenstein was admittedly, a very shy girl, but with the way Switzerland hovers over her, it should have been impossible for her to be out of his sight long enough for her to go missing, or be kidnapped like Switzerland had suggested.
And Prussia. The stupid idiot was more fond of wandering his way around pubs and taverns to fill them with emptied lagers of German beer than of actually wandering around without telling anyone. Actually, ever since the Berlin Wall came crashing down, Prussia had become very clingy, to the point his brother and many of his friends, herself included, tried excluding him from meetings and gatherings in poor attempts to get the old obnoxious Prussia of old back. It backfired spectacularly, as Prussia instead became reclusive, staying largely in his room in Germany's house and only venturing out to the nearest pubs. That's why it had taken so long to realize he was gone and Hungary felt like she was partially at fault for not being aware of what was happening to one of her oldest allies (and kind of friend).
A doorbell ringing interrupted Hungary out of her darkening thoughts and startled, she grabbed her frying pan and walked silently towards the door. Peering through the peephole, she saw a delivery boy holding a small package and clipboard in hand. The brim of his hat was low on his brunet hair and he shuffled awkwardly on her front step the longer it took for someone to respond. He rang the doorbell again, accompanied by a soft "Hello?"
Opening the door, and internally cursing herself for this unnecessary paranoia, Hungary stepped out, watching the boy perk up, his hat resting on the top of his eyebrows as she stared into muddy brown eyes that glanced from her to the heavy iron cast pan still held in her hand.
"Pardon me, I was in the midst of cooking when you rang. What is it?"
The boy shuffled again in nervousness before he checked the clipboard.
"Are you Elizabeta Héderváry?"
"Yes."
"You have a package from a Mr. Gilbert Belischmidt, um, please sign here?"
But Hungary didn't hear a word the boy said afterwards as she snatched the box out of his hands. She'd ring the idiot's neck for making her worry so much, but she was just glad he was sending a sign that he was okay. He was probably just sending some crazy stupid souvenir to her to appease her again when he asked for help getting out of whatever crazy situation he was in now. She ripped off the tape, finally opening the box to reveal a...mechanical collar?
Hungary gasped in alarm as a sharp pain came from her neck. She instinctively lashed out with her pan, landing a solid hit on the shoulder of the delivery boy who grunted in pain but otherwise pulled out another syringe like the one she yanked from her neck. She immediately started feeling woozy, but fought through it the best she could as the boy attacked again, expertly swinging her cast iron pan to deflect his attempts to stab her.
"Who do you work for? How'd you know who I am?" she demanded as she landed another hit, surprised that his arm wasn't broken already. Though she wasn't as strong as a nation like America, as a nation she was still stronger than the average human, plus she was wielding a large cast iron pan; he should be clutching a fractured or broken arm instead of shaking off the hit and readying himself for another attack. A wave of nausea hit, and to her growing horror, Hungary felt her grasp on consciousness start to fail, the edges of her vision starting to fade black. In a desperate last attempt, she lunged forward and hit the boy on the head, hoping to knock him out before she passed out. The boy let out a loud "Fuck!" in clear, American English as his hair and hat shifted to reveal blond hair underneath.
Hungary paused for a second in shock, but it was long enough for the man to finally have an opening and punch her in the neck, causing her to drop to her knees gasping for air. The pan fell from her slack hands and the man picked it up as darkness started creeping into more of her vision. One quick hit to her head with the pan and Hungary knew no more.
Rubbing his arm, America grimaced as he tugged the wig back into place, glaring down at the unconscious nation at his feet. Shaking out the pain (if not for his accelerated healing, she would've broken his arm!), America emptied out a syringe unhindered into her neck to make sure she stayed unconscious before he slung her over his good arm to the delivery truck where she was bound and placed in a large packing box. Returning to the house, America made quick work of the interior to make it look like a struggle happened before leaving the door slightly ajar and returning to the truck.
Pulling out the radio communicator from his pocket, America started up the truck as he pulled out of Hungary's street.
"Calling in, prepare for transport. The package has been picked and is ready for delivery. Over."
The voice answered in affirmative as America blended into traffic towards the airport.
"Several officials around the world are still looking into the disappearance of their national treasures. International authorities are beginning to suspect the ideas of a master thief or a terrorist group behind it all and urge citizens around the world to be cautious and alert as they investigate the reason for the missing treasures. Next in breaking news..."
Finland sighed in frustration as he turned the TV off and tossed the remote beside him on the couch. 'What was going on in the world right now? Was the possible terrorist threat China talking about last meeting actually true? Was there actually a group of humans aware of the existence of nations going around and kidnapping nations?'
Wanting to feel less frustrated and knowing Sweden wasn't coming around with Sealand until later than night, Finland decided to fill in the remaining time indulging in his favorite hobby. Heading towards his garage, Finland unlocked the gun shed, pulled out his favorite rifle and headed outside into the woods a mere minute walk from his house.
Slipping into the foliage, Finland felt some of the tensions leave as he took in the fresh air, listening to the sound of birds flitting above and unseen animals rustling in the undergrowth. He wandered around for an hour, not really looking for anything in particular but keeping a watch out for animal tracks as he calmed down the turmoil within. It's not like he hasn't seen a lot of things in his time as a nation, but this was something entirely different. Never before had things gotten so serious to the point that not one but several nations were missing without warning. It was actually making the blond nation a little anxious for Sweden and Sealand to get home, where he could keep an eye on them. While Sweden could take care of himself, Finland was more worried for Sealand, as the young micronation was prone to bouts of carelessness and naivety, making him an easy target if there was some type of organization specifically targeting and kidnapping nations.
Finland decided to return home after about an hour into the forest, figuring he'd be better off channeling his anxiety into making dinner for his little family instead of wasting his time aimlessly wandering the forest. As he turned to head back, Finland noticed the sounds of the forest. It was silent; the birds had gone silent and the rest of the woodland creatures had disappeared into their burrows at the presence of another predator. As he felt the heavy gaze of eyes watching him from somewhere in the forest. Listening intently for any abnormal sounds, Finland raised his gun in preparation for whatever large predator whose territory he'd accidentally walked into before he had to duck in alarm at the sound of something whizzing through the air towards him.
Peering up from the ground, the nation's eyes widened at the silver glint of a tranquilizer dart embedded into the tree that he had been standing in front of moments before. He was being hunted by a human predator, most likely the terrorists that had captured the other nations.
Narrowing his eyes, Finland scanned the forest with new eyes as he prepared for an ambush and readied his gun. He wasn't sure how many were out there ready to take him down, but he wasn't going to make it easy on them. All he had to do was get to one of his safe houses and send off the alert on the emergency link all nations had for matters that affected them all. He could alert other nations that the terrorists were in this area and possibly gather more information about the group, get whatever intelligence to tend this group before it can really begin.
All of this ran through Finland's head as he scoped out the best route to his nearest safe house. It was about three kilometers (almost two miles) and he was travelling by foot, so he'd have to be fast in order to catch them off-guard and pull ahead of them. Glancing down at his rifle, Finland hesitated a moment before he decided to unload it and carefully tucked it into the undergrowth and afterwards placed the ammo into his pocket. It would only slow him down as he ran and if they thought he was defenseless without his gun and let their guard down, it would only work more to his advantage.
Listening for the sound of darts flying through the air, Finland cautiously raised himself to a crouch as he got ready to sprint. He took one, two deep breaths and he was off. He heard the whiz of a dart thud into the trees behind him and the sound of someone crashing through the undergrowth, but Finland refused to look behind; he just focused on running forwards, jumping over rotting logs, darting between close grown trees as he bobbed and ducked through the forest. He could hear the pursuer behind and thought by the footsteps that it was only one terrorist behind him; He would have been insulted by the lack of the low threat level they considered him if it didn't fill him with some relief. They had probably caught the other nations by surprise considering their ambush method and most likely didn't know the full potential of a nation, a thought that left the nation inwardly smirking as he quickly approached the clearing where his safe house was.
With a burst of energy, Finland sprinted across the open clearing where he'd be more vulnerable to any shots whizzing by, especially if there were unseen terrorists nearby, and jumped over the stairs to land on his porch. Barely taking a moment to take a deep breath, Finland punched in the passcode to the door as he heard the increasing volume of the undergrowth being shook as his pursuer came closer.
Finland knew that he only had a few minutes before possible confrontation as he rushed to his bedroom, slamming against walls in his hurry until he finally fell to his knees by his bedside cabinet all the way in the furthest bedroom from the door. Opening the middle drawer, he saw the only items inside were a simple burner phone and an unloaded gun next to a round of ammo. Tossing the gun on the bed next to him, Finland turned the phone on, cursing at how long it was taking to turn on as he impatiently watched it go through the opening graphics. Keeping one eye on the door, he pulled up the contact list and created a group chat with every single nation he had listed down, jumping slightly in alarm at the banging from the outside door, before turning his attention back to the phone.
[URGENT. THE TERRORIST GROUP IS REAL. SOS]
The moment he sent the message was when he heard his solid oak door splinter inward from an immense impact. Eyes wide in shock, Finland dropped the phone as he fumbled for the gun and ammo on the bed and started loading the gun with trembling hands. It really had been decades since he had really been in a physical altercation of any kind, and it was showing in how unprepared this situation was making him; he thought he'd have enough time to send out a longer message including his location and a description of his terrorists but it looks like he'd have to put that in a new message afterwards. Scrambling to finish loading the gun, Finland almost missed the intruder's entrance into his room. A familiar glint of silver caught his eye and Finland gazed in alarm at the sight of a metal pipe coming through the entrance.
He'd recognize that pipe anywhere; so many memories of it making an appearance at rowdy world meetings and often accompanied by the threatening 'kolkolkol' laugh of its owner.
"Privyet, Finland. You gave quite a chase."
Russia gave the other nation a pleased smile as he fully entered the room, his trusty pipe in hand as he stepped closer to Finland.
"You-you're the terrorist organization? But why? I thought you had no more interest in doing things like this?" Finland knew that firing the gun was useless, it wouldn't have much of an effect on a nation as strong as Russia and like a bear, would only further irritate the bigger nation. His best chance was to grab the phone still open to the group chat, hit the call button, and hope that someone would answer and hear him and Russia talking.
All of this flashed through Finland's head as he glared at Russia's smiling face.
Suddenly, Finland shot the gun towards Russia's face as he dropped down to the floor, scrambling towards the phone. The idea was that Russia would dodge by leaning back or away from the bed, thereby giving Finland a chance to make the call before he had a furious Russian above him, yelling and giving away his identity.
What actually ended up happening was that Russia ducked towards Finland with a wide grin and caught the smaller nation in a chokehold moments after Finland had grabbed the phone.
While scrabbling for his breath as the arm around his neck grew tighter, Finland watched as Russia took the phone from his weakened grasp and hit the dial button.
Why?
The sound of Poland's voice chimed loudly from the phone before Finland felt Russia's arm loosen then rapidly tighten again around his throat, forcing Finland to let out a choked gasp of pain into the phone. Finland could faintly hear the panicked voice of Poland over the sound of his struggles as he weakly attempted to pry Russia's arm from his throat. As the black spots before his eyes grew, Finland wondered why Russia wanted to reveal himself on purpose. With another clench of the Russian's arm, Finland thought no more.
