Chapter 4

Sealand kept his ship going at a steady pace moving towards Norway, all the while keeping an eye on the time for the siblings.

While Sealand was steering, Takonna was looking out for anymore 4Kids attacks. The clouds were starting to darken, as the sun went down and the air became moist.

Takonna ran down to Sealand. "Hey, look at the radar. Looks like we have a non-4Kids problem."

Sealand saw the intense impending storms and turned back to Takonna in a frantic panic. "We've got to get to the bottom of the ship. If we stay on deck, we'll be blown off for sure!"

Takonna nodded his head. "If we do that, all of the on-deck equipment would be swept up by the sea!"

Sealand and Takonna grabbed roped and tied down everything on deck. They then ran to the below-deck entrance and his in the emergency bunker.

Takonna pulled out a small device. "Hey, Takonna, what's that?"

"It's a portable radar device. We can use it to track the storm. Also, we can use the live webcam to see everything on deck."

Sealand smirked back at Takonna. "Great idea!"

Artemis had come on deck to check on them, and poked her head in between them after hearing her brother's comment. "Wouldn't the webcam get washed away too? I thought you were the smart one big brother!" she said teasingly, laughing as Takonna gave her a playful punch on the arm.

"You should go back downstairs, it's too dangerous for you to be up here." Takonna said, with Sealand nodding in agreement.

Artemis nodded as a huge wave washed over them, almost washing them all off of the deck. Fortunately, they grabbed the railing just in time. Soaking wet, everyone managed to get back downstairs. To their surprise, Britain was at the wheel, "Don't worry, leave this to a former pirate!" he said.

The Brit steered the boat with great expertise and they managed to get back on track. By the late afternoon, the storm died down and land had come into view. Everyone ran up on deck and smiled at their destination. Takonna pulled out some thick winter coats from the closet for everyone so they could keep warm and blend in.

They docked the boat and walked into the busy town of Oslo. They refrained from talking to anybody since none of them spoke Norwegian. This proved to be a problem since they had no idea where the 4Kids studio was; where was Norway when you needed him? Eventually, Artemis was getting annoyed,

"Why don't we just ask for directions?" she whined.

"Do you know how to speak Norwegian?" Astrid hissed.

Takonna grabbed a map from a newsstand and scanned it, but there was no sign of an Embassy or tourist center where anyone may speak english; at least nowhere nearby.

"That's it," Artemis said and snatched the map from her brother.

She found some chalk on the ground that some kids had left behind and went up to someone. She knelt down, drew the 4Kids logo, and pointed to it. The man smiled and nodded and Artemis opened the map for him. Everyone watched in disbelief as the man pointed to a location on the map and Artemis nodded her thanks. She ran back towards her siblings,

"It's actually really close by, just a little ways to the north," Artemis said happily.

"Well done sis!" Takonna said.

The group followed the map until they found themselves staring at a familiar sight; a large studio with a 4Kids logo on the front. The group stood back far enough so no 4Kids goons would see them and looked around. There were big muscular body guards walking around the building, all wearing the special goggles. They even spied small pistols in their jackets.

"Armed guards around a kids studio? These guys are crazier than I thought!" Astrid said.

"It must be because they have all the Nordics; would you want all five of them to escape at once?" Takonna pointed out.

"Yes, but how can we get in? There's too many!" Britain said, when a truck pulled up to the entrance.

One of the guards went up to the driver and they exchanged a few words before allowing the truck to drive to the back of the studio. The group quietly followed the truck and saw the truck back up towards a small back door like the one they found in Pennsylvania. They watched carefully as the back of the truck opened and two men came out carrying a crate. The strained their ears as they heard light thumps coming from the box; Wy.

After the crate was handed off to the guards, the rest of them escorted the truck back to the front of the building.

"Go! Now!" Takonna whispered and the five of them bolted through the door.

They quietly shut the door behind them and watched the guards disappear behind a corner with Wy. They all followed until the guards opened a thick door leading downstairs,

"This one's just a kid; take her to the other room, she shouldn't be any trouble," one of the guards said handing the crate to the other. The guard nodded and walked off while the other walked downstairs and shut the door behind him. The group all crept up to the door and Astrid turned to Takonna and Sealand,

"I'm guessing you two want to go after Wy?" she asked. The two boys nodded frantically and Astrid rolled her eyes,

"Okay, but if you get yourselves hurt, Britain and I will see to it that you pay," she said and Britain nodded. The boys looked at each other and nodded before running off after the other guard.

America and Artemis looked through the door window and watched as the guard took off his jacket revealing his muscles. He went to a rack that held assorted metal bars and other objects. The guard looked through some of them before picking out an especially thick pole with pointed tips. The guard opened another door near him that looked like it led to a prison cell and slammed it shut.

America opened the door and they all filed inside; if they didn't act now, the Nordics would probably get broken beyond repair.

As Astrid, Artemis, America and Britain went down the small staircase they could hear the rattling of chains shortly followed by a cry of pain and/or yelling. Luckily, Artemis spied a ring of keys on the wall next to the door; that explained the chains.

They all went up to the door with America in front, "Ready?" America asked.

Everyone nodded and America ripped the metal door off its hinges (again). They ran into the large metal room and spotted the guard who was just about to hit Iceland with the pointed end of the bar. America and Britain tackled the guard and managed to bring their brawl outside while Artemis and Astrid inspected the damage.

All of the Nordics consisting of Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden were sitting against the wall with their hands chained painfully high above them. They all were covered with large bruises and their clothes were caked with dried blood. Their wrists were rubbed raw by the manacles on the chains and they seemed to be on the verge of blacking out.

Astrid noticed that Sweden, Norway, and Denmark had more wounds than Finland or Iceland. They must have been protecting the younger nations all this time; god knows how long they've been here. Since Iceland was the youngest, Artemis unlocked his chains first. Astrid caught him and gently laid him on the floor.

The two sisters did the same thing to the other Nordics one by one and made sure they weren't injured any further.

Iceland was the first to wake up to the feeling of his relaxed arms that were no longer painfully chained above him. His eyes slowly opened to see the two sisters inspecting his brothers and friends. He flinched as Astrid went over to him and noticed that she and her sister didn't have any goggles on; they could see him?

"It's alright, we're gonna get you out of here." Astrid said softly and helped the nation sit up. Something about this girl's soothing voice made Iceland trust this stranger, especially if it meant escaping from this hell-hole.

Artemis then heard what sounded like whimpers from the far side of the room; she whirled around and spotted two small cages. She ran towards them where two familiar animals were being held; Mr. Puffin and Hanatamago. Artemis unlocked the cages and the two animals ran/flew to their owners. The two animals didn't appear to have any injuries of any kind. Artemis then went back over to the injured Nordics to help them up.

Meanwhile outside, America and Britain were having a bit of trouble with the guard; he was stronger than he looked. The guard threw Britain against the wall and landed a solid punch to America's jaw. America fell to the ground a bit dazed and the guard ran over to Britain.

He pulled some handcuffs out of his back pocket and cuffed the struggling Brit's wrists behind his back before hoisting him to his feet. America finally came back to his senses and turned to the guard with his own pistol but froze at the sight. The guard had one hand clamped tightly over Britain's mouth while the other held a pistol to his head.

"Put down the pistol or this one gets it," the guard said in very broken and poor English as he pressed the gun further into Britain's head. America couldn't quite understand him, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if he made one wrong move, Britain was in for a world of pain. He couldn't die since he was a country/anime character, but being alive with a bullet lodged in your brain was not fun.

Britain struggled to get away but the guard's arm was too strong and his large beefy hand muffled any cries that came out of his mouth. America gritted his teeth as he stared at his older brother, their eyes locked. Britain's green eyes were screaming not to do anything stupid, but pleading for his help as well. The guard cocked the pistol causing sweat to bead on Britain's forehead.

America eventually sighed and closed his eyes, "Alright," he murmured as he slowly lowered his gun. Britain's eyes widened and more muffled cries came from his mouth as he struggled again; he wasn't going to allow his little brother to give himself up for his sake.

The guard relaxed his hold on his pistol slightly and America leapt at the opportunity by shooting the guard squarely in the foot.

The was a roar of outrage that came from the guard when the bullet made contact. America grabbed the keys, and unlocked his brother's wrists, before knocking the guard out with the butt of his pistol.

"You okay dude?" America asked.

"I-I'm fine...thanks," Britain stuttered as he rubbed his sore wrists, slightly shaken from what had taken place.

The two brothers then went into the next room to help Artemis and Astrid with the Nordics. America hauled Iceland onto his back and Britain supported Finland and Sweden. Astrid took Norway and Artemis helped Denmark and they slowly made their way out of the room. Astrid and Artemis only hoped that Takonna and Sealand had found Wy without any trouble.

Sealand and Takonna sped down to two flights of stairs and ended up falling out of an air duct in the janitorial closet. Sealand and Takonna knew they had no time to wait, so they tried opening the door, but alas, the door somehow became stuck with fly paper. Sealand tried knocking the door over, as Takonna took a screwdriver and started stabbing the handle. Unfortunately, all of their efforts were useless and they had no choice but to return to return to the air ducts.

Sealand looked over at Takonna with an intimidating glare. "What if we can't get out? What if we're stuck here forever?"

Takonna's face sprung with glee. "Don't worry! We'll get out of here for sure! No need to worry!"

As he said that, they came upon a dead end in which the wall was composed entirely of solid steel and the exit-ways were sealed shut.

Takonna looked back at Sealand, and Sealand's face became more and more worrisome. "Oh god...at this rate we'll have to revert to cannibalism!" Takonna cried.

Sealand's face became filled with aggressiveness. "Not if I eat you first!"

Takonna look back at him again as he sprang towards him. They both became engaged in probably the strangest and most peculiar kind of fight, barely consisting of any actual contact. Suddenly, a strange shadow appear from outside of the sealed air vent, and the figure pushed it open fiercely. The figure became closer and closer to the two adolescent boys, and the two became more and more engulfed with fear.

Takonna turned and frantically spoke to Sealand. "Alright, when I say three, we'll both attack it, okay?"

Sealand nodded, and they both attacked the mysterious man, now recognizable as an old, decrepit nomad. Takonna looked at Sealand, and Sealand turned and looked at Takonna. The man glanced at both of them and began to speak.

"You boys lost? Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Mel, and I've been hiding here for seven years from the evils of 4Kids..."

Sealand was shocked. "Seven years? That means we're gonna be stuck here for the same amount of time! Ahhhh!"

Sealand started to cry and fell spread out onto the floor in tears. Takonna had a completely embarrassed look on his face.

Mel looked down at Sealand and started to hold in laughter. "What's his problem? The exit is right up there, all you have to do is make a left at the passage just ahead!"

Sealand sprung back up with his witty British accent and Takonna grabbed them both and rushed toward the exit.

Takonna shouted like he had been stranded for years. "FREEEDOMM!"

Takonna leapt out of the air duct and they all fell into mid-air, noticing they were about forty feet in the air. As if they were in a cartoon, they all felt as if they'd stopped for a minute in the air, felt really freaked out, and then they all plummeted to the floor.

As they were falling, Mel grabbed the arms of each of them and started screaming. "I don't wanna die! Don't let me die! Wahhhh!"

Takonna remembered he still had the rope tied to his belt loops on his pants from being on the boat, and lassoed it up to a flagpole. They were all suddenly dangling twenty-three feet off of the ground hanging by a rope.

Sealand smiled. "Well, that was successful!"

They all peered into the window that was next to them, and saw Wy literally locked in a dog crate, and strange men all sitting there drinking coffee.

They all leaped into the air after swinging from the rope and broke straight through the glass. Sealand grabbed the two unsuspecting men and brought them to the ground. Takonna pulled out the rope which he had salvaged from the leap into the room and tied their hands rendering them completely immobile. Mel picked the lock and Takonna and Sealand grabbed Wy.

Wy looked at them unsuspectingly. "You do realize I know how to walk, right?"

Sealand and Takonna stood there, and after a few seconds just dropped her on the ground. They both looked at her at the same time. "Let's get going!"

As they all ran down the staircase they saw a sign for the exit. They sped down the stairs and found that the rest of the gang was supposedly waiting for them. They all turned and looked at one another. This was going to be difficult to explain.

...Yeah...jbaron43 watches too much 'Animaniacs'... (he writes all of Takonna's sequences)

As for Mel, he will play a bigger role in the next chappie which is in progress now so stay tuned.

The poor Nordics! I wrote the prison sequence again and I am ashamed of myself for doing this to them OTL

I didn't have the heart to put Hanatamago and through torture, that would just be downright heartless!

However, I COULDN'T pass up a chance to let America be Britain's hero! Like I say, you can't have a rescue without a hostage situation! Yay USUK!

Review if you want another chappie! *wink wink*