Canada was not going to break down, he made the pact with himself the second they discovered the states.

It was becoming difficult, however. He felt like his brain was melting. He sat there trying to recall any sign that America had been keeping this secret, but to no avail. He was boiling over with emotion and it was only a matter of time before he lost it, but he rejected that feeling. He was Canada, and his duty as America's brother was to remain calm and save America from this mess.

While keeping a clear head sounded like a great idea, it was better said than done. America betrayed him, and the worst part was he knew exactly why. As a nation, Canada knew it was his job to protect his territory from harms way, and it was obvious these states didn't feel safe around nations, but as a brother, he could have told him. Canada didn't know why, but as childish as it sounded America choosing his territory over his family filled Canada with a painful amount of anger. It was weird for him, he never got this angry during times of peace, but he suspected the next couple of days were going to be very close to a war anyway, except nobody knew who they were fighting, only what they were fighting for.

Canada sat in a stiff chair in the hotel lobby, anxiously fiddling three pieces of paper between his fingers. Two of them were plane tickets, and the other being an index card with a phone number written on it. He tried to keep his mind off of America, but being in his country, communicating with his states, and planning to travel a complete section of his country while searching for him made the task fairly difficult. Canada didn't have much to distract himself with either. He packed, checked out, called Ohio, and collected his plane ticket from New York. Now all he had to do was wait for Prussia, who he didn't expect would be taking this long. He was starting to wonder if he would have left by now if Japan paired with him instead. He could always pass time by talking to Kimajako- he was sure that was his name- but that would have drawn too much attention. Right now the polar bear was resting in Canada's backpack, only his large head popping out from the bag. From a distance he looked like a white teddy bear, which caused some citizens to give him a curious gaze. But he guessed that was better than having someone realize that he had a live polar bear in the hotel lobby.

His thoughts continued to ramble farther and farther away from America's situation, giving Canada a stress-free moment since what seemed like forever ago. However, the moment didn't last long when the sound of the elevator opening dragged him back into harsh reality. Watching France and Prussia enter the lobby meant he had to register the fact that they were almost ready to leave, it meant that states existed, and America was gone. Now that his impatience was fading, he suddenly wished that Prussia took a while longer. He studied the ground as he waited for the ex-nation to check out, with his luck if he simply avoided eye contact, Prussia would forget about him and try to reach Ohio on his own. Then he wouldn't have to face this, he knew it was selfish, but it was true.

"Candy!" And there was no such luck for the Canadian. Prussia yelled across the lobby as he bounded up to him, "Where are we going?"

"It's Canada," He responded with a wince. "And Ohio told us to meet him in Detroit, Michigan."

"Awesome!" Prussia proclaimed as he rolled out his suitcase. "I can't wait to meet even more personifications that will bow down to my awesomeness! What do you know about them? You're America's brother after all."

Canada grew a knot in his stomach, "America never told me about any of this," He said barely above a whisper. "I know as much as you do."

Prussia rubbed the back of his neck, "Ouch. If West did that to me i'd-" He stopped when Canada looked over at him. "Well anyway... you still know more than me, right? You're his neighbor so at least you can tell me where Michigan is."

Canada wore a ghost of a smile, "You seriously don't know where we're going, even when you chose Ohio?"

The albino shrugged, "Nope! Ohio was the only one left, the state's near California, right?"

He couldn't help letting out a timid laugh, "It's in the Mid-West. I'll buy you a map if you need it that badly."

"Hey, you think the Mid-West ever concerned me? I barely bothered to learn about it even during his revolution, and I was helping him." Prussia yawned, "Well we should get going before I fall asleep. Everyone's sleeping schedule is thrown off because of both of your parties."

"Well in that case you're lucky I'm here, the Mid-Western states concerned me a couple times in history, especially during 1812. It'd be nice to get some sleep on the plane too. You can blame America for the parties, he plans them." He stood from his seat and carefully lifted his back pack over his shoulders, wary of Cumajiro who let out a small huff of annoyance.

Prussia started wheeling his suitcase out of the hotel, causing Canada to walk faster. Cackling, he said, "Yeah, America always goes to the extreme this time of the year with it being July and all." A piercing whistle escaped his lips and the albino waved to the taxi New York kept for them, "And apparently he's not the only one who acts out this month, now let's get this fucker!"

XXX

Canada let Prussia take the lead through Detroit's airport while he was trailing behind him frantically checking his phone every two seconds, "Anything yet?" He asked.

For the umpteenth time, Canada checked his phone frowning, "No. Ohio hasn't responded since we arrived."

Prussia rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Does he know that we're trying to save a nation here, or is he just being a jerk and left us stranded?"

"I thought that he would be more punctual since this is so important," he said quietly.

"Maybe he's the state that shot America and made a run for it. What if the plan was to have all of the states ditch us in random airports, and give them a jump start to do whatever they're planning to do to America?" Prussia kicked the carpet, "you never know with new personifications."

The Canadian shrugged, "I don't think that's the case, I think that New York's right, and collecting the states one by one is the safest way. I doubt Ohio is a traitor, New York told me that the four states he talked to were the most trustworthy in the nation."

When they approached the food court, Prussia dropped his suitcase against the first table he saw and slumped in a chair, "New York? You sure are trustful for the nation he pulled a gun on just a couple hours ago. You're younger than me so here's some advice; never trust a personification on first meeting. They'll use that to their advantage."

Canada eased himself into the seat across from him, "He pulled a gun on me before he knew what was happening. I'm not saying I trust him, I just don't believe he's on their side, the same with Ohio. He didn't have to tell us half the things he did at America's apartment, he did because he felt we needed the information to help regain America. Also when he realized some of his fellow states were responsible, no personification could have faked his reaction."

"Except, you know, the guilty states that are going to fake the same reaction and pretend to know nothing about this. This is so not awesome," Prussia propped his elbow on the table to hold his lowering head.

Canada leaned forward, "Hey, what happened since we left New York? You were ready to take down these states and suddenly you're doubting everything," He pointed out, surprised at his completely flipped personality.

Prussia shrugged, "I've been thinking on the plane, when England described the text message he said this state called America Alfred."

"So? I do that all the time. These states seem fairly close to America."

"But you're calling him America now, because you're thinking of him as a nation right now. When do you call him Alfred?"

Canada thought for a moment, "When we do small things together that doesn't require any business, like watching a movie or playing hockey."

Prussia's blood red eyes met his, "Exactly, but this state surely doesn't want to play a round of hockey."

"So if this state doesn't call him Alfred in a sibling way, then he must be referring to America as a human." Canada's eyes opened in realization, "So does that mean-"

"This state wants to take away America's right as a personification," The albino stared off to the right, "If he's no longer a personification, then he only has so long before he starts to fade away."

Canada felt a rare rage shift inside of him, "That's not going to happen, America will always be America just as you will always be Prussia!" Prussia gave him a shocked stare at the sudden confidence and anger emitted by the shy nation, who was surprised himself he even said that.

Prussia's defeated gaze hardened into determination, lifting Canada's spirit. Prussia let out a small laugh, "Heh, who knew that for a single moment you could be more confident than me! Don't worry Candy, I won't let it happen again, I'm too awesome for that!"

Canada smiled, "Now let's find Ohio so that we can get these states, and return America to his original place."

"Oh, glad we're on the same track already!" A slightly southern accent said. Canada jumped when suddenly the chair next to him was pulled back so that the man could sit down. Canada estimated him to be a year or two younger than him, shorter and more slender also. His thick dark brown hair was tied back in a short braid and the eye Canada could see was a creamy tan color. He didn't have to see the other eye, he knew a white star sat in it's place. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ohio."

Canada hesitantly shook his hand, "Why didn't you answer your phone?"

Ohio grimaced and placed his phone on the table, "It just stopped working. I was using it one minute and the next the screen went blank and I could not get it working again."

"That's weird," Prussia said, examining the phone, "Was it hacked? It happened to mine before, America did it as a prank."

"I never considered that, I don't see why anyone would hack my phone," He took the phone back and shoved it into a yellow backpack, "Well it doesn't seem like it'll be much of a use for a while."

"You could have Japan look at it," Canada suggested. "He's the best out of all of us technology wise."

The state shrugged, "I guess I can do that. Talking to you two is weird enough for me, I almost forgot there are others running around the country." He stood up and swung the backpack over his shoulder, "Ready? Michigan is about twenty minutes from here if our taxi's fast."

Canada nodded and carefully wore the pack holding Kumajero, "Is that all you brought?"

The state looked at his bag, "Yeah, I kept some clothes at America's house so I didn't need to bring much."

Prussia rolled the suitcase behind them and they started walking towards the exit, "So where are we going?" The Prussian asked.

The brunet looked over his shoulder, "Most likely the boxing gym, Michigan volunteers there to train minors, he barely leaves."

"The states can box too?" Canada asked.

Ohio laughed, "Not really, we all have certain skills, Michigan is the best boxer. He taught America how to box in the first place, and in return America taught him how to shoot. America's the best at that after all."

"I'm not surprised since I'm the one who taught him!" Prussia claimed.

Ohio looked over at him, "Oh right, you did! I've heard from the original thirteen that your training was legendary."

Prussia gaped, "Are you saying that I trained the states during the revolution without even knowing it?"

Canada felt fat raindrops splatter on his head as they exited the airport. "Yes, but not all of them, they trained in the same group that America was trained in. We can discuss history later, right now we should focus on the present and get Michigan. I should warn you now that he might not have the most... appropriate reaction," Ohio rubbed the back of his neck.

"Coming from the last state we met, I don't think it can get any more extreme," Prussia chirped. "This state can't be that bad, right?" Ohio raised his eyebrows at him before waving as a taxi pulled up beside them.

XXX

Canada blankly watched a police car pass them blaring sirens while Ohio and Prussia unloaded the taxi, "Michigan works here?"

Ohio nodded, "Yeah, the neighborhood needs a lot of work. This is a youth program he volunteers at, it helps minors develop and stuff like that through boxing. Michigan has been talking about it since he joined, i'd suggest not bringing it up unless you're willing to converse about boxing for hours."

Prussia landed his suitcase at his feet, "I'm alright with that, there is one problem though." He turned to Canada and pointed towards his back, "Are we really going to bring that into a boxing gym?"

Canada blinked at him, then realized he was referring to the passenger in his backpack, "You mean Kimajiro? He's actually very calm, even in loud and active areas, he should be fine."

Ohio glanced at the bear, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot that was real, it looks so similar to a stuffed animal."

Prussia cackled and started walking through the parking lot, "We're just learning a lot about each other, aren't we? America has states, we're all in grave danger, and the most shocking of them all, the bear is real."

Canada shrugged and followed him, glancing around while doing so. The one-floor building was made of worn down brick, with some graffiti painted over it, but seeing it was the gym's logo, he inferred it was intentional. The property was surrounded by a tall metal fence, and Canada could have sworn he saw barbed wire on top. They entered to a large room filled with people. There was a boxing ring in the center, and off to the side was a row of punching bags and boxing equipment. Canada followed Ohio as he walked through the crowd, most of the citizens there appeared to be younger than him, excluding a few tall and muscular high school students, who looked to be thirty at first glance. The students moved aside as Ohio walked by, some called out to him, some patted him on the back, and others silently moved aside without any recognition.

"Hey, coach!" Ohio yelled. It was hard to tell who he was talking to at first, but he soon noticed a tall man instructing a kid how to properly punch a punching bag. He wore a sleeveless shirt and shorts. Beads of sweat ran down his dark skin, showing he was most likely teaching in the humid gym room all day.

"Just focus and keep on doing what you're doing," He said, stepping away from kid. "Digby! Here for Astor I'm guessing? Who are they?"

Canada averted his gaze as the coach looked at him, but Prussia only took a step forward, "I'm Gilbert and this is Matthew, we're just spending the day with him."

The coach shook hands with both of them, his grip was strong even for Canada, "Astor's in the ring training Ben, he's one of our best boxers."

"With the way he boxes I'm not surprised he's training Ben," Ohio started toward the ring, "We're going to go bug Astor now."

Prussia snorted as he and Canada caught up to him, "Digby? Now that's a name."

Ohio raised an eyebrow, "Your name is Gilbert, I'm not sure you should be talking."

"So Digby is your real name?" Canada asked. Ohio looked back at him, then grumbled to himself, it was hard to hear what he said over the chatter from everyone in the gym. He was about to ask the state to repeat himself, before a shout interrupted him.

"IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, BENNY?" Canada looked into the ring to see two men boxing, one was taller with bulging muscles, while the other was shorter and not as strong, but he still was very toned. The taller man growled at the shorter's teasing and threw another punch, which the other easily blocked, "You got a lot of strength, Benny. If only you knew how to use it!" The shorter man threw a series of punches, forcing Ben to nearly back into the rope.

"That's Astor I'm guessing?" Canada asked.

Ohio sighed, "Yup, that's Michigan."

Canada winced, "He seems a bit... violent."

Prussia laughed, "This is going to be fun!" Canada gave him a look, but he still wore his infamous smirk.

Ohio cupped his hands and yelled, "HEY ASTOR. STEP OUT OF THE RING FOR A SECOND!"

The state refused to tear his gaze from the student as he started to retaliate, "Why would I do that, Digby? Benny here needs my assistance when it comes to control. I mean look at the punches!" His words made Ben punch even harder.

Canada looked over at Ohio, "Should we just..."

He shook his head, "He'll figure it out, just give him a minute."

Michigan kept his eyes on the other in the ring, "I was talking about control, not strength. No matter how hard you punch, if it's not controlled then it won't have much of an effect. God, I bet even Digby over there has more control than you. Hey Digby! Why don't you come in here and give him a demonstration, it'll be fun! I'd love any opportunity to punch you around after all, what do you say?" He let out a loud laugh and glanced over at Ohio, then back at Ben. He got a few more punches in before he stiffened and glanced back again, this time realizing there were two nations standing besides Ohio. Ben took the chance to punch him all his force centered on his stomach. Michigan choked on what he was about to say and slammed his back against the ring on his way down.

Ohio's shoulders shook violently from his obnoxious laugh, Prussia laughed with him. Canada shook his head and clumsily crawled into the ring, "Are you alright?" He asked once he found his footing. The state continued to lay there, Ben exited the stage seeing that he was already going to be helped up.

When Canada approached him, he knew what he was expecting to see, but this state was different in a couple ways. His hair was divided in half by color; one side of his hair was a dirty blonde, and the other was a dark blonde. Even when he was slammed against the ground he could notice that. Canada leaned over him and held out a hand. With an arm over his eyes, Michigan gripped the hand tightly and was pulled up. "Yeah, I don't have the best eyesight, but it's pretty obvious that you're not your brother."

Canada stared at him in disbelief, "Really? You're one of the very few people who have ever said that to me."

"Yeah, so what are you doing here, Matthew?"

Canada looked at him, "Well first of all, you don't have to hide your eyes while talking to me, I know that a star is there. You can talk to me the way you'd talk to America if you please."

His smile was grim, "I was kind of hoping you didn't get that far, and I really don't think what you're about to see is what you were expecting, but since you're being polite about it..." He turned his back on him and lowered his arm, then jumped out of the ring. Canada followed him to where Prussia and Ohio were wiping away tears from the corners of their eyes. "HEY BENNY! NICE HIT THERE! YOU REALLY GOT ME ON MY ASS!" A group of amateur boxers laughed at his outburst.

"Astor! Tone it down!" The coach called.

Michigan waved his hand dismissively, "I'll be in the back recovering! My eye is killing me now." Most seemed to take that as a reasonable excuse, which Canada didn't really understand. While he figured they had to come up with some excuse for the star in their eyes, was his excuse a medical condition? Canada didn't believe that for a second; it was too unbelievable and utterly illogical.

"Next time you should pay attention to the fight you're in," Ohio teased.

"Next time you shouldn't surprise me like that when I'm boxing," He retorted with a mocking tone. He pushed a set of doors open, leading them outdoors. "Not exactly the break room, but I didn't want to risk others being there." When the door shut behind him and all they could hear were cars passing them, he called over his shoulder, "So how much do you two know?"

Ohio rolled his eyes, "They know enough, you can turn around."

Michigan sighed, then slowly turned to face the three personifications, "Whoa!" Prussia called out. Once Canada caught the same glimpse he did, he gasped and took a step back. His star was the brightest out of all the states he saw so far, and the other eye was- it took him a moment to realize there was no other eye. Canada was staring into an empty eye socket, and in reality that was creepier than any star a state could ever have. Michigan gave him a nervous look, so Canada tried to focus on his other features. His pale face was dusted with freckles and while his hair was fairly short, it was easy to see the difference between the tones in his hair.

"Why is your... hair like that," He lamely asked.

Michigan snorted, "That's odd, could have sworn you were going to ask about the eye, but I guess most like to avoid that topic. I'm made out of two peninsulas, and for some reason that gave me two different colors in my hair. I still haven't figured out which color stands for which peninsula. Maybe it's a mystery I'm never meant to figure out."

"Well I don't mind talking about it," Prussia blurted out. "Where the hell's your eye?"

The state smirked, "Now that's a long story, which I wouldn't have to answer if you weren't here in the first place. So better question, what the hell are you two doing here?" He turned to Ohio, "Well?"

Ohio glanced at Prussia and Canada, then grimaced, "Nope. Not doing it."

Michigan deadpanned, "Oh, come on."

"No way, they don't need to know."

"Know wha-"

"Oh, we already know," Canada interrupted Prussia's blunt question. It was a late tactic to use due to Prussia, but maybe if he could still make them think that they know what they're trying to hide, they'll expose it right in front of them. Prussia gave him a look, then shrugged.

Ohio turned to him, "What do you know?"

"Oh you know exactly what we know," Prussia joined in. "There's really no hiding it."

Michigan gestured to him, "See? They know!" From the way his eye gleamed, Canada could tell he was playing along too. Whatever they were hiding, for some reason the state wanted them to discover it.

"Not buying it," Ohio crossed his arms, "New York didn't tell you, and I didn't tell you, so you don't know."

"New York? What's going on..." Michigan stared at him for an explanation, but Ohio didn't explain.

Prussia groaned, "Then tell us! This conversation is going nowhere and I'm extremely confused."

"You think you're confused? How did you guys even find out we exist? An explanation would really help here, Ohio. You know, if you're willing to do it."

"I'm not!"

Prussia and Canada stepped back and let them argue, "What do you think they're talking about?" Prussia muttered.

"Whatever it is, it must be important," Canada whispered back. "What I don't understand is why Michigan wants to tell us so badly when he doesn't really know what's going on."

"FINE!"Ohio yelled after a couple more minutes.

Michigan punched the air in victory and stared over at the two nations, "Finally! Do you know how many debates we had about this if nations ever discovered us?"

Ohio scowled at his victorious smile, "Well aren't you overwhelmed with joy now that the secret's out! Why donchya just die from happiness?"

Michigan flexed his arms, "Sorry about Ohio, he can be a bitter little shit when it comes to these arguments. Probably because he knows he's wrong, but is too stubborn to admit it. Or maybe it's his low self-esteem, but who can blame him when he doesn't have guns like-"

Canada's breath caught in his throat when Ohio's star brightened. He stepped forward and met Michigan's eye, cutting him off. A white light jolted from Ohio's eye and was absorbed into Michigan's. The state went stumbling backwards into a pile of garbage bags, but Ohio stood there glaring at him, unaffected by the blast he created. Canada gaped at him, unsure if what happened was real or not. Ohio glanced at him, "So judging by your expression right now, you didn't know." He shook his head.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Prussia called out. "Personifications can't do that, what are you?"

"We're states, we're personifications too, we just live by different rules." He crossed his arms and glared at Michigan, "See? Now they don't even see us as their own kind, you happy now?"

Michigan groggily reached to the dumpster beside him and pulled himself up, "No, America's missing." His confident attitude faded away to one of frustration.

"Wait, how do you know America's missing?" Canada asked.

"I knew you'd catch that," Michigan looked at Ohio with half of a smile, "See? Nation's aren't as dumb as they look. Well I should tell the coach I gotta go. After all if I tell him there's a family emergency, I'm not exactly lying." The state held his head as he limped to the entrance. The noise of the gym poured out of the door as he opened it, he stepped into the room and turned to give Canada a wink before shutting the door.

XXX

"Well this is going to be a train wreck," Ohio muttered as he studied a map.

Michigan hefted a bulging duffle bag over his shoulder and walked around his white van, "They're gonna have to deal with it sooner or later. Having nations know about us can't be that bad, right?"

Prussia laughed, "This is actually pretty cool, knowing that there are fifty new personifications to meet, I wish we knew about you earlier and not during a time of crisis."

"If there wasn't a crisis, we never would have found out. America would've kept this secret to his grave," Canada barely said aloud. He helped load the van with everything they needed. There wasn't too much room in the van though, Michigan left the trunk little space with all of the random junk he kept in there. Canada looked around the street they were on. The street was in the middle of the city, lined with brick houses pressed next to each other, only leaving room for an ally or two. Michigan lived in one of them, but only the bottom floor while his land lord lived on top. Canada didn't understand his living conditions; nations lived very differently. Most nations lived in large, secluded houses they owned for a very long time. While some also owned apartments in their favorite cities- such as America's in New York- they would never live where they had to file too much paper work or deal with land lords. Canada knew his boss would never allow that, but apparently states lived by different rules indeed.

Michigan slammed the trunk shut and wiped his hands on his jeans, "Done!"

Ohio rolled his eyes, "Finally, it probably wouldn't have took to long if you cleaned out your van more than once a year, then you wouldn't have to struggle with fitting anything else in there."

The state reached for the driver's door, but Michigan jumped in front of him, "Not a chance short stuff, it's my van so I drive."

"Short? I don't think you should be talking, Rhode Island's almost as tall as you and she's the smallest state! You must have been cursed or something, because you're practically shorter than everyone." Ohio looked down to talk to him, proving his point.

Michigan snorted, "5'2 ain't that bad, besides who said I was talking about height here, short stuff?" Prussia cackled while Ohio glared at him, muttering a retort that only the state could hear. Whatever he said must have brushed Michigan the wrong way from the change in his expression. He wore a sudden frown and there was a challenging gleam in his eye, but he soon brushed it off by changing the subject, "Are we all set for the rest of the day transportation wise? Because if we're doing this by car we're going to have a lot of problems."

Ohio shook his head, "No, we're not as crazy as the North East, just drive to the airport and we're all set."

Michigan clapped his hands, "Perfect! Now move out of the way, Corn Field, I have to get in the van to start driving it." He nudged him away from the van door and whipped it open, Ohio stormed to the passenger side.

Prussia let out a low whistle, "Well this is going to be entertaining."

Canada agreed, "New York was right when he advised us to keep them away from each other."

"You coming or what?" Michigan yelled, unrolling his window.

"We should leave them," Ohio muttered just loud enough for the nations to hear.

Prussia strode forward, "Sorry, but no one's getting left behind any time soon, come on Candy!"

"It's Canada," he whispered, climbing into the back seat.

"Who?" Kumerjiro asked, dragging a sigh from his owner.

"Candy? Great nickname, I should start calling you that too!" Michigan laughed at the face Canada made.

"Well that only took an hour for him to come up with an idiotic nickname for you, Prussia you're next. Before he drives I should warn you now that he drives like a blind teenager on steroids so you might want to buckle u-"

Ohio couldn't finish his sentence since Michigan jerked the car forward, slamming everyone's heads against their seats, "Hey!" Prussia called out, "If you hurt Gilbird America's going to have 49 states left."

Canada looked over at him, "You brought him? I didn't really notice, he's so quiet."

"Not as quiet as you," Prussia joked. "He's been sleeping in my pocket, he was up all of last night after all."

"Oh yeah, that party was crazy!"

"Speaking of crazy, watch where you're going!" Ohio called out. "If you like nations so much I don't see why you're trying to kill them in a car crash."

"What's he talking about?" Canada asked.

Michigan waved his hand dismissively, "Nothing much. Just this ginormous controversial thing between us states, we're constantly arguing about whether or not it'd be a good thing if nations knew about us."

"And you're on different sides," Canada said it as a statement, not a question.

Ohio nodded, "Yeah, that's pretty obvious. Michigan recklessly believes that revealing the secret will solve all of our problems while some of us, such as myself have a little more common sens-" He bit his tongue as the van sped over a pot hole that Canada could have sworn Michigan ran over on purpose.

"What, cat got your tongue? Better look out, Corn Field, you should remember that I'm in the driver's seat." Ohio glared at him as he inspected his tongue in the mirror.

Prussia tried to hold down his bubbling laughter while Canada shook his head in annoyance, "You two have to calm down before you kill each other. We should all be working together if we're going to get America back, and I'm not going to let two arguing states hold me back from accomplishing that." He was fairly upset with their attitudes, but Canada knew these states needed time to get used to him and visa-versa. He was surprised himself with his impatient tone.

Canada could see Michigan eye him with surprise while Ohio rolled his eyes, "That's up to Michigan, he's not capable of calming down."

"He's not that only one," Prussia commented with an amused expression. "You're going at him just as much as he's going at you."

Michigan shrugged passively, "Sure, we'll calm down."

Ohio blinked at him in disbelief, "We will?"

He looked over at him, "Sure. The nation's got a point, he probably wants his brother back just as much as we want our leader back. Besides, picking on the assholes who actually did this will be more fun than picking on you."

In the van there was an odd moment of silence, it was almost enjoyable until Ohio crossed his arms and muttered, "Yeah, of course you'd follow the nation's wish. If Canada told you to jump off a bridge would you do it gleefully?"

"You know what, Corn Field? Why don't you-" Canada sighed as they started to argue, then the state paused and glanced to the side, "Is that a Dunkin Donuts?"

"Are you serious?" The van turned into the parking lot, "Michigan, remember what the oh-so-important nation said? You know, how America's missing and we should get to him as soon as possible? Donuts would slow us down."

"He also said to stop arguing, but you started it again," He glanced behind him as he pulled up to the drive through. "What kind of donuts do you like? I'm buying."

"Jelly filled!" Prussia cheered.

"Michigan," Canada started as patiently as possible, "I think it would be best if we get to the airport as soon as possible."

"We will, we will," He moaned. "You guys expect me to travel to all these states on an empty stomach? I was in the gym all day, and I skipped breakfast to get there on time." He gave Canada the best puppy dog face he could pull off with only one eye.

Canada gave in, spending some time doing something as pointless as buying donuts was better than having any extra time in an airport waiting for a plane. He didn't need the free time to think about the situation, he needed as many distractions as possible. "I like glaze," He murmured.

Michigan slammed his fist against the top of the van, causing Ohio to grumble, "I'm not sure you need any sugar to begin with, you have enough energy."

Ten minutes later they were dangerously speeding on the highway to the airport, "If you told me the plane was coming so soon I wouldn't have stopped for donuts!" Michigan whined through a jelly-filled doughnut. White powder dusted his face and jelly dribbled down his chin.

Ohio didn't touch a crumb the entire ride, "Maybe if you asked what time the plane arrived instead of speeding to the nearest Dunkin Donuts- no wait, actually maybe if you just went back to the vision I sent you of New York telling us all the news, then you'd be able to tell directly from when we were organizing this whole thing!"

Prussia rolled his eyes at the two, "You guys fight over everything, don't you?"

"You're the one to talk, I see you and Germany arguing all the time," Canada mentioned in a low tone.

Prussia stuck his tongue at him before shoving a doughnut in his mouth, "What about you and America? You two are just-" Everyone stopped mid-conversation when red and blue lights flashed behind them, "No way," Prussia murmured.

When the siren blared Ohio whipped his head to the driver, "Michigan!"

"It wasn't my fault!" They continued to scream at each other, one gesturing to the cop car wildly, another steering the wheel with one hand and having his other in the doughnut box placed on his lap. "Just let me handle the talking, OK?"

"Fine. Take it easy, Corn Field I'll be a good boy for you."

The car pulled over and the cop car followed them, Michigan bit his lip as he rolled down the window, but tried to keep his relaxed composure. The cop walked up to the car and stopped in front of the window, "Do you know why I pulled you over?" She asked through dark lipstick.

Michigan glanced down at the box of doughnuts and looked up at her, "You smelled 'em?"

"Oh my god," Ohio mouthed. He leaned over to speak to the officer, "We were speeding and driving recklessly with a series of distractions, mam. But we won't do it again!"

The cop nodded, "Licence and registration please." Michigan nodded and opened the glove box with a shaking hand. One shared glance with Prussia and Canada could tell they were fake. It wasn't uncommon for a nation to have fake ides, but he was wary with these states. For all he knew the US government didn't even know of their existence, and Michigan could have gotten those fake ides from a street rat. Michigan handed the information to the cop and swallowed as the cop carefully read over them. "Where are you heading, Astor Smith?"

"The airport, I have a family emergency to take care of in D.C."

"With all of your friends?"

"We're his cousins," Canada spoke as loudly as he dared. "Half of us are here, the other half is in D.C."

The cop started writing a ticket, and Michigan rubbed white powder into his hair subconsciously, "You violated a lot of laws on the road this afternoon, but I'll only write you up for speeding. Drive safely from now on, and I'd suggest switching drivers."

"Thank you officer!" Ohio said, "We can do that right now, actually." With one look, Michigan exited the car and the two switched sides.

"Have a safe flight," She said stiffly, then returned to her police car and drove away.

As soon as the car drove out of sight, Prussia burst out laughing, "That was awesome! I thought the arguing was amusing, but seeing you two scared shitless by a cop just made my night!"

Michigan whined through another doughnut he was chewing, Ohio started the van, "Well we're glad we entertained you for the night, now let's get moving, we still need time to go through security before our plane arrives."

"Yeah, by the way Canada that was a nice save with the cousins explanation." Canada was shocked with the recognition. Michigan threw a powdered fist in the air, "To Indiana we go!"

XXX

Author's Note: Well! It's been a year since I started this story! If you've been suffering through these long periods of times where I haven't updated, you have my respect for waiting that out. To you new readers, Heyyyyyyyyyy.

Alright, time to explain what happened. Ok so it's been a year since I've started this story and I guess I just had a writer's crisis like, Hey Amber it's been a year and you're still introducing characters get your ass moving! So what I decided to do was to split up the two deadly long chapters. This solves practically all of my problems updating wise. It's more efficient and fluent, which means quicker updates! I've had a ton going on this year and haven't been able to work on this as much as I wanted, but now it's summer! Don't worry, I'm going to do better with this story and I'll update as often as I can!

So, we've just met Ohio and Michigan, quite a pair those two. We're going to learn more about the opposing sides next chapter. By the way to the awesome guest who wanted Michigan to have two personifications for the two peninsulas, I'm sorry but I couldn't do that! I already mentioned there were only 51 personifications for the US, and America is the extra. Also if I did that I'd have to make it fair and also add extra personifications for geographic features for other states if needed. It would really be a mess if I had to do that. I did, however make it very obvious through his appearance that there are two different peninsulas.

I hope everybody has a fun and safe Independence Day! Or just a good day in general since obviously everybody isn't America. Speaking of that I hope you Canadians had a great Canada Day! By the way just letting everybody know that I changed my username to the same one as my Tumblr name.

1/? Of Prussia's and Canada's! I'll make sure I get the next part up at a decent time I promise! Now that I have less to write it will be much easier to update faster!