Thanks to stormpix, Mx Akiyata and madders10 for reviewing.

Okay, so just in case you lost track, here's what happened in the last few chapters: Norway was claimed as a Red, and Japan thought to have a chip created that would be able to track the future Reds and also hopefully interfere with whatever signal the Deathplayers are using to control the Reds, and had enlisted the help of several other Nations that are good with technology, including 2PIreland, 2PSlovenia and 2PEthiopia. Because the thread between the two Norways weren't properly severed, Lukas came to personally sever it with a powerful telepathic pulse that affected all the other potential Reds, everyone with the magic touch, and their counterparts. Then they also used the pulse to make the current Reds a little more coherent, in other words they're less animal, but still Reds. Oh, and the Major Players, aka the Beasts, were attacking random Nations and their cities through natural disasters or by killing the population personally. And in the chaos England and Romania were taken as well. The UK bros had their magic restored, and the Deathplayers decided to show them why the chip wouldn't be able to work by having the different devices go haywire. And I think that's pretty much it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 84: A Brother's Love

Blood is thicker than water.

But both shall flow as equals.

…

Everyone was freaking out when their cell phones and any other form of technology in their possession started going haywire. They couldn't understand what was going on, with the exception of the scientific group, who were trying hard to find each of the potential Reds.

Yared went to search for Omar and Anika, since he didn't want to deal with his leader if her counterpart was captured, and Michael went to check on his brother. He ran into Kiku, and he immediately knew that something was wrong.

"Is Oliver alright?" he immediately asked.

Kiku nodded her head, and with the exception of her wide eyes looked perfectly calm.

"What's going on?" she asked. "They said that their counterparts are here."

"They're not wrong," Michael said. "But you shouldn't have left them alone."

"They wanted me to get other magic Nations to their location," Kiku explained. "They didn't seem to be worried about me leaving them."

Michael sighed, before he went towards his brother's room, the Japanese woman having gone to inform the other magical Nations about the darker versions of the magic trio wanting to see them. And that while the lighter versions of the magic trio were attacking.

Michael walked into the room and saw Sigurd and Oliver holding onto Marius. He had to pause for a moment, as he had never seen the three of them afraid like that before.

"What's wrong?" Michael asked, walking closer.

"They're here," Oliver whispered, eyes wide. He was trembling as well. "I can sense Artie. He… what have I done?"

Michael sighed, turning towards Marius, the most rational member of the magic trio. Marius looked towards him with wide eyes.

"We share a soul with our counterparts," Marius explained. "And now… Our souls have been ripped apart. Their very souls have been tainted, or at least what was left of them. And we can sense those souls. It's… It's…"

"It's almost gone!" Sigurd explained.

Michael's eyes widened, finally understanding why they were so afraid. To damage the souls was tricky and dangerous, for all parties involved. The fact that the Deathplayers did it so easily was extremely terrifying for him. But what terrified him more was that his brother's soul was now incomplete, and the other half was with the enemy. And the fact that Russia was nervous about the Reds was enough to convince him that it was an extremely horrible thing.

But now that he knew that the souls were involved, he started questioning whether or not they would be able to create something that would interfere with what the Deathplayers were doing to the Reds. Affecting the soul took a lot of powerful magic, possibly even more than the magic that was now in the air, and which had made their technology useless.

The Deathplayers were telling them, in their own subtle way, that they wouldn't be able to stop them with the chip that they were creating. And what disturbed him was the fact that he didn't know whether or not they were gloating or if it was just another move in their game.

"I really don't like them," Michael sighed.

…

The Deathplayers watched for a moment, fully aware of what was going on inside, before they turned to the Reds.

"I think that's enough for now," the England Deathplayer said.

"What?" Vlad asked. "But… Aren't we going to…?"

"You're not ready to attack them yet," the Romania Deathplayer said. "You can't even touch your counterparts yet. We need to wait for everyone to be together."

"But what if we don't attack our counterparts?" Lukas asked. "What if we attack one of the other Nations?"

"You are not ready for that yet either," the Norway Deathplayer said. "But if you insist, why don't you kill Emil?"

Lukas smirked and nodded his head.

"And what about us?"

The Deathplayers turned around to look at their other five Reds, as well as the India Deathplayer that stood nearby. They focused on him.

"I wasn't aware that you would bring them along for our field trip," the Romania Deathplayer said.

"Could you say 'no' to these sweet, bloodthirsty eyes?" the India Deathplayer joked.

The England Deathplayer chuckled, before he turned to look at Fletcher and Raj.

"Why don't you work on your Counterpart Pieces?" he asked.

The two blinked before they smirked, nodding their heads.

"And what of mine?" Dimitri asked.

"You'll have to wait a while," the Norway Deathplayer said. "It's not wise at this point in time."

The Reds nodded, and three of them disappeared.

"I think it's time to head back, don't you?" the England Deathplayer asked cheerfully.

"I'll keep an eye on him," the Norway Deathplayer said.

"And I'll make sure the other two don't get into too much trouble," the India Deathplayer said.

The Deathplayers and Reds departed, and the storm calmed.

But inside, another storm was about to rage.

…

Ludwig was running through the hallways, searching for Gilbert. She had run into Kiku, who had informed her about what was apparently going on with the Red magic trio being there, and she immediately grew worried about her brother-turned-sister.

She rounded a corner and crashed into someone, and the two tumbled to the ground. She forced herself to her knees, in too much of a hurry to apologise to the other, until she saw who it was.

"Jana?" she pondered. "Aren't you supposed to be with Südafrika?"

The Namibian shook her head, trying to recover from their crash. She smiled up at the German.

"Ja, but I wanted to ask the UK brothers where England keeps his yarn, or whatever," Jana said. "Apparently he liked to knit. Anika's going to see if she can use the same magic she used in her anklet to help the rest of the Africans in case, you know, our old wounds reopen. But what's the rush?"

"Apparently there are Reds here," Ludwig said. "I want to make sure that Gilbert is alright. You should probably go back to your sister."

Jana shook her head, a worried look on her face.

"I don't think they're going to go after Anika," Jana said. "Gilbert would be a better target."

"What do you mean?"

"A few nights ago, she came to me to ask if she was a good big sister. I could see it was bothering her, and it wasn't the only thing. I've been keeping an eye on her, but then… this happened."

She gestured to the wound on her arm, and Ludwig understood.

"Do you think they did that because you were getting close to Gilbert?" Ludwig asked.

"Ich weisse nicht," Jana said. "I know Sammy and Farai were attacked because they told England and Romania about what happened in Africa with the Deathplayers. So it's possible. But they've left us alone with Anika, which means they're not targeting her. For now."

"But they are targeting Gilbert," Ludwig said. "We need to get to her. I want to make sure she's alright."

"You are right on many counts," a familiar voice said, and they froze. "But you're not going to help her."

They turned to see someone that looked like a blonde, blue-eyed version of the male version of Gilbert. After what Roderich had told them, they knew that this was the Prussia Deathplayer.

"What are you doing here?" Jana asked, and the two women finally made it to their feet.

"I thought I'd take an opportunity that presented itself to me."

…

Jett sighed in frustration, and he wondered when his dear uncle Seamus would be coming back. He knew he was on the boisterous side, but this…

Why was he teamed up with Heracles and Sadiq again?

Cyprus stood nearby, and it seemed as though he was asking himself that very same question.

The Australian sighed, watching the three Mediterranean Nations as Greece and Turkey were arguing about something yet again and Cyprus was trying to get them to stop.

"They don't make good bodyguards, do they?"

Before Jett could make a sound of alarm a hand was placed over his mouth, and while the other was smaller, he could feel that he had become much stronger.

"Why don't we have a little chat, Oz?" the other said lowly so that only he could hear.

Jett closed his eyes as Fletcher dragged him away from the Nations that were supposed to be watching him.

…

Roberto suppressed a groan of annoyance. Miguel, Sofia and Angela were supposed to be watching him, but…

They were doing too good of a job. They were fussing over him, and it was seriously starting to get annoying.

He wondered briefly if he could see what Anika was up to, and if she was in a similar situation as him. Because he seriously wanted to see Lars acting protective over her. It was just something that one didn't see very often.

They looked up when Will entered the room, looking out of breath.

"Is something wrong?" Miguel asked.

"There are Reds here," Will explained.

Roberto had to suppress a groan as Sofia threw her arms around him in a protective gesture.

"Do you know who it is?" Miguel asked.

"I know of Arthur, at the very least," Will said.

Miguel flinched, and Roberto knew that he felt guilty about what happened to his old friend.

"Where is he now?" Miguel asked.

"I don't know. We just needed to make sure that the other potential Reds are still alright."

"Well, none of them are coming near Roberto, that's for sure."

"I don't have to be near you," a voice whispered.

Roberto gasped, but the others didn't seem to notice, as they were focused on the conversation between the Portuguese and the Welshman. He knew that voice, it was impossible for him not to know the voice.

It was Raj.

He looked around, but he couldn't see his old friend at all. It just made the situation feel worse for him.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Roberto?" Raj continued to whisper.

What do you want? Roberto mouthed, not in the mood to draw any attention from the others at the moment.

"I just want to chat," Raj said. "Do you really think they'd be able to protect you when the time comes?"

Roberto didn't respond, knowing that they probably wouldn't be able to. After all, they've already managed to get half of the Reds, and they still didn't know how to stop them.

"I thought so," Raj said. "I can't wait until we're on the same side again. The IBSA trio complete once again. You know, our counterparts showed me that we could be a formidable force. And as Reds, we'd be even more so. So just wait a little longer, Roberto. You, me and Anika will be allies once again."

"Roberto?" Miguel's voice asked, and the Brazilian snapped out of his trance. "Are you alright?"

He realised that he was trembling, and he swallowed nervously.

"I'm scared," he admitted.

And this time he didn't have to suppress a groan as Miguel took him into a comforting embrace. He just clung to that a little longer.

…

Emil and Gabriel had taken over Sigurd's task of sifting through the legends for something potentially useful. So far, they've had no such luck.

"Why do we have so much folklore anyway?" Emil asked himself, putting a book away.

"I'm not sure," Gabriel said, "but some of these are really entertaining."

Emil shook his head, but didn't say anything. He already knew that his counterpart didn't have that in his world, and figured that he might as well allow him to dream for the first time in his life.

"I can think of something else that would be entertaining."

The two cried out in alarm as they were suddenly trapped to their seats by an encasing of ice. They tried to struggle, but that did nothing. Eventually, they turned their frightened gazes towards Lukas, who was watching them with a hint of amusement.

"W-what a-are y-you d-doing h-here?" Emil stuttered, partly out of cold, and partly out of seeing his brother there.

"I wanted to see you," Lukas said.

No, this wasn't Lukas. There was too much amusement in his voice, his eyes were too bright, and he looked…

He looked as though he was enjoying Emil's fear.

Lukas stalked closer, and Emil shrank back as much as his prison would allow. Gabriel was struggling, but they both froze when Lukas stood directly in front of Emil.

"Tell me something, Emil," Lukas said. "How did you feel when I was claimed as a Red? Were you happy? Or did you feel like a complete failure?"

"Stop," Emil whimpered, closing his eyes.

His eyes snapped open when he felt Lukas's hand around his neck, the grip already too tight. He heard Gabriel cry out in alarm, but he could do nothing as he looked into his brother's blue eyes. They weren't dull, but… They were shallow. Unlike how Lukas's eyes normally were, you could see the emotions, but they were limited.

Emil winced when he felt the grip tighten, and he could feel as his airway was completely restricted. He didn't even think Lukas was this strong.

"You'll be the first Nation that dies at the hands of the Reds," Lukas said.

"No!" he heard Gabriel shout, but he could only look into his brother's uncaring blue eyes.

"Please," he gasped out. "Stop. Big Brother."

To his surprise the hand was yanked away with a cry of pain, and Emil sucked in a few needed breaths.

When he recovered enough he turned his attention to Lukas once again, who was clutching his hair, trembling violently.

It took Emil a moment to process what had happened, and his eyes widened with realisation.

"Big Brother," Emil tried again, and Lukas cried out, as though in pain.

"Do you understand now?" a voice said.

The two Icelanders turned to see the Norway Deathplayer, his eyes on Lukas.

"It hurts," Lukas whimpered. "Make it stop."

The Deathplayer smirked.

"As you wish. Return home."

Lukas nodded, before he disappeared. The two Icelanders cried out once again, before the Deathplayer turned his gaze to them.

"If you think you can use that to your advantage, you'd be wrong," he said. "But you will die, eventually." He smirked. "I'll make Lukas do that."

"Let him go!" Emil demanded.

"Not likely," the Deathplayer said. "Until we see each other again."

And the Deathplayer disappeared.

"Now we have another problem," Gabriel sighed.

The ice still held them prisoner.

…

Fletcher dragged him to another room, and finally let him go. The Australian immediately scrambled away, trying to put as much distance as possible between them. Fletcher only smirked in amusement.

"What's the matter, Oz?" Fletcher taunted. "Scared of little old me?"

"You're not Kiwi," Jett said, swallowing thickly. "You can't be."

"Oh, but I am," Fletcher said. "I have to say, I rather enjoy being Red. Do you want to see?"

"No. Please, just go away."

"Aw, and here I thought you'd want to catch up. But don't worry. Once you become a Red, we'll have all the time in the world to catch up." Fletcher smirked, and suddenly he was right in front of Jett. "This is a fate you can't escape, so why don't you just accept that?"

Jett shook his head, and Fletcher chuckled. He paused however, tilting his head slightly, as though he heard something.

"It would seem as though it's time for me to leave," Fletcher said. "Also, it would seem the Major Players are attacking Tuvalu with a flood in Tukelau. Oh well. I'll see you soon."

And Jett sighed in relief when Fletcher was gone.

…

Gilbert sighed, looking between Elizaveta and Natalya, who were both complaining about their counterparts, who apparently had the same types of personalities and the same love for the colour pink.

"This is almost painful," Mathias said.

Gilbert had to agree with that, but neither of them dared to interrupt the two women. It was suicide in its finest form.

"Will these two ever shut up?" a voice asked.

The four Nations tensed and turned to see the Prussia Deathplayer, standing nearby with a smirk on his face. Mathias, Natalya and Elizaveta immediately moved to place themselves between the two Prussias.

"What do you want?" Mathias demanded.

The Deathplayer smirked.

"Simple. I want our sixth Pawn."

"There's no way," Elizaveta said, taking out her frying pan.

The Deathplayer smirked, before snapping his fingers. To the Nations' horror, Jana and Ludwig appeared at his feet, covered in blood.

"You arschloch!" Gilbert shouted, glaring at the Deathplayer.

The Deathplayer tilted his head, and Ludwig cried out when a cut appeared on her cheek.

"I can do this all day, you know," the Deathplayer said, and suddenly cuts appeared on the three bodyguards. "Your move, Gilbert."

Gilbert swallowed nervously, looking towards her younger sisters. The Deathplayer had put them through a lot of pain, judging by the blood, the amount of cuts along their bodies, and how pale their skins were.

Gilbert stepped past Elizaveta and Natalya, a solemn look on her face. She winced when she felt sharp nails digging into her shoulder, and knew that Natalya had grabbed her.

"You're not taking one step further," Natalya snarled.

"If I don't, West and South-West will only get hurt," Gilbert said. "It's the duty of the older sibling to protect their kleine geschwester, no matter what the cost."

Gilbert wrenched herself free from Natalya's grip and walked towards the Deathplayer. And for a brief moment, she understood how her smug looks always tended to annoy the others around her.

"Smart choice," the Deathplayer said, taking Gilbert into his arms in a mock-embrace.

Gilbert closed her eyes, as the world started to spin, and before she knew it, she was in a cave with the other former Nations.

She swallowed, before she screamed as pain ripped through her body.

She was becoming Red.

Yeah, and here's an explanation as to why the Deathplayers aren't using the Reds to attack the Nations yet. There's still a small part of them that can be reached, and the Deathplayers aren't taking any chances.

And did you notice that pretty much every scene has something to do with a brother or a brother figure?