The Hetalia Global Warming Crisis; Get Out Alive

08—The Game

"A g-game?" stuttered Matthew, and then he cleared his throat and spoke stronger. "What game do you wish to play, and maybe we'll consider."

"Pfft, NOT," Alfred leaned over his brother's seat, bringing his face next to Matthew's and speaking to the phone, "as if we'll ever listen to you."

Matthew and Arthur shot Alfred glares, warning him to shut up. The American shrugged.

"You will soon discover that you do not have a choice," the woman replied as the group gathered slowly around Matthew and his phone. "We know where you are. We know what you are doing. We are watching your every—"

"She's worse than France," Arthur mumbled. Francis came up behind the Englishman and smacked him on the back of the head.

"I heard that!" the voice on the phone snapped. Then it turned sweet. "It will be a game of chess. All of us are the pieces. I will be the king piece for my side. Canada will be the king for yours."

There was silence as all eyes turned to look at the stunned young country.

"What are the rules?" Germany said slowly.

"Ah. I see you are interested," the voice mocked, "very well. Either side must take their opponent's 'king' back alive. If you manage to capture me, I will let you all out of here. You have my word."

"Bullshit," spat Romano.

"On the other hand, if we capture Canada, we kill the rest of you. No questions asked. No mercy."

"What do you want from me?" Matthew wailed. "Why are you going through all this trouble to get me? Leave them alone!"

"Our purpose must be for your ears only, Canada," the woman said smoothly. "We shall tell you when we have you."

"When…" murmured Arthur warily.

"I believe it is fair game, don't you?" she continued cheerfully. "Oh, and there's another thing. We are not responsible for any injuries on your behalf. So if one of you dies before either side wins, it's not our problem."

"That's not fair, aru!" protested China.

"Life is never fair, is it? But what I'm offering is fair," the enemy replied. "It's as far as I'm willing to go in this game. How about you?"

"Why don't we all surren—" Italy began slowly, then Germany grabbed Italy and put a hand over his mouth.

"Shut up!" Ludwig hissed into Feliciano's ear.

All the countries looked at each other, uncertain.

"Give us fifteen minutes to decide," Japan said, leaning over to speak at the phone.

"I will call back," the enemy replied evenly. "It won't make a difference. I'm still watching you."

She hung up.

There was a moment of intense silence as everyone thought about the offer. One choice meant freedom, the other meant death for all. And it depended on whether or not the enemy could capture Canada.

"It's not fair at all," Arthur reasoned. "She's trying to trick us. Remember her little disappearing act? How are we supposed to catch someone we can't see?"

"She's still bound to send someone to find us and get Canada," Alfred argued hotly. "We could follow them to her…"

"We'll get killed if we do that recklessly," Kiku replied evenly.

"Our best choice is to defend Canada," said Gilbert gruffly. "At least while he's alive, we can make sure all of us are."

"…Prussia…" Matthew looked around at the others, who were nodding slowly in agreement.

"But then how will we get to the woman?" Francis put in. "If we stay here guarding Canada, no one will ever win."

"We have to answer the first question," growled Ludwig. "Are we playing this game or not?"

There was a slight hesitation, and then everyone nodded confidently, giving small murmurs of assent. Feliciano, the only one who didn't really have a clue what was happening, looked around and nodded happily.

"Wait!" Matthew protested, leaping to his feet and facing his audience as Kumajiro tumbled to the floor. "You're all going to die if you try to defend me. Don't you understand? She may not be able to get me, but she'll kill every one of you one by one until we surrender." He blinked back tears and swallowed hard. "I don't want that to happen."

"But if we say no, she'll kill us all anyways, aru," China pointed out.

"And a Hero wouldn't ever give up without a fight first!" America announced, and then put an arm around his brother's shoulder. "And when we fight, I'm fighting beside you!"

Matthew bit his lip and twisted out of his grip, turning his back to them and running to the door to the main conference hall. Alfred watched him go with surprise, then shouted at his brother and ran after him when he realised what Matthew was about to do.

"Mattie…" Alfred muttered seriously. "Canada. I know what you're thinking. Don't do it. I don't want to lose you."

"If I can somehow exchange myself for your lives, I won't have to watch you die," whispered Matthew.

"But then I'd be alone," Alfred murmured. "Who's going to play catch with me? And play pranks on England? Share ice cream? And build… Oh. Hey. Are you crying?"

Matthew shook his head, but the tears were clearly running down his cheeks. Alfred smiled and pulled his little brother into his arms. He wiped Matthew's wet cheeks and laughed softly.

"Don't cry, Mattie," Alfred whispered. "I'll always be beside you. We're brothers."

Matthew screwed his eyes tightly to stop the tears, and then squeezed his brother in a hug as if America were Kumajiro. The older country stayed still, enjoying the moment he and Canada shared, and then tried to guide his brother back to the group, but the younger nation refused to move.

"Hey, now," Alfred said cheerfully. "Don't be like that. The Hero always wins, you know that!"

"Heh, heh," Matthew smirked, trying to lighten his mood. "You may be the Hero," he said, looking up with his big, indigo-blue eyes, "but I'm always on top."

Alfred looked into Matthew's eyes in surprise and confusion, and then burst out laughing when he understood.

"Leave the jokes to me, little brother," Alfred laughed.

They had returned to the bickering countries when Canada's phone suddenly rang.

"Do you have an answer?" the voice demanded when he picked up.

Before Matthew could say anything, Alfred grabbed the phone and snarled.

"Yeah, we have an answer, bitch," America growled angrily, putting all his rage and hatred into his voice. "We're playing your stupid game. And we're gonna win."

Make someone angry, hmm, America?

Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya

I dedicate this set of chapters to XxTenshIxX97 my second reviewer. Thanks a lot for reading and I'll make sure I include a lot of USUK for you ;)

Oh and Canada's little joke? Look at a map of North America. It wasn't meant to be inappropriate but... XD

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