For some reason my chapters have been getting short. The last five were under 2000 words. Hmm...

Review! :D

Back in the lower hallway, South Korea had burnt his fingers rubbing the walls looking for more hidden cages. He'd loosely discovered where the other cells were -three more on his section of the hallway- but none of them gave way like the way it had while he was talking to aniki. The only nation left in the hall aside from him was Belarus, and she grouchily patrolled the end of it, hoping for aliens to kill. Prussia, what's-his-face, and Switzerland had gone off to the other hallway, and they hadn't come back. Greece was still watching their plane, he hoped.

So it was just him and a homicidal maniac. "Just my luck, da-ze."

He thought back to the aniki he'd found and shivered. Japan had been all over the place and now he looked dead. He had to keep watching his aniki out of the corner of his eye, for as soon as he diverted his attention to something else, the illusion would try and close off the cell again, and he wasn't going to lose his only frame of reference here in the hallway.

He looked back again. Japan still looked dead. Best not to think about that. Not thinking about things originated in me, da-ze!

Feeling a bit better, he promptly zapped his fingers on the wall for the third time in a row. "Gah!" He spat Korean obscenities under his breath and flapped his shocked fingers around before sticking them in his mouth.

"韩国, is that you, aru?"

He whipped his head around, searching for the source of the tired voice. It seemed to emanate from the wall. He squinted at it, and then illusion shimmered. As if sensing it had lost the battle to convince the nation there was nothing, it flickered once more and then guttered out.

South Korea saw China tucked in the corner with black marks on the wall above his head, looking tired and beaten up.

"Aniki! You are here!" South Korea exulted, flailing his limbs around in a bizarre victory dance while China watched in confusion.

"What are you doing, aru?"

"Doing a victory dance. Doing victory dances originated in me, da-ze!"

China sighed, fighting back a smile. He's not dead after all. "W-"

Of course, that was when Belarus came flying through the door at the end of the hall, a knife in each hand.

"They're coming."

"Who?"

"The aliens, you imbecile!" she snarled. "A whole freaking lot of them. Run!"

"What's going on, aru?" demanded China. "Are-"

The first alien unfolded itself through the door, all six eyes glaring red-hot hatred. It raised its claws and sent its tail flying down at them when a knife sprouted out of its neck. But South Korea was transfixed by the sight of it screeching and prying at its neck, black blood spurting out like a geyser.

From his vantage point inside his cell, China saw nothing but the widening puddle of black blood and heard naught but the unending scream. "韩国!" he shouted, the loudest he could go without irritating his throat. "What's going on?!"

He never received an answer. Belarus had grabbed the Korean's arm and yanked him down the hallway. For once, the Korean wholeheartedly agreed with her. Regaining his balance, he put his head down and sprinted for his life.

Belarus said over to him, "I've only got one knife left. You'd better not trip and make me waste it to save your scrawny ass."

The Asian was too out of breath to respond.

They cleared the doors and ran around corners, up and down stairs, and finally reached an unoccupied room piled high with blank gray tablets.

Satisfied they'd lost their pursuers, they stood and caught their breath, and then turned to go back. She had to find her brother. It was mandatory.

When they opened the door, a surprised alien dropped a stack of those same gray tablets and then turned to face them. Claws shot from its palms.

Before either South Korea or the alien could make a move, Belarus flung her knife.

It tumbled end over end, seemingly in slow motion. The alien saw it coming, and made to doge it, too late realizing that at the angle of movement, the knife would-

Three eyes plopped to the ground, as round and fat as grapes. The knife clanged off the wall, its blade dulled and black-splashed, and then fell to the ground.

Time sped up again. Half blinded, the alien went into a rage, flailing its limbs around and lashing wildly at the air. Claws and tails scattered about them at blurring speed.

South Korea got hit first, a strong, solid slap with the flat of a claw to a head. He reeled backwards into the path of the stinger, and he collapsed, murmuring, "Not cool, da-ze...it burns..."

And he was down.

Though she wouldn't admit it, Belarus was nervous. She'd sort-of-befriended these people, and she was torn between saving the Korean nation from torture, or flying backwards to get her brother and go.

She knew what Russia would say. Save your friends, Bela. Friends are precious.

He would know. He had none.

Glancing again towards the alien, she hardened her resolve. I'll save you, she thought, staring at South Korea sprawled at her feet. You'd better be worth it.

She nipped in and grabbed the knife, its edges now stained with some oily black ew. As the creature roared and turned towards her, she sliced again and again, feeling blows rain down on her back as the enraged alien discovered that she wasn't so indestructible after all. The felt the cool hardness of the blaws all the way down to her soul.

Belarus didn't stop -couldn't, really- until she was striped with patches of her blood and its, and the alien was still, a mutilated mass of pulpy gray flesh.

She put a hand to her own back. Shreds of cloth and skin stuck to her fingers, and there were deep splits in the muscle, down to the bone. The Belarusian was suddenly glad she couldn't see her back.

Her head spun. "That's just...lovely..." A wild cackle burst from her throat, and she fell in a whirl of red and silver.

Canada was panicking. Kunajoko was no help, clinging tightly to his foot.

Switzerland had just been attacked by a whole glob of aliens. They'd come bursting through the doors at the end of the hallway, seemingly in a flood of flesh, and the Swiss nation couldn't even fire off a shot before the gun was bent in two and he was slapped with those tails.

Then, they'd taken him away. And I'd done nothing. Just stood there hyperventilating and squeezing his bear until they left.

It was good that he was invisible to most things, sometimes.

I'm useless.

Dejected, he headed back towards the hallway that South Korea was investigating, wondering if he'd be noticed long enough to break the news. Maybe another illusion cage was found. Maybe it was America or France or even England...

But the hallway was empty, aside from a dead alien with knife embedded in its head.

Oh, maple.

Kimacocoa stirred on his leg and woke up. "Who are you?" he asked in his high-pitched voice.

"I'm Canada," sighed the nation plaintively.

Kuma slid off his foot and waddled over to the alien. "Don't you need a weapon? You look kind of defenseless to me..."

"You..you want me to pull the knife out of its head!?" Canada's voice rose to a squeak.

There was no answer. The bear had fallen asleep again.

Canada sighed and tentatively yanked the knife. The alien's legs kicked out at him, and he squeaked and leaped backwards. When no further movement was forthcoming, he looked away, grabbed the sticky, slimy hilt, and in one great pull, freed it from the skull. It made a sickening squelch noise, and something dribbled onto his foot. It smelled awful. He didn't look at it.

Holding the knife gingerly between two fingers, he walked onwards, Kuki still on his foot.

There was a sound of a scuffle, suddenly. Against his common sense, he headed towards it.

He was just in time to see Belarus flop into a scary looking pool of blood. There was an alien that was obviously dead, and South Korea lay near them, unconscious.

For a second, his brain went into panic mode. Blood everywhere, and he was useless...

NO, he ordered himself firmly. Help them.

He knelt in the blood and began ripping strips off of the Belarusian's dress to wrap up her wound. He'd never been good with first aid...

Once there was a passable bandage, he turned to check on South Korea.

There was an immense alien standing over the three bodies and him. Its six eyes watched him with a sort of malevolent amusement as the shock registered on the Canadian's face.

He dropped the knife with a clatter as his hand muscles loosened, and all pretenses of invisibility were lost now.

Oh, well, thought Canada as the tail swept towards him. At least I tried.

Translations: 韩国 - South Korea (s. Chinese)

I'm not actually sure if you twitch a knife in something's brain if the legs will spaz, but I wanted to write that down just to freak out our Canadian friend. x)