Germany watched as Estonia, England, and Vietnam stared at the monitor in anticipation. One of the countries (they weren't sure which one) had successfully activated a tracker and they assumed they stuck it onto Dark Denmark. They watched the red dots dance around the screen for a minute and then everything stopped for a moment. When nothing happened, England was about to say something out of impatience but then the back up tracker lunged towards Sweden's tracker. Estonia had nearly jumped out of his seat when that happened. He meekly sat back down when Dark Denmark's tracker stopped abruptly and backed away when Switzerland entered the scene.
"What do you think happened?" Estonia whispered.
"I can find out." Vietnam said. Moments later she found herself talking to Finland.
"Belarus and Dark Denmark were fighting," the country said shakily. "And we all though she stabbed him and killed him."
"Where did she stab him?" she asked. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Estonia and England look up at her. All they could hear was her side of the conversation; if she was them she'd want to know what exactly happened as well.
"Stomach." Finland answered in a small voice. "It looked painful too. The knife went in very deep and she twisted it too."
Vietnam's face darkened. "And then?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Then the wound was gone and Dark Denmark looked like he wasn't hurt at all." Finland sounded urgent, as if demanding for an explanation that she could provide him with. Something like that wasn't a normal thing, even for a regular country. It was supernatural even. Vietnam knew that America would have a big fright after hearing something like that.
"Please continue." she said.
Vietnam listened patiently as Finland explained how Sweden came around and fought Dark Denmark, only to be punched in the face despite him disarming Dark Denmark. The axe was now broken and yet Dark Denmark still proved to be a great challenge. "How does Switzerland fare?" Vietnam asked. Estonia and England were now surrounding her on both sides, leaning in to catch the other side of the conversation. It irked her a little bit but she said nothing, knowing that it was unprofessional to whack them over the head (lightly) with her rice paddle. In other cases, she would normally do that.
"He shot Dark Denmark but Dark Denmark's wounds are healing right after he's shot."
England stood up straight and exclaimed angrily, "But that's bloody impossible!" Vietnam glanced up at him and gave him a stern look to be quiet. "I'm only speaking the bloody truth," England muttered, leaning back down to listen some more.
"What's going on right now?" Estonia asked Vietnam.
Vietnam repeated the question to Finland and Finland replied, "As long as Switzerland has bullets, I think we can get away and return. I'm glad he came in a car. Norway is carried to the backseat right now and Belarus is already in the car. But, Vietnam? What are we going to do with Dark Denmark?"
Vietnam was silent for a moment. As time ticked by without saying a word, she murmured that she'd ask and took the headphones off of her ears, resting them on her neck. "Germany," she called. "They're coming back here but they don't know what to do with Dark Denmark."
Germany honestly hoped that they would be able to at least knock the doppelganger out. He had heard that Belarus could not stand properly and that she was bleeding profusely. It was a shock to hear that such a small country could be that strong. If anything, he hoped Switzerland could take the doppelganger down with his shotgun.
"We'll leave them there for a few more minutes and then see what will happen." Germany said at last. "Anything can happen."
It wasn't even one minute before Vietnam was called again. She expected it to be from the countries out in Latvia, but instead it was one of the countries sent out to look for Dark Canada. "Have you found him?" she asked.
"Found him," Cuba said cheerfully. "Wasn't too bad. Pretty tough but we got him."
Personally, Vietnam was genuinely surprised, and it had been a while since she actually showed it without Korea popping out of nowhere and cause her to react on instinct (which was to whack people with her rice paddle). She was torn between Germany's theory about a country's land mass corresponding to the country's doppelganger's danger level. Canada was the second largest country in the world and he was already captured. Denmark on the other hand was obviously smaller than Canada, but much more powerful. How could be?
"What's the matter Vietnam?" England asked her. He had been looking over Estonia's shoulder at the monitor but he had been listening to Vietnam's side of the conversation about someone finding someone. He had a new stick of chalk in his hand ready to go but Vietnam's expression was unreadable.
"Denmark is a small country." she said quietly as if she was in a trance.
England raised an eyebrow at her. "Yes, and?"
"Canada is much larger."
He stared at her. "Do you need to lie down? I can take over." he offered gently like any real gentleman would do.
Vietnam shook her head and snapped out of her so called trance. "They captured Dark Canada and rather easily and quicker than Dark Denmark."
England gaped at her and Estonia snapped out of his working mode to stare as well. "Who found Dark Canada?" Estonia blurted.
"Cuba is one of them." Vietnam said quickly. She got up from her seat and both she and England watched Estonia find Cuba. In southeastern Canada, near the border of the United States (the official name of America; America just preferred to be called 'America' just for the heck of it) Cuba was with the real Canada, Spain, Romano, and Greece. The red dots were gathered in an uneven circle in what seemed to be a park.
"On a scale from one to ten, one being easy and ten being impossible..." Vietnam said slowly. "How hard was Dark Canada?"
Cuba laughed for a while. "Probably a four or five. Maybe a six if you count the one time he broke Romano's wrist but-"
"How can you take that lightly?" Vietnam asked. "Is he okay?"
"He was bitter about it at first but I think he's fine. He's got 'big brother' Spain to take care of him." Cuba said.
"Hey, you three." Germany called from the door of the conference room. Vietnam and the other two looked up in surprise; they had forgotten Germany left the room a while ago. He cleared his throat and pushed a food cart towards them. "It's been a while since you three ate. Help yourself." he muttered.
"Germany," Vietnam said in a business like tone. "They captured Dark Canada."
It was Germany's turn to stare at her. "What?" he demanded. "This is not a joke?"
"I don't joke about things like this." Vietnam said coolly.
Germany held out a hand for her headphones and she handed them over. He motioned for her and the others to go ahead and eat, putting the headphones on. "Hello? Who is this?"
"Cuba,"
"Tell me what happened Cuba."
Cuba told Germany what had happened as Estonia, England, and Vietnam ate their late afternoon snack. It was still a bit too early to call it supper but it was much too late to call it lunch. They were silent the entire time, wanting to know what had happened with Cuba and the others but Germany stayed silent and his silence didn't give them a clue.
"I see then." Germany said at last once they finished eating. "Come back then. I'll have Vietnam tell the other units to return as well. Thank you for your service. You did exceptionally well. You are very brave people and I am honored to have had you on my sid-" Germany paused and then growled, "I know. I get that a lot."
"What do you get a lot?" Estonia asked.
Germany rubbed his forehead with a small scowl. "Every time I bid farewell to someone they tell me it sounded as if I do not expect to see them again."
"Well obviously." England said, heading over to the chalkboard to change the status about Canada's doppelganger. "The way you say it makes people think they're in the military and that they're going on a suicidal mission."
"Is that true?" Germany asked.
England resisted the urge to roll his eyes and nodded curtly. He then wrote out the words 'captured' on Dark Canada's status line. "Alright then. We spotted Dark China at Guangzhou. Dark Denmark is in Latvia. Dark Canada is captured. Germany, do you think that the theory is wrong?"
Germany folded his arms and tapped his foot in thought. According to Cuba, they had quite a few injuries before they tied Dark Canada up with rope. Cuba said that they were lucky Greece had rope on him. "It was strange though." Cuba had said to Germany. "This doppelganger was pretty aggressive and the real one is the total opposite. Can you imagine a guy like Canada act like that?"
Even so, the theory was no longer backed up by hard core evidence. There was a case that contradicted it, and even though it wasn't confirmed and it was all based on examination, they needed a new theory.
"Oh, hey Germany..." England said suddenly. "Don't you think you should call everyone back? If the theory is wrong then we don't really know what to look out for anymore now do we?"
Germany didn't want to call everybody back. It was a hassle to have hundreds of countries show up on your doorstep so soon; he had always thought world meetings were troublesome to the host country but then again, that was what he got when he made his house the headquarters.
But still...
"I'll take that as a yes." Vietnam said indifferently, going to call everyone back.
Germany snapped his attention to her and said, "Wait! I didn't even say anything."
She stopped what she was doing and crossed her leg, leaning back in her chair. "Then what do we do?"
Under the expecting gazes of Estonia, England, and Vietnam, Germany wondered if he should assign someone the title of 'second in command'. He was still stressed that his army still had failed to locate his own doppelganger; he planned to have them search for the real Italy and Prussia if the German Army found Dark Germany.
Germany sighed. The fate of the world rested in his hands. There was no way he was going to risk everyone out there with false information (well, probably not false but rather misleading). "Tell them." he growled. He left the three in the conference room to go search for Japan. Japan would be able to help make decisions. Germany thought about letting Japan be Second in Command and he deemed Japan worthy enough.
"Japan!" Germany barked through the halls. He waited for Japan to come to him and soon enough he did with a new ice bag resting on top of his head supported by a hand. "Are you feeling better?" Germany asked.
Japan nodded. "I'm fine. It's just that China believes I have a concussion and I need to go to the hospital." After seeing Germany's look of concern, Japan quickly added, "But it's not a concussion! As long as I have an ice pack to soothe the pain, China is content and so I will keep an ice pack with me even if I don't need it." Japan relaxed when Germany didn't seem to mind. "Uh, Germany? Was there something you need from me?"
Germany eyed Japan for a while; he looked somewhat paler than usual. "How are things back at your house?"
Japan lowered the ice pack from his head and adverted his eyes. "Not very well." he said quietly. "However, I heard that other countries are worse off than me. It is all over the news and media. They fear that the world will fall due to the outbreak."
This was not good at all. "Japan, tell the others to meet in the conference room. There's some information we all need to know." he said sternly. Japan nodded and left at once.
It was dark outside when everyone was accounted for; England had made sure of that. Countries that were not used to Germany's time zone were starting to doze off, tired and discouraged. Many had came back to see that their home had collapsed or was on the brink of falling. Germany had to turn the TV off to prevent from some countries from fainting in shock.
"What's going on now Germany?" Spain asked Germany on his way to his seat. Germany shook his head, meaning that he'd explain once everyone was seated. Spain was someone who could not read the atmosphere (or so many said). He nudged Germany with his elbow. "Come on now," he said. "You can tell me. Did you find someone? Did you find Prussia? Or is it Italy?"
Germany's eyes hardened and even Spain could sense that it was best to stay away.
Spain laughed nervously and waved Germany a quick farewell before racing to his seat.
The room was solemn; even America looked quite reserved. England seemed like he wanted to say something about America's behavior but stopped himself and decided not to. Instead, he asked Germany if they could bring 'him' in.
"Who's 'him', aru?" China asked. Some countries straightened in their chairs, staring at China as if he was an alien. "What?" China asked defensively.
"You're back!" Ukraine exclaimed. She smiled and added, "So today has not been a total failure at all, has it?"
Murmurs aroused but they were quickly silenced when Germany slammed his fist onto the table. Everyone always stopped whenever he slammed his fist. They turned to stare at him this time, and he cleared his throat in annoyance. "You three bring him in." he commanded to Estonia, England, and Vietnam.
They got out of their seats and rushed towards the door, meeting at the end of the table and slipped out of the room. They were gone for several minutes. People shifted uncomfortably. Normally they'd talk to pass the time but with Germany watching them all like a hawk, no one bothered to.
At last the doors flung open with a bang. With everyone's attention directed to the doors, they watched in fascination as England and Vietnam pulled and shoved at a tied up figure yelling things out in French. At first people thought it was France himself because of the figure's blonde hair but the voice seemed too young to be France. Estonia blocked the doors as a precaution; the struggling figure could escape anytime.
As England and Vietnam passed by with the figure, the countries craned their necks to get a better look at the man's face. At first they blinked quizzically; it wasn't until England, Vietnam, and the mysterious figure passed by America that they realized him. "Canada?" America exclaimed, stunned beyond other words.
Only, it wasn't Canada. The man turned his head to look at America, his blood red eyes piercing America's light blue ones. America suppressed a shudder; it was odd to see his pacifist-like brother give him a cold look like that. Of course, there was that one time where Canada managed to make America cry after a three hour rant about all of America's faults but that Canada was the 'Angry Canada'. This one was different. Something about Dark Canada reminded him of one of the scariest horror movies he had ever watched.
Germany dismissed Estonia, England, and Vietnam and the three quickly returned to their seats. He kept a firm grip on the collar of Dark Canada's shirt but Dark Canada no longer tried to escape.
"Wait, hold on Germany." Austria said loudly. He stood up. "Canada is the second largest country by land mass. How is he the first captured and on the first day?"
Everyone looked at Germany, waiting for his response. Germany's mouth formed a thin line as he scowled. "I am...probably wrong."
An audible gasp erupted from the mouths of the countries around him. He gritted his teeth when Hungary exclaimed, "Wrong about what?"
Germany coughed. "How dangerous a country is probably not determined by land mass."
"So what determines their strength, da-ze?" Korea piped up.
"I don't know."
"Eh? What did you just say, aru?" China asked, staring at Germany.
Germany felt himself redden. It wasn't every day that he admitted he was wrong but it wasn't also every day he admitted he didn't know what to do. "I said I don't know." he snapped. "Now someone brainstorm a list of ideas about any possible factors. I'll be interrogating this doppelganger. England, come with me. Everyone else, think." He surveyed the room. "Now."