Thanks to Ariaprincess and madders10 for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 102: A New Life

For every life that was lost, a new life takes the place of the old one.

That is in particular true for Nations.

…

Ricardo stared at the baby in shock and wonder. He would estimate the baby as about a week old, and it clearly had Roberto's eyes, and perhaps his own hair.

Just like the reflection.

Ricardo frowned, wondering if the baby was the reflection. If that was the case, then it had worked. They had managed to create a new life from another.

He wondered what fate had befallen Roberto, and decided to deal with that later. But for now, he had other things to worry about.

Namely the fact that he was in Roberto's home, in his counterpart's version of their country.

It was a lot warmer here. Ricardo was surprised to feel such warmth that wasn't part of a desert country. It was… nice. It wasn't stifling, and he could feel the uplifting atmosphere. It was something that he couldn't have imagined in his wildest dreams, but thinking about Roberto, it all made sense.

The baby cooed, and he looked down at it, a smile on his face.

"This is your home, little one," Ricardo said. "This wonderful country. This… bright country. Even inside this house, I can feel it. It's wonderful."

He realised that he would need to give the baby to someone to take care of, preferably Miguel. The Portuguese was the best choice.

Ricardo chuckled. Never in his life would he have thought of Portugal as the best Nation to raise him – his childhood with one was proof enough of that. But seeing the lack of resentment that Roberto held for Miguel and the other's actions towards his counterpart had proven that he could trust Miguel in raising his new counterpart.

His stomach growled and he blushed, and the baby giggled at the sound.

"You're probably hungry as well," Ricardo said. "I'll… think of something for you to eat. On second thought, why don't we meet Papa Portugal?"

He shuddered as he uttered those words, the name feeling wrong on his tongue.

…

"What the hell is going on?!" Anika asked, her expression panicked. "Portugal?!"

Miguel flinched at the harsh tone, the Afrikaans expression of his name stabbing his ear. He sat up, crying out in pain as his arm was jarred by the movement. Will was by his side in an instant, examining his arm.

"This is bad," Will said. "The bones in his arm are utterly destroyed." He looked towards his brothers. "We're going to need a lot of magic to fix this."

"Are we forgetting the fact that Robbie has been taken by the Deathplayers?!" Anika demanded.

"I also want to know what Ricardo meant by 'fulfilling your promise'," Alida said, eyes on Miguel.

Seeing two South Africans looking at him with different types of anger, Miguel swallowed nervously.

"Roberto said that he didn't want to be a Red," Miguel explained. "And… we have a way that might defeat the Deathplayers, or at least stop their game. But it… there's a chance that the Nation will cease to exist as a person."

Anika looked at him, astounded, and Alida closed her eyes.

"So there's a chance that Roberto is dead," Alida said.

"S-sim," he said, his voice cracking.

When she put it like that, things became clear, and there was indeed a chance that his former colony, whom he had spent a good deal of time protecting the last few days, was dead. The alternative was that he had become a Red, and that option didn't offer a pleasant thought either.

Tears started to stream down his face at the thought that he had lost Roberto forever. Everyone was quiet as the shock was absorbed. A few had tears as well, and the remaining three potential Reds were wondering if they would do the same.

…

The Kirkland brothers were working on healing Miguel's arm when Ricardo returned. He was carrying something wrapped in a blanket, and he examined the scene in front of him.

"What's the damage report?" he asked.

"Well, every single bone in his arm had been broken," Alistair said. "Even all of the bones in his hand."

"Sim," Miguel said, sounding dejected. "And Roberto is either dead or a Red."

"Well, I'm not collapsed on the floor, incapable of movement, so I know he's not a Red," Ricardo said. "And I'll see later what has become of him. For now, I think there's someone you need to meet."

Miguel looked up at him, and Ricardo smiled, bringing the bundle in his arms closer. Miguel's eyes widened, and he looked up at Ricardo with confusion.

"A baby?" he asked.

"Sim," Ricardo said. "A baby who used to be a little ball of down, whose egg hatched last night."

The sleeping baby scrunched its eyes, before opening them, looking at Miguel, who gasped at the sight.

"Roberto's eyes…" Miguel said.

"Sim," Ricardo said, a huge grin on his face. "This is Roberto reborn."

At that news, Anika also came closer, staring at the baby with wide eyes.

"So this is what's going to happen to us?" she asked. "We become babies?"

"Looks like it," Ricardo said. "We don't know yet if Roberto Junior has any of Roberto's memories or not."

"Can I… hold him?" Anika asked.

Ricardo smiled, before handing the bundle to her. She had a soft smile on her face, cooing at the baby.

"I was thinking that you would be the best person to take care of him," Ricardo said, looking at Miguel.

Miguel smiled.

"I'm glad you think so," Miguel said. "Although, that would have to wait until my arm is healed."

Matthew and Jett had gone closer to Anika, looking at the baby in her arms. Jett held out his finger, and the baby grabbed it, giggling in amusement.

"I was going to do this process myself," Ricardo said. "As soon as I find someone suitable to take care of me. Our Portugal isn't an option."

"And I'm out as well," Alida said. "If we do this too."

"Well, you'd be easy to find a caretaker for," Bruce said. "Just ask Egypt to do it."

Alida looked towards Omar, who nodded her head.

"So, all of us will need to be reborn?" Matthew asked.

"Sim," Ricardo said. "That's the best way."

"Who wants to tell France and the others the news?" Alida asked, an amused glint in her eyes.

"I'll ask Ferdinand to tell Romania's group," Ricardo said. "I just wish we'd be able to see their reactions."

…

Tolys, Oliver and James were watching the Deathplayers and the Reds react in confusion. They didn't know what happened, but the trio did.

Luckily, their shock managed to hide the fact that they had knowledge about what had happened.

"That…" James began.

"That was one of the scariest things I've ever seen," Oliver finished.

"Is that going to happen to us?" Tolys asked.

"I believe so," Oliver said. "I mean, after all, we've already created our eggs. There's nothing stopping the others from taking the hatchlings to our countries, and…"

"Yeah," James said. "Nothing stopping them."

"Do you think we should find a way to buy ourselves more time?" Tolys asked.

"We can make a suggestion," Oliver said. "You know… Tell them to wait until they have everyone first. And then they can… go at the same time."

"Yeah," Tolys said. "I think we can make that work."

…

Francois, Alejandro and Gilen stared at the Nations in surprise.

Anika was carrying the baby Roberto, and Matt, Matthew and Alistair were there. Matt was smirking, his eyes trained on Francois, and obviously enjoying the news that he had just delivered.

"Nein," Gilen said. "Are you crazy?! Nein, nein, nein!"

"I agree with him," Alejandro said. "How do we know this isn't some trap?"

"Because we'll be doing it too," Matthew said. "And this is a good way to stop the Deathplayers."

"Non," Francois said. "I'd rather watch the world burn than go through with it."

"If you don't…" Alistair said, a mad gleam in his eyes, "we'll expose you to some of the worst tortures in our world."

"And what could you do that would possibly be able to convince us?" Alejandro asked.

Alistair smirked, looking at Matthew and Anika, who had their eyebrows raised.

"These two have some of the most powerful forms of sonic torture in the world," Alistair said. "The vuvuzela and Justin Bieber."

The two narrowed their eyes, and Matt burst out laughing.

"Oh, that is good," Matt said. "That is seriously good."

"You familiar with it?" Alistair asked.

"Yeah. I've had the displeasure of catching both of them. And I think that it would change their minds pretty fast."

"There is nothing you can do that would convince us," Francois said.

"Really?" Alistair asked, a grin on his face. "I think I can use a spell for that."

Alistair snapped his fingers, and everyone jumped as the sound of Bieber and at least a hundred vuvuzelas were heard simultaneously. The three prone Nations twisted their faces at the sound, and the baby started crying.

"See you later," Alistair said as the group left through the door.

"Skotland," Anika said. "If it weren't for the fact that I'm holding a baby, I would smack you right now."

"Then I'm glad you're holding the baby," Alistair said. "Although I think we could have added his crying to our sonic torture."

She glared at him as she was attempting to shush the baby, and Matthew sighed.

"How long is the spell going to last?" Matthew asked.

"Until we come back in, say an hour," Alistair said, a nasty smirk on his face. "Plenty of time for them to change their minds."

…

Marius and Sigurd were looking at Ferdinand with shocked expressions, and so did the rest of the Nordics. Lobsang was nearby, confirming what Ferdinand had said.

"So, let me get this straight," Marius said. "You basically want us to kill ourselves in order to stop the Deathplayers."

"Si!" Ferdinand said. "And you get to be little babies again."

"I don't think I like that idea," Sigurd said. "We'd be helpless. Who's going to take care of us?"

"I would," Gabriel said, a smile on his face. "And then you would have to call me 'Big Brother'."

Sigurd shuddered at that, but Emil looked thoughtful, a small smile playing on his lips as he thought about doing so with Lukas.

"There is no way in hell," Marius said.

"What's worse?" Lobsang asked. "Having to lie there the whole time as you wait for the Deathplayers to inevitably come for you, or being turned into babies?"

"Also, the option with the babies has the satisfaction of ruining the Deathplayers' game," Ferdinand pointed out.

Marius and Sigurd shared a glance.

"How satisfactory could that possibly be?" Marius asked.

"Well, they have been planning it for centuries…" Ferdinand said.

Marius's mouth twitched, but he quickly composed his face.

"We'll think about it," Marius said.

"We will?" Sigurd asked.

"Da. But this is going to need a long discussion. Alone."

…

Lucy and Andrew exchanged a glance as, once again, Sheila and Jack seemed to zone out.

Their counterparts seemed to be doing that quite often, and it concerned the other two a fair amount. They wondered if they should bring this up with Jett.

Suddenly Sheila seemed to shake herself from her stupor and she smiled.

"Hey, why don't we play a game?" she asked. "Do you know hide-and-seek?"

…

Elizabeta sighed, seeing that Andrei was still unconscious. It worried her that he would be out for so long. The others didn't take this long in waking up, so why…?

It seemed almost deliberate. As though the Moldovan knew something that the Deathplayers didn't want anyone else to know, and they were keeping him under in order to prevent him from telling anyone about what he knew. But what could he possibly know?

"Is he still asleep?" a voice asked, and Elizabeta jumped, subconsciously reaching for her frying pan.

She turned to see Lobsang and Ferdinand, both looking at the unconscious Moldovan.

"Yeah," Elizabeta said. "It's strange, isn't it?"

Ferdinand nodded his head, but Lobsang narrowed his eyes.

"We would need to see if we can reach him," the Tibetan said, confusing Elizabeta.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Never mind. Venezuela, we have work to do."

She watched with confusion as the two left, and she turned her gaze back to the Moldovan.

…

Anika had handed the baby Roberto to Will, and she, Matthew and Jett were in the mirror room with Ricardo, prepared to go into the world that the Brazilian had created.

They had all come to the conclusion that they would rather cease to exist than become a Red, and they had all agreed that they would have their phoenixes taken to their capitals if the Deathplayers were to capture them. They absolutely refused to become Reds.

"Close your eyes," Ricardo said. "And empty your minds."

"Too bad none of us are America, right?" Jett joked, and the other two had to hide their smiles.

"That's a bit unfair," Matthew said. "Al has his moments."

Ricardo sighed in frustration, before he held out his hands.

"It looks like I'm going to have to guide the three of you very carefully," he said. "Form a circle, and take each other's hands."

They did so, and he sighed in relief.

"Now close your eyes, and try not to think of anything, including jokes."

The three closed their eyes, and as they sat there, they felt some sort of jolt, as though they were being pulled down. Soon they couldn't feel anything, but then they felt ground beneath their feet, and they opened their eyes.

"Whoa," Jett said, looking around.

"My feelings exactly," Anika said.

"It's about time," a voice said. "We were thinking that you'd never show."

They turned to see Tolys, Felic, Mahesh, James, Oliver and Nicolai waiting impatiently. Ricardo sighed, walking closer, the other three following.

"We had a bit of a situation this morning," Ricardo said. "Roberto was taken. And the birds are reborn as babies."

"Babies?" Felic asked. "Oh no, please, not that…"

"How did that happen?" Oliver asked. "Also, I think it would interest you to know that while he was being transformed into a Red, Roberto just stopped screaming, and…"

"He turned into ashes," Tolys finished. "Trust me, it wasn't a pretty sight."

"Scary, actually," James said.

"Did he seem in pain?" Ricardo asked.

"Don't know," Oliver said. "He was screaming while being turned into a Red. I imagine it's as painful for them as it is for us. So…"

"I don't feel so sure about this," Anika said, sinking to her knees.

Mahesh approached her and he crouched down beside her.

"It will be alright," Mahesh said. "I don't know what's going to happen, but… I'm sure it'll be a temporary pain, if there is any. Don't worry."

She shook her head, her breathing getting heavy. Jett's eyes widened, as though he suddenly understood.

"Was fire involved?" he asked. "You said he turned into ashes, right?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it fire," James said. "It was more a light, but…"

"You hear that?" Jett asked, crouching down beside Anika. "You're not going to burn."

Matthew gasped, and the others turned to him.

"She's worried about burning," Matthew said, turning to them. "In the Anglo-Boer War, Arthur used the scorched earth policy against her, and, well… she has a bit of a fear of being burned. She can handle controlled fires just fine, but a wildfire…"

"I see," James said. "Don't worry, there were no fires involved."

Anika's breathing seemed to calm, and she nodded her head, standing up.

"Let's do this," she said. "You said we just need to stand in front of one of these mirrors, nè?"

"That's right," Ricardo said. "You know the process is complete when something about the reflection changed."

The three nodded, and they each moved until they were standing in front of a mirror. For a moment nothing happened, and then the reflections started to morph.

Matthew's reflection's hair became a little lighter, until it was the same shade as Matt's hair. Jett's green eyes were replaced by blue, and Anika's green eyes were replaced by Alida's brown, almost black eyes.

"Hey, a thought just came to me," Jett said. "They look kind of like they could be the kids of us and our counterparts."

Everyone tensed, some shuddering, as the mental image assaulted their minds. Anika walked over to Jett before smacking him on the back of the head, making him wince, before he burst out laughing.

"Please don't let Hungary, Japan or Taiwan hear you," Matthew groaned. "You know how the three of them are with things like that."

Jett stopped laughing, a look of horror appearing on his face, which prompted a fit of giggles from Anika.

"As Raj would say," Anika said, "karma!"

The others started laughing, but they stopped when three figures suddenly appeared: Lobsang, Ferdinand and Andrei.

"It was tricky finding this one's consciousness," Ferdinand said. "The Deathplayers seemed to have made sure that he would stay sleeping."

"Hey, welcome to the party," Jett said.

"Did they explain how this would work?" Ricardo asked.

"Da," Andrei said. "But I need to tell you something. When the Deathplayers were taking Alexandru, they made sure to send me out of the room, and they sent Romano out of the room as well. They wanted to be alone with Alexandru."

"But I don't see how that was possible," Anika said. "I mean, weren't you guys with the Micro Nations?"

"Da, that's what I'm trying to tell you. The Micro Nations have been made into their puppets. They used the Micros to get to Alexandru."

Matthew and Anika turned to look at Jett, who was staring at the Moldovan with eyes wide.

"That means…" Matthew said.

"Hutt River and Wy," Anika whispered.

"That's why they insisted on coming with us," Jett said. "Because they're the Deathplayers' puppets."

Anyone would agree that Justin Bieber is a form of sonic torture, and in the Polandball comics the vuvuzela is described as South Africa's weapon for psychological warfare. And the 2Ps are used to pain, but this would be a new torture for them.

A lot of words in Afrikaans are spelled similar to the English counterparts, but there's usually a pronunciation difference. 'Portugal' in Afrikaans has a sound like the German 'ch', which makes the word a little harsher on the ear, especially when said loudly.