In the cities of Germany, everything was quiet except for the occasional marching of German soldiers still on the look out for Dark Germany. Germany made sure to have some of them by their side before heading out; humans could actually be very powerful, not only the country.
In total, there was Germany, Cameroon, Sweden, Switzerland, five other Germans, and two dogs (obviously German Shepherds). The dogs sniffed around their feet, their tails wagging. Sometimes they'd tug towards a different direction when something moved; all movements the dogs picked up were only small things the wind blew around or birds hopping from one place to another.
Germany looked around the street, seeing deserted cars with their doors still open. Many windows were cracked and broken along the shops; the doors of the shops were left opened. He could imagine his people fleeing from a darker version of himself. He felt sick to the stomach and vowed that after the doppelgangers were taken care of he'd spend all of his time comforting his people and getting the country back on track.
"Say, Germany." Cameroon said, breaking the silence. "Do you mind telling us your history? If we get a good idea of your past, maybe we can estimate how much 'hatred' Dark Germany still harbors."
Germany stared at Cameroon. He knew he had a long bloody past, especially in the 20th century, and he didn't feel like talking about them (for two main reasons: one was that it was pretty bad and two was that he had been defeated so many times). However, Cameroon had a good point; going back through history would give them a good idea of Dark Germany's power.
"Well, when I was little and Germania and the Roman Empire was gone, the Franks- one of the Germanic tribes- took over the other West Germanic tribes. That probably doesn't have anything to do with anything but a little background information can't hurt." Germany said slowly, reminiscing back to his early years.
"One of my first wars was the Thirty Years' War. Ah, Sweden, do you remember that?" Germany asked the Swedish man.
Sweden merely nodded and didn't say another word.
Germany cleared his throat as they turned a corner. "Well then, the was was a conflict between the Protestants and the Roman Catholics. Most of the battles took place on my territory and in Holy Roman Empire's territory. Holy Rome was a German empire, did you know? I think Italy mentioned that he looked a little like me..." Germany frowned. Italy had mentioned a lot of things about Holy Rome and even though Germany wasn't usually listening to him ramble he had heard something about Italy still waiting for him to return. Germany never had the heart to tell Italy what happened and kept his mouth shut.
"Anyway, I was with Holy Rome when the war broke out. We had fought Sweden, France...let's see here...Denmark-Norway when the two were under Denmark's rule, England and his older brother Scotland...there was Romania who was Transylvania before and the Ottoman Empire who is now considered Turkey..."
Switzerland sighed. "That's quite a bit of people already Germany."
Germany held a finger up. "But Denmark-Norway switched sides and joined in 1643-"
"Wait, hold on, 1643?" Cameroon repeated. "But you're not that young, are you?"
Germany coughed. "Well, I was technically raised under Germania and stayed with Holy Rome for a long time. Where was I? Oh, the Thirty Years' War. Well, I can't remember who won that one. I think it was unclear but two treaties were signed afterward.
"Nothing much happened for a while. There was the German Revolution but I don't remember hating any country during that time. Then-"
"World War I, right?" Switzerland muttered.
Germany nodded bitterly. "Against France, England, and Russia. They were the main three but America joined, Romania came along and so did Japan, Belgium, Greece, and many others. Italy even fought for them." He remembered finding Italy in a crate of tomatoes and how everything went weirdly for him after the first World War.
"A lost for you, wasn't it? The Treaty of Versailles was signed on the 28th of June in 1919." Cameroon said, raising an eyebrow.
"You know?"
"I have some spare time."
Apparently Germany had a lot to worry about when World War II came along. If he counted every country that was an part of the Allies, he had roughly three fourths of the world against him (or something like that).
The realization sent Germany to a corner of woe and he refused to continue the search until Switzerland shot his gun into the air, snatching Germany back into the world of reality instead of the distant past.
"There's no time to worry about the past." Switzerland growled.
"But uh, isn't the past what drives the doppel-" Cameroon started to say but Switzerland gave him a look and cut him off.
"If you want to spend time and mope then fine with me. We, on the other hand, are going to hunt down Dark Germany and capture him." Switzerland scowled. "Come on, everyone." He started to lead the way, and the others followed him slowly, glancing back at Germany.
Of course, Switzerland had a point and Germany took Switzerland's place as leader by fast walking to the front. Switzerland nodded his approval and backed down, content that Germany was back to normal.
They didn't get very far; they managed to reach a small park when Sweden stopped and turned. Cameroon glanced back at the tall man and asked, "What is it? Is something wrong?"
Sweden looked back at him and nodded.
Germany halted the group and scanned the park. There was a stray bicycle on the ground a couple of yards away. A few lone frisbees laid under neath the shadows of the trees lined up by the sidewalk wrapped around the park. A few birds were picking a brown paper bag, probably filled with bird seeds. Other than the birds, there was no other movement in the park.
"There is nothing..." Switzerland muttered, but he held his shotgun up as a precaution. "What say you Germany?"
Germany waited for another minute. His men were on alert and the dogs sniffed the ground suspiciously, growling. "Is there something here?" he asked one of his men.
Before the man could answer, the dogs barked at once and pulled behind them, baring their teeth and scowling. Switzerland aimed his shotgun towards the general direction as Germany drew his gun. A man walked to them, calmly and collected. He stopped to look at them. He was too far away to immediately recognize him but he was close enough to tell some details about the man. He had light brown hair and a regular practical build. Something about him seemed familiar but it wasn't until he came closer that Germany was able to tell who it was.
"Italy!" he shouted. Italy neared and the way he walked made Germany 100% sure it wasn't really Italy, but rather Dark Italy.
"Your reactions..." Dark Italy said calmly. He chuckled, stopping just ten feet away from them. The dogs growled and pawed at the ground, wanting to pounce. Germany's men looked at him to see if it was okay to release the dogs but Germany held a hand up, still glaring at Italy's doppelganger.
"What about our reactions?" Germany growled.
Dark Italy seemed content. "It looks like you aren't surprised. You've met a few of us, haven't you?"
"Germany," Cameroon whispered harshly. "Estonia said to put a tracker on any doppelganger we find."
"I know," Germany said in a low voice. To Dark Italy, he barked, "What do you want?"
Dark Italy didn't say anything. He slowly reached into his pocket, smiling when everyone tensed. Switzerland aimed directly at Dark Italy, anticipating him drawing a gun. Germany sensed this as well and signaled his soldiers. They released the vicious dogs and they lunged towards Dark Italy. At once, North Italy drew his gun so quickly that even Germany didn't see it at first. Two shots rang out so quickly and sudden yelps startled Germany. But they weren't from the countries or his men; the dogs had been shot and they fell only three feet away from them. The dogs didn't get a chance to actually run; they had lunged into the air and shot while they were coming down.
Dark Italy gave Germany and the others a smile. "What else can I want?"
Switzerland gritted his teeth as Dark Italy advanced slowly, strolling on the path as if nothing happened. His finger rested on the trigger; normally he would have already shot him but Germany was in charge. Honestly, he thought Germany was taking a little too long; if Dark Italy got any closer, they'd be in trouble.
Germany would have normally told Switzerland to shoot already but Dark Italy looked exactly like Italy, save for the red eyes. For some reason, he just couldn't stand seeing anyone that looked like Italy be shot.
But before Dark Italy could get too close Switzerland shouted at Germany but Germany didn't make any of the words. He only heard the urgency in his voice and he found himself shooting at Dark Italy instead, fully realizing that Dark Italy was not Italy at all.
Dark Italy's shoulder flew back and he stopped walking. Blood flew backwards where the bullet hit. However, Dark Italy had not fallen. He adjusted his posture, the wound suddenly gone. The blood that had splattered on the ground behind Dark Italy was still there, stained on the pavement. But the wound and blood on Dark Italy himself was gone. He snickered. "Haven't you learned your lesson? I heard from Denmark's hate that you countries have attacked him and then fled."
Switzerland shot at Dark Italy and Dark Italy stopped talking as Switzerland's bullet pieced through Dark Italy's forehead. Dark Italy stared at Switzerland as the hole in his head started to stitch itself back together, the skin folding back up and connecting by itself. It was gruesome to watch; the blood that stained his skin and hair seeped back in before the skin sealed.
"Oh? Surprised? I thought that after fighting Denmark's hatred you'd know we can do that." Dark Italy smirked. "Oh wait, don't you call us 'doppelgangers'? You also but the word 'dark' in front of our names...Fitting, yes?"
"And how do you know that?" Germany demanded.
"Oh I told them. I hope you're not mad." a voice said from the other direction.
Germany spun around, bewildered. "Dark Canada!"