A/N: Hey so it's me again. Lily's POV. How do you all like the unusual collaboration between Power Rangers and Hetalia? Pretty creative, eh? No? Okay, whatever. We'd like to have some reviews if you all don't mind. Thanks!
I open my eyes, at first a little confused and scared. Wait, weren't we just fighting Grizzaka? What happened? I remember that sailor suit…
I bolt upwards, remembering my friends. Casey! Theo! Dominic! Are they…?
I look around then sigh in relief as I find them all lying around me, still unconscious from our fight. But then I take in my surroundings and see we're back in JKP. The brick walls and orange booths are a dead giveaway, not to mention the faint aroma of pizza. I see Fran looking at us worried and then noticing I'm awake.
"Lily! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" she frantically asks me, running over. She helps me sit up straighter and I touch the back of my head gingerly.
"I'm okay. My head hurts a little but that's okay. But Fran, what…what happened? Weren't we…weren't we fighting Grizzaka? How did we get here?" Fran looks reluctant to tell me but also confused.
"Did RJ save us?" I ask her eagerly, thinking he got back from his 'fishing trip' early. But Fran shakes her head.
"No, but he's here now." She gestures to the back room. Just then when she turns her head I notice two boys standing off to side. One was whispering excitedly to the other who was just smiling and nodding.
"Fran…what are they doing here? I recognize them." They were the new customers at JKP earlier.
"Actually, they were the ones who…saved you," she explains. "I don't how they did it or why. I was about to ask them RJ came. Speaking of RJ, where is he?" She looks around. I cock my head, confused at the thought that those two boys saved us but I push it out of my mind of now. I turn to Dominic who is closest to me and start to try and wake him up. Pretty soon he opens his eyes slowly and shakes his head groggily.
"Hey Lily. What…what happened?" He starts to sit up but I push him back. I notice Fran had gone upstairs to look for RJ and had left us alone with our, um…saviors.
"Oh no you don't. You rest now. I'm not actually sure what happened. Fran said they" I gesture to the guys in the corner, still gossiping but keeping their distance from us despite them looking over at us every few seconds "saved us, but I haven't figured out any more details other than that. I'm going to help Casey and Theo, okay? Just rest here." He nods, not looking like he wants to disobey me anyway. I smile then proceed to shake the others awake. Theo responds fairly quickly though Casey takes a few more moments to revive. Finally his eyes open.
"You okay Case?" I ask him. Casey nods but doesn't reply. He's probably trying to figure out what happened like the rest of us are. He looks questioningly over at the boy in the sailor suit and his friend. His eyes ask me what happened and I shrug.
Fran walks back from upstairs and RJ follows her.
"How are my comrades doing?" He spreads his arms apart as he squats down to talk to us. We're still fairly weak so standing isn't exactly on the agenda right now.
"Okay," Theo answers, rubbing his wrist. I remember vaguely that he took a hard hit from Grizzaka there but I think that was when I was so close to falling over form weariness. Dominic is a little more enthusiastic.
"Well, except for a few bruises and a pounding pain in my heads, I think I could take another swing at Grizzaka."
"I'm fine. Tired, yes. Beaten, of course. But I'm also seriously confused. What happened with Grizzaka?" Casey looks at RJ expectantly. RJ's eyes stare down as he tries to come up with the right words to say.
"Well actually gang, I'm not so sure myself. Fran says these guys somehow saved you. They're…um, I'm not sure of their names. Fran said one was…"
"Raivis, apparently," Fran says uncertainly. "At least, that's what I think he said. He has-" she whispers the last part softly so they couldn't hear "-he has an awful stutter."
"Well, I'd certainly like to talk to them. Wouldn't' you, guys?" Casey announces. Dom and I nod but Theo looks hard at them.
"Hey, Lil, weren't they the two new customers today?
"Yeah. I don't know how but…" I trail off, not sure what I was going to day anyway. But Theo winks at me.
"I remember because of the sailor suit." I laugh.
"I can see that." Casey gets up then holds out his hand to me, probably not wanting to sit on the floor any longer. I take it and he pulls me up.
I try to ignore the speeding of my heart.
"Hey, um, guys?" I call to the two in the corner. They look over at me, one super happy and the other a little uncertain.
"Could we talk?" The sailor nods, beaming and drags the other over.
"Sure, why not? What do you want?" he asks eagerly. I look at his friend, a little quieter and avoiding our eyes and looking at the floor and turn my gaze back on the one who actually wants to answer my questions.
"Well first off, who are you?" Theo breaks in. The sailor looks befuddled.
"What do you mean 'who are you?' I'm Sealand, but you can call me Peter. And this is Latvia, who you can call Raivis. Say hi Latvia." The shyer one raises his eyes briefly, nods to us and looks back down. The sailor shrugs. We look at each other, confused.
"You're Sealand?" Dominic asks. "And he's…Latvia like, the country in Europe?" Sealand, apparently nods his head quickly.
"Yep!" Dom nods his head slowly.
"R-i-g-h-t," he sounds out each letter. "Sealand and…and Latvia. I'm sure." The sailor looks offended.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's just…those are countries. Well, Latvia is. I've never heard of Sealand." Casey explains. "Have you?" I think hard, trying to remember ever hearing that name. It doesn't ring any bells but when you're a Pai Zhuq student, you don't really have time to absorb every single thing you learn in school.
Sealand looks miffed at that. "It is a country!" He says. "No matter what Jerkland says." I raise my eyebrows, not getting that either, as Latvia pulls on his sleeve, trying to calm him down."
"Don't look at me. I was a little busy with becoming a Mentor and all," RJ says. Fran just shakes her head.
"I think it's some sort of battle fortress. But that's it." Theo gets that studious, do-not-disturb-me-I'll-kill-you look on his face as he tries to think back. Of course Theo would know.
"Sorry but I don't think we understand what you mean," I apologize to them. "You're saying you're countries but you're…you're people! Countries can't be people."
"Is it as hard to believe as Power Rangers Jungle Fury actually being real?" Sealand smugly inquires.
"Well that's different. We were raised to be Power Rangers-we just didn't know it," Dom defends.
"Why don't we go upstairs and talk this out a little more?" RJ suggests. "Fran, do you mind shutting down everything?" Fran looks a little unhappy but nods.
"Sure, just don't expect this to be a daily thing!" She calls after us as we go into the back room. Even though I said I was fine, it's a little hard walking up the stairs. Casey takes my hand and helps me up the stairs. I don't notice the look Theo is giving him, as he burns daggers into our backs. Every muscle hurts as we mount the stairs. To take my mind off of my soreness, I listen to the chatter of the 'countries'. I hear them trade quietly back in forth, pointing out random stuff.
"Oh look it's the kitchen! Did you know that the kitchen has been featured in every episode except three?"
"Remember when Dominic came in and pulled that prank on them in 'Path of the Rhino?" I only hear 'Sealand's', so 'Latvia must be smiling and nodding and not talking.
Now that we're all assembled upstairs, I turn to Sealand and Latvia, remarking to myself in my head how weird it is to look at two boys and think that. "Now can you explain the whole 'countries' thing?"
Sealand is gazing around in awe, and as strange as the day has been, I have to admit I am somewhat flattered at his degree of love for the Power Rangers and how much he knows. Nonetheless, he looks preoccupied, so Latvia answers for him.
"We're t-the personifications of the countries," he says, his stutter dying down a bit. We're all a bit surprised he's actually talking since he seems so withdrawn but then I remember how he spoke in the restaurant. Maybe he's always like this. "I don't know how, but the embodiments of the countries have been around since…" he thinks for a bit.
"Four thousand years," Sealand chimes in. "That's how old China is, at least."
China. This is getting a little overwhelming.
"Right. China…" Dom says, winking at us behind the nation's backs. RJ, sitting in his armchair gives Dom a warning look.
"Let them finish speaking no matter how un-delightful or bemusing you may find it to be." Theo rolls his eyes as Sealand laughs, amusement plain in his next sentence.
"I'm only around 70 years old," says the obviously 12 year old boy in front of me, a pout on his face. "That's why the Nordics won't let me do anything, or go to world meetings."
"Right…" Latvia says, probably sensing our confusion and wrapping it up as quickly as possible. Theo looks a bit impatient with Sealand that he's so vague and expects us to understand right away. I put my hand on his arm as a precaution. You never can tell when he'll lose his cool.
"Well, as countries we're basically immortal- at least, I've l-lived long enough. Whenever there's a w-war, or something happens to our countries, we feel the brunt of it." He pauses, looking like he's thinking about something painful. "A-anyway, we do work for our bosses- the leaders of our countries- and a-attend World Meetings. Humans don't really know about us…"
"So you're saying you're not human?" Casey points out. Lativa looks confused.
"N-no, that's not what I m-meant. It's just…it's juts l-like we're the p-personifications of countries." Casey nods, pretending to understand.
We all stand in silence, taking it in. Theo looks skeptical while RJ seems to believe them. Casey and Dom are expressionless and as for myself…I don't know. It sounds absurd, but then again, we are the Power Rangers, so it's not like we haven't seen plenty of things considered absurd to the normal person. Besides, the one kid, Sealand, defeated Grizzaka, which had to count for something abnormal.
Thinking the same as me, Dom says, "Is that how you defeated Grizzaka?"
Sealand nods happily. He answers facing Theo, who he appears to like, probably because Theo knew vaguely who he was. "Yes! I'm not as strong as America, but I did okay with Grizzaka."
"But Grizzaka is an Overlord," Theo points out. "One of the most powerful there are. How did you do it?" At the question, Sealand lowers his eyes. He then looks up, looking a little sheepish.
"Well actually I kind of just held him off while Latvia got you guys out of there. He and I kind of just exchanged a few blows, I dodged most of them and then he said something about a Dai Shi's plan 'working out eventually- and then poof! He's gone. But no worries, right?" at the mention of Dai Shi's name and plan in the same sentence, we all look at each other quickly. RJ frowns.
"So Dai Shi actually has a plan now? Well, that's good and bad news."
"How can that be good news?" Casey argues, astounded at the fact that Dai Shi had a plan that could take us all down was all good and well. RJ might as well have announced that Grizzaka was going to run JKP now.
"Yeah, I agree with Casey. I don't see how that's a good thing," I say. Casey nods at me.
"Exactly. "Dom holds up a hand.
"Whoa, whoa, let's see what he has to say."
"Why thank you Dom. As I was going to say, it's good because if it's taken Dai Shi this long to come up with an original plan, that means it might not be very good. On the other hand, if he's been planning this…plan for a while now, the nit may be very advanced and far outdistancing our skills as of now."
"So you're saying we have to train harder now?" Theo wants to make sure. RJ shakes his head.
"Well yes and no. I want you to train as hard as you can but I also want you-and me as well-to try and find out what his plan is."
"Oh, we can help!" Sealand raises his hand in the air, like an overexcited kindergartener wanting a piece of candy. "We can help," he repeats. "Right Latvia?" He elbows Latvia and he looks startled.
"Um, s-sure. Why not? It'll be f-fun." I feel a little bad for Latvia who keeps getting dragged into all these serious, important tasks. RJ sighs.
"Well I suppose so. But at your own risk. Now, you guys can, uh, rest up and start training again first thing tomorrow. Okay?"
"Fine by me," I say.
"I second that," Dom nods.
"Me too," Casey agrees.
"I would appreciate that very much," Theo adds.
"And what about you tow? Do you have a place to stay tonight?" RJ asks them. Sealand nods.
"Yep, we're going to stay with America. Or Alfred if you prefer." RJ looks like he's about to say something then thinks better of it.
"Well, then, just come tomorrow. We can, uh, see what you got and how you can help us." Sealand nods again. "Say, 9 o'clock? I'm letting them sleep in a little after their beating toady."
"I heard that," Theo calls out from the other side of the room where he's putting his Solar Morpher away. Everyone knows Theo hates to lose.
"Got to admit it someday buddy," Casey answers him.
"Anyway, just be here and we'll work out the details later," RJ concludes.
"Did you hear that Latvia?" he exclaims as they descend the steps. "We're going to see the Jungle Fury Power Rangers train!"
I roll my eyes playfully. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.