Egg Nation- Gather the Troops
Kusukusu and Rima both shared the exact same jaw dropping, eye twitching look of surprise; no, surprise didn't even come close to the amount of shock they were experiencing. If it were Amu who'd character transform with a Guardian Character that wasn't her own; that would've been perfectly fine, actually it would've been expected of her, but Rima? And this sensation she had after merging with Yao, it was elevating. Rima felt as if she was an entirely new, powerful entity; when she became Clown Drop, she only felt highly enhanced. She was still herself just somewhat self-actualized, but China Drop made her into something beyond that. Rima found the new transformation exciting and thrilling, but it wasn't who she really wanted to be. Though this opinion didn't hinder her desire to fight the thief; who had sent out a wave of energy from his 'Slash Claw' attack, temporarily paralyzing the preoccupied with thinking Rima.
Ikuto stepped toward her slowly; swishing his nimble tail back and forth, savory the ease of the battle, or he did until Rima regained control of her body and swung her wok into his gut. The blow pushed him back, and he covered the hit area with an arm trembling with pain, wincing from the throbbing that pounded there. Rima glanced up at her injured foe; grinning at the successful attack and proudly proclaimed, "Don't take me so lightly; your overconfidence betrayed you, aru."
"Wha- What's wrong with my mouth, aru? Ah! I did it again, aru. Why am I speaking like some foreigner, aru?" Rima sputtered, flushing as she continued adding the unnecessary suffix.
'Sorry. Japanese stereotype; whenever I come here, I can't stop myself from saying aru.' Yao explained sheepishly through Rima's alarmed rambling. As the two were distracted from Kusukusu; who was trying to warn them about their recovered foe, there was a shout let out by said enemy.
"Slash Claw!" And Tsukiyomi Ikuto was in the air, charging at Rima and wielding his clawed glove. A clang of metal hitting against metal followed the yell, and Rima stood with her ladle blocking the blade-like edges. The two stilled weapons remained in that X-shaped position as the opponents pushed the other's arms, trying to win the draw. Ikuto was the one who drew his claw away first, leaping back and glowering at Rima. She returned the scowl with a snickering smile.
"I'm ending this, aru. Tea Leaf Cyclone!" The attack started with Rima holding the wok with one arm, supporting the other side of it with her hip and stirring the empty air inside with the ladle, but as the swooshing ring filled the alley a large gust of wind began swirling amidst a colorful array of tea leaves inside the wok. She then raised her ladle at the boy; commanding the wok's contents to attack, and they obeyed. A large funnel of rushing wind carried the surprisingly sharp leaves, slicing Ikuto's clothing and fresh as they passed. The force of the created storm lifted him up and threw him over the buildings across the street.
'C-character transformations too?' Ikuto's thoughts stumbled, picking up an unconscious Yoru.
"Ack! Next time I see that cat; I'm going to chop him into little pieces and fry him in a stew, aru!" Yao swore angrily, shaking a fist in the air as he surveyed the damage to the newest Chinatown. The character transformation had undone itself, and Rima staggered up onto the wall, placing a hand to her dizzy head. Kusukusu hovered by the girl, checking her condition.
"I'm fine Kusukusu. I think this headache is from fighting on an empty stomach." She admitted clenching the fabric above her belly as it let out a long moaning gurgle. The clown character held both hands to her bloated mouth, trying to suppress the emerging giggles.
"It is the time of day. Isn't it, aru? Sorry. I would have gladly offered something, aru, if my town hadn't been destroyed."China said, glancing at the wreckage once more with a disheartened frown. Rima waved off the nation's sad look and produced a small wallet from her pocket.
"Don't worry, I'll buy." Accompanying the statement was one of Rima's rare smiles.
'Maybe being invisible isn't all bad. It certainly helped Nagihiko this morning.' Canada wondered, admiring his strange ability.
Earlier that day; Canada had woken from a restless night, nervousness about the battle planned for later and concern for his brother kept sleep from gracing his worried mind. Nagihiko had tried to reassure the nation many times as he went about his morning routine; and Matthew appreciated the attempts, but they were often thwarted when Rhythm would come in and add onto his owner's words. Canada was well aware that he had good intentions, but the uncanny similarity to his brother always dampened whatever positive word the character uttered.
Breakfast came, and Nagihiko's mother had prepared eggs with toast. The nation wavered from eating at first, contemplating if it would be cannibalistic, but when Rhythm tore at his small portion of the meal he soon followed his lead. The mother joined her son at the table and ate, stopping only to notice the boy was shoveling food into his mouth uncharacteristically. After inquiring about his behavior, Nagihiko told her that he was meeting his friends and apologized for the late notice.
"No, you have to practice. There's that recital coming up, remember?" She asked, annoyed by her son's lack of interest in his dancing. Nagihiko cringed at his forgetfulness, but he couldn't practice today. His friends needed him; the boy shrugged, guessing he'd have to just sneak off when the woman wasn't looking. And as if the mother could read his mind, she quickly added, "Don't even think about running off, I'll be waiting in the hallway for you."
Nagihiko shivered at the cold warning and meekly bowed his head, excusing himself from the table on the pretense of changing. He trudged to his room, closing the door and emphasizing its click with a sigh. Canada floated silently beside him, his form fading in and out of clarity, and Rhythm made a scowl as he thought of their options. The creases on his forehead smoothed out as he raised his hand and made his announcement.
"Number one! I character change with you, and we barge out of the house, leaving your mother broken hearted." Nagihiko immediately refused this plan with a discouraged look at the thought of his mother's sad face. The character continued, "Number two! We do nothing and attend practice." This was also disapproved by an even deeper look of despair from the boy, leaving Rhythm to scratch his head and mumble, "Number three… I don't have a third plan."
"Maple maple" Matthew's mind had fluttered away from the discussion long ago; as it did during many meetings when he was being ignored, actually all of them. And he drifted around the room, mumbling in his daydreams. The murmur was barely audible, but it was just loud enough to get the loud character's attention, snapping his fingers at the formation of the third plan.
"Number three! Character change with him and sneak out of the house unnoticed, like a ninja!" Rhythm yelled, grinning approvingly at his own idea. After the unanticipated mention of his existence Canada timidly twiddled his thumbs and a flush engulfed his entire face, he was included in one of the plans. Nagihiko let out another sigh; it may have been oblivious to his character, but his mother would eventually realize he'd left. He shrugged, better to leave without too much of a fuss he supposed. After losing himself in that thought; Nagihiko wasn't able to monitor his character's behavior, giving Rhythm the chance to cling onto Canada's jacket and shake him aggressively.
"C'mon! Get to it and character change already. You're the perfect candidate! You can make Nagihiko-kun disappear, so get to it already!" Rhythm hollered at the nation, Canada became pale out of fright as he was shoved around. His words getting caught in the fearful cries that he whimpered, aggravating the other character further and resulting in the continuation of the harsh treatment. By then Nagihiko was tore from all of his thoughts and reached up to save Matthew from Rhythm's grip.
"C-ch-character… c-change" Canada stuttered, holding his spinning head.
…ping…
Nagihiko lost his sense of gravity as the stuffed polar bear with black button eyes appeared in his cradling arms. His idea of tangible, gone, and the boy felt as if he was floating along a thin line between being and not being. He just simply was, nothing more or less. Rhythm started calling for him and zipped around the room looking for his partner, who stood dumbfounded right in front of him. Nagihiko informed the worrying character of his position; and once he had a general idea of where his partner was, they slowly stepped out of the door.
"Look Kumaji, it's you." Canada pointed out, giggling lightly at the imitation polar bear.
"Huh. Who're you?"
The boy cautiously tipped-toed into the hallway and soon came apon his mother, she was impatiently kneeling in front of the room used for dance practice. Nagihiko gained more confidence with each step he took; and by the time he was beside her, his pace had become a quick stride. He stood there for a moment and apologized under his breath, then ran at full speed out of the house. But as he peaked over his shoulder, Nagihiko could've sworn that as she was turning about frantically looking for him, she stopped and starred at him.
Now the trio walked in silence; the character change had pinged off long ago, and their destination sat majestically on the summit of the hill, whose base they were now at. It was well into the morning, the city lively with its citizens' activities. They carried on with their walking, when an arm hooked around Nagihiko's waist and pulled him onto another's torso. The stranger's other hand tenderly grabbing his chin and lifting his face to meet the gaze of his assailant.
"Young man, your mind is plagued with heart-throbbing troubles. Isn't it? Share your burdens with my attentive ear and alleviate your body on mine." Purred the seductive words from the sly grin Kukai wore. Nagihiko starred at his friend, disturbed, his mouth completely dry of any curses to yell at him.
'W-what's wrong with him?' He thought, distressed. It was then that his attention was perked by the single red rose tucked behind his friend's ear.
"Kukai, what the hell are you doing?" Barged in the furious voice of Hoshina Utau, followed by Kukai's head being struck with a tightened fist. A scowl etched into her thickly flustered face as she held her fist, rumbling with anger.
Ping!
"Oh thank God!" Kukai mused as he slid to the ground, a large knot swelling on his head, but he could care less. He'd been under the control of the French character all day and was relieved to be free from his manipulation. Said character flew up into the darkly satisfied face of Utau, more than displeased.
"Why'd you do that? L'amour should be shared with everyone, everywhere. Unless… Ohonhonhonhon! You wish to have Kukai to yourself- Gah! That hurts" France whined; Utau pinching the nation's face and commenced pulling on each of his cheeks, her actions fully supported by Il's snickering.
Nagihiko blinked, making sure that the chaotic scene in front of him was real. Kukai was a puddle on the ground with Daichi fretting over him, Utau preoccupied with the torture of the new character, Il cheering her owner on while El protest profusely which received taunts from her devil counterpart, and Nagihiko's group standing in the middle of it all.
"F-France…is, Francis! W-what are you doing here?" Canada asked quivering at the sight of the Frenchman and repressing all the surging memories of how he'd violated him. France wiggled out of the girl's grasp and weakly flitted to him, rubbing his face as he cursed in French. The older nation examined the other, the turning of his mental cogs could be plainly seen by all, but he was quick to recognize and bring the Canadian into a tight embrace.
"Little Matthew, you certainly have grown! …All of you has I might add." France said eyeing the Canadian character hungrily as Matthew let out a frightened squeak at his recently acquired seductive tone. It was then that Nagihiko had really gotten a good long look at the new character, and he tore his gaze away as quick as he could.
A blush burned into his face, reaching the tips of his ears. Nagihiko closed his eyes in order to avoid contact with the thought-provoking character, but no matter how hard he squeezed the lids of his eyes that image remained. The scene was of a road bordered by blossoming trees; their flowers' scent wafting gently on the breeze, and him dancing a dance that perfectly represented his two heart's eggs with that small girl, who laughed a laugh that he loved but barely ever heard. He felt relieved after the pestering of the new character pulled him out of the trance.
"Oi! I know that look; my presence has struck a chord with you, hasn't it? You must tell me what you're fantasizing! I was very disappointed by this girl; all she imagined was her eating at a ramen shop with…what was it? 'An idiot'?" France stated shrugging at Utau's lacking response to his effect, but after mentioning her fantasy she was brought back into that ramen shop with that certain idiot, who was currently lying on the ground. A large bowl between them and one noodle drawing their lips together until… Utau viciously bopped herself trying to remove the thought; she knew it wasn't original and unbelievably embarrassing, but the girl couldn't help it.
"J-just dancing... beneath b-blooming trees… w-with-"Nagihiko stumbled, fidgeting with his hands nervously as he averted his gaze from the excited character. Then Kukai stood, placing a hand on the other boy's shoulder and warned," You don't have to explain yourself. His name is Francis, and he's a strange little guy. Trust me you don't want him knowing; he'll just make your life a whole lot harder."
"I can vouch for that, but we've got more pressing matters to attend to than talk about this hassle of a character. Kukai has already brought me up to date; he teamed up together with Yaya last night to bring him back and got the details from her." Utau informed urgently, France glaring through his pout at her and still clinging to the shivering Canada. Nagihiko and Kukai nodded. France loosened his grip on Canada, sensing the seriousness in the air, and released him. The nations exchanged a grim yet determined glance at one another, thinking of the status of their fellow country. Once they all were fully into the silent moment; there was a mutual agreement to continue, and they left for the school.
"You're late!" Yaya hollered as she puffed out her cheeks and placed a set of hands on her hips with Pepe imitating the girl perfectly. Nagihiko and his now enlarged group were the last ones to arrive. Rima and the characters with her nibbled on what was left from the small loaf of sweet bread she'd purchased. Tadase and Kiku were fine, but Kiseki and Ludwig appeared exhausted; Amu and her group all were panting, the characters drooping especially low from their weariness. The newcomers blinked confusedly and their friends copied the gesture, everyone wondering of the new characters floating alongside the others.
"Utau, what're… you doing… here?" Amu managed to ask in between her harsh gasping, looking up and whipping her sweaty brow. Utau coolly started, "Kukai had been forced into a character change with Francis, and…." She motioned to the Frenchman beside her, but as she kept speaking Utau stuttered, "a-approached me. Well he-uh… kind of f-flirted with me, kind of, not really! A-and ran off, so I followed."
After her story, all eyes fell on Francis only to be quickly removed. Amu and Tadase's flushed faces matched as he obviously thought of her and she of him… at first. Then more and more figures cleared out of the haze in her mind: Ikuto, Kairi, Nagihiko, Kukai, Nadeshiko, Rima, Yaya and eventually she was standing within a crowd of all the people she loved. This day dream left her with a satisfying warm feeling, and she turned to her friends, watching them as she rode this emotional high. Rima had on a killer poker face, seemingly unfazed by Francis, and Nagihiko made an effort to look in any direction but her's. Kukai and Yaya stood, immune to the effect, and taking joy in the teasing of others who were, like Utau. She yelled at them to stop, but the pair continued and having failed in succeeding in lecturing them, she switched to Amu.
Amu laughed nervously but didn't dive further into the issue, less she dare to awaken the wrath of Utau. Her morning had been quite chaotic as well, with Ami begging to come with her and Arthur, but luckily for her the British character had a more pleasant character change than Francis. Once the familiar ping rang and a new set of bushy eyebrows sat above the little girl's bright eyes; she became a proper lady, and they were able to rush over. Thinking of her little sister with those furry caterpillars on her face made Amu giggle which earned a glower from Arthur, who she introduced to everyone shortly after.
"A pleasure. Hey Ludwig you look like you're about to pass out, what happened?" England asked after noticing the fatigued German; once this was brought to everyone's attention Italy flew straight into Germany, hugging his friend tightly in the hope that it would revive him and cried," Gah! You can't pass out, who'll protect me? I don't want to go onto another battlefield, at least not without you! So you just can't pass out."
"Don't worry… I'm not going to pass out. I just had a really hard night, that's all."Germany reassured, patting Italy on the head as he sighed and shuddered at the memories of the previous night. Kiseki joined him in the reactions to those thoughts, neither of them had enjoyed those events.
'It all started with evening training…' Ludwig recalled as that night replayed in his mind.
Kiseki fell; beyond exhausted in fact that word did little justice to truly describe the fatigue he felt as he laid on the ground, dusty with dirt that stuck to his sweaty face. His entire being was numb with pain, and his senses deafened by the intense training and the yells from Ludwig that accompanied it. He glanced up at Kiku, who had had only worked up a light pant but seemed slightly disappointed by it. The German stepped in front of the two characters with a cold stare and an unfeeling, stone-like face that unmercifully examined them.
"Kiku! I really expected more out of you; I know we haven't had a formal training session in quite some time, but that is no excuse for this lack luster performance… Though you're not as naïve as you were last time, and you're still hard-working. You did well" Germany started the rant in a loud furious roar that caused Japan to avert his gaze for a moment before bringing it back to the nation's tender and nostalgic tone at the end.
"And you, Kiseki. You're worse than that coward Feliciano! At least he puts all of himself into every idiotic thing he does, and I can at least trust him to retreat properly. But you can't even do that! But if this training has even added one ounce of muscle on you, then you might make it in tomorrow's battle." The German harshly criticized looking down disapprovingly at Kiseki; who was covering himself with his arms as he attempted to hide from Ludwig's wrath, and then the German dismissed them with a nod as Tadase approached the three.
"Tadase, please tell me you've got some pain killers." Kiseki moaned hopefully, slumping into Tadase's hand. His owner gave him a regretful shake of his head but brightened up as he offered, "I do have a movie we can watch, and maybe it'll help." He held the disk over his head proudly, and Kiseki gleamed after a brief glance at it. Kiku and Ludwig turned toward the other, neither had the answer as to if they'd recognized the title.
"The 300 Promises with a Puppy… The hell?" Germany read aloud, unimpressed, but he shrugged. It didn't sound remotely interesting, and he only agreed to watch because he assumed it would at least build up his tolerance to annoyances… like Italy. But little did he know; if only he knew, he may have been able to spare himself from the torture that is-
'The 300 Promises with a Puppy… The 300 Promises with a Puppy… Oh God please kill me' Ludwig prayed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Italy only gave him an ignorant smile and more hugs, unaware of the German's anguish.
"Alright! Yaya's turn for introductions, this is Ivan!" She presented, wearing a beaming smile as she pointed to Russia. Then Rima followed her lead, motioning to the Chinese character and said, "This is Yao" Before anyone could get anything across, there was a shout.
"Wait a minute! One, two, three… Everyone is here. Wunderbar! We're at full force, now we can go and rescue Alfred." Germany shouted his weariness seemingly vanished. Whatever they were going to say disappeared as well, replaced by confident grins. They all were ready to march into battle, and Amu couldn't help but throw her fist up into the air and cheer.
"Let's head out troops!"
A/N: Sorry if there are more spelling errors than usual because I'm sure they're there, but I didn't do a thorough spell check job like I usually do. I really wanted to finish writing and post it. Not saying I didn't like this chapter, I do. I think it might be one of my favorites so far, but I just had to get it out of my face and done with. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!
Peace~! -MagnifiedSun