Disclaimer: Do not own Hetalia.

Note: This chapter is longer than the previous ones, for better or worse, but I put a good amount of thought into it, so I hope it's fast-paced and interesting still! Enjoy!

Maria gasped when Dark America pounced on Dark Russia, but she knew he could hold his own. The two world powers tumbled to the ground and began to wrestle. Both were incredibly strong; Dark Russia was big and scary enough by himself, and extra strength was given to Dark America from his annexation of Dark Canada. Their faces displayed rage and hatred as they fought on the ground, and the room erupted into chaos.

Dark China, who was extremely offended by Dark Britain's chauvinistic remarks, tackled the British man, and the two crashed onto the floor. The other nations left their seats and moved away from the brawls, some of them cheering them on, while others watched in aversion. Apprehensively, Maria backed up against the wall between her counterpart and Kiku. Dark Japan, aggravated, was rubbing his fingers on his temples with creases on his forehead.

Alfred attempted to pull Dark Russia off of his own counterpart, but Ivan grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the melees. "Hey!" he shouted as Ivan dragged him towards the wall.

"Two against one isn't fair," Ivan murmured, "Let those two fight their fight." Then he smiled to himself. "I'm sure Russia will win anyway. We are the greatest in the whole entire world."

"The other me was right!" Alfred seethed, "You filthy communists only care about yourselves!" He broke Ivan's grip and shoved him into the wall with considerable force. The Russian blinked, then his tone went threateningly low and his eyes narrowed.

"Do you think you can stand a chance against the great and powerful Russia?" Ivan said through grinding teeth. Alfred took a step back uneasily, but then balled his hands into fists. Thoughtlessly, he threw a punch at Ivan, who caught it in his own hand. While his right fist was stuck in his opponent's hand, Alfred swung his other fist, which was again caught by Ivan's free hand. The two stayed in that position for a moment, pushing into each other in a vigorous stalemate.

On the other side of the room, Yao was yelling at Arthur furiously. "Tell your bigheaded counterpart to get off China!"

"You go do it," Arthur replied callously and leaned against the wall distractedly. To Maria, he seemed to be thinking about something serious, but to Yao, he was just being apathetic.

"But it's your counterpart who started it," the Chinese man went on, "How dare he say all those obnoxious things about us!" Arthur just scoffed and crossed his arms.

"It's not like it wasn't the truth; I agree with everything he said. He is me, after all."

Yao's eyes widened and his jaw fell open. "You arrogant bastard! I hope you lose miserably in this war, you disgusting drug dealer!" Arthur straightened up, slighted by the outburst.

"I am not one of those low-life drug dealers!" He exclaimed and stamped his foot on the ground.

"Then who else shipped all that opium crap illegally into my borders?" Then Yao and Arthur began shouting in each other's faces, on the verge of an affray.

Feliciano stood watching the duels in the corner of the room with his counterpart. He did not like to see his fellow nations fight and argue; they bickered all the time, but they rarely got this severe. Why couldn't everyone just get along like he and Ludwig did? Thinking about his friend, he searched the room for the blonde that had protected him for so long. When he saw that Ludwig stood against the wall opposite his, he began to make his way there while carefully avoiding the brawls.

"Ve~ Ludwig!" he called happily as he tapped the German, who turned and gave a small smile when he saw his old friend.

"Oh, hey, Feli," Ludwig greeted in his heavy accent, then sighed, "I can't believe they're actually fighting in Japan's house." Feliciano frowned and nodded. His curl seemed to droop a little as he talked.

"I know, why are the other versions of us so mean? Even that Italy doesn't really laugh or make a lot of pasta!" He threw his hands up in exasperation, and then pouted to his friend. "I just want to go home already. I don't wanna stay for another war!"

Ludwig glanced at Dark America and Dark Russia, who were having a slug fest on the carpet. "I agree. This vorld…it gives me a bad feeling. Nein! Ve cannot stay here."

The Italian was about to ask how they were going to leave, when Dark Italy came and nudged his side. "Feliciano! What are you doing? Let's move, now." His voice seemed urgent as he tugged on Feliciano's arm.

"Why?" he asked as he pulled his arm free. However, Dark Italy just paled and gulped, staring past Feliciano. When he turned around, he found Dark Germany and Dark Prussia standing on either side of Ludwig. Their angry, intimidating stares bore down upon the Italians as they spoke.

"Ludwig," Dark Germany said, not taking his eyes off the Italies, "Why are you talking to these weaklings?"

Ludwig, taken aback, stammered, "Vhat?" Dark Germany raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you remember that this coward is the reason vhy ve lost Vorld Var II?" He jabbed a finger at Dark Italy, whose eyes seemed to shrink at the sight of the German.

"I-I'm not a coward! It wasn't my fault!" he cried, but his whole body appeared as if it were shaking. Feliciano could not fathom why Dark Germany was being so…wicked; Ludwig had never spoken to him like that before. As Dark Germany's face contorted in fury, Feliciano took a step back, resisting the instinct to hide behind Ludwig because he stood next to the tormentors.

"Of course it vas your fault! You surrendered to the damn Allies and they vere able to penetrate my borders! Your complete failure in Africa cost me the battle on the Russian front!" Dark Germany growled wrathfully and seized Dark Italy by the collar of his blue uniform. The sudden movement in his direction caused Feliciano to recoil impulsively and he fell on his bottom. Crying out, Dark Italy was lifted a few inches off the floor, legs dangling, as Dark Germany cocked his arm back as if he were about to strike him.

Still on the ground, Feliciano was petrified with fear. The Germany he knew could never be this terrorizing, yet here it was, with same voice and same appearance as Ludwig. Another version of his best friend was about to beat another version of himself—how can it be? The look on Dark Germany's face was absolutely terrifying, the scariest and angriest Feliciano had ever seen.

"Hey! Get your fucking hands off my brother!" demanded Dark Romano as he rushed to his own Veneziano's aide with Antonio, Lovino, and Dark Spain following right behind him hurriedly. Before he could reach his brother, who was still being held in the air, Dark Prussia stepped in his way.

"Kesesese, or what?" he jeered, "You'll go run and cower behind Spain like you always do? You're just as helpless and pathetic."

Clenching his fist, Dark Romano shouted, "No! Not this time, you bastard!" With his last word, he struck Dark Prussia's left cheek, the sound of the blow causing everyone else to stop their fighting, even Dark America and Russia. For a moment, there was an ominous stillness; Dark Prussia touched his fingers to feel his cheek. Then, he lowered his hand and his lips morphed into a disturbing smile.

"Didn't even draw any blood," he murmured. Abruptly, with amazing speed and accuracy, the red-eyed man caught Dark Romano across his jaw, the force of the punch slamming him to the floor.

"Romano!" Dark Italy cried in a shrill voice. His captor snickered, and then threw him against the wall with a distinct thud.

When the Dark Romano looked up at the sound of his brother hitting the wall, blood trickled from his lips and he could not move his mouth without moaning in agony. Dark Spain became an explosion of conniption and hostility as he turned to Dark Prussia.

"Monstruo! I won't let you get away with that!" he roared. Holding nothing back, he charged into the albino, and the two began to beat each other mercilessly. Within seconds, however, the Dark Philippines and Dark Japan pulled them off of each other and held them back.

"Enough," Dark Japan ordered, "This meeting is over. Please leave immediately." The Spanish man stopped thrashing and helped Dark Romano on his feet.

"That's the last straw," Dark Spain announced. "We are joining America's cause in this war." While he said this, his glare never left Dark Prussia. So, Maria thought, they would settle this on the battlefield. "Right, Romano? Italy?" The Italians nodded sternly, and as Dark Spain left the room, they followed him out. Antonio beckoned Lovino, who grabbed Feliciano's wrist.

Before going with his brother, Feliciano caught Ludwig's eyes. It was not a positive goodbye expression in the Feliciano's face though; Ludwig was dismayed to see that the look of fear was directed at him. Without another word, the three headed out the door after their counterparts.

The look on Dark Japan's face was dead serious, so the other nations began to file out with their counterparts as well, knowing they would get another chance at their enemies in battle. But then, Dark Russia and Britain stayed back with Dark Japan while Dark Germany and Dark Prussia lingered at the door.

"Can I help you?" Dark Japan said finally. Maria could tell he was hoping they would leave, but realized they wanted something from him.

"Japan," Dark Russia said, "We want you to join us in this Great War." Dark Britain nodded while the Dark German brothers watched from the doorway. Maria held her breath, not wanting to get anymore involved, and hoped he would decline, while her counterpart bit her lip.

"And why should I do that?" Dark Japan ventured skeptically, "If I do recall, you were insulting the Asian countries."

"Well, while that is true, I know you're different from the rest of them. You've always been more…defined. You're better than your neighbors. More powerful indeed. This war is already looking in my favor, Japan. My strongest opponent is America, but besides him, the rest won't be able to hold out for too long. With you on my side, we'll be unstoppable! Think about it. I'm willing to make concessions for your alliance. You might as well join the winning side." This Russia was persuasive, Maria had to give him credit, but she wished with all her heart that Dark Japan would decide to stay out of this war.

For a while Dark Japan remained silent, toying with the possibilities and the odds of his choices. At last, he answered. "…Hai. I will fight with you, Russia." Maria hung her head. Now there would be no one to send them back home if Dark Japan was going to be occupied by a war.

"I will fight along with Japan," the Dark Philippines affirmed without hesitation. Dark Russia nodded good-naturedly.

"Thank you," he said formally, "If we could just sign a treaty, then its official. Together, victory is ours." Dark Japan nodded and the two shook hands.

Maria could not take it anymore—she was so frustrated with everyone for forgetting why the meeting had actually been called, for disregarding the fact that she and her friends were stranded in another dimension. "What about us?" she burst out and her counterpart threw a scolding look her way. Startled, Dark Japan and Russia exchanged a silent understanding before Japan spoke.

"I'm sorry you all had to be caught in the middle of this," he addressed the dimension hoppers, "But since I have now entered the war, it looks like you have a choice: find a safe house until the war is over, or join our cause and fight with us."

Once again, Maria was without words, and Kiku, Gilbert, and Ludwig had a similar reaction. It never occurred to her that she would have to fight in this dimension. Could she even survive another war? Especially in this world, where the nations were cold and lethal.

"What? No, this isn't our war!" Maria finally sputtered out. "We have no reason to fight; this war is stupid anyways." Then she had an idea. "What about Switzerland? He's always neutral, so he can take us in, right?" she asked hopefully. However, her question was answered with a poignant look from Dark Japan.

"Switzerland…is dead," he told her solemnly. Maria gawked at him, taking in the meaning of his words, unable to comprehend them completely. Dead? How could this be? The room was once again filled with a grave silence. After a few moments, Dark Japan spoke.

"Well, we'll let you all decide for yourselves while we sign the paperwork, but I suggest that you join us," he told them shortly before leaving the room with Dark Russia, Britain, Philippines, Germany and Prussia, the last of which winked in her direction as he left. Biting her lip, Maria tried to decipher the simple but strange gesture as she turned to those from her Earth.

"Tell me you don't want to get mixed up in this mess," she exasperated searching the others' faces. Arthur refused to meet eye contact and Ivan's were unreadable while Ludwig seemed troubled by another matter. Not even Kiku offered his consent.

"I think," Arthur started, still staring at the ground, "that we should join them."

"But why?" Maria exclaimed in bewilderment.

"It's hard to explain, but I understand my counterpart's intentions," the British man reasoned. "He needs this war or he won't be able to compete with the other nations."

"So how is that our problem?" Desperation was plain in her voice as she tried to dissuade Arthur.

"I can sympathize! I can't just leave him when he needs my help," he continued.

"Da, I agree with Arthur," Ivan concurred, his mind already made up, "I want to join them."

"No!" Maria was losing her temper. Was she the only one that understood how terrible the consequences could be by entering a war? "Kiku? You agree with me, right?"

He was silent for a moment, then answered slowly, "I…I think I will fight with my counterpart-"

"You can't!" she exclaimed hysterically. Kiku tried to explain, but Maria would not hear it, her anger getting the better of her. As she turned away from the rest of fellow nations in frustration, she saw Dark Prussia watching from the doorway of the conference room. When he met her eyes, he beckoned her over. The others were still discussing their reasoning for joining the war, so she went to him unnoticed. Normally, she would have stayed away from the creepy red-eyed man, but she was so fed up with the reckless decisions the others were making that she was not thinking straight.

Dark Prussia greeted her with a toothy grin. "Looks like I'm going to get some new allies," he said. Maria shook her head and grinded her teeth.

"What do you want?"

"I just wanted to say that you should fight with me," he replied indifferently as he leaned against the door frame.

"Why do you want me?" Maria definitely did not look like a fierce warrior, so she did not have the slightest clue as to why he would want her on his side.

"Look, I like you," he began with the same insouciance. "You're a much better version than my Philippines. All she does is tend to Japan's every whim. It's like she doesn't have a mind of her own. But you're different. I can see that you don't have a problem speaking your mind. I like your spunk, so I want to make you a deal."

"A deal?" she asked doubtfully. The way he said it make her suspicious.

"Yeah. If you agree to fight with me and my brother in this war, I'll give you some excellent training." Maria stared at him distrustfully, not being able to tell what his motive could be.

"I'm not much of a fighter…"

Dark Prussia smirked. "Well, I can change that. You'll be learning from the best. I'm good at what I do. After my training, you'll see why being bloodthirsty can be so…fun." Maria did not like that last part, but she considered his offer. The situation did seem to call for drastic measures…

Right after Japan closed the meeting and made them leave the room, Dark America called for his own conference right away at his place. All the nations on his side met in America straight from Japan and immediately came to his conference room even after the long flight. Now they were all seated, still livid at the recent events, with their counterparts.

"All right, let's get down to business," Dark America started, "We all need to get in shape for the battles to come. The nations against us are pretty strong themselves, but if we work together, under my heroic leadership, we can defeat them!" The Dark nations in the room nodded with dangerous looks on their faces. The counterparts, however became anxious.

"Well, what are we going to do?" Matthew asked timidly.

"You counterparts," Dark America answered, "Can fight with us! Did you see the way they treated us? They deserve to be crushed, and we could use your help!"

"But, I wanna go home," Feliciano pouted. This war talk made him nervous and fearful. In his last big war, WWII, he only managed to hold out because Ludwig had been there for him every time. Now Germany was against Italy in this war.

"Go home?" Dark China repeated, "You can't go home because I've just receive news that Japan has joined Russia's side." He slammed his fist on the table in rage.

Dark America nodded gravely. "Yeah, now that he's the enemy, we can't send you home. We need you guys to fight with us; if we can win the war and take Japan's country, we can force him to build a dimension-hopping machine or use his research to do it ourselves."

"Okay, I'm in," Yao stood up. "I can't believe those assholes said all those things. I can't let that slide."

"Yao…" Feliciano said in disbelief.

"Me too," Alfred made a fist in the air. "Those Russian mofos will get what's been coming for them for a long time now." His brawl with Ivan was still replaying itself in his head.

"Great. How about you guys?" Dark Spain asked his counterpart and Lovino, both of whom nodded after seeing the wickedness of the Dark German brothers. Francis also agreed to fight, shaking hands with his counterpart.

"I'll support you guys, but I won't go to battle," Matthew announced quietly. Dark America gave his approval.

"That's fine. You don't have to fight. You can keep your counterpart company in the infirmary."

Feliciano was in shock. His friends were making ready for ugly warfare, in a world that was not even theirs. If Ludwig sided with his counterpart, he was in deep trouble. He had relied on his best friend so much, there was no way he could survive a war without him.

Back in the Japanese conference room doorway, Maria was still thinking about the offer Dark Prussia made her. While he was tolerantly waiting for her to make up her mind, he received a call and had a short conversation with the person on the other end.

When he ended the call, he informed Maria, "I've have just receive notice that the counterparts of the nations fighting with America have decided to enter the war as our opponents."

"They have?" Maria could not believe how senseless her friends were being.

"Yes, Hungary just told me over the phone. She's my spy on their side, you know." Dark Hungary was his spy? Maria gave him a questioning look. "Yeah, she's in love with me, but she's only pretending to be in love with that piano-playing loser Austria so her cover isn't blown. He's on America's side, so no one's going to question her loyalty over there." He sneered at his own genius, but Maria was disgusted. On her Earth, Hungary really did love Austria and the two made the cutest couple. Then she thought about Switzerland again.

"How exactly did Switzerland die?"

Dark Prussia laughed and Maria's throat went dry. How could he laugh at the death of a fellow nation? "His neutrality during Word War II didn't fly with us. He was shooting planes on both sides, so I did everyone a favor and exterminated the problem. Liechtenstein now resides in my house."

Maria's heart felt as if it was being squeezed and her chest tightened. She was dealing with a cold-blooded murder that was willing to destroy another nation. He was a treacherous monster like Dark Spain had said. But her face did not betray her as she hid her fears from him. If her friends were going to fight in this war, she had no choice but to join as well. She promised herself right then that she would fight to protect her friends, to make sure they all got home safe and sound. She would protect them from this monster and the other Dark Nations. Determined that they would all return alive, she decided she would go along with Dark Prussia's offer as a cover, but secretly fight for her own cause.

Maria did not break eye contact as she said, "It's a deal. I'll fight with you as long as you train me to be a warrior." The two shook hands and Dark Prussia gave her that sinister smile again.

"I'll teach you the real art of war."

From the Author: Hope it was fun to read! Can you see the plot unfolding? This is where the story gets going :) So pretty please review! I'd like to hear your guys' thoughts!