"It's not really this cold around here." Russia murmured into his scarf, watching his team freeze nearly half to death.
"I-I don't remember this c-city being this c-cold..." Lithuania breathed, his teeth chattering as he wrapped his arms around himself.
Russia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Estonia, Poland, and North Korea stood in a semi circle in the ankle deep snow that covered the wide street. Cold, harsh wind threatened to freeze their ears and limbs off and the bitter snow storm hindered their range of vision; not one of them could see more than twenty feet.
"Russia, this city has never seen this type of weather before, has it?" Ukraine asked in a small voice, burrowing her head into her own scarf.
Russia shook his head. "Not that I know of. It's usually very nice here."
North Korea scowled at the snow adorning his hair. Brushing the flakes off was futile because many more would take the others' places. "If the weather is this horrible then go to this hideout place at once." he said harshly. "I can not stand this weather."
North Korea sent a menacing glare towards Belarus as she made a reach for him, her silver blade popping out of her sleeve. Ukraine held her back and said warmly, "Why don't we stop fighting, okay? We should go to the hideout right now. If we stay any longer, we'll only be wasting time."
Trudging through the snow made Lithuania worry. If doppelgangers were lurking around, even in this sort of storm, they would definitely see the obvious tracks and trails they left. They didn't have the time to go back and erase their footprints, and even if they did they didn't have the tools to do so.
"It's totally all or nothing, Liet." Poland said pointedly, shrugging as if worrying over tracks was the silliest thing in the world. "It doesn't matter if they're there or like, totally not."
For once, Lithuania felt that Poland had made a decent point. This was the final battle, and even though that there was a tiny, microscopic chance of no fighting at all, there was bound to be bloodshed.
Dark Russia. Just simply 'Russia' was scary enough, but add the word 'Dark' in it and it would send him cowering underneath the bedsheets of his cozy home. When was the last time Lithuania had been home anyway? He felt more at ease when other countries were with him during this doppelganger ordeal, but he was homesick and missed it. Even paperwork; oh how he longed to read through documents and sign things with his favorite ball-point pen.
It was better than chasing after doppelgangers, that's for sure.
The storm was worse as they neared the hideout location. Even Russia started to shudder a little. "Bundle up everyone." Ukraine reminded them.
"What?" Estonia squinted in her direction, wiping the flecks of snow and water from his glasses.
"I said, bundle up everyone!"
The wind was deafening, and they could barely made out her voice. But even if they didn't make out her words, they pulled their hoods down a little lower, tightened their scarfs even more, blew desperate warm bursts of breath into their gloved hands, and covered their bare, paling face with the warmed up gloves before the warmth seeped away into a gray air.
Russia watched while North Korea sulked as Ukraine pulled him closer to the group for warmth. As the team sent nervous smiles to a still sulking North Korea, Russia had a bad feeling deep inside of him. There were some places where a storm like this was typical. He wouldn't have worried if they were further north. However, Omsk wasn't up north. Omsk was in the south.
There were a few times where Russia had seen a snowstorm this bad in less-typical places, and usually he saw them during invasions and wars. He knew all too well that the weather wasn't natural; he had a bad feeling that his doppelganger, Dark Russia, had manipulated General Winter.
"And I thought he was one of my only true allies..." Russia whispered to himself, but the whisper was lost into a howls of the frosty wind.
They continued on, making their slow way through the white, pure snow. The snow had this unusual fragile look; it seemed to be the softest, the whitest, sheer beautiful sheet of snow. If it were not for the storm, the city would have been beautifully decorated by a rare sensation, even though it was late May.
It seemed very wrong for the innocent white snow to be present in such an inconvenient city, especially since the city was a hideout to the doppelgangers under Dark Russia's control.
Belarus stopped all of a sudden, her silvery blonde hair whipping the air as she turned her head to look back. Russia noticed her ceased pace and stopped the team, looking back at her curiously.
"Big brother..." Belarus said loudly over the wind.
Russia didn't need to hear what she had to say; he knew. The doppelgangers had found them.
"What do we do?" asked Estonia uncertainly, shooting looks of mixed fear and suspicion down the street and into the alleys.
"Stop panicking and think." North Korea snapped. He shot his head towards Belarus and demanded, "How many?"
Belarus narrowed her eyes. "One."
North Korea harrumphed to himself. "Only one? This is nothing to worry about. Let's continue."
"Don't underestimate them." Lithuania warned. "They've been keeping us on our toes for the last past month. Exactly one month...it started on April twenty-fourth and it's May tw-"
"Alright, we get it." North Korea interrupted him. "But with this many people I doubt we'd have trouble with on-"
A powerful blast of air knocked them backwards, colliding into streetlamps, benches, trees, and buildings. Russia gritted his teeth as his back slammed into a thick tree. He had heard sudden yelps of surprise as his teammates pass him as they were being pushed away. In the distance, past the pelting snow, he made out a silvery outline of General Winter.
"That's totally cool!" Poland exclaimed as he hung onto a streetlamp to prevent himself from flying down the street again. "It would be cooler if he was pink though..."
"That's no time to be thinking about that!" Lithuania cried, crouching down behind a bench to keep his balance.
"Are you sure you saw a doppelganger, Belarus?" Ukraine called to her, clinging onto another streetlamp.
Belarus growled, "I'm sure of it, now shut up!"
Russia fixed his gaze on who he thought was his ally. A rush of sorrow and betrayal caused him to give General Winter a melancholy look, but General Winter's apathetic expression didn't change.
It was as if he didn't acknowledge Russia.
"You've tormented me..." Russia murmured. "And yet you protect me...and here you are against me."
Looking past General Winter, Russia's eyes narrowed and he suddenly smiled to himself. "At last." he whispered, but this whisper too carried into the air, a lost sound that never reached the others.
Estonia made his way towards Lithuania, staying low. Lithuania shifted to the left to make room for Estonia and they both stayed behind the bench, somewhat sheltered. "What's going on? Can you see anything from here?" Estonia asked him.
Lithuania shook his head slowly. "I can't see a thing. I lost track of everyone."
The two watched the street, one half covered by a translucent cloak of snow and the other half lost in the storm.
Ukraine eventually reached Belarus in an alleyway; Belarus kept on peering out from the building she hid behind and her eyes followed Ukraine's movements for a while as Ukraine took refuge behind her. "Where is Russia?" Belarus asked quietly.
Ukraine pursed her lips nervously. "I really don't know." she answered softly.
Belarus adverted her eyes from Ukraine and then peered back out. Nothing; absolutely nothing.
"We'll have to wait and see what happens." Ukraine said, hugging herself to keep warm.
Belarus looked over her older sister for a while, and then she sighed. Ukraine glanced up at Belarus in surprise as she hugged her tightly, burrowing her head into her chest. "I want Russia." Belarus said bluntly, but softly.
Ukraine held back happy tears; it had been years and years since Belarus hugged her. She placed a comforting hand on top of her head and said gently, "He'll be safe. I know he will."
She glanced up as the wind died nearly at once. The snow slowed down its fall and danced their way down slowly. The storm had died in a second.
Belarus left Ukraine at once and hurried to the end of the alleyway to look out. Then she took off running with Ukraine on her tail. The two ran towards Russia, who had his back turned on them. As the two countries ran out of their shelter, Lithuania and Estonia found Poland and North Korea in another alleyway with North Korea threatening Poland with rockets and missiles and Poland threatening to make Warsaw his capitol.
"Ah, please ignore him." Lithuania said hastily, dragging Poland away from North Korea.
North Korea gave Poland one last cold look before walking past them briskly. "The storm has died." North Korea said in a business-like tone. "Something happened. Let's go."
The three followed him down the street in the direction they had came in. The massive wind had erased their tracks from earlier but they spotted two pairs on the right side of the road. North Korea stopped to inspect them but his analysis was brief and quick before he came up with a conclusion.
"These footprints indicate that their owners have been running." North Korea said. "These are obviously new; they appeared after the storm died. We're the only ones around here as far as we know. Ukraine and Belarus aren't here; these must be theirs. They're too small to be Russia's."
"You're very clever." Lithuania said, following the footprints.
North Korea stared after him. "Thank you..." he said uncertainly. He and the others followed Lithuania up the road. Though the storm was gone and their range of vision had been extended, they still couldn't see too far. According to North Korea, their range of vision started at twenty feet to five feet and then thirty feet.
"There they are." Estonia said when three figures came into view. They ran towards the, kicking up snow.
Ukraine and Belarus turned their heads to watch them approach. North Korea was right. Their tracks were very fresh; no older than a minute. The two sisters were still catching their breath when they arrived.
"I'm so glad everyone is okay." Ukraine sighed with relief.
"Hmph. Just as long as they don't die on Russia." Belarus said.
North Korea joined Russia's side, looking ahead at General Winter. "He's the one responsible of this?" North Korea murmured. "So that's how you do it."
"Do what?" Russia asked calmly, although he knew that North Korea meant how he had kept many armies at bay whenever they tried to invade on his land.
North Korea figured that much out and didn't answer. He looked past General Winter and narrowed his eyes. "Your doppelganger is here."
"I know."
"He isn't doing anything."
"I know."
North Korea was quiet for a while. Then after a few pensive seconds, he said, "He must be waiting to see what we'd do."
"I know."
"What do you have in mind?"
Silence.
"Russia?"
Silence.
North Korea sent the Russian man a hard look. "Don't tell me you have no plan. I've been told by Germany that everyone had a whole day to think of one."
Silence.
North Korea cursed under his breath.
"No." Russia said.
North Korea stopped mid-curse. "No what?"
Russia took his eyes off of Dark Russia and glued them on North Korea. "He isn't waiting for us. He's already made his move."
Before North Korea could demand what the move was, he felt his feet harden. North Korea looked down as the snow around his feet hardened into ice. He tried to pull his feet out but to no avail. The snow stuck in the crevices of his clothes also turned into ice, and it kept him still. He couldn't move.
Russia and the others couldn't either; they were trapped.
"The whole city is a giant cage." Estonia murmured. "And we walked right into it."
"Well, we drove into it actually." Poland said pointedly.
"That's not the point though..."
Belarus tugged at her limbs but when she couldn't free herself, she started to curse wildly. General Winter and Dark Russia were unfazed by her profanity; they didn't even glance at her. As Dark Russia slowly walked forward to join General Winter by his side, Russia watched his doppelganger with a gleam of interest.
As far as he knew, General Winter couldn't harm people who were used to cold temperatures. This was a first, and it was his doppelganger (most likely) that had managed to keep even Russia glued to the ground.
Dark Russia was a near fifteen feet away and yet the countries other than Russia, North Korea, and Belarus, cringed and looked away. Something about him was unbelievably bloodcurdling.
Dark Russia smiled at them, but like the real Russia, the smile was not a warm one. His smile provoked even a small grimace from North Korea and Belarus. In his hand he held a rusty pipe, one identical to Russia's only the pipe itself was pitch black. Upon closer inspection, there seemed to be more bloodstains on the metal surface as well.
"I'm very glad to have visitors." Dark Russia said sweetly, cocking his head. "Are you seven here to play with me? It's been so lonely..."
His voice sent shills up everyone's spine, except Russia.
"Hello." Russia greeted his doppelganger with the same frightening smile. "No, we're not here to play. We're here to stop you."
Dark Russia's smile widened. "Oh? That's sad. It's not nice to stop people."
"It's not nice to kidnap countries and kill the majority of the world either." Russia's smile widened.
"I like how you think, Russia." Dark Russia said pleasantly. "You're smart."
Russia beamed. "I'm glad to hear it."
"So what will you be doing here? It's very cold here. I think it would be better if you come with me to a warmer place."
"No thank you. We have work to do, and our objective is to destroy the Omsk Hideout, destroy or disable the weapons, and to disable you and the other doppelgangers."
Dark Russia frowned in confusion. "Doppelgangers?"
"You are a doppelganger."
Dark Russia blinked. Then he laughed lightly. "Oh! You mean hatred! Do you call us Doppelgangers? I'm happy to hear that we're that special to have a nickname."
Russia nodded, laughing as well. "Yes. It's a nice name, isn't it?"
"Very nice." Dark Russia agreed. He took a step forward and hesitated a little as the countries behind Russia cringed. "They look scared. Are they not happy to see me?"
"No. They're scared. And they have a reason."
"Oh? And what is it?"
Russia's wide smile transformed into a cold beam. "Because you will harm us, and you will try to prevent us from succeeding."
"'Try'? Why do you put that word in there?" Dark Russia asked, imitating Russia's cold beam.
The other countries felt a sudden tension that strike fear into them. Even North Korea and Belarus gave the back of Russia's head a warning look.
Russia ignored their looks and answered calmly, quietly, "Because we will stop you, and you will go away."
Dark Russia's cold beam changed to a cold glare. Russia's expression didn't change; he never faltered even under his doppelganger's malevolent expression.
"I doubt that will happen." Dark Russia whispered, and this time, the wind didn't obscure a whisper.
Russia saw the black pipe coming but there was nothing he could do about it, and he knew it. The pipe came at a ferocious speed, catching him in the stomach. Russia felt his feet lift out of the ice painfully. He heard screams as he flew past his teammates' heads. He saw in those few brief seconds his bright red blood flinging into the air, showering himself and his teammates in a scarlet rain. And he landed in the snow, the soft, white snow, and stared at the gray sky.
"RUSSIA!"
Russia heard Belarus scream his name. He expected a string of curses from her, but he was gifted by an unexpected sob. "R-Russia..."
"He'll be okay, Belarus. Shhh..." Ukraine's voice shook in the distance.
"I couldn't protect him!" Belarus screamed shrilly. "He'll pay...Why isn't Big Brother getting up? Why isn't he stirring at my voice? That bastard will pay...I'll cut the son of a bitch up to pieces and shreds!"
"Will you be quiet?" North Korea snapped at her. "You can't do anything. Talking like that won't do anything. We're stuck here, and that doppelganger is heading towards Russia right now, and you're just standing there crying. Be quiet. Crying is useless."
Dark Russia was heading towards him right now? Russia didn't hear any footsteps. But then again, his hearing seemed to have left him in the middle of North Korea's scolding. He barely caught the last half.
Then Russia stared up, not at the sky, but at Dark Russia's face. Dark Russia's two red eyes glowered with crazed excitement, and Russia had a bad feeling he was in for more.
"Still awake are you?" Dark Russia asked softly, returning back to his innocent-like manner. "Why don't you stand up? Here, I'll help you."
He held out a hand to Russia. Russia knew better than to accept a hand from an enemy, but something made him do it; he was in a daze, and by the time he grabbed Dark Russia's hand and pulled himself up, he found himself thrown into the snow again, several feet away from where he was.
His blood flowed freely into the snow, but Russia barely felt the pain. There was no time to do that. He calmly picked himself back up, wiped the blood from his chin with the back of his gloved hand, and watched as Dark Russia lunged after him.
As the black pipe swung back down again, Russia ducked underneath it and grabbed his own pipe he had strapped to his waist. He caught Dark Russia's pipe at the hook and yanked at it. Dark Russia's grip was tight and it barely budged.
Instead, Dark Russia yanked back and Russia's pipe slipped out of his hand after the third yank. Gloves made things harder to grab onto. Russia responded by throwing his gloves onto the ground, waiting for Dark Russia to make his move.
Dark Russia swung his pipe again, but since Russia's pipe was still hooked onto the black one, Dark Russia had a longer range. Russia retracted his arm as the pipes broke his fingers. Russia stepped away calmly as the pipes collided into his head. He reached up at the blood flowing from the wound, running down the left side of his head.
Russia heard the others shout, but he didn't pay any attention to them. He calmly took the beating, and every time his blood would spill, his grin would grow.
He was terribly battered and bruised when Dark Russia decided to stop. The white snow around them was no more; they were standing in crimson snow. Somehow, it was more suitable for the atmosphere. The white snow was too gentle, too pure. The red snow was more vibrant. More fitting.
It was correct.
"Why are you not fighting back?" Dark Russia asked, blood dripping down from his hands, but it wasn't his own blood.
Russia smiled gently. "I'm waiting."
"For what?"
"For you to be done."
Dark Russia's face darkened considerably. Bitter wind blew over them and their scarves, now stained with the same red that stained the snow, fluttered. "What do you mean?"
No reply. Russia took the opening and lunged to Dark Russia's side, snatching the pipes out of his hand.
During the time where Dark Russia had brutally spilled his blood, Russia had to use quite a bit of effort to keep a calm smile on his face. To be honest, he had to use everything he had to keep his enraged fury in.
He had the weapons now. It was about time to unleash the violence that hid underneath his mask.
But he had to stop and think to himself, What mask?
A new shower of red rain started, and if it was possible, it was even more savage than before. Blood splattered onto the snow, it splattered onto the frosty window, it stained the trees, the bricks, themselves, and the rest of Team Three.
It was short-lived; it lasted five full seconds, but that was enough time for Russia to get his revenge back.
General Winter interrupted Russia and created a thick layer of wind and snow; a new snowstorm generated in the blink of an eye. Their range of vision was reduced to two feet.
"Coward." North Korea spat.
"That may be, but doppelgangers disregard any sense of honor in order to get what they want." Estonia said softly.
North Korea spat again.
He, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus waited silently in the storm, the storm that erased all the traces of the crimson snow and replaced it back with the pure white.