America grunted as he hit the ground. He wished Dark America would be gentler but that was like saying that England's cooking was the most delicious food he had ever tasted.
Glancing around the cell, America thought that he didn't mind getting his own cell. It was actually quite spacy and roomy. The ground was pretty clean and the cell was well lighted. There was even a cot in the corner with an actual pillow and blanket. Now if only he wasn't in a straitjacket...
America squirmed in the jacket, struggling to get into a sitting position. It bothered him that his glasses were resting at the very tip of his nose and he couldn't push it back up in place; and now that he thought about it, he really had to scratch. He threw a rueful look at Dark America, who was standing in front of him looking down at him with an amused expression. There was no way that Dark America would help him out. In fact, why was Dark America in the cell with him?
The cell door was still open, but only a crack. America had taken a good look at the door that would separate him and freedom. He thought that a five inch iron door was ridiculous when he first heard of it but then again, Dark China had mentioned 'doors' and not 'door'. To his surprise, he had counted three sets of five inch iron doors; the first two slid open and the last swung open.
"What's the matter?" Dark America jeered. "We aren't reckless or careless. We actually plan things out."
America raised an eyebrow at him, hoping that he didn't look concerned. "So how did you guys get here anyway? How do you know what to do? And when did you get a physical form? Seriously, this is weird."
Dark America gave him a cocky grin. "Well, look who's asking all the questions. Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Dark America raised his foot and rested it on America's head. Without warning, Dark America shifted his weight onto that foot and America grunted again as he was forced down. His glasses fell off and his nose was a mere few centimeters from the ground.
Dark America's tone darkened. "What do you mean 'how did we get here'? We're hatred; we were always here." And then his tone lightened back to the sly tone. "Oh wait, hold on. You mean physically, right?"
America held his breath as Dark America lifted his foot from his head. America dared to look up but he regretted it; his head flew back and he was sent to the ground on his back. His nose felt heavy with the blood overflowing from his nostrils and running through the small surprised gap between his lips. He tasted the metallic blood in his mouth and spat. The rest of the blood flowed down his chin and down his neck, staining the front of his shirt.
"I never said you can look up." Dark America said calmly. He circled around his original, watching him carefully. Even though America couldn't see him clearly, he was well aware of the dark red eyes glaring at him, shooting invisible bullets into him with only the gaze itself.
Dark America's steps were soft and steady, never breaking the rhythm. America laid on the ground, bound by the straitjacket and bleeding from the nose.
"Well, how did we get here physically..." Dark America said slowly. "Lemme think. No...let us think." Dark America stopped in his tracks right by America's head. America stared up at the blurred figure looking back down at him (at least, he thought that Dark America was looking down at him; he wasn't so sure). "We, as the United States of America, have a strong will, don't we? Don't I?" Dark America asked softly.
America said nothing.
"And admit it, you truly do want things your way, don't you? Don't I? You interfere with other countries' ordeals, don't you? Don't I? It's frustrating to see that the world isn't running quite the way you want. The way I want. And sometimes you try to improve the world but more in a way you want. The way I want. But that isn't going the way you expected. The way I expected." Dark America sounded much more dangerous.
America felt his insides burn. There was no hiding it from himself, or at least, a fragment of himself. Yes, it was true that America wanted what was best for everyone but he had to admit that he can get...what was the word?
"Spoiled, aren't you? Aren't I?" Oh yes. That was the word; 'spoiled'.
"And so I guess I got tired of you. And so I left. Normally emotions can't do that, but hey, like I said. Like you said. Hatred is one of the most strongest emotions. And in order to get out, you need the will to get out. You have a strong will...I have a strong will. Why? Because I am hatred. I am America's hatred. I am yours."
America couldn't help but retort, "Well duh, genius. Thanks for telling me something I know. Geez, where did you get those lines from?"
Dark America crouched down to grab America's collar. Pulling him up, Dark America peered into America's light blue eyes. Even without glasses, America could see a distinct coldness in them. "You."
Liechtenstein opened her eyes with a small gasp when she heard the buzz from the electrified cell bars of the door turn off. She knew that someone was coming in. The bar door slid open and a sharp cry echoed in the cell, followed by a thump of someone falling. The cell door slid back into place and the buzz of the electrified bars was on again.
"W-who's there?" Liechtenstein whispered hoarsely.
She anxiously peered at the figure curled up on the ground. By the way the figure dressed, Liechtenstein figured that the figure was new. She gasped what the figure sat up, groaning. "Ahh, he could be more polite..."
Liechtenstein straightened her back, her eyes wide and her mouth forming an 'o'. "Hungary?"
Hungary turned her head around to a darkened corner of the cell and did a double take. "Liechtenstein?" she exclaimed, crawling towards the country. "Is that really you?"
Liechtenstein's eyes filled with salty tears and she bit down on her bottom lip to keep from crying. "Oh Hungary, how is my big brother? Is he okay? Please tell me he's okay!"
Hungary embraced the nation as she cried. Stroking Liechtestein's matted blonde hair, Hungary cooed, "It's alright. We'll be fine. Switzerland is safe. He's with Germany. Shhh, it's okay. How did you get here? Don't you live with your brother? How come you were taken but he wasn't?"
Liechtenstein glanced up at Hungary, her eyes red and puffy. "I was o-out in the gardens." she said quietly. "And I thought I...I thought I saw Big Brother but...but...it wasn't him..."
Hungary nodded, understanding. "I see. It was Dark Switzerland, wasn't it?"
Liechtenstein gave Hungary a puzzled look. "D-dark Switzerland?"
"Ah, don't worry. I'll explain everything." Hungary said gently, and explain she did. Liechtenstein listened with wide eyes about the doppelgangers and how one can distinguish the real nation from the fakes. "Although I heard that Dark Estonia developed some contacts to hide their red eyes completely." Hungary said, pointing at her eyes for visual effect. "But don't worry! We got him locked up at Germany's!"
Then she went on to explain how they were evacuating the countries and some others were searching for missing countries. "Well, even though I didn't know you were missing, we found you now." Hungary added. "And then there's America, Korea, and me who are looking for the Guangzhou hideout, but we already found it." She coughed. "I mean well, we're here right now."
"So now what do we do?" Liechtenstein asked timidly.
Hungary squeezed her small hand warmly. "Right now we gather information and then later we escape together with everyone. Say, do you know who else is here other than Russia and Estonia?"
Liechtenstein looked surprised. "They're here too?" she asked.
Hungary sighed and glanced at the cell bars. "I suppose you don't. Are the bars really electrified?"
Liechtenstein nodded. "Yes. They won't kill you the first time around but the more or the longer you touch the bars I think you don't have a chance. It's very painful..." Liechtenstein pulled up her dirtied sleeve and showed Hungary a long red welt on her skin. She grimaced as Hungary brushed a fingertip over it. "Ah, it still hurts so I try not to touch it..."
Hungary's eyes flashed with vengence. "How dare they try to hurt you."
"But, that was by accident. I didn't think that they were-" Liechtenstein began but Hungary ignored her.
"Mark my words, I will do something about this when we get out of here!" Hungary said, balling up her fist so hard that they shook.
Liechtenstein pursed her lips and leaned in to hug Hungary. "Let's just rest for now, okay?" she asked quietly.
Hungary's face softened and she sighed, continuing to stroke Liechtenstein's hair. "Alright. I'll rest. But only for an hour or two."
Korea glanced behind him when Hungary had been thrown into a cell. Dark China prodded him in the ribs harshly and prompted him to keep walking. "So, Dark Aniki..." Korea said as casually as he could. "How come you aren't going against the countries you used to hate, da-ze?"
Dark China glared at him, either it was for talking or it was for referring to him as 'Dark Aniki'. "We'd never get things done if we don't work together." he sneered. "And we're much more smarter than to fight amongst ourselves, aru."
Korea cocked his head. "You say 'aru' too, da-ze. Does that mean you like to cook too, da-ze?"
Dark China stopped walking. Soon enough, Korea found himself being held against the wall with Dark China's hand around his throat. Korea couldn't breathe and he was alarmed at the fact that he was actually several feet above the ground. "We aren't our originals." Dark China said coldly. "We only have very few similarities. Appearance, experience, physical abilities that we enhanced, and a few habits, aru."
"So...technically everything?" Korea croaked.
Dark China threw him to the side and Korea landed on his shoulder. His whole right side throbbed but he oignored it. Hurrying to his feet, he started to back away from Dark China with a grin. "Hahaha, that really hurts. But hey look, you let me go, da-ze." And then he turned around and ran, shouting behind his back, "Thanks for letting me go Dark Aniki! I'll make sure to say hi to the real Aniki when I get back to him, da-ze!"
Seconds later, Korea felt a stab of regret. Dark China was much faster than the real China. He thought that he could beat Dark China to the stairs but Dark China had somehow gotten ahead of him by running so quickly that he was able to stick the the walls for a while. Korea had seen a red blur to his left on the walls and then the red blur jumped out in front of him. Dark China was, Korea had to admit, much more stronger.
Korea ducked as Dark China ficked up where his head used to be. It was a close one; Korea could feel the air zip above him just by the mere force of Dark China's kick. Dashing underneath Dark China's leg, he shoved at Dark China in hopes that he would topple over. It would buy time, and Korea only needed just that (and well, the other countries too but time was his first priority now).
Dark China didn't topple over; it was expected of a doppelganger. Instead, when Korea had reached out to push, Dark China caught both of his hands with his own. Twisting around, Dark China overturned Korea and threw him to the ground. Korea landed on his back rather hard and he could have sworn he saw the entire Milky Way for a couple of seconds.
Instinct caused him to roll away. Dark China's fist came down a split second after, leaving a large crack and splintered chunks of cement flying up into the air. Korea hurried to his feet and ran in the opposite direction, feeling his way along the wall. He didnt trust his sense of sight yet; his head still spun.
He never stopped to rest; he kept on running until he was certain he couldn't hear Dark China chasing after him. When he was just too tired, he plopped down on the ground and leaned his head on his shoulder, gasping for air. When his sight returned to normal (or near normal) he found himself in an unfamiliar hallway. He stopped to think; did he go up the stairs? Did he go down? Did he even come across a pair of stairs at all?
Footsteps at the end of the hall alarmed him and he stood up at once, looking for a door. He spotted one a few strides away and dashed to it, hoping that it would be unlocked.
It was.
Yanking the door open, Korea slipped in and closed the door as quickly and as quietly as he could.