Chapter Six

Mount Everest, Himalayas

Being on different teams meant a different starting point for the Axis Powers, Allied Forces, and the Austrian Succession team on Mt. Everest. This was a race to get to the "top", or checkpoint on this Challenge, which in this case was a cave in the side of the mountain. They had to recover a lost jewel from the cave and record their position in the journal. Sounds easy, right? But this was called a Challenge for a reason. Nothing was that simple. As the man said… "Your life will be constantly in danger." It was just before dawn.

They were all dressed in black boots, goggles, pants, and gloves, but each person had a different hooded jacket color.

"Why you not cold?" asked May-Ling. She hugged herself to keep warm as they treaded on. China was cold, but this was ridiculous.

"I am being used to this. It is not cold at all," Ivan replied. He smiled and walked ahead. His long, white scarf blew in the wind behind him.

"Damn," Alfred sighed. "I knew I should've brought my snow shoes…"

"We lucky to have jackets!" May-Ling snapped at him.

"Yeah, I guess they were nice enough to give us that, at least…" Alfred mumbled and followed Ivan. "Hope he knows where he's going cuz I sure don't…"

"Now I know I will die…" May-Ling mumbled and followed them.


"Hey, Ludwig?" asked Feliciano. "I'm c-c-cold…" He hugged himself to keep warm.

"I know it's cold," Ludwig answered. "But ve must push on…" he went ahead. He took it upon himself to be the leader.

Kiku nodded. I hardly know these people and now I have to join them? He thought. Maybe I was safer on plane…

"BBBBBRRRRR!" Feliciano shivered and took Kiku's arm, trying to keep warm.

"Uh," Kiku said, in a meager voice. "Please refrain from touching me!" he cried, and pushed Feliciano away and the Italian landed on his butt in the snow.

"AAAAHHHH!" Feliciano shot up and ran to Ludwig. "It's-a so cold!"

"Quiet, Dummkopf!" the German warned. "Do you vant to cause an avalanche?!" he hushed himself up pretty quick once he realized he could cause one, too.

Feliciano and Kiku looked at him. He sighed and the warm vapor from his mouth met the cold vapor in the air, forming a cloud every time he talked or breathed. "Ve must do zis togezer or go home, with shame…"

The Japanese and the Italian both nodded and they followed the German's lead.


"Ay Carumba," Antonio complained. "I am not used to da snow, mi Amigo."

Gilbert and Francis looked back at the Spaniard, who was standing still and shivering.

"I don't think I can make it…" Antonio mumbled, shaking.

Gilbert and Francis looked at each other. What was his problem? It was cold, but Germany and France was cold, too. Wait…then they realized. Antonio was from Spain, a tropical climate. No wonder!

Gilbert sighed and walked to his friend. "It vill be fine. Just be awesome like me, and pretend you are on skiing vacation…." He put his arm around his to keep him standing up.

Antonio nodded, but then he said, "I've never been skiing…"

Francis shook his head. "Oh, no, no, no. Zis will not do!"

He put his arm around his other arm and the three of them treaded forward.

"Ve must get to zat jewel before ze ozers!" the Prussian reminded them. "But at zis pace, ve von't!"

Arthur sighed. I think I'm getting altitude sickness…How did I get involved with those clowns? Might as well make the best of it and keep up. Safety in numbers, and all…


The Allied Forces had been walking for hours, and it was nearing noon. Alfred had been complaining most of the time, and Ivan had taken off his jacket because he complained about it being too hot. Now he wore a white tank with a rope around his right arm and a pickax at his right hip. He still wore his white scarf. They others thought he was crazy, but he was right at home. In fact, he said something about being on vacation, which confused them even further…

"Dude, I'm so hungry!" Alfred complained. "I haven't ate since like…" he mentally counted and pointed to each finger… "5 hours ago!"

"Congratulations, you know how to count to five!" May-Ling sarcastically commented. "You die of Type 2 diabetes before you die on mountain!"

"Dude, don't be hatin', eat some bacon!" the American humored the situation. Then they stopped. They had come upon a huge gap in the mountain and the bridge was broken. Alfred took off his hood and goggles to get a better look. "Oh, great, what now?" asked Alfred. "They don't kid when they said, 'Challenge', eh?"

"AIYA!" May-Ling cried. "How we cross that? Now what?!"

But before anyone could think of what to do, Ivan had tied two knives to the toe of each boot and leapt across the gap; pickax attached to a long rope in his right hand and landed vertically against the cliff, right above a ledge. Now there was a single rope hanging from their ledge to his.

"That'll work," said Alfred. He and May-Ling nodded and shrugged and started to climb the rope horizontally using their arms and legs. "Dude, if I don't get off this mountain soon, I'll have a major brain freeze!"

"Too late for that…" May-Ling mumbled, under her breath.


The Axis Powers had finally reached the halfway point. It was marked with a bright yellow flag. They had been on this mountain for two days already. It was smooth sailing so far…but Mount Everest had claimed many hopeful lives and the wind was staring to pick up.

"Finally!" Feliciano threw his arms in the air and added, "VE!"

"Ja, finally…" Ludwig agreed. "It's about time…"

"We have been walking for hours! Can we rest?" asked the worn-out Japanese man.

"Ja, ja, vell deserved…" Ludwig took off his pack and laid it in the snow. "Hhhhh…" he breathed, as he sat down.

"Oh…" Kiku sat on a rock.

"Aaahhh!" Feliciano melted down, as if like snow.

"Ve rest for less zan 10 minutes…" Ludwig told them. "Zen ve push on!"

"O…k!" Feliciano saluted him. He was cheery despite how cold it was.

"Ze cave should be…." Ludwig held the map in his hand and his other hand was resting on his chin, thinking. "A few miles north of here…about….10 miles left!" He stood up, proud and ready to go. But Kiku and Feliciano were dozing off!

"Hey!" the German kicked them and they stirred.

"Five more minutes, mom…" mumbled Kiku, and then he shot up and cried, "Ah! I'm awake!"

The Italian still snored.

"Get up!" the German picked him up by the hood and shouted.

"AHH! Mamma Mia!" Feliciano shook his head and started to open his eyes.

"Don't fall asleep…" Kiku warned. "Or you won't wake up…"

"AAHHHH!" Feliciano cried and ran to Ludwig for safety.

"Get off me!" the German shook him off his leg.

It was a sight and Kiku started to quietly snicker to himself.

When Ludwig finally got him off, he said, "time's up. Let's go!" he picked up his backpack and started to walk ahead.

The Italian and Japanese struggled to get theirs and hurried after him.


As the Allied Forces moved closer to the top of the mountain, they could see the opening of the mouth of the cave and two old rope and wood bridges (one on the upper level and one on the bottom level) that didn't look very stable. As they got closer, May-Ling took off her hood and removed her goggles from her eyes and placed them on the top of her head. She smiled. Almost there!

"I hate bridges…" Alfred whined. "They're so uncool…"


Meanwhile, the Austrian Succession Team, or Bad Trio, as they were sometimes called by the other teams, was making their way to the yellow checkpoint flag.

"Ve are so awesome!" the Prussian grinned. "Ve're halfvay!"

"I bet we 'ave beat ze other teams to ze 'alfway point!" Francis nodded. He clasped his hands together in happiness.

"Si," Antonio agreed.

"I-I don't think so, Bloke," Arthur shook his head. "We might want to ask those Chaps…"

The Threesome looked back at Arthur, who was pointing ahead of them. Then they looked back to the front of them…

They froze in their tracks…and their eyes widened.

In front of them…were two creatures of legend: the Yeti! The Yeti roared and spat on the foursome. They took one step back…and another…and another…until they spun around and ran for their lives but the Yeti grabbed Antonio and Arthur!

"Damn!" Gilbert shouted. He stopped and turned to face the creatures, sliding in and kicking up the snow. The snow crunched under his feet.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Francis yelled. He stood behind the Prussian. "Save me!...and Antonio…and that worthless Britain…"

Gilbert took out his gun and shot the Yeti holding Antonio in the eye. The creature roared and threw Antonio in the air. He landed and got up to run. His backpack was thrown farther than him, but right now he didn't dare go for it.

"Hey," Arthur cried. "Don't forget me!"

The Yeti whose eye got shot, drooled and snared at them.

Then the ground started to shake. Gilbert lost his footing and fell forward. Antonio fell backwards. Francis got picked up by the Yeti who once held Antonio.

"An avalanche?" asked Antonio.

The Yeti turned to run, but Gilbert thought quickly.

"SAVE MOI!" cried Francis.

"Go to Hell!" Gilbert shot both of them in the back of the head and they fell forward, revealing Gilbert and his smoking gun. The bullets went right through! He blew the smoke from his gun.

"I-I'm alive!" Arthur realized Francis had landed on top of him! "Get off of me, you bloody Wanker!"

"So sorry," Francis lied.

"Whatever. Thanks to Gilbert, we're alive. No thanks to you, Frog!"

"Oui!" Francis agreed. "Thanks to that wonderful, beautiful man!" He leapt up and ran towards Gilbert.

Gilbert spun the gun around in his hand and put it back into its holster on his left thigh.

Antonio breathed a sigh of relief and picked his backpack up. "I know I'm going loco…"

"Thank goodness YOU brought a gun," Arthur commented. "If I was allowed to…that would've been me saving our 'ides…but nooooo…only 'awesome' people could 'ave one!" He stole a glare at Gilbert.

"I doubt you would even pull ze trigger!" Francis sneered at him.

"You're one to croak, Frog!" Arthur spat back.

Gilbert picked up his pack and continued on without a word.

The other three looked at each other and then shrugged and followed. But the 'dead' bodies of the Yeti twitched…


The rope attached to Ivan's pickax was shaking too much for Alfred's taste. He looked back at May-Ling to see if she noticed. She didn't. Ok… Alfred thought. Maybe it's just me…I should probably cut down on those hamburgers…

Suddenly, the rope broke and May-Ling and Alfred held on tight to the remainder of the rope as it swung over to the side of the gap's cliff! Luckily, it was the side they wanted to be on.

"AIYA!" May-Ling screamed as the rope swung.

"OFFFTT!" Alfred grunted as he hit the side of the cliff. "Ouch…that didn't hurt as bad as I first thought it would..."

May-Ling had to pull herself up, being the furthest from the cliff ledge. She prayed under her breath as she put one hand in front of the other, and climbed up the rope.

Alfred called to her, "hey, Dudette! You ok?"

"Aiya…just fine-aru…" she replied.

"Cool beans," Alfred started to climb up.

Ivan stood on the ledge and bent down to help them up. Alfred got there first and took Ivan's hand as he pulled him up.

"Thanks, Russia!" Alfred smiled at him. He called them their country's name as a pet name or nickname. He pretended to be cool, but he really didn't know their actual names.

Ivan smiled back at him. "You're welcoming, America!" Ivan turned to help May-Ling up but looked down to see she had got her foot stuck and was hanging upside down!

"AIYA!" she screamed. "Help me up! I slipping!"

"Oh, chill China! We got you!" Alfred called. He asked Ivan, "what are we gonna do?"

Ivan smiled as he just pulled the rope up over the ledge.

"Smart ass," replied Alfred.

May-Ling was being pulled up upside-down. "This is ridiculous…" she mumbled.

Ivan pulled her up over the cliff ledge and held her up by her foot in his hand. "I will be saving you, da?"

"Yeah…thanks, I think," she replied.

Ivan untied the knot around May-Ling's ankle and let go so she could stand upwards. May-Ling was glad to be back on solid ground! But the snow under her feet gave way and Ivan caught her by the waist. She stared at him, shocked and blushing. She was looking for something in his eyes.

"Second time I saving you, da?" he smiled, as he spun her inwards away from the ledge and closer to the mountain. He still held her hand.

She blushed and pushed away. "I was fine!" She stormed off.

Ivan shrugged at Alfred, and Alfred nudged him. "Lady Killer," he winked then followed May-Ling. Ivan smiled. Was he oblivious or agreeing? It was hard to tell.


The Axis Powers finally reached the opening of the cave. But they had to cross a rope bridge that wasn't very stable and they hesitated for a moment before Ludwig took a few steps towards the bridge. He tested it for weight and slowly took another step with his other foot. He gestured for the other two that it was safe. They nodded and one-by-one, as the bridge was only wide enough for one-at-a-time, followed the German cautiously. Suddenly, they heard some footsteps above them. The Axis Powers looked up and saw the Bad Trio crossing the rickety bridge above them!

"Suck it, Losers!" Gilbert shouted to them below. "I am AWESOME!" Antonio and Francis were laughing at them!

"GILBERT!" yelled Ludwig after them, but knew his brother never listened to him.

Arthur was lagging behind. He hated this stupid bridge. It felt like it might break anytime soon. He cautiously held onto the rope's rails and dragged his feet.

They met at the cave's entrance and ran inside. It was some kind of temple inside with a giant statue of a goddess. In one of her many upwards raised hands was a ruby! The jewel!

"Oh, no!" Feliciano cried. "They-a gonna get it before usssss!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Kiku drew his grandfather's katana and was about to fight them, when the Allied Forces busted through the wall of the cave with an explosion to shame the Fourth of July.

"TAKE THAT, LOSERS! I'M THE HERO!" Alfred flew through the wall in a Kung Fu flying kick position and landed on Kiku.

"AAAHHH!" Feliciano hid behind Ludwig.

"Where did that explosion come from?" asked Arthur, as he climbed to his feet.

"I brought dynamite with me, da? Just in case!" Ivan held up a stick of dynamite.

"Good gravy, Man!" Arthur cried.

Gilbert saw his chance in the confusion and took off for the jewel!

"No, you don't!" Ludwig chased after him.

"Go, Germany!" yelled Feliciano.

"Which one?" mumbled Alfred, not knowing which one was representing West or East Germany. The German brothers started to climb the statue and attempted to grab the jewel from its hand.

"You should know your enemies, Bloke," Arthur scolded.

"Like you're one to talk!" Alfred shot back. "You're with them!"

"We both know I had no choice in the matter!" Arthur tried to explain. "They had a bloody gun to my head!"

"Blah, blah, blah!" Alfred held his hand out. "Talk to the hand!"

Arthur stood in shock. He blinked a few times. "Are you still blaming me on this? I'm not a backstabber!"

Alfred ignored him. "I have new friends now! Russia and China!"

"Those are your country's enemies, you twit!" Arthur cried. "You don't even have the brain to choose your allies wisely! Besides, Bloke, you owe them money!"

"Says you," Alfred continued to talk to him, even though he had walked away. "Look who's on your team!"

"I just told you! Are you daft, Man? They're-" Arthur pointed to where he thought the Bad Trio was behind him, and turned to see Gilbert and Ludwig fighting over the jewel! "Oh, never mind…" he mumbled and walked to where Francis and Antonio were cheering on Gilbert.

"Box his ears off, Amigo!" Antonio threw a few punches into the air, pretending to box Ludwig.

"Oui! Win one for the team!" Francis agreed. He clapped excitedly.

Arthur rolled his eyes and thought he had no choice but to take one of them out. He tackled Francis.

"Huh?" asked Antonio as he turned to look at them wrestling on the floor. "This is mas exciting!"

Kiku and Feliciano decided that they needed to help Ludwig, so Feliciano picked up a pebble and threw it at Gilbert. He turned and looked at Feliciano and growled.

Ludwig took the distraction to his advantage and pried the jewel out his brother's hand. "Victory!" he held up the jewel in his hand.

"IS MINE!" Gilbert shouted, as if it took great effort, and then he head-butted Ludwig. Ludwig fell to the ground on his back and Gilbert caught the ruby, jumped down, and rolled as he landed on the cave's floor, dramatically. He got to his feet and took off with the jewel! The others on his team followed him and Francis picked up his pack for him.

No longer having anyone to fight, and afraid of the other teams torturing him or something, Arthur followed. "We'll finish this another time, Frog!" he called after them as he ran out.

Ludwig held his face in his hand, trying to calm his pain. He gritted his teeth and then got to his feet. "Zis isn't over…" he warned his brother. "Ze next time ve meet..it von't be as brozers…but Germans…"

"We….lossstttt…" Feliciano sighed.

"Dude….I had it in my hands! Almost…" Alfred sighed.

"You didn't do anything!" May-Ling reminded him.

Suddenly, the temple started to shake. Perhaps it was set as a trap?

"I didn't know this game came with a rumble pack…" Alfred tried to stand, but kept falling.

"It's collapsing!" Kiku cried.

Both teams ran out of the crumbling temple, but Feliciano grabbed the journal. Just as the temple was about to cave-in, the Great 6 dived outside into the snow and the temple was forever closed.

"Zat vas a close one…" Ludwig said, as he got to his feet and dusted off the snow.

"But hey!" Feliciano said, cheerily. "Lookie what I got! Ve!" In his hand was the journal!

Kiku smiled. "They were too involved with getting just the jewel that they forgot about the journal!"

"No way!" Alfred cried. "You need the journal, too?! Give me that!" He attempted to steal it from Feliciano, but he held it away.

"No! I found it! It's the Axis Powers'!"

"Give it to me so that I can write in it and just pretend I have the jewel!"

"That is not bad idea, thanks," smirked Kiku, as he swiped it away from Feliciano.

"One for ze Axis Powers," Ludwig smiled. Maybe they will win this after all!

"Aiya…" May-Ling sighed.

"Oh, Man…no fair…" Alfred whined. "I mean, what if they check us for the jewel?"

"Zen zey vill also check the ozers for ze journal," Ludwig stated.

"So it's a tie? Ve!" Feliciano smiled and threw his arms into the air.

Ivan just smiled. Was there something he knew that the others didn't or was he simply smiling at the situation?

As they left the mountain, the Yeti growled and roared at them. This was just the beginning!