A/N: Hello, ForestFireSong here ^^ It's awesome to be doing a collab with StarSlingerSnitch. This is where our chapter starts off with Sealand, so you Hetalia fans reading this (if any) get ready to fangirl.
Pairings in here will include (as far as I know): Casey/Lily/Theo/Liechtenstein, Seborga/Monaco, and RJ is forever alone. On a random note, does RJ remind any Furuba fans- because I'm assuming people are reading this- of Shigure?
"….and you haven't been to America in forever, so will you come with me?" Sealand finishs his long and probably run-on sentence to his friend Latvia. Like his many phone conversations with the fellow personified nation, Latvia hasn't spoken much until a question was asked.
"Ah…I suppose…The l-last time I saw America was when I visited Lithuania while h-he was working there…" Even though Latvia and Sealand are good friends, he still hadn't lost his stuttering that was no doubt a side effect of living with Russia for so long.
"Great! America told me to meet him at some place called Ocean Bluff. Will you come over here?"
Latvia pauses. "D-depends on where 'here' is. I'm not coming out to your fort in the ocean." Despite Sealand's constant reassurance, Latvia's still doubtful of his friend's home's structural safety. "Are you with S-sweden and Finland?"
"No, I'm over at Jerkland's place." Latvia winces at the casual use of Sealand's nickname for his older brother, England.
"Okay, I'll come over…"
"Maybe we can watch Power Rangers before we leave!" Sealand adds just as Latvia hangs up.
Sighing and rubbing his eyes, (Sealand rarely considers time differences whenever he calls) Latvia ponders over the micronation's obsession with said show and how he's suddenly going to America, but having to stop by England's place first.
How does he always get himself in these situations?
Apparently it's just part of having Sealand as his best friend.
"Is this the place?" Latvia asks, having met Sealand at the airport. They had exited and were now walking around the city of Ocean Bluff.
"Uh-huh," Sealand replies. "But America-"
"Alfred," Latvia meekly corrects him, not wanting anyone to hear and wonder why exactly they had a friend named after the country they were currently in.
"Yeah, Alfred said that he'd meet us at the airport."
"I g-guess not…" Latvia says. He was fairly sure they would have noticed the loud, energetic blond while at the airport. He looks over at Sealand, wondering if his friend is worried, but he shows no sign of it as he looks around the city.
"Alfred's usually late or something," Sealand shrugs. "Apparently that's why Jerkland and Germany are always getting mad at him…"
Sealand had never been to actual World Meeting, Latvia remembers, and therefore would not know the extent of both nations' fury towards America. Even though it was a daily thing, Latvia can still hear Germany's yells whenever one of the main world superpowers was late.
"…but I haven't seen him in awhile, because the last time he came Eng- I mean, Arthur threw him out yelling something about him being a bloody git or whatever. And he hardly ever visits the Nordics…"
Sensing his chance, Latvia asks, "Y-you're usually with Sweden and Fin- I mean, Berwald and Tino, right? Why were you at your brother's place?"
"Denmark wanted to take everyone skiing or something, but I was too young." Sealand rolls his eyes, and before Latvia can correct his usage of country names, he bursts out, "Hey, I'm hungry! Can we at least get some food while we wait or something?"
"I s-suppose." Latvia replies, well aware of the fact that people were looking at them, no doubt wondering where their parents were.
Sealand smiles, one of his smiles that usually makes up for whatever trouble he always manages to get himself and Latvia in, and then proceeds to drag Latvia about, looking for a place for them to eat.
He stops in front of a pizza place entitled "Jungle Karma Pizza".
"Pizza! Do you want to go here?"
"Y-yes, that would be…" A simple 'yes' seems to suffice, because as soon as it reaches Sealand's ears, he's tugging on Latvia's hand once again, urging him inside.
Looking around, both Sealand and Latvia notice how busy the place looks, with a dirty blond-haired girl handling a party of about nine or ten children. She wears a green Jungle Karma t-shirt, probably customary for a worker of Jungle Karma Pizza.
But despite how crowded the pizza joint was, Sealand appears to have his heart set on eating there, so the two make their way over to an empty booth.
While sitting there, Sealand notices the girl on duty turn her eyes over to them. Judging by the strangely excited look she wears, the micronation guesses that she's enthralled by the idea of having new customers to serve.
The dirty blond-haired girl heads over to their table, having returned from the back where the oven was- probably to pass an order to the cooks.
"Welcome to Jungle Karma Pizza. I'm Lily and I'll be looking after you guys today. You haven't been here before, have you?" she asks, smiling. She seems pretty friendly, but Sealand notices her eyeing them a bit strangely, as if registering suddenly that they're just kids.
I don't look that young, do I? Sealand thinks. Only 12 or 13…and Latvia's like, a thousand years old. Oh well, I guess we can't tell her that…
"No, we're from far away and we're visiting a friend, but typically he hasn't shown up yet!" Sealand replies brightly. That is typical of Alfred.
"Y-yeah, he's not exactly known for b-being on time," Latvia speaks up, the stutter still evident in his voice, but Sealand is just happy with the fact he has the courage to speak up around new people. Maybe it has something to do with the girl, Lily, who seems very approachable. He's like Poland when it comes to talking to people he's not familiar with, hiding behind Sealand until he's comfortable.
"Well, you should still give him a chance. What would you like to drink or do you want to wait for him?" she asks.
Sealand thinks for a moment, and then comes across the thought that Alfred is probably eating at McDonald's at that moment. Despite his being always hungry, there's not much point to waiting. "No, we'll order and eat without him." Sealand declares.
"Well, I'll give you a few minutes to look over the menu and then I'll be right back," Lily says. She turns and heads towards the cash register, where the Asian guy manning it appears to be asleep.
"Okay!" Sealand says cheerfully. "What do you want to get?"
"I-I don't know…" Latvia says, looking at the menu. "Something small, I guess…" He himself doesn't eat very much, but Sealand seems to have caught on to Alfred's eating habits. That in itself is somewhat amazing, because the food England and Finland cook for him is usually burnt and inedible or strange.
While Sealand looks over the menu, Latvia remarks, "That girl seemed v-very happy to have new customers…"
Sealand nods. "Either this place doesn't get much business, or she just knows everybody in Ocean Bluff!"
"I don't think that's the case…" Latvia murmurs, casting his gaze at the boisterous party of nine, but Sealand has already turned his gaze over to the Asian boy talking with Lily at the counter. "Look at that…" he says. Then the boy's blue gaze brightens. "That boy looked like he was taking off sunglasses…why would he be wearing sunglasses insi- Latvia! I mean, Raivis!"
"W-what?" Latvia cries, scared by the sudden loud calling of his name.
"This is just like in Power Rangers: Jungle Fury!" Sealand exclaims, his eyes suddenly taking on that strange glint that Latvia usually associates with Power Rangers. "The Solar Morphers…this is so cool!"
"Ah…" Latvia tries to find words to reply, but they'd probably just get swallowed up in the torrent of Sealand's gushing. How does Japan put up with it…? He notices Lily walking towards them, but she stops and throws her apron on the counter as the Asian boy grabs her arm.
In the midst of Sealand's exciting talking, Latvia mutters to himself, "I guess we won't be getting served anytime soon…"
Sealand ceases his talking, realization hitting him, but too slow for the micronation to put everything together at once. He follows Latvia's eyes to where his friend is watching Lily, their server, and the Asian boy going out the door.
"Maybe we should find some other place besides Jungle Karma Pizza…" Latvia suggests.
And it's like a bolt of lightning to Sealand's mind. "Jungle Karma Pizza! Come on, Latvia!" He pulls on his friend's arm, tugging him out of the seat and heading for the door.
"Raivis…." Latvia's correction was lost as Sealand led him towards the door. "I know I said that we might have to leave…but why…?"
"It's like Power Rangers!" Sealand explains, without really explaining at all. "There could be some battle site or something…they could be right in front of us! This is like the best trip to America ever!"
Latvia doesn't know how to respond to that, but that's usually what happens anyway and Sealand is perfectly fine with that. As Sealand walks away from JKP, one hand still on Latvia's arm, Latvia looks over his shoulder.
They both run in the direction that they see Lily and the other guy go towards. Well, really Sealand is running and kind of just dragging Latvia along with him. But Latvia still had to move his feet to keep up with Sealand's gait and he had to move his mind as well to keep up with his excited chatter, so that justifies that.
In the town square, Latvia sees a battle scene right out of the Power Rangers shows he's always watching with Sealand. Three costumed people- red, yellow, and blue- are battling a red, muscled, armor-clad…whatever it is.
Being a nation and living with Russia for who knows how many years had subjected Latvia to war and many things a normal human wouldn't dream of, but they were always realistic. Never has he seen anything like this…an actual monster, fighting the three costumed Rangers- that's what Latvia assumes they are, anyway- surrounded by masked creatures Sealand had christened the "jumpy-things."
Sealand, meanwhile, was getting over the awe he was feeling. There were actual Power Rangers in front of him, fighting jumpy-things, and a villain he couldn't remember the name of. He hadn't seen Jungle Fury for so long, since England was disdainful of Power Rangers and had confiscated his video collection, and Denmark and Norway had an "accident" involving Norway's magic and fire that resulted in the destruction of the TV and his second video collection, a gift from Japan.
But while he was trying to figure that out, Latvia was tapping him and reminding him of the danger- there were monsters, didn't he notice? But Sealand just reassures him like he usually does: "I'm made of iron and steel, remember?" Literally.
"Besides, these are Power Rangers! We can totally help them out!"
"You sound like Feliks…" Latvia sighs but still follows his friend over to the Rangers, which most people were fleeing away from. Still, the people of Ocean Bluff seem to acknowledge that the Power Rangers are here, and therefore the villain will be beat and all will be well.
But as the two countries- well, one country and one micronation- near the scene, that appears to not be the case.
The Rangers appear confident, at first. Sealand and Latvia listen as the blue Ranger looks towards the other three, saying, "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Yep," the yellow Ranger responds. Listening, Sealand can tell that she's female, and while he already knew that, her voice is strangely familiar.
"Jungle Master Mode!" The red, blue, and yellow Rangers scream. "Latv- Raivis, whatever! They're going to get their firing jets! And their costumes will change! Awesome!"
"Um…I don't think you understand the trouble here…" Latvia mutters, cowering behind his friend. He's probably going to end up pulling Sealand out of the way though, in all of the micronation's ecstasy.
Just as the jets fire and the fourth Ranger charges, there's a second explosion. More follow it, and Sealand can see the Rangers losing power. The yellow one has already de-morphed, and the blue one is right behind her.
Latvia hears "Lily!" called, and looks towards the de-morphed yellow Ranger, wondering if he's right. She's still conscious, and calls, "Guys, I'm okay! Just finish him!"
"Had enough?" the monster questions. "Grizzaka!" Sealand says. "Great, I remember! But… Latvia, they're so screwed!"
"Okay, now you've made me mad!" the red ranger declares. He and the fourth Ranger charge, but they're sent back next to their fallen comrades.
"You're right about that," Latvia replies. "But-"
"We're going to help them!" Sealand proclaims, then rushes at the monster.
"But….but…" Despite Sealand being made of iron and steel (or so he said; Latvia had never tested it out, since Sealand was never attacked and the only injuries he's sustained was a burn when his fort was set afire) Latvia really doubted that he could stand up to Grizza-a-whatever its name was.
Latvia begins to pull away the yellow Ranger towards Jungle Karma Pizza. He was right; it was the same girl who had served them- or prepared to serve them- back in the pizza shop. So she was actually a Power Ranger…
Latvia pulls her into the shop, now cleared of people, and gently sets her head on the floor. He heads back out to the town square, to check up on Sealand and to get the other three. He mildly curses himself for having such a small land mass and country, guaranteeing that he will never grow in physical size and possess nation strength like America's. Even so, he's slightly stronger than the average boy his age, and continues to pull the blue Ranger, now the Asian boy at the cash register, back to the shop.
Setting the now de-morphed blue Ranger down in the pizza shop, Latvia sees a glasses-wearing girl come out into the dining area, clad in the JKP shirt and an orange hat. Her eyes widen.
"What's going on here?" she cries. "Who are you? What happened to them?"
"I-I'm R-Raivis Galante," Latvia replies, stutter back in full force. "T-They're the P-Power Rangers and…" he stops to catch his breath.
"Yeah, I know they are," she responds in a 'duh' voice, but still freaking out.
"Y-yes, and m-my friend's out t-there, a-and…" Latvia breaks off again, clearly freaking out just as much as this girl, whose name tag identified her as 'Fran'.
"Your friend?" Fran repeats. Her expression makes it look like she's used to these situations, although not having Ocean Bluff's resident Power Rangers passed out on her floor. "Well, you'd better go save him, before he ends up like these guys."
Latvia squeaks, hoping that's not how Sealand is at the moment, passed out in the town square, and exits JKP to get the other Rangers, mumbling quickly under his breath about Sealand and the mess they've gotten themselves into.
Sealand, meanwhile, had faced off to Grizzaka, who seemed surprised to have such a small opponent compared to the Power Rangers he had.
After that, Grizzaka had decided that he might as well blast this pest anyway, because he was bound to be annoying, just like the Rangers. Sealand had watched enough Power Rangers and was enough of a 'ninja' (well, he had walked on water and jumped several stories onto his fort to fight aliens, but that's another story) where he could dodge and as a result of that, Grizzaka was quite mad.
Sealand briefly wonders what happened to Latvia, but at least he's assured that Grizzaka's not attacking his friend, because the monster's attention is all focused on him. Dodging another blast, Sealand thinks about how awesome it is that he's literally fighting a Power Ranger villain, while also thinking about how Latvia was right on how dangerous it might be. England had never really explained to him about nations being immortal or not…
"There's nothing like a Power Rangers team-up!" Sealand calls. "Rocket punch!" And with that, he socked Grizzaka.
Being made of what he is Sealand thought that punching an enormous Power Ranger beast wouldn't hurt him, but in reality he feels like he had slammed his fist against a brick wall repeatedly. Trying not to repeat what England said every time he burned something (which was every time he got in the kitchen) Sealand fell to his knees, rubbing his knuckles and muttering, "Oww…."
Grizzaka looks at him angrily. "I'd defeat the Rangers and take your friend if I had enough power." Was that Latvia's 'eep!' Sealand is hearing above the din? "But that's no matter, because Dai Shi's plan will work out eventually!" And then Grizzaka was gone.
"P-peter!" Sealand turns around at the use of his human name, seeing Latvia standing at the entrance to Jungle Karma Pizza, which they were just in. Latvia beckons to him, and judging by the fact that the unconscious Rangers are missing from the square, Lativa must've moved them.
Sealand runs over to the shop, wondering just what could be next.
"Just what is going on here?" A worker, named Fran as far as Sealand could tell, confronted the micronation as soon as he walked in. Her hands were placed on her hips.
Sealand assesses the scene. Latvia is trying to explain to Fran what happened, but his stutter is getting worse from having to talk to a new person and probably from the overall situation at hand.
Stepping in for his friend, Sealand explains just what happened (and tried to tone down his excitement, because it was obviously an awful predicament and not something wonderful).
"I need to call RJ…." Fran says, shaking her head.
"No need to, I'm already here." A long-hair man with slight stubble resembling France's walks in. "I succeeded in my mission of successfully scaring off all the fish…" he looks down at the Rangers on the floor, slowly beginning to wake up. "Well, looks like we have a bigger problem…"
Sealand hangs onto Latvia's shoulder. "Wow! This is so cool!"
Latvia looks down at the awakening Power Rangers- Lily, the Asian boy, and two other boys. "Y-you think so?"
Phew, switching between country names and human names. I hope that didn't confuse anybody with the references and all. And yay for Sealand the Power Rangers fanboy.