Egg Nation- Never Get a Break
The recognizable forms of Dear Baby and Sky Jack were warmly welcomed as (for the most part) trustworthy reinforcements, but as Nagihiko came from the brightness as Canada Beat he received the same excited stares as China Drop. Actually first everyone was cautious because of the actual, life-sized polar bear that he was sitting on; but after he reassured them that Kumajiro was safe, they relaxed. As if having a real polar bear wasn't enough, Nagihiko carried a hockey stick by his side. Though one could say that these precautions were necessary, as the boy looked completely inept at defending for himself. No one could decide if it was the single curled hair that abruptly stuck up despite gravity, the small glasses balanced on the bridge of his nose or the long wintery coat he wore that made one think so; probably a combination of all three.
"Wha- Why didn't it work? I did exactly what the rest of you were doing." Germany grunted, frustrated as he and Tadase remained separate. Then Kiseki nodded his head affirmably, confirming the hypothesis he was in the midst of creating and asserted, "It's because you're not putting all of yourself into it, there's something holding you back."
Ludwig confirmed the guess with an uncomfortable side glance and answered, starting in an uncertain mumble but growing in assurance as he continued speaking, "It's just… I can fight, but… not when I've already caused you so much pain Tadase… and against my brother. The guy's a narcissistic idiot, but he is still my brother."
But instead of lecturing him for his shortcomings; Amu sensitively approached him, "You want to help, and it's okay if you don't want to fight your brother. There's a way you can still assist without fighting. We need a translator; I can hear what his heart is saying, but it's all in German. You need someone to help you with the Italian too, right Rima?"
"It's not so easy, aru. I can also see into his heart, but there aren't any words being said so I don't know what to do, aru." Rima explained as she threateningly held her wok and ladle to ward off the chuckles that'd started emerging from her friends. After taking her forceful hint everybody's attention turned toward Feliciano, who was still hanging from Kiku's arm despite the obvious discomfort shown on Japan's face. It took a moment for Italy to pick up on the fact that they all were staring at him and he then stuttered, "Wha-what? You want me to go out there, with all those crazy tomatoes and swords and eggs!"
"Oui, you are his brother. If anyone can figure out what is bothering him so much, it's you." France explained the thought everyone but Italy shared; sending Feliciano into hysterical shaking at the thought of the potential for harm to come to him. At this point Japan was just about to his breaking point as far as his tolerance for being held by Italy, and he desperately shot a begging look to Germany, asking for his assistance. Ludwig sighed, striking a deal with the frightened Italian as he said, "Italy; they need you, and I know you're afraid but don't worry. You won't be alone; Tadase and the others will be there too, and I've already promised to keep you safe."
"And if that isn't enough incentive for you; then we'll go and get pasta as soon as this is all over, ja?" Germany added for extra measure, knowing of how much food motivated the Italian. All movements from Italy halted to a stop as the image of golden noodles danced in his head. He then let go of Japan, who was extremely grateful to be out of the Italian's grasp and descended down to meet Germany with his signature smile as he exclaimed, "Let's hurry up and make everything good again, we've got pasta waiting for us!"
Amu nodded her head, a cheerful giggle slipping through her curled lips, and suggested, "How about Ludwig and Tadase go after Prussia while Feliciano and I take on South Italy? Utau, can you lead everyone else against the X Eggs?" Utau glanced over her group, whose faces brimmed with enthusiasm, and blinked reassuringly with no doubt of her soldiers' capabilities. With everyone in mutual agreement; they lined up for the second attack, Tadase quickly changing with Kiseki to become Platinum Royale beforehand, and were about to charge at the enemy but stopped due to an abrupt objection.
"Don't you all see the blaringly obvious flaw in your plan?" England asked his voice contorted with frustration at their blank stares in response to his question and continued to explain, "This is one big, self-propelled cycle! Prussia and South Italy are being controlled; they receive their orders from the Director, but their power is derived from those eggs. And no matter how many eggs you purify, there'll be more to replace them because America is still inside that blasted machine!"
"Oh I see! If we cleanse Alfred's heart, then-" Kukai started excitedly but was interrupted when Yaya stole the rest of his sentence and exuberance as she cheered, "Then the X Eggs will go bye-bye, and all that's left is two mindless drones!" But Yaya's pre celebratory spirit was soon dampened by the discouraging words that followed.
"Not exactly, mon ami, even without these eggs' power Gilbert is still a force to be reckoned with and should not be taken lightly." France advised in a serious tone that was most unbefitting to his usual flirtatious character. The warning settled unevenly within the group, but Japan speedily administered their confidence as he commented, "Even so, it will certainly be worse than doing nothing. You all should commence with the original plan, while we and the uh- what did you call them? -Guardian Characters retrieve America, so he can be returned to normal."
The natural reaction of the Guardians and Utau would be to confirm the suggestion verbally, but this course of action was cut off by the angry shouts of Lovino. He and Gilbert had been curiously observing the muffled conversation being mimed through their enemies' actions, and after the false start both were irritated by the reoccurring delays. The X Eggs also shared their agitation as they rattled furiously, churning even more negative energy for the countries to absorb. Lovino called again with his displeasure about repeating himself purposefully injected into the snapping tone, "What the hell are you doing, twiddling your fucking thumbs? Don't patronize us, damn kids, hurry up and fight already!"
After the curse-filled speech they reformed the recently broken line, now with the rescue team hidden behind. Amu and Tadase stepped forward along with Italy and Germany, challenging the nations. All their weapons were drawn, and both sides called the charge simultaneously. The X Egg whip cracked itself at Utau and her forces, the separate eggs crashed their thundering bolts. The flash that accompanied their contact with the rooftop was echoed by a loud boom; drowning out the clang as steel met steel, leaving only the silhouettes of Tadase and Gilbert tangled in each other's weapon.
As the battle progressed; the spare nations and characters, for the most part, quietly crept away towards the opened elevator door. Their journey was very time consuming because the team frequently had to scurry and hide as the director's gaze wandered, checking the status of the fight. Amu instinctively picked up on the baseball approach, being in the sporty transformation of Amulet Heart, and slammed the thrown tomatoes with her Heart Rod. Though Amu included the base-running aspect of the game into her battle strategy, continually rotating around the Italian, and when she'd reached the home plate for about the fourth time Lovino was struggling to keep up. Spotting this window of opportunity; Amu twirled the baton around her and threw it, shouting 'Spiral Heart!' The director's temporary concern was put to rest as South Italy dodge the rod's initial and return trip, landing back in Hinamori Amu's hand like a boomerang.
"Fuck this, I'd much rather play fútbol!" Lovino said in a matter-of-fact way, and as if a genie was listening in and decided to grant the wish his pile of tomatoes animatedly inflated themselves. The heap soon became too large to hold, and the enlarged tomatoes pushed one another out of Lovino's arms, bouncing next to his feet impatiently as they waited for a chance to be used. He then bounded one skillfully on his knee before sending it toward Amu with a powerful kick, knocking the wind out as it pounded into her stomach and leaving Feliciano to uselessly fret over her as she fell over. Tadase was still thoroughly invested into his own fight, not noticing the harm befall onto his comrade. He was in an identical situation to Amu when she had fought with the Prussian, often finding his Golden Staff in a deadlock with Prussia's sword.
"Tch. You'll never win against the awesome Prussia with that little toy! I'm practically insulted that you'd even duel me with it." Gilbert taunted his passion for battle present in his words but slightly shadowed by a disappointment of the fight. After a shared flash of anger between Kiseki and Tadase at Prussia's comment, Tadase held his staff out to the side and conjured from a light that enveloped his previous tool the Royal Sword. The presence of another, in Prussia's opinion, capable weapon set his lust for carnage into a high boil. Unable to suppress any impulse at this point; Prussia lunged at the unprepared Tadase the second his hand itched for some combat, slashing the boy's right shoulder and staining the regal attire with scarlet blood. After Tadase received the gash and fell to a knee, griping the fresh wound, Gilbert cursed aloud his dissatisfaction at the shallowness of the injury. And as he witnessed the evident change in his brother; Germany mumbled in a devastated realization, "Das ist nicht mein Bruder..."
The director held a pair of folded arms over his proudly raised chest with a smug smirk grossly painted on his canvas of a face, pleased with the chaos he'd created and the failings of the intruders to stop his creation. While the director stood, distracted with his pride, the rescue team had successfully reached the encased Alfred unbeknownst to him. America was in a pitiful state; his once energetic eyes that seemed to reflect the limitless blue sky in color and depth sat still, devoid of any liveliness that had ever existed there. His entire being appeared polluted, it seemed he was veiled in a cloud of smog inside and out. All the exuberant colors that once adorned him were dulled and darken, and such a stiff stillness rooted him down that his rescuers feared he was too fragile to move without breaking him somehow. But before that there was still the task of freeing him from the machine's gasp.
"Finally, I get to crush something." Russia breathed relieved as he pulled out his trusty faucet pipe from God knows where, launching the other nations and characters into a hushed panic as they tried to maintain their cover. Gasps and shushes shushed against those gasps were passed around the group, bypassing Russia as he gleefully hoisted the pipe over his head ready to bring down a heavy strike against the glass. England was smart enough to dislodge himself from the hushed exchanges to stop Russia from blindly swinging the lead pipe and warned in a voice cracking from fright, "Don't just bash the bloody thing to pieces! You could hurt him, plus there's the director, I'm worried he'll look over."
"Then just go and distract him yourself; as for me I'll stay and crush whatever I want, however I want." Russia said; the calmness of his tone was lost a little as each word was squeezed through, leaving a chilling frustration on his part. Instead of arguing the point, a creepily pleased smile tugged at the corners of England's mouth at the thought of a chance to begin his revenge against the Easter company. France immediately sensed the vengeful aura churning in Arthur and scooted through the air towards the sadistically happy Russian, deciding him to be safer than an England looking for retribution. The Guardian Characters watched in suspense before deeming which nation would offer less regret for them later, but the Japan hovered over to the characters and made their decision for them as he kindly ordered, "Go with England; it won't take many of us to break through this barrier, and there's no way we can convince him to stay now that he's… like this. Besides he's a country, which makes him liable to be a target for the director."
"Yo! Don't sweat it, we'll keep him safe." Rhythm promised, flashing a peace sign before being dragged off by a giggling Kusukusu as she followed England's unannounced departure. Miki, Su and Il proceeded after those two leaving Russia, France and Japan to deal with the glass sphere. Resuming his interrupted swing the Russian let his pipe fall onto the gleaming surface, releasing a shattering sound as the first long crack was made. Japan unsheathed his katana and diligently began slicing, but as his comrades were making use of themselves France hesitantly looked back and forth between the two before settling his gaze upon himself. There was a moment before an idea struck him; he then cheerfully extended his arm and repeatedly brought it down on the glass while chanting, "Smack. Smack. Smack. Smack."
A little voice yelled and rang furiously in the director's ear as his face was suddenly attacked by the shrunken England, who'd rammed himself with as much velocity as he could muster into the man's cheek. The pang throbbed with an intensity equivalent to a quick punch, but what now forced his face to twist in such anguish as it did was the set of teeth that tore at his flesh. The director placed his hand against the assaulted area only to draw it quickly away at the discovery of warm blood trickling down the side of his face. Then his attention was taken from his injury by the coarse panting his attacker, and as he examined the nation fear sparked within him. England's hair managed to achieve the impossible, becoming even more messy and erratic, and the nation's face was indiscriminately splattered with the dark red substance that trailed down the man's cheek. His bright green eyes pulsed with a bottled rage that was beginning to uncork itself; evidence of this fury spilling as he spat, "I'll kill t' 'ole lot 'o ya bloody gits, if it be t' last thin' I do!"
The director scowled a fierce grimace that had the capability of fending off saner men, but England was anything except his usual rational self. He was completely mad with anger. Kazuomi Hoshina disregarded the fuming crazed expression the island nation exhibited and reached out to snatch him; when a snickering Il flew in to push his arm off course, giving England an ample opportunity to go up and give a hard kick to the director's nose which he took full advantage of. After pulling himself to Il and the other Guardian Character's side he was promptly lectured by an overwhelmed Su, "Wha- D-did you just? You can't go running off to… do things like that, desu!"
England merely scoffed at her arrogantly, leaving Su wordlessly mortified as her mental image of the gentlemanly Arthur was shattered. The reception of this alternative pirate personality varied between each character. Il approved of him the most, as she encouragingly patted the country on the back while clenching onto her stomach laughing. Kusukusu joined in on this laughter, but hers was cautious and nervous sounding. Rhythm and Miki desperately desired to run for their liver but only managed to fearfully huddle together, jotting notes in their minds to never under any circumstances piss off Arthur. England turned to the director, who was holding onto his nose which to the pirate like nation disappointedly wasn't broken but just on the verge of letting a thin stream of blood flow.
"Alstarboard ye scurvy dogs, we be goin' in fer t' second attack!" England ordered, leading the charge with a mostly unwilling but nevertheless compiling crew.
'Get up, please get up! You just have to so please… please don't go. Get up!' The hysterical begging seemed to be coming from far away to Amu, as if from another world. Her eyes were open and functioning, but she wasn't able to properly process any of the stimulation her senses were receiving. The pleas were cried from outside the girl as well as inside, the small Italian floating above her and an honest voice within. Then Amu's breath came back to her, and fresh air avalanched into the oxygen deprived body. She sucked it in greedily and forced herself to sit up with a wave of new found energy. When Amu was off of the cold concrete she staggeringly raised herself onto her feet, legs trembling as they reeducated themselves about the concept of gravity. Lovino sneered at the sight of his enduring enemy being showered with grateful tears from Feliciano that followed her standing up. They were fat pathetic tears carelessly rolling down his chubby face.
"Crying like always, eh fratello? You are disgustingly weak, even back then you were… so then why? …Why?" Lovino started his speech in a calm, nonchalant tone but by the end was yelling out the unclear question.
'Tadase! Are you alright?' Kiseki distraughtly asked; while Tadase cringed as he brought himself up from his knee, nodding through his pain and muttered, "Yes… I'm fine"
That was a lie, and Germany knew it, knew that Tadase had never known pain like this. The sting of a sword's bite; it slashing through you, carving you like a turkey, like any animal being butchered. Physical pain makes its novice victims into dumb beasts, their thinking flooded only with concerns of their injury, and Germany could see panic trying to breech the boy's mind. Tadase was a gentle being, who enjoyed emotional movies about dogs and preoccupied himself with affairs of the heart, not someone suitable for combat. Then there was Kiseki, a king in some regard, whose talents included governing and public speaking, but he wasn't fit for the battlefield either. In fact none of these children were prepared to fight this kind of battle.
"But I am, so why can't I be like China and change like he did?" The German mumbled to himself; frustrated and perplexed, but he wasn't allowed to ponder this very long as Prussia began to of all things, laugh. It was disturbingly demented, utterly unsettling, unlike any chuckle ever heard from him. This laugh, was it even accurate to call it that? It was no longer a sign of his affection for fighting, that love was now deformed, and this laughter portrayed a darker craving. Then there was a curious sound, a voice and a familiar one at that! Germany recognized the speaker as the first word that was feebly whispered, "Wo ist Preußen? Können Sie es auf die Landkarte finden?"
Amu displayed her obvious confusion about Lovino's inquiring with a wondering look, her reply: a plethora of tomato soccer balls propelled towards her in a fit of fury and paired with an untold amount of cursing. By then she was well acquainted with standing and had her previous mastery over her motor functions, so she was able to dodge effortlessly. Her avoiding technique resembled that of a cheerleading routine, frequently leaping around and through the air, only with a cowering Italy clumsily following everywhere she went. But amidst the leaping, cursing and tomato kicking Italy slowed down to a stop as he starred at his brother; his mouth unlatching from an uptight frightened expression into one of joyous excitement and exclaiming.
"It's Grandpa Rome!" The little Italian hastily flew to the hazy image of his grandfather with opened arms eager to embrace, but those arms fell dejectedly as he came to another halt at the discovery or rather recollection of the silent scene playing before him. Amu caught glimpses of the memory projected around Italy's brother as well; she was quick to identify the wailing child being dragged away as a young Feliciano, but there was also another running after the two, frantically trying to catch up to them. Lovino chasing his brother and grandfather, wordlessly begging to come along. Italy then did something he rarely did, he opened his eyes. This was a second time Amu had witnessed this uncommon event, in the first incident they quivered in terror but now were plagued with sadness.
Tadase and Kiseki were unable to comprehend the voice's foreign words, but Germany could. The brittleness breathed in each syllable intensified the starling difference between the Prussia choking on his laugh and the barely audible one in his heart. And there was a slight tugging on Germany's own heart as he absorbed the sincerity conveyed by the words native to him. Then the Prussian finally calmed himself and flaunted his sword as a signal to resume their duel. Tadase gritted his teeth as he held up his Royal Sword, seeing no other option but to re-engage in their fight. And as the first swing of the nation's sword swished, missing its target; his heart's voice spoke again but with more strength behind its words, firm in the belief his corrupted heart preached. "Sie können es nicht finden. Ich existiere nicht. Ich bin nutzlos."
There was less sword clanging in this round; Tadase made every possible attempt to evade Prussia's blade, and all Germany could do was stand idly and listen to his brother's depressing words while watching Tadase scurry, biting back his pained cries at the few moment when he used the sword. Ludwig crossed his arms, letting the muscles in his face fall into the familiar grooves of his famous scowl, all of the disarray annoyed him greatly. It was then that Germany made a resolution to himself; his arms loosened and dropped from their perch across his chest, but those hands curled into a set of unyielding fists as he spoke in a tone that rumbled, "I take action; and someone is harmed, but when I do nothing still someone suffers-"
"But I won't let that keep me from at least trying because I've never seen you like this fratello and-" Italy picked up the monologue, speaking through welled tears that prohibited all vision and suppressed sniffles that obscured his normal cheerful voice. Germany took the liberty of ending their shared speech and was practically yelling out up until the very end where he mumbled through his embarrassed blush, "Admittedly I don't ever want you to feel this way, even with all the grief you give me, because I… l-lo... Ich liebe dich."
Once again Germany was blinded by that powerful yet comforting light that foretold the possibility of transformation, and he wore a small smile as the egg he'd once tried so hard to break out of closed in on him. Merging with another person was quite a peculiar experience, there was nothing to compare it to that's for sure, but if words could do the description of the sensation justice, then one would say that they melted into the other and sat in this new world that only the two of them inhabited. When the light dimmed and died out Ran and Kiseki floated awkwardly, having just been evicted from their owners, and gawked in awe at Character Transformation: Amulet Italy! and Platinum Germany!
"And once more, smack!" Crash! France's last hit was exclaimed with the shattering of crushed glass falling to pieces, making a decently sized hole for the rescue party to retrieve Alfred. He and Japan swiftly swooped in and carried America out of the glowing purple fumes that stung the two after only a moment's exposure to them, leaving a still manic Russia to obliterate what remained without restraint. France held up the emotionally void America triumphantly and declared, "Angleterre! Look at who we've got."
"America" The name was breathed through a sigh of relief by an England now brimming with a senseless sense; having just poured an unbelievable amount of enraged energy into every punch and kick he was able to throw at the director, he now felt a lightening ecstasy. The other characters were still swarming around the man like an angry hive of bees, their plan had been to overwhelm him so that those who were willing (basically Arthur and Il) could land successful hits and more importantly distract him from the other group's activities. But after England jabbed the director in the eye with his elbow one last time before rushing off to America, the other characters pursued him and left the director hold his aching face. However, just as England reached the uncharacteristically silent American a tall figure hopped onto the roof carrying a little girl by the collar of her blue and white dress.
It was Tsukiyomi Ikuto as Black Lynx holding Ami hostage, and as everyone slowly noticed the newest opponent Ran grumbled, "We never get a break, do we?"
A/N: *passes out* I basically wrote all of this in like one day, what was I doing during the other thirteen or odd days before then? Writer's block, vacation, and blah blah procrastination blah blah... yeah... So this is like a super long chapter to make up for the wait. Sorry I didn't get Utau and her group into this, but they'll get their turn next chapter. And the break ups between things happening to Tadase and Amu are attempts to show that those events are happening at the same time because I wanted them to end together. I'm actually kinda scared to post this cause you all were getting psyched about Tadase and England transforming, so yeah not gonna happen. Anyway I'm ranting, and I need to be your German dictionary before peacing out. (Translations and German via Kurisuten-chan because apparently I can't trust Google. If you want to use any German, seriously go ask her!)
Das ist nicht mein Bruder- That's not my brother
Wo ist Preußen? Können Sie es auf die Landkarte finden?- Where is Prussia? Can you find it on the map?
Sie können es nicht finden. Ich existiere nicht. Ich bin nutzlos.- You can't find it. I don't exist. I'm useless.
Ich liebe dich- I love you
And finally, peace~! -MagnifiedSun