I don't own Hetalia! end/AN/
Holding Facility A - 5:56 PM
Maybe Canada was a fretter, but it was better than being wholly oblivious like America. The plan did not seem sound to him at all, and he had already pleaded with America to not go along with it.
"You're just being a sissy," America had said, as though he hadn't seen Canada play hockey.
The tension in the room was like a rubber band pulled nearly to the breaking point; at any moment, Canada expected someone to explode. They were all waiting for the signal to break out into a brawl, and no one could be persuaded to calm down and think about things rationally.
Molossia seemed to be the only one who was of the same mind as Canada, though he only muttered to himself quietly that 'this is all so stupid.'
Canada sat uneasily, twiddling with the straps on his jumpsuit. While America might be frothing at the mouth to do something, he thought doing something just for the sake of doing something was stupid. They didn't know how these aliens thought of them, they didn't know how they'd react; there was no clear indication that they even cared if they killed one of them.
"Hello," came the unfamiliar voice, and Canada looked up at a child with wavy black hair and dark skin who bore an astonishing resemblance to Ireland.
"Hi," Canada greeted back, and wondered what he wanted.
The child scratched behind the back of his head, saying, "You don't have to sit alone; you can come sit with us."
He was sort of familiar, and Canada felt like a jerk for not knowing instantly who he was. He strained for a few moments, before a name surfaced: Montserrat. "Oh, Montserrat, that's fine. I don't want America to feel alone."
Montserrat looked near Molossia's age, if not even younger, but there was a certain aged, wiser look to his face. He had been around a lot longer than the little micronation. "If you're sure; you're always welcome among the overseas territories."
"Montserrat," Canada said, noting a tremble in the territory's hands, "what do you think about this plan?"
Shrugging, Montserrat tried to put his hands into pockets that didn't exist. "I don't know. I mean, I can't think of anything better."
"There's got to be a better way, though," Canada said, eyebrows creasing into a frown. He had his arms crossed over his chest. None of this sat right with him.
Montserrat shrugged again, adding, "If you come up with something, I can bring it up with the other overseas territories, if you want. Then we can all go to Mexico and the other bigger countries."
Canada sighed. "Thanks, Montserrat."
Montserrat gave him a friendly smile, and then turned to walk away. He had a small limp, which Canada believed came from the volcano activity. It was funny how much information was flowing back into his head now that he remembered who Montserrat even was.
"He speaks English almost like it's his first language," America commented, apparently having shown up mere moments ago.
"It is his first language, America," Canada said with a roll of his eyes.
"Not Spanish?" America asked, regarding Canada as if he wasn't sure if he was being tricked for a joke.
"No, not Spanish. He's an overseas British Territory; there are a number of them here," Canada sighed, wishing America knew more about the nations in their part of the world. Sure, he could point out Russia or China on a map, but ask him which one's Guatemala? That would be impossible for him to answer.
"Yeah, okay," America replied, apparently deciding to trust Canada. He grinned, as he said, "Soon enough, we're going to start! If you want, you can sock me in the eye, so long as you don't hit too hard!"
"As appealing as that is, America, I'm not brawling with anyone," Canada muttered, wondering if they truly expected him to break his more peaceful approach to the world.
"Whoa, dude, you have to join in. Tell you what, I'll tell Molossia to fight you, he doesn't hit hard." America beamed at his own ingenuity, looking at Molossia and saying, "Mol, you hear that? You're fighting Canada."
Molossia looked sullenly at Canada, as if not impressed. "Fine."
Canada groaned. "America, I said I'm not fighting. You fight Molossia-"
"No freaking way!" Molossia nearly yelped, sitting up straighter all of a sudden. "I'm not fighting America!"
"Well, you both had better be ready. We need to make it look really really realistic," America said, looking at both of them. It was as though he considered himself the wise elder brother who would save the day.
Canada sighed, leaning onto his knees. He didn't like the look of this at all.
Holding Room B - 6:09 PM
Norway was in a lot of pain. At least, if the way he seemed only a twitch from sobbing outright was anything to go on, Finland thought.
It made his blood boil. It made him want to kill; Norway was important to him, even if they weren't as close as some of the other Nordics. If it were up to Finland, if things were his way, he would get his damn rifle and go on a shooting spree against the damn aliens.
As it was, he could only do what he could only do, which was use the his pant leg to bind Norway's head wound and sit with him. And that had already started a while ago. He itched to do something about it, something concrete.
Iceland still held tightly to Norway's hand, sitting next to him with the look of someone who feared never seeing his loved one again. Yes, they fought a bit, but all of the Nordics knew that Iceland was a temperamental teenager, not a hateful brat.
It was probably the most that Norway had heard the words 'big brother' in centuries. Iceland would call him big brother as he spoke to him, both asking him not to leave, and trying to convince him he was okay enough to make it.
It was kind of counterproductive, but Norway seemed to be satisfied with the way things were, and Iceland was doing his best, so Finland let him be.
He ignored the chill on his naked leg, and had the absent thought that he hoped his butt cheek wasn't showing. It had been a stretch just to use the whole pant leg to wrap around Norway's head; Iceland had donated a sleeve for extra padding against the wound itself.
Sweden had yet to return from Denmark's side.
Finland was pretty sure that Denmark had been Sweden's first friend- and really, his first enemy too. Relationships like that, when they ended so abruptly and violently, were hard to even comprehend.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Finland removed the thought of Denmark from his mind. He couldn't dwell on him now; he had to keep Norway alive. "Iceland, is he sleeping? Don't let him sleep!"
Iceland started to stutter, talking to Norway. "Nor- big brother, w-wake up, you can't sleep-"
Finland clapped his hands, and Norway's shut eyes fluttered open. The look in his eyes was pained, even with the usual expression he wore. Finland gently laid a hand on his shoulder, murmuring, "I'm sorry, but you can't sleep. You've got at least a concussion."
Finland's heart gave a small throb as Norway's eyes seemed to reflect the hell he was going through; pain, exhaustion, just wanting to shut off the pain… He wouldn't speak, as it moved his head, and any movement seemed to be very painful.
"It's going to be okay," Finland assured, though he had no idea whether or not it was going to be. It was important that Norway didn't know that, however.
A small, closed-mouth moan came from Norway, but it was unclear if he was trying to communicate anything other than the fact he was in pain.
Just then, a sliding noise hit Finland's ear; the door was reopening.
All the nations who could stared, apprehensive. What would the aliens bring with them this time?
Holding Facility D - 6:22 PM
The room had been draped in sleep only moments before, but when the door opened, nations began to stir.
Taiwan grabbed Japan's hand as aliens came in, holding long sticks with glowing ends; it was unclear what the ends did, but no one wanted to touch them.
"It is time for you to meet your glorious destiny," an alien said, maybe the same one from before, maybe not. Taiwan couldn't tell.
Fluttery feelings struck her stomach, like she might throw up. The aliens with the stick began to herd the group towards an opening at the other end of the room.
Fear had begun to spread; Taiwan could practically breathe it in. She clutched Japan's hand tightly, and he murmured, "Stay with me."
When the aliens reached them, they all stood, even Israel and North Korea.
But it seemed North Korea had other ideas. "I'm not going through there."
The alien extended his stick towards North Korea, gesturing towards the large opening at the other end. It didn't use any words, strangely enough.
"No! I will fight you!" North Korea snapped, even as China reached for his shoulder to try to either calm him down or pull him along.
But China didn't reach him in time, and the glowing end of the stick did.
His entire body went rigid, like he was made of wood. His eyes had widened, pupils shrinking drastically.
"Leave him alone, he'll come with us!" China shouted, looking as though he was holding himself back from flying at the alien; as though he understood his vulnerability against the huge creature.
The alien removed the end of the stick, and North Korea folded to the ground. He was breathing heavily, gasping.
He wasn't getting up.
The alien gestured again, and then again.
"You hurt him, he can't get up!" China said, standing in between the two. The alien grunted, gesturing more forcefully towards the exit.
"Don't you understand me? He can't!" China sounded a bit desperate, like he couldn't bear to see North Korea left behind, even as the relations between them had been. And he definitely wasn't strong enough to lift North Korea himself.
Some strange sound which might have been a word came from the alien, and he raised the stick.
"Comrade, no need for trouble, da?" Russia was there, smiling at the alien as he hefted North Korea up as easily as a doll.
The alien hesitated, but as Russia moved towards the exit, he lowered his staff. He gestured one more time towards the exit, but they all understood and moved swiftly.
Taiwan could feel a knot of fear in her stomach; where were they? Where did the exit lead? What if they were supposed to be eaten or made to be slaves?
Japan clenched his hand tighter around hers, as if he could sense her fears.
Hong Kong caught her other hand, and they entered the gaping black exit together.
Holding Facility A - 6:25 PM
The fight had begun.
America had immediately socked Canada in the shoulder, fighting the grin off of his face. It wouldn't do if the aliens realized he was happy about it.
Canada irritably shoved him away, telling him, "Go pick on someone else!"
"Canada, we've got to fight! Everyone else is!" America punched him again, and Canada looked like he might howl in pain.
Through gritted teeth, Canada growled, "If you don't stop hitting me, I am going for your eyes, understand?"
"Okay, fine," America said happily, "Go fight Molossia then. We've got to make it look real!"
Canada slipped off to do that. Or at least, America presumed he did.
This was awesome. It wasn't often America got involved in a brawl, and he did love a good fight, so long as he was stronger. He waded into the mass of countries, and started punching and kicking left and right.
Bam! Cuba in the nose! Boom! Bahamas in the gut! Kachow! Greenland in the arm!
It was like being in some video game. Everyone was like non playable characters he had to fight, and the mentality took over.
The thrill of a fight surging in his veins, America couldn't help but grin. This was fun. He socked a few more people, then, a brown face appeared in front of him. He socked it without thinking, before even taking in the fact that it was a child.
The child's head snapped back, and instead of rebounding, he fell.
Suddenly, it was not a video game. America stopped what he was going, feeling his stomach fall into his shoes. "Hey, hey, you okay?"
The door opened just as he started to poke at the kid, and his priorities shifted. They had to get out of there, and the kid was probably fine.
The nations surged forward, but there was already a huge number of aliens with big sticks with glowing ends. A voice boomed out over the room, saying, "If you wish to fight, you will die. If you wish to meet your glorious destiny, exit through the back of the room."
Heads turned, and sure enough, there was a gaping hole in the back of the room.
"You'll kill us anyway!" came the shout, and a number of voices agreed loudly.
America clenched his fists, holding them up threateningly towards the aliens. "Come on, you want a piece of this? I can take you all on at once!"
"I repeat, you will die if you stay here and fight. If you would like a demonstration to prove what I say, then that can be arranged."
Nations seemed to be halting. There was an overflowing energy in the room, like they might all burst forward through the aliens.
"America! That's me!" Canada's shout, as he gestured towards the gaping hole, startled America.
"What do you mean, it's you?"
"It's Canada, they're letting us go!"
This brought a whole new level of worry to the room. They couldn't be simply being let go, could they? America scratched his head. He trusted Canada, and there was no way that they knew of that a nation could be tricked into recognizing the land part of themselves.
The aliens came forward, threatening with their sticks.
Several nations came surging forward then, only to be struck down with the sticks. They lay limply, shaking as though they had been beaten severely.
"Grab them! Grab the ones who fell!" Mexico was the first to call out orders, and the nations complied, dragging the hit ones towards the exit.
It was decided; the revolt was over. America grabbed Molossia, and looked through the crowd for his own territories; he couldn't spot them anywhere.
"Go, go!" he said, following the surge of nations.
As they exited, they stumbled into the Canadian wilderness. Pine trees stretched on for what seemed like miles, and the crisp air was a cold shock compared to the warmth of the holding facility.
As the last nation (Mexico dragging Aruba) came out, the opening closed.
Now they would see what the aliens really intended to do.
/AN/ Sorry this took so long! School and all that. And I hope you don't mind all the OCs; it's kind of hard to just not include them, you know?
Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! It's been fun writing it!