Germany wondered how he was in the middle of his kitchen in the dark cooking pasta on the stove (that didn't run on electricity, thank goodness). Normally, he would be down in the basements helping England figure out why the electricity had shut off. Then, after that, he would return to the conference room where Vietnam would have rounded up anyone that was there in the house (that was not wounded) and tell them what they were going to do next.
What they were going to do next was something Germany wasn't too sure about and he had hoped that everyone who were to be gathered up in the conference room would think of something. There was the issue about a possible hideout in Chicago and then there were the countries whose trackers had suddenly gone out seconds before the blackout. And the blackout itself was also an issue; without electricity, there was no way to contact the others, there was now a limit on what they could do (Germany thought that whoever came up with the idea of using electricity for everyday use was a genius and he didn't like the idea of going back to living without it, especially in a time like this), and in the darkness, anything could happen.
And yet...why was he stirring the pasta in the boiling pot of water while Italy hummed an upbeat melody while chopping up tomatoes?
The Earth was a very, very, strange place.
Eventually, when the pasta was all done and Italy was content with the flavor, Germany hurried to the conference room with Italy following him hurriedly, not wanting to be left alone in the kitchen where it was dark and empty now that Germany had left.
There were only a few countries that remained back; roughly about seven if Germany didn't count Italy, England, and Vietnam. Italy sat down at the enormous table and ate his pasta while watching everyone flock towards Germany for answers. Among the many questions were 'What happened to the power?', 'What's going on'?, and 'Where were you?'. Unfortunately, Germany could only answer the 'Where were you' question. The others were up for interpretation, and that was exactly what they were doing.
"So the power just cut off all of a sudden?" Cuba asked, crossing his arms. "Like, after the trackers started to deactivate?"
"Did the doppelgangers do it?" Turkey asked.
"Well Germany just said he didn't know so there's no point in asking." England said.
"England, anything to report?" Germany asked him.
"When I was in the basements, there wasn't any sign of a rodent chewing on the wires or anything. Everything seemed okay." England said.
"Well then..." Germany said, coughing. "Perhaps we probably shouldn't worry about the electricity, not really."
"How come?" Cuba asked.
"If I'm right, then the electricity is off everywhere in the world. If so, then it'll come back on because those doppelgangers would need it too." Germany reasoned. "If not then oh well, we'll just go to a place with electricity and make headquarters there instead." Clearing his throat once again, he continued. "However, when it's dark, like right now, stay together. Who knows what can be lurking around."
"Minimum of three per group, right?" Portugal asked.
Germany nodded in confirmation. "Wait, we're not done yet." he said once everyone started to break apart from each other. Getting everyone's attention again, he said, "We need to discuss the fact that the other countries could be in danger. There's no telling how many people are missing now. For all we know, we may be the only ones left."
"Ve!" Italy cried out. "You make it sound too scary, Germany!"
Germany ignored Italy.
"Well what can we do about it at a time like this?" Vietnam asked. "We can't go out there and look for them; we're already having trouble searching for the original missing countries and their doppelgangers in the first place when we had hundreds of countries."
"She's right." Turkey said, jabbing a thumb towards Vietnam. "There's only, what, a dozen of us?"
There was not much to do about the countries that could be missing right now; as much as they all hated to admit it, their situation would worsen if they recklessly do something. It was dark outside and there was no light nor electricity for the time being. They would have to wait until morning (and hopefully the countries that were expected to return would help their chances).
When they were about to discuss what they'd do about Chicago, they heard the main doors open in the dimness of the room. Everybody snapped their attention to whoever entered, their hands resting uneasily on the closest weapon they could find. They relaxed somewhat when it was Austria, Cameroon, New Zealand, and Prussia that entered the room.
"West!" Prussia yelled in the dark, groping his way around the table. Everyone heard Prussia hiss sharply after a loud bang on the table.
"Brother, where are you? Have your eyes not adjusted yet?" Germany asked towards the general direction of Prussia's bitter profanity.
"West, I just entered the damn room." Prussia snapped. "Why the hell are the lights off?" he demanded.
"Prussia, the lights were off everywhere we went." Cameroon groaned quietly. "The lighting here is no different than the lighting outside."
"Whatever," Prussia scoffed. His voice was closer now; Germany could have sworn his brother was right in front of him. And he was. Prussia walked right into Germany. "West, what are you standing in my way for?" Prussia asked incredulously, patting Germany's face.
"Is your eyesight that bad?" Germany growled, utterly bemused.
"Not my fault the lights are off."
"Eyes adjust."
"Mine are too awesome for that."
"It's a disadvantage."
"An awesome disadvantage."
Germany didn't want to continue to quarrel with his brother; Prussia was too stubborn to let something like that go without him saying the final word. Leaving him be, Germany glanced at Austria, Cameroon, and New Zealand.
"Cameroon, New Zealand, go rest." Germany said when he noticed their battered up expressions. They looked so weary that it seemed as if their knees threatened to buckle and give way. He sent England and Turkey to escort the two to empty rooms to stay in; he still wondered if the doppelgangers turned the electricity off in order to sneak into his house when it was dark. Sending two injured countries out was risky in this situation. It was still possible that the doppelgangers had snuck in and taking a risk as big as this was simply out of the question.
"So, what's been going on?" Prussia asked. "I've heard a lot of things from Austria and the others but let me hear it from you, West."
And so Germany filled Prussia in with what had happened, the others piping in to verify an event or to add something Germany didn't mention. Before everyone could get carried away and tell their story, Germany said loudly, "And now we come to Chicago and the possibility of weapons being hidden there."
Prussia's mouth twitched upwards into a grin. "Hold on, I'm interested in this Chicago hideout thing. Weapons? From China and North Korea, you say? And those what-do-you-call-ems are our hatreds? In human form? So then...well this will make awesome journal entries for my journal." Then Prussia's face fell. "But I missed the last past week; I never missed a single day until now!"
The doors opened again and everyone once again tensed, holding their breaths and wait to identify who was coming in. They relaxed again when it was revealed to be America and the others. Germany expected America to laugh his laugh and announce his arrival but he didn't.
Instead, America hobbled forward with Russia helping him out like a parent helping a toddler walk. It was a surprise to them but no one complained. America glanced up at Germany, squinting his eyes in the darkness, and smiled wearily. "What's up Germany?"
"So the power is out here too..." Hungary murmured from behind.
"Was the power off from where you came from?" Austria asked.
Hungary perked at the sound of Austria's voice and immediately located him. "Austria!" Hungary exclaimed. "You're back safely!"
"I am," Austria said. "But was-"
"Yes, yes, it was." Hungary said. "It was strange. We were driving along the road and the streetlights around us flickered off and we had to rely on the headlights of the cars to lead us back here." She stepped towards Austria and hung out by his side.
"What happened to Japan?" Italy asked worriedly, rushing to Hong Kong and Estonia who were carrying Japan without trying to injure him any further. Japan was stirring but didn't necessarily wake.
"Japan took Russia's blow from Dark Belarus." Switzerland said to Italy as Liechtenstein clung onto Switzerland's arm nervously. "He might have a concussion; we're not sure."
"Take him to the hospital. His injuries look too severe for him to stay here." Denmark told Germany.
Germany gritted his teeth. He had forgotten about the hospital. Were the people there still able to treat them after the electricity went off? All of the machinery must run on electricity, but didn't they have some sort of back-up generator in case if something like this happened?
Even so, there was the part where they had to transfer Japan to the hospital itself in the dark. If the doppelgangers were out there somewhere, they'd know exactly where they were if they went by car. The hum of the engine and the beams of light from the headlights would attract them.
Was it still worth it though?
Germany looked at Japan for a while and with every passing second, he could feel his stomach sink. Everyone's eyes were on him, waiting for him to deal the cards. "Hong Kong and Russia, go take Japan to the hospital." Germany said at last. The reason why he picked who he picked was because Hong Kong could be an excellent fighter and Russia...was there really a need to explain?
Estonia handed over Japan's upper torso over to Russia, who had left America sitting on a chair.
Germany was relieved that Austria and America's groups had returned; he had a wider variety of people to choose now. Chicago was still and issue and he hoped that America would heal within two weeks before the invasion Korea had told them about. America would know his way around his own country. Germany wondered if America was up for it; he had thought that the wounds America had was pretty impressive. It was a wonder how the man was still sitting upright...ish. America slumped over the table, bleeding slightly.
Perhaps he should send America to the hospital with Japan.
"Hong Kong, Russia." Germany said sharply, stopping them before they could leave the room. Hong Kong and Russia glanced back at Germany. "Take America too." Germany finished.
Russia said something to Hong Kong and Hong Kong nodded, helping Russia put Japan on the floor while Russia went back to retrieve America; America had blacked out once again, although he fell in between consciousness and unconsciousness. For good measure, Germany asked Portugal to assist them and Portugal hurried forward towards Hong Kong and they both carefully lifted Japan up, leading the way as Russia followed behind with America hanging onto his back.
"Germany."
Germany glanced over at Turkey. Turkey was staring after the countries that carried Japan and America away. "Will they be alright? Will Japan be okay?"
"Japan is a strong nation; anytime he seems like he will fall, he gets right back up." Germany said serenely. "I believe he will do fine. America too."
Turkey was quiet for a while. Then he said, "Chicago, huh? What do we do?"
"First we'll wait for America to heal. England could probably help him heal; he can help Japan too." Germany said shortly. "After that, America will lead a team to Chicago and destroy the weapons. We can not let this invasion get to us; we're already weakened and severely short in number right now. An invasion from the doppelgangers will surely be our downfall."
"Germany..." Vietnam said quietly. "I have a bad feeling about this."
Germany lowered his gaze a little, staring at the floor ahead of him. "I do too." he said truthfully. "But we'll somehow make it through. I swear it. We really need to destroy those weapons and we need to restore order to the world. If this continues any longer...I don't know what."