The second day was hectic. There were many countries that were up all night, planning and studying. There was one particular country that kept on raiding Germany's fridge out of frustration after discarding many ideas.
"You know, America, maybe you should calm down and think things through a little more carefully." Canada said as he helped Mexico carry provisions through the hall and past the kitchen door.
The second day was going to be used as 'preparation day'. Countries all over the place loaded up cars and Germany even got some of them planes if their hideout was a considerable distance away.
"America."
America glanced up from the table in the kitchen and smiled weakly at Sweden. "Oh, hey. Have you thought up of any back-up plans yet?"
Sweden shoved a piece of paper towards America and watched as America put his chewed up pencil on the table and curiously unfold the paper. "An address?" he inquired.
"Exact location of the hideout." Sweden corrected.
America's eyes widened and he grinned at Sweden. "Dude, this saves us a lot of time! Sweden, you're beat, do you know that? You are so beast."
Sweden showed uncertainty on his face as America grinned like made. "That's a good thing...being called a beast."
Sweden would mention how unusual America's culture was, but he kept his mouth shut and peered at the paper America was hastily writing on earlier. America followed Sweden's gaze and said, "Oh, this? I just plotted out somethings, nothing that big."
Sweden picked one of the papers up and peered at it with a solemn face. "Why do you need an inflatable swimming pool, marshmallows, and a duck?"
America snatched the paper from Sweden. "Th-that's not the planning paper." America said hastily. He replaced the first paper with another, putting it into Sweden's hand, and said, "This is the planning paper."
Sweden looked it over for a while as America watched him nervously. "Do we have enough swords for this?" Sweden asked America, looking up from the paper.
"What? Disabling them? Maybe, I don't know. But how else will we stop them?" America asked, shrugging.
Sweden stared at the paper for a while, and then looked up at America. "Tell them you don't want to hate anymore."
America took the paper back and picked up his pencil. "Not really action-y but it's a nice heroic way. Huh...I guess that can work. But what about the doppelgangers whose originals we don't have?"
"Swords. Rope. Anything works."
America grinned at Sweden. "I like the way you think."
Sometimes, Switzerland can't help but wonder if he was capable of protecting Liechtenstein. Ever since the doppelgangers showed up, he had lost her the first day. Now that he had her back, he had to wonder if he'd lose her again, especially now that they were assigned in different teams.
Switzerland was in France's team and Liechtenstein was on England's team; his common sense told him that he won't be able to be there for her if anything happened.
He watched as France conversed with the Netherlands, both of the hunched over a map in the living room. The only table big enough for the map was the coffee table, but it was at knee level and they both knelt down in order to get a good look at it.
As the Netherlands circled something with a highlighter, Switzerland sighed to himself and leaned his head onto the palm of his hand from his armchair, barely paying attention to whatever plan the two were proposing.
"Then Switzerland, you come in through this street with Greenland and Belgium while they- are you listening?" France asked him.
Switzerland blinked. Shaking his head, France sighed and straightened his sitting posture, cracking his knuckles. "What troubles your mind then?"
"Everything." Switzerland murmured.
"Your sister?" the Netherlands asked.
Switzerland wasn't surprised the Netherlands got it spot on; he too had a sister and he would probably relate. "I can't protect her if I'm in this team." Switzerland said pointedly.
"Oh, so you'd rather be in England's team?" France asked with some mocking sass.
"Bluntly put, yes."
France's jaw dropped for a second but the recomposed himself quickly and gave Switzerland a charming smile. "Well, mon ami, don't you worry about your sister. Even though that England can be a grump, I must admit, you sister will be in safe hands. Now, listen closely to your part, d'accord?"
Switzerland leaned forward to examine the map before him and France pointed out that the team would split for a while in order to pinpoint the exact locations of the hideout. "I'm sure that it's in the north side of Bordeaux, but just to play it safe, we should go ahead and search all over the city." France said.
"That will take too long." Switzerland said. "By the time we find them, it will be too late and millions of people will already be dead."
Before France could say something, Portugal poked his head into the living room. "New information." he said, making his way towards the coffee table.
"What is it?" the Netherlands asked.
Portugal squatted down by them and placed a creased paper in front of them. "Came back from the basement. Germany's been interrogating the doppelgangers even more." Portugal said. "I have the address to the hideout."
"That's wonderful!" France exclaimed. "Now we don't have to search all over the city!"
The Netherlands pinpointed the location of the hideout on the map and then he, France, and Portugal started to think up of a new plan. Seeing that he wasn't going to be much of a help anyway, Switzerland got up and left them in the living room in search for his other teammates. They were most likely outside loading up a car Germany had prepared for them (how many cars can Germany spare, he wondered).
Romania and Spain were taking a mid-morning snack, sitting on top of the trunk of the car, danging their feet off the end while chatting. When they saw Switzerland approach, they waved at him and chewed hastily on their sandwiches before asking him what he was up to.
"Are you here to help pack?" Spain asked him. "There's no need to; we're all done. Well, for now. Who knows what else France might want to take."
"It's better if one packs lightly." Switzerland remarked as Spain and Romania nodded in agreement. The three watched other countries load their belongings into the other cars lined up along the road.
Though the inside of the house was crazy and frantic with everyone running around, the outside was relatively calm and peaceful. It seemed to deny the urgency of the situation and put up a relaxing facade that made Switzerland felt much at ease.
Spain poked a plastic straw through a juice box and asked Switzerland if he wanted a box.
Switzerland looked at the juice box Spain offered and sighed, taking it. "I can't help but wonder what will happen tomorrow." Switzerland said quietly as he tore the straw from the juice box.
"A lot of things, that's for sure." Romania said. "Here, just put the wrapper in here." Romania offered a plastic bag for Switzerland, who tossed the straw wrapper into it.
A light summer breeze rustled the trees around them and all the other countries around them paused to admire the natural beauty around them. "It's been a long time since I've laid back on my back outside and look at the sky, ana." Thailand mused.
"Yeah...I can't wait until this is over. That will the first thing I'm going to do. After the party, that is." Spain laughed as Prussia stepped out from the house with rope slung over his shoulder.
"What party?" Prussia asked, stopping to stare at Spain.
"America's hosting a big party for our victory over the doppelgangers. If we win, of course." Romania coughed.
Prussia nearly dropped the ropes in excitement. "That's awesome! Everyone's going, right?" As Spain and Romania nodded, Prussia added, "I need to plan an epic entrance! It has to be the most awesomest entrance ever. Damn, I'm excited already, haha!"
"Did you tell America yet?" Switzerland asked Spain, raising an eyebrow.
Spain scratched the back of his head. "Uh, well...I thought France would."
Switzerland scoffed, "Everyone is planning a party and you haven't told the host?"
"Knowing America, I doubt he'd mind if everyone showed up randomly for a party." Spain said defensively. "Even if we fail to tell him, I'm sure he won't mind."
Switzerland sipped at his juice quietly. When he was done, he tossed the box into the plastic bag and went back inside the house in search of America. He thought that the man should have a warning that the world was planning on crashing his house.
"Uh huh, that's cool." America said, staring intensely at the map with Sweden and Mexico. "Ah, this map makes my eyes hurt...too many lines. What do they all mean?"
"Did you hear me America?" Switzerland asked, raising his voice a little.
"Uh...yes?"
"What did I just say?"
"'Did you hear me America?'"
Switzerland decided that it wasn't worth the trouble to inform him and left the members of Team Two in the kitchen while America was trying to figure out where to go.
Sealand was pretty excited. Even though he was a micronation, Germany had placed him and his micronation friends in the teams. That has got to be a sure sign that they accepted them all as countries.
"Snap out of your silly daydream and pay attention." England snapped at him."You get a chance to show people what you've got and you're blowing it off..."
Sealand shook his head to clear it and gave England an exasperated look. "But I am paying attention! You said that we'd be in the 'Old Town' part of the city. Liechtenstein came back from the basements and gave us the address, and it happens to be there."
England blinked in surprise. He quickly coughed, recovering. "I see. Good. Now as I was saying- now don't go putting that dreamy expression back on your face! It makes you look like you're not paying attention. What are you dreaming about, being recognized as an actual nation?"
"I'm one step closer." Sealand said earnestly. He grinned and swung his feet. "I've never been so happy."
"How can you be so happy? The world is close to being destroyed. For all we know, we might lose." England scowled.
"Don't be too harsh on him." Finland said, smiling at Sealand.
England sighed and went on with the plan and Sealand couldn't help but keep a grin on his face throughout the entire meeting.
By lunchtime, Germany had been told of everyone's plan and he wrote it all down in his notebook. The teams whose destinations were closer would most likely be the first ones done. If that was the case, Germany assigned team partners in case if they finished early (and successfully). That way, if France's team had seized Bordeaux, then they'd be sent over to help China's team or Russia's team.
All the information they needed was known and memorized; there was no need for the doppelgangers down in the basements anymore. They were still making a mess and it was starting to get on Germany's nerves.
"Japan, Vietnam, Korea, North, and Estonia." Germany called. As the five approached him, he pointed to the door of the basement. "Try to accept your doppelganger and please be willing to not hate. You must break their will to stay in physical form."
North Korea looked skeptical. "Is it possible to do that?" he murmured. He shot a look towards Korea, who shied away from his brother.
"Or at least try to hate less." Germany sighed. He caught a flash of uncertainty on their faces before they descended into the basement. It's for the best. Germany thought, walking away.
"Yo, Germany." America called from the kitchen. "Do you think we should go ahead with the ropes or do you think we should skewer them?"
"You do what you can."
America frowned. "That's vague. Come on, bro. We need an exact answer."
Germany paused for a while and then said, "Yes."
As he walked away, America cried out in frustration, "Yes what?"
"West," Prussia called when Germany started to climb the stairs. "What do you think about our new team name? 'Team Awesome'?"
Prussia's eager expression fell when Germany only returned his grin with a blank stare. "What? Don't you think that's awesome?"
Germany didn't feel like answering to that, but he knew his brother wouldn't let him go without a fight. But then again, he didn't want the team to be called 'Team Awesome'. If everyone chose a team name, there might be some difficulty on remembering which team was which. And with everyone scrambling around, he doubted that it would work out.
"I'll think about it." Germany said, copying Japan's usual phrase. He left Prussia at the bottom of the stairwell, fist pumping the air to himself.
He stepped past people fast walking towards the stairs, talking and muttering like crazy. He was pleased at all the work that was being done; he had never seen all the countries like this before. Maybe having a plausible doomsday was the best motivator.
Germany entered his room and glanced at his closet. It was about time to bring out the big guns, and he literally meant it.
"Germany!"
Germany glanced up at the the door as it flung open. Japan panted, looking very alarmed.
"What is it? What happened?" he snapped. "Did you five get rid of the doppelgangers?"
Japan held a finger up and caught his breath within a few seconds, the seconds that seemed agonizingly too long for Germany. "Estonia and Korea have, although it took Korea a long time." Japan reported. "North is having a much harder time though, and Vietnam is struggling."
"And you?"
"Almost gone, but I have to inform you this immediately."
"What is it?" Germany could feel the urgency in Japan's tone. Whatever it was, if Japan was alarmed, Germany had a right to be too.
"Korea's doppelganger gave us a hint in order to help us before he disappeared." Japan said hastily. "He said that the doppelgangers-do you remember that they can bring out hatred in a person, right?"
"Yes, why?"
"They're using the corrupted people-our people- as their own army."