It didn't take long for the police and the ambulance to arrive. At first they were only going to take Artie but Arthur jumped in and said that the two that had been shot should also be taken into custody despite appearing dead. The others were shocked that he would think them still alive but his evidence that they were the nations' counterparts from some alternate universe held strong enough that Alfred managed to get the cops to at least secure the bodies to test it. As it turned out Matthieu came to while they were securing Fred, fortunately he had already been secured. It proved the point and lead Alfred to recommend a stronger means of containment as the infamous North American strength made an appearance.
Matthew meanwhile had been bundled off to the nearby hospital with Gilbert riding in the ambulance with him. When they reached the hospital Gilbert managed to explain some of what Matthew was to the doctor so he Matthew would be treated appropriately. He was glad he had when the doctor went over the x-rays with him showing the recent bone remodeling and remaining fractures. When asked Gilbert explained that as a nation they could heal more rapidly but let things take a more natural order or, with enough concentration, heal critical areas more quickly than usual and ignore the rest. As both of Matthew's legs had had broken bones as well as both arms it was a miracle Matthew had been able to heal the bones in both legs and one arm so he could walk and wield the gun. The doctor explained that from their observations of the healing of the wounds they seem to have stopped or gone to a normal human rate. He theorized to Gilbert that this was probably due to the energy it took to do all he had done as quickly as it had been done.
A few days later Arthur made sure he and Alfred were present during the interrogation of Artie in regards to the plan the three alternates had had. All be it Alfred had been a bit surprised when it was revealed Artie had been wearing colored contacts and seen his true eyes for the first time. After he got over his initial surprise though Arthur had jumped right into why they were there and managed to get the full story from his alternate. Apparently their world was slowly dying due to the violent nature of their world and its people. The plan apparently had been to infiltrate this world and capture all of its nations' people in order to replace them. When asked what would have happened to this world's nations Artie confessed he didn't know as it was greatly theoretical, though he also mentioned that simply being there had reduced or even eliminated his ties to his world, thus tying him to this one. Telling them that the alternates wouldn't really need to get rid of their counterparts in this world, though many would be blood thirsty enough to try.
Alfred almost offered to let Artie bring the others from his world as refugees but Arthur seemed appalled by the idea.
"Alfred we have no way of knowing if he's telling the truth and besides he even told us that many of them would just try what those other two were up to or worse, what if they destroy our world as they did theirs?"
Instead Artie was offered a chance to return to his world. He refused after they told him Fred would not be able to return with him, he and Matthieu were too dangerous to release, even back to their world. This being the case Arthur was given custody of Artie, after he was fitted with a tracking anklet, while Matthieu and Fred were locked in a strengthened cell under heavy guard.
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This ending feels like a cop out but I just can't think of how else to wrap things up. May, just may do a sequel about how Gilbert helps Matthew to recover but it's iffy. If enough people want it, then maybe, but only then. Anyway, please review.