Thanks to Abbgy of the Sword-Flowers, BloodLily16, EverythingMath, Miss Akiyata, mayday237892, Kuro Ao no Neko, Dragonfire78, Fruitstogether, Don't Insult Oliver's Cupcakes and an anon for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 31: World Issues

Perhaps we should remind our playthings who the real players are.

Time for the next step in the game.

…

Luciano scowled when he saw a group of familiar faces enter the room, but the scowl soon turned to a smirk.

"Look at all the little traitors," he said. "Those of you who've already requested punishment, you better start being creative."

"Don't worry," Francois said. "I already have an ideal approach in mind…"

…

The room was silent. If only every meeting could be like that.

After a few moments, America spoke.

"Um, what do you mean?" he asked. "Do you mean like the Italies?"

"No," Matt said.

"Let me explain," Alistair said, sighing. "A few days ago, or in Canada's case a few months, we found out about another world. A world that's considerably darker."

"That's right," Matt said. "I'm the Canada of my world. And while I'm here, I have a few bones to pick with you."

"Huh?" America asked.

"I've seen the way you ignore Matthew. Ignoring him, acting as though he doesn't exist, hurting him whenever you two play sports together, eating the pancakes he made for himself, breaking his confidence…"

"Dude," America said, looking nervous, "I don't think I know what you're talking about."

"You can be glad that I don't have my hockey stick with me, idiot."

"Hey!"

"The Nations of my world are the opposites of your world. Since our America can be quite clever, and has no problem showing respect to others, and isn't an obnoxious little…"

"Hey!" America said, standing up. "I'm the hero! You can't speak to me like…"

Matt walked over to America and grabbed him by the collar, slamming him down to the table. America tried to struggle, but couldn't break free.

"We're just as strong as our counterparts," Matt said. "And for the record, Allen and I would beat each other to a pulp in order to bond as brothers. And seeing the way you treat Matthew, who doesn't deserve that treatment from anyone. I mean seriously, an exorcism?"

"Um, oops?"

Matt narrowed his eyes.

"You can take out your frustrations later," Anika said. "Isn't there more important business to take care of?"

Matt sighed, letting go of America and walking over to Matthew again.

And seeing this, Ludwig stared at the darker Canadian with fear.

"Anyway," Francis said. "A few of us have met our counterparts, but not all of them are as… nice as Canada is."

"You call that nice?" America demanded.

"Considering Poland, Lithuania, France, Prussia, Spain, England, Norway and Romania have been tortured by their counterparts," Wales said, "yes, Matt is nice."

"What do you mean by 'torture'?" Germany demanded.

"Who do you think is responsible for my arm?" Gilbert countered.

"Are you saying that…"

"Oui," France said. "My own counterpart has given me a few cigarette burns where I didn't think it was possible."

"And like, vodka with glass shards are totally bad," Poland said.

"They did that?" America whispered.

"And more," Spain said. "Inglaterra, Noruega and Rumania have been captured by them, and we have no idea what they're doing. But the little we could see… I wouldn't wish that on any of my enemies."

"Is it that bad?" Portugal asked. "Wait, is that why you told me to avoid mirrors?"

"Si. And from what I heard, the other Portugal isn't the nicest country around."

"And who exactly are the rest of you?" Germany asked, looking at the others.

"Bulgaria," Nikolai said.

"Moldova," Andrei said.

"Iceland," Gabriel said.

"Greenland," Eva said.

"Wait a minute," the other Greenland said, "are you saying you're me?"

"That's right, Anna," Denmark said. "This is you. A very scary, violent version of you."

"I'm Switzerland," Basch said.

"You're me?" Vash said.

"He does kind of look like you," Liechtenstein said.

Basch stared at Lili for a moment.

"I didn't think I'd hear a voice so innocent coming from her," Basch said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Vash countered.

"Anyway," Camille interrupted. "I am Camille, also known as St Pierre et Miquelon."

"You're me?" Claire said.

"Oui. It would seem so."

"I'm North Korea," Jeng Soo said.

"What?" Yong Soo whined. "You mean there's two of you?"

"Ignore him," Hyung Soo said. "It's less painful that way."

"You have no idea about my version of South. He's both annoying and pure evil."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"In their world, they have a Cold War, which is between the North and the South," Anika decided to interrupt. "These guys are the only Northern Nations that we can trust. The South are willing to be our allies."

"And how do you know that this is the best choice?" Japan asked.

"Because the Southern Nations aren't so hell-bent on domination, and they don't torture each other for fun," Eva said. "Okay, they do have their moments, but they're a lot nicer than the North. And they actually take care of Nations under their control, unlike some people."

"If there's a war of this magnitude," Germany said, "then there has to be leaders, am I right?"

"Yep," Matt said. "The Southern leaders are Australia, India, Brazil and South Africa, while the Northern leaders are Italy, Japan and Germany. The South are a lot like their versions here, except a little colder, while the North…"

"Let's put it this way," Basch said. "The Germany of our world is lazy, sloppy, pathetic…"

…

As he was listening to their description of him, Lutz's fingers started to inch towards the knife strapped to his belt.

…

"And then there's the Japan of our world," Jeng Soo said. "He's loud, rude, disrespectful…"

…

As he listened to the way he was described, Kyo placed his hand on the hilt of his katana.

…

"But that's nothing compared to Italy," Nikolai said. "He's vindictive, manipulative, sadistic…"

…

As he listened to their description of him, Luciano began toying with a knife, and started to sharpen it.

"Be very creative," he told them.

…

After they finished their explanation of the Northern leaders, the world was silent, as though in shock.

"Those are words that I never thought could be used to describe those three," Turkey said, breaking the trance.

"You don't even want to know how some of the others are," Matt sighed.

"Anyway," Basch said, "the Italy of our world managed to rile up the rest of the North. Got them excited to play a new game."

"With the Nations from your world as their playthings," Andrei said.

"What are you talking about?" Germany asked.

"A lot of Nations – actually, most of them – see torture as some kind of game," Matt said. "But the Nations from our world are all used to it. So they see you as fresh meat. New playthings."

"We're pretty much the only Northern Nations that aren't trying to play with you," Camille said.

"And what about the South?" America asked.

"They don't torture as often, unless it's wartime," Eva said. "When it's time for war, they can be real demons if they want to be. Right, Iceland?"

"I try to forget that," Gabriel said.

"But they treat their allies rather well," Jeng Soo said. "One of the reasons why we decided that we'd rather support the South."

"You mentioned that the magic trio were captured," Greece said. "How did they do that?"

"The magic trio of our world," Matt said. "They found a way to take Nations from your world to our world through the barrier. We don't know if they can do it again."

"But it's still possible that they might take more Nations to our world," Basch said. "After all, with the Cold War going on, any extra land would be a great help to them. They want extra land, as well as a new plaything. And there's a good possibility that they would try to get other Nations to our world. Anything to stop the South."

"And at least our South Africa knows how to take care of the ones under her control," Nikolai said. "Unlike some. I mean, if they could torture those that are essentially themselves, what do you think they'll do to others? Think about it. And the Nations from our world can be quite creative when it comes to torture."

"Give us one example," Turkey said.

Basch sighed and stepped closer, drawing a knife.

"Try scraping off the skin of your victim and force feed it to them," Basch said, slamming the knife in front of Turkey. "Then burn the newly revealed flesh, cooking it, and force feeding it to your victim. Break each of their bones, and pick the small pieces out. Then force it down your victim's throat."

"That's a good example," Turkey said, swallowing nervously.

"That was one of Liechtenstein's preferred methods."

"Anyone that seems remotely innocent is rare," Matt said. "Pretty much everyone enjoys the art of torture. But a few, such as myself, aren't too creative and prefer violence over 'art'."

"Any questions?" Gabriel asked, giggling.

…

Alida was snooping through Luciano's house. She had accidently looked into a room and saw that there were a lot of Nations there. Luckily, her presence remained unnoticed.

She managed to catch a few snippets of the meeting from the other world, but she didn't bother. She had other things to worry about. She couldn't afford to be distracted, especially not with all of the major enemies in one room.

But with such a large gathering, she became convinced that the Nations she was searching for would be in the building. She just needed to find them before the opportunity was lost.

…

"Any idea what they're doing?" Vlad asked.

"No clue," Arthur sighed.

"I wonder if this was their plan," Lukas said. "They're making us nervous by letting us wait."

"You might be nervous," Vlad said. "But I'm bored."

"That too."

…

"Why are you helping us?" Japan asked.

"Because some of us made friends with our counterparts," Matt said.

"And some of us don't want the Northern Powers to win," Eva said.

"And some of us are paid well," Basch said.

"You're helping us because of money?!" Vash shouted.

"Not just money. This knife is very expensive. The blade is platinum, the hilt is gold. Only South Africa can make something like this."

"The only one with enough of both resources to waste on a knife," Zimbabwe said.

"Pretty much."

"And if the North could pay more?" Vash asked.

"That's going to be hard. The South paid me with very valuable, very unique items. And the Northern Powers are stingy. I have expensive taste, so as long as the Southern Powers pay me, I'm willing to be on their side, and their side happens to be your side."

"In a way you two are quite similar," Austria sighed.

"So it was your counterpart that broke your arm?" Hungary asked, speaking to Gilbert.

"My arm isn't broken," he said. "More like nearly severed."

"How? Why?"

"Because he's a crazy arschloch."

…

"I'm impressed," Luciano said, looking at Gilen. "That's a very interesting punishment."

"I half expected him to have done something to completely sever it by now," Gilen said. "Didn't figure him to have enough self-control to prevent that."

"He does seem to be a little reckless," Alejandro said.

…

Ricardo chuckled.

"Those that can be bought are a lot easier to control," he said.

"Especially if you take steps to ensure that the price goes up," Mahesh said. "Especially if you make it so that your competition cannot outbid you."

"Very clever," Bruce said.

…

Namibia frowned, growing agitated.

She had been skulking around for half an hour now, and she found nothing. Nothing! Not even Germany, whom she was prepared to fight.

Hopefully the other two had more success.

…

"There's also another thing we should be worried about," Anika said, standing up. "There are creatures known as Deathplayers causing trouble."

"You kind of sound like Iggy," America said.

…

Oliver's eyebrow twitched. He didn't exactly like that nickname.

…

Anika glared at him, and the Nations from the other world flinched.

"Ignoring that," she sighed. "The Deathplayers are very real. How many Nations were attacked by something they couldn't see?"

A few Nations raised their hands. All with the magic touch.

"Are you saying that the ones responsible are these 'Deathplayers'?" Portugal asked.

"Si," Antonio said. "Rumania was also attacked by those things."

"They enjoy playing games with their victims, just like the other Nations," Anika said. "But they do it in various ways. One of them is to attack a landmark in a Nation's capital."

"Are you saying that they're responsible for the bombings?" Germany asked.

"Ja. They're kind of like what happens if ghosts and demons come together to merge as one. And they hate Nations. Most of them were, once, like Nations. Thousands of years ago."

"Is Grandpa Rome one of them?" Italy asked.

…

"What the hell?!" Luciano exclaimed. "What is it with his voice? He sounds nothing like me!"

The rest were trying to hold their laughter, for fear of being on the business end of one of his knives.

…

"No," Anika said. "Rome is too young. I'm talking pre-agriculture revolution. I think the youngest would be at least ten thousand years old."

"And the only reason we know that is because of past experiences," Namibia groaned. "While the Europeans were focused on the Americas, we Africans had to deal with them."

"I didn't," Egypt said.

"Only those south of the Sahara."

"But that would explain the ancient feeling," Greece said, looking at Egypt.

"I guess it's older than we thought, huh?" Egypt said.

"So, how do we fight them?" Turkey asked.

"Think like a beast," Mozambique said. "They can hide themselves from the senses, and the only one that can see them then is South Africa."

"But if you think like an animal, you can avoid them playing games with you," Botswana said.

"And you Africans are good at thinking like animals," America said.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

America could feel the angry eyes of an entire continent focusing on him, and he ducked. Even he knew when to duck from them.

…

"Is it just me, or does the other America enjoy the taste of his foot?" Felic asked.

"He's an idiot," Luciano sighed.

…

"Do you think the other South Africa will come?" Vlad asked.

"I hope so," Arthur said. "Anika had already fulfilled her side of their agreement, so the other one should fulfil her side as well."

"Hopefully the other South Africa can be trusted," Lukas said.

…

Alida stopped.

She could have sworn she heard voices.

She turned to her right, seeing a door. Unlike most of the others, it was shut. She knew from the blueprints she had studied that the room was unused.

Or supposed to be unused.

Her mouth twitched, in what would almost be a smirk.

She had found them.

…

They had all started a 'debate' about the current situation, which meant that the entire room started arguing with each other. Some were arguing about whether or not the Deathplayers were real, with the Sub-Saharan Africans insisting that they were real. Others were arguing about whether or not they could trust the Nations of the other world, if there even was another world.

Those that came from the other world merely stared, surprised that they could sink in another argument so fast.

"Should we stop them?" Jeng Soo asked.

"Let's wait until they get it out of their system first," Eva said.

"They can go on for hours," Matt informed them.

"…We'll wait five minutes then."

…

They were startled when they heard someone at the lock. The odds are good that they could be tortured. They had waited long enough, so it only made sense that they would come at some point to torture them.

The door slowly opened, and they held their breath. A face peeked into the room, and they were caught off guard when they realised that they didn't recognise who the woman was.

"I take it you're the Nations from Anika's world," the woman whispered.

England's breath hitched.

"Are you South Africa?" he asked.

She shushed him, looking over her shoulder.

"The others are watching the meeting in your world," she said. "But it's best not to alert them. This room has a charm that prevents magic being used. Quickly, outside."

They nodded their heads, making their way towards the dark-haired girl. Once they were over the threshold of the room, she closed the door.

"Let's get out of here," she said.

…

"That's ENOUGH!" Matt shouted, silencing the room.

"This is getting ridiculous," Eva said. "Seriously, is arguing the only thing you guys can do?"

"And to think the South is hoping that you would be valuable allies," Jeng Soo scoffed.

"Dude, we're awesome!" America said. "I'm the hero, and everyone else is my backup."

"Can I hurt him, please?" Matt asked, looking at Matthew.

"I want to hurt him too," Jeng Soo said.

"Same here," Basch said.

"Let's not hurt America," Anika sighed. "At least wait until he says or does something really stupid."

"You're all mean!" America said.

"I kind of like them," Russia said.

"Hey, did you know about this?"

"I met them yesterday. They don't tremble."

"Please, not again," Gabriel sighed.

A scream of pain managed to distract all of them. They looked over towards Russia, or more specifically, the Nation perched on his lap.

"What's going on?" Russia asked.

"Bomb," Alexandru said. "At the Palace of the Parliament."

…

The group looked up when they saw Alida appear, three somewhat familiar figures with her.

"Looks like all went well," Ricardo said.

"I'm surprised myself," Alida said. "So, what is going on?"

"The other Nations can't run a meeting," Mahesh said.

The three magical Nations groaned.

"I'm glad we're not there," Arthur said.

"That would be extra torture I wouldn't be able to stand," Vlad said.

The three jumped when a scream was heard from the other side of the mirror, and Vlad's face paled. Vlad moved until he was standing directly in front of the mirror.

"Alexandru…" he whispered.

And in other news: South Africa received an earthquake of a magnitude of 5.5 (you probably heard it was 5.3, but they changed it). For pretty much all of us, it was the first genuine earthquake we felt. And it could be sensed even in the neighbouring countries. But the reactions were interesting. Since I'm at university, there are students from all over the country, and also neighbouring countries. Those of us that come from mining communities didn't really react much, but there were others that called it the apocalypse. But my friends that are studying geology were extremely excited with that. Said it was their first 'practical demonstration'.