Chapter 32

Fish Basket Strike

A rabbit. The card turned into a rabbit. It had already hopped into the forest before Lukas snapped out of it. "Why did I keep that card?" Lukas looked down at Shade that also seemed to snap out of the confusion the rabbit caused. Lukas quickly reached into his pocket and damned the five card at a time limit but Shade was faster. He grabbed onto Lukas foot and twisted so he fell down on the ground while he, himself, got back onto his feet.

"Finally! Some luck on my side!" Shade put a foot onto Lukas back and pushed downwards which forced him to stay on the ground. "Don't get any closer" He held up a hand towards the group that was making their way over to help Lukas. They stopped but the anger and worry they felt was obvious. Shade smiled at them. "I won't kill him, just let him know who's in charge" He snapped his finger which sent a shock through Lukas body and made him cry out in pain.

"Lukas!" Mathias didn't go far before he gasped and fell down to his knees. The pain from his broken ribs spread throughout his whole body.

"I'm fine! Just stay away!" Lukas panted a bit and waved his hand at them to back away. "You'll need to finish this if I don't"

"You won't" Shade snapped his fingers again and sent a second wave of electricity "And neither will they" Lukas tried to reach him but when that didn't work, he reached for his pocket. "I wouldn't do that if I were you" He snapped his fingers a third time.

"Stop it!" Tino cried out as Lukas gasped for air. Lukas didn't know what to do, he couldn't reach his cards and he couldn't think of any spell that would help in this situation. Most ones he knew were long range attacks since he had thought they were the most useful ones.

"Get up" Shade backed away and chuckled "If you can" Lukas slowly got up but they could all see that he had a hard time just standing up. Chuckling, Shade was there again and simply shoved him. Lukas stumbled and fell "You don't have the energy to stand, no energy left to heal, what will you do? You've exerted yourself only minutes after regaining your energy."

"I might be tired but as long as I can stand" He stood up once again "I haven't lost." Shade stopped smiling.

"You're so annoying" Shade charged and hit Lukas hard in his chest which sent him back onto the ground. Lukas looked up and was met by a stare so malicious, so crazy, that he crawled backwards in an attempt to get away from it. When Shade stepped closer Lukas realised. He had been pushed further from the group, they were too far away. They wouldn't get there in time if Shade planned something. Shade how Lukas was looking back and forth between him and the others. "You noticed" He chuckled and raised his hand towards him before he exclaimed loud and clear "I hope you'll have fun when you meet Emil"

"No! Lukas!" Lukas heard the voices, he saw them run towards them but he also knew that they were too far away to reach them in time. Shade towered over him and he could do nothing but close his eyes and wait. He prayed that the other would find a solution, he knew that they would. But, apparently it wouldn't involve him. He waited for the pain.

But none came.

Instead a loud shout was heard followed by the sound of a crash right in front of him. Lukas opened his eyes and the sight that met him was beyond confusing. Shade was laying down on the ground clutching his arm and there seemed to be a shopping cart laying tipped over next to him. There was another person – or was it a person? – laying next to him with his back against Lukas. But as he spoke, the voice was unmistakeable.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" Gilbert stared at something further down the road.

"I'm sorry, I lost my grip" Lukas stopped breathing. He didn't dare to turn and check if it really was true because if it wasn't, he would probably break.

"You did not! You even named you attack, who does that?" Gilbert sat up and it wasn't until now that Lukas noticed the fin that angrily flapped against the ground.

"I-I saw it in this show I watch" Again there was that voice and, after looking at Mathias that stared down the road as if he'd seen a ghost, Lukas slowly turned his head.

"By the way, what kind of name is 'Fish Basket strike'?" Gilbert still seemed a bit angry but it was quickly fading.

"It sounded better in my head, okay!" Lukas stared at him. A bandage was wrapped around his head, he didn't have any shirt on for some reason and he seemed tired but it was surely him.

"Yeah, yeah sure it did- Oh! Ludwig! Feli! You're here!" While Gilbert made his way over to his brother, by using a mix of rolling and dragging himself, Lukas could only stare at Emil. He stood up, didn't even notice the fatigue anymore, and walked over.

"Emil? Is it really you?" Emil gave him a confused look.

"What? Of course it is, why wouldn't it-" He was interrupted by Lukas pulling him close to give him a hug.

"You're okay" Lukas backed away and looked him over one more time, searching for injuries. Apart from the bandage it seemed like he was fine.

"Emil!" Tino was suddenly there and pulled him into a crushing hug before letting go. "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Where have you been? We were so worried…" While Tino continued his rant, Emil felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Mathias standing next to him.

"You're here" The relief was almost too much and Mathias pulled him in for a hug, ignoring the pain in his chest.

"What's going on?" Emil looked at them. Some seemed hurt and both Lovino and Berwald was unconscious. Lukas seemed like he was going to break any moment, both physically and mentally, while Tino continued checking if he was alright. Of course, it didn't take long for Emil to figure it out and he looked over at Shade that was trying to get back on his feet.

"No!" Shade stood up and stared at Emil. "It can't be!"

"It's true, you failed once again" Emil stared back at him as well as he could through the wall consisting of Lukas, Mathias and Tino that had formed between them.

"How is that possible?" Shade was breathing faster and seemed to be losing control.

"I got lucky" Emil pointed at Gilbert that was sitting next to Ludwig. He grinned and bowed ironically.

"My pleasure" Emil watched as Shade put the pieces together and noticed how he seemed to be fuming.

"I can't believe this. Everything is falling apart, nothing… Nothing has worked!" Small flames started spreading on his arms.

"Just give up already!" Emil pushed himself through the wall. He was tired of this. Shade had hurt too many of them and would never stop unless they stopped him. He knew they could, he knew they would, but Emil didn't want to see anyone else get hurt in the process.

"As if! As long as I'm still standing, as long as I'm alive I won't stop trying!" The flames grew bigger "I was going to spare some of you but not anymore!"

"Get back!" Lukas pulled Emil back just as the flames exploded. With a swift movement he lifted his hand and practically cut the flames shooting towards them. Arthur did the same in front of the other group but as the flames faded, he fell down to his knees.

"Not now" Arthur was panting heavily "I can't pass out now" With sheer willpower, he got back up on his feet. Shade didn't notice, he had lost it completely.

"I'll show you! I'll just heal myself again and there will be nothing to stop me!" The flames grew brighter once again "You might beat me in numbers but in power you're so much weaker!"

"What do we do?" Tinos voice cut through the howling wind and the sound of fire.

"Just get behind me, I'll manage" Emil looked at his brother. He seemed worried, tense, but he was clearly determined to win this fight. They gathered behind Lukas while the other group gathered behind Arthur. Shade took a step forward.

"Prepare yourself" Shade reached out his hand and his body started glowing as the healing spell started working. A few scratches on his face healed and his arm glowed stronger than the others. The impact with the shopping cart seemed to have broken it. Shade closed his eyes and they could see the relief on his face. At least for a moment. The glowing suddenly stopped, it didn't fade away it just stopped. Shades eyes shot open and he clutched his chest. "What?"

"This has gone on long enough" The voice was familiar and the nations looked around for the source.

"This can't be" Shade blinked. His eyes were still filled with madness but they also held shock as he fell down to his knees.

"I found your weakness" That's when they noticed. The voice came from Shade himself.

"Impossible! I have no weakn-" Shade shook his head and the nations saw how his face changed. From being lost to madness it instead got filled with determination. And anger.

"You've lost. Leave" He fell down on all four and panted. His face changed again.

"No! I've waited thousands of years for this!" Fire spread over his body again as Shades fury took over but as his face changed again, they faded.

"You hurt so many, you hurt Lovi, I won't forgive you"

"I don't need your forgiveness!"

"Is it?" Emil barely dared to hope.

"I think it is." Lukas stared at the ground where Shade was struggling. "He's fighting back"

"Can we help him?" Tino was worried.

"No, I don't think so" Lukas sat down "I think we just have to wait. And hope" The others sat down as well and watched as Antonio regained control once again.

"Leave! This is my body, it has always been" As he turned over to his back his face shifted back into Shades.

"It's mine now! Mine, mine, mine, mine!"

"You're just a shadow and you'll always be!"

"…MINE MINE MINE MINE…"

"Leave!"

"No!" And so it continued. They watched as Antonio struggled to reclaim his body as the sun rose higher. If he lost, Lukas knew that there would be a hard battle ahead of them but if he won… Lukas swallowed nervously. Antonio had to win.

"Get him" Lukas looked up at Emil that was staring intensively at the fight. He had clenched his fists tightly and Lukas realised that he was angry. Really angry, he almost seemed to be fuming. Lukas reached out a hand to calm him but pulled it back quickly as the heat almost burnt him.

"Emil" Emil didn't notice. "Emil!"

"What?" He only glanced at his brother.

"Are you okay? You're really hot" Lukas watched as Emil blinked a few times, probably because he hadn't realised until now how warm he really was.

"I-I guess" Lukas frowned as Emil didn't seem too bothered by it and realised what was going on. "It" had awoken.

"Enough!" It was clearly Shade that shouted since it had an addition of flames shooting in all directions. On unsteady legs he got back up and stared at them. The flames spread more and more. "I'll finish this here and now" The nations quickly got back up on their feet. All of Shade was covered in flames and his eyes were filled of it. He reached out his hand and the fire built up even more until it covered him, consumed him, and just kept growing bigger. Lukas swallowed, he knew that not even he could stop that. It grew even bigger and from within they could hear shouting and laughing. Something zoomed past and it was already too late for Lukas too stop him as Emil entered the ball of fire.

"Emil!" Lukas cried out and tried to follow but the heat pushed him back. Emil was already gone in the flames.

Inside the fire, Emil struggled. He saw the fire spread over his body but couldn't feel it. It didn't leave any burns either. He tried to move forward but the force of the fire pushed him around. He could barely breathe but he kept pushing on.

"Leave!"

"No!" Emil followed the voices and ended up in a small clearing. In the middle stood Shade, struggling to keep it together. The flames surrounded them from all sides and there was nowhere to go. Emil considered what he had done. He had acted purely on impulse when he rushed in, somehow convinced that he would be fine. But he didn't know what he would do now, what could he do?

"Emil" The voice startled him but as he looked up, he could see that it was Antonio. "You have to leave!" He took a step backwards and closed his eyes as they once again shifted.

"Well, well. Look who we have here" Shade smiled widely while his eyes darted from place to place and finally locked onto Emil. "Someone who wants to die"

"Emil! Go!" Antonio was back and was begging him to leave.

"No, I won't go." Emil took a few steps forward just as Shade returned.

"Let me finish you off, let me destroy you, let me destroy…"

"Emil!"

"No!" Emil stood face to face with the panting Antonio that looked down on him pleadingly. But only for a moment. His eyes started burning and the smile was back in place.

"Hello there" Shade looked down at him "Are you ready?"

"Yes" Emil pulled back his hand and felt the energy flow through his body "Goodbye" With all his might he threw a punch straight into Shades stomach. Shock showed in Shades eyes as he stumbled backwards and fell. The very moment he hit the ground, the fire got smaller. Soon, the other nations came into view and before he knew it Lukas had grabbed him.

"Are you all right? What were you thinking?" Emil was confused, he had never seen Lukas panic like this.

"I'm fine, alright?" Lukas hugged him tightly.

"I thought I lost you again" Again? Emil understood. Shade must have told them he was dead, that's why they were so happy to see him earlier. Tino walked up and stared at Emil, very confused and a bit impressed. He then turned his attention to the ground.

"What do we do?" Just as Tino asked the question, the nation groaned and opened his eyes slowly. Lukas automatically pushed Emil behind his back while Mathias walked over. He crouched down and put a hand to his chest to keep him down.

"Antonio, is it you?" They waited. The nation blinked. Then he smiled widely.

"Yes, yes it is."