Australia and Malaysia returned to the others on the bridge a near half hour later. Despite their urgent news, China practically bit their heads off.
"A whole half hour!" he exclaimed in exasperation. "That's a lot of time wasted, aru!"
"It's only half an hour, mate." Australia said, pulling himself out of the water. He shuddered as the air, cold to his touch, wrapped around him. After spending a lot of time in the water, he was more used to the water's temperature and the air made him regret emerging from the water.
"A half hour that we could have used!" China continued. "Aiya, you better have good news or else, aru."
Malaysia, floating in the water, pointed to the other side of the lake and said, "There's a tunnel designed to transport big things on that side. One of the rivers that carry those boat things around, yeah, the doppelgangers must have made a dam and drain the water out because one part of the river is all dried up. It leads to a tunnel entrance and that's where we think the entrance to the hideout is."
"Bound to be." Australia said in a business-like tone. "The doppelgangers probably built some sort of ramp, stair thing. China, your people were walking down the stairs and into the dried out river and into the entrance."
China paled. "People? My people?"
Australia nodded as Malaysia said, "They all looked angry, like they wanted to rip everyone's throat out-"
China let out a small whimper.
"But the doppelgangers were there and they kept them in check." Malaysia finished seriously. "We have to go stop the doppelgangers, save your people, and disable the weapons. That's a lot to do if you ask me."
"What's our first objective now?" the Philippines asked quietly.
China glanced at her and then back at Australia and Malaysia. He sighed and said, "We're one of the teams who don't have a lot of time. It's almost eight and the sun is out. We don't have many hiding spots now, aru."
Silence. They exchanged glances with each other.
"You two. Come out of the water and dry up." Vietnam said quietly to Australia and Malaysia. "Then you can take us to the entrance. Hopefully we can blend in with the people going in. If it's empty, then we can sneak in. If there are doppelgangers there, we'll run in and find the closest hiding spot." She shaded her eyes from the sun as she inspected the lake carefully. "What's your estimate of the number of regular people in there?"
As Australia extended a hand out for Malaysia to grab onto to hoist him out of the water, he said slowly, "Hundreds at the least." The two climbed over the rail of the bridge and shook off the excess water, showering everyone with the lake water, to which everyone stepped back in alarm.
China crossed his arms and said bitterly, "We'll have to make them our number one priority for now. We can't do much with innocent people in the way, aru."
"So, how much time do you think we have?" Malaysia asked, ruffling his dark wet hair.
"Probably until the afternoon." New Zealand said, handing him his gun back. "Can we do this in time?"
Wy scratched the back of her head, and then she took her ponytail off, brushing her hair with her fingers. Casually, she said, "Why don't we just flood the hideout after we evacuate the place? Destroy the underground hideout by breaking the dome thing you guys found and let the water flood everything in and ruin the weapons. Destroying things that way isn't too hard and it doesn't take much time, does it?"
She froze as everyone stared down at her. Was it a good stare? She wasn't sure. They merely looked at her with their eyes wide open and their mouths slightly gaping.
"Okay, okay, maybe that's a stupid idea." she muttered bitterly, pulling on her hair after she tied her hair back up to tighten it. "Just forget what I said-"
"That's brilliant, aru." China breathed. Then he grinned. "That's a great plan! We just need to get everyone out safely and then cave the hideout in, aru!"
Wy cocked an eyebrow in China's direction and then she yelped a little as Australia lifted her up and spun her around, laughing. "Now that's the Wy I know. Good going!" he praised, holding her up high.
Flushed, Wy demanded to be put down. It was not acceptable to be treated like a little kid in front of the nations. As she was lowered, China ushered everyone off the bridge, saying that they were in broad daylight now. "We have to stay hidden, aru." he said. "Come on."
The newly found entrance was empty. It was both good and bad news for China, because the good thing was that there probably wasn't that many brainwashed people or whatever they were. The bad? There was nothing to fit into.
"Unless we turn invisible, then we fit right in just fine." New Zealand mused.
"Well we're not magicians like England." China murmured. "We're just going to have to proceed with caution, aru. I'll take lead. Australia, you're the tallest one of us all. Take the back and warn us if someone is coming. Wy, you're in the very middle, aru. Everyone else...just stay somewhere in between."
"That sounds somewhat reassuring." the Philippines said. "Do you have a plan for what we might encounter soon?"
"I'm working on it, aru. But due to the fact we're short on time, I'm thinking it up as we go along." China told her. "Alright, let's go everyone, aru."
Team Five gave China a cautious glance and then a somewhat reluctant one towards the tunnel entrance. "It's...sanitary, right?" Wy asked slowly.
"How should I know, aru?" China shrugged. "Come on."
The tunnel was dark and uncomfortably moist. They had to repress a shudder every time their foot brushed by something slippery and slimy. Algae? Probably. Seaweed? China said that during monsoon season, there were a lot of things that washed into the riverbanks.
The further they ventured and the further they were from the sun outside, the darker it became. They slowed a little when they couldn't see even each others' silhouettes. "I have a bad feeling about this, China." Vietnam murmured.
"Usually in movies, this is the time when the bad guys attack." Australia said from behind. "We can't see a thing and for all we know we might be watched."
"I thought only America would make a reference to movies at a time like this." Malaysia mused. "And if we can't see anything, they can't either you know."
"They're doppelgangers, Malaysia." the Philippines said seriously. "They could have night-vision goggles or something. They're crafty like that."
"Hm, true..."
China was about to silence them but he let out a small exhale of breath in alarm as his foot dropped. He calmed himself down when he figured that the path was sloping downwards, meaning that they were finally beginning the descent underneath the lake.
The team trudged along ever so carefully, wondering if they should really trust their ears. They picked up a whooshing noise right above them and they could make out the squish of their feet pressing off from the damp ground. Somewhere in the distance, water dripped from the top of the tunnel and made a plip plop sound. That leak must have been there for a while because normally water didn't make a sound when they fall onto dirt. There was probably a small puddle under it, creating that distracting noise.
Surprisingly, they made it into the hideout without any event. They even made it in all in one piece.
"Well that was easy. But would it kill them to put some lights in that tunnel? Honestly..." Wy pouted, blinking her eyes as they adjusted to the light.
They were in a long, wide hall with high ceilings. The white lights above them flickered a little, and at the end of the hall they could see in the distance a line of people walking on a metal walkway suspended above conveyor belts that carried scarps of metal from one side to the other. As they approached slowly in awe, they saw that the room was enormous, and that there were several other metal walkways above the one they first saw.
"It's like a weapons factory here." the Philippines whispered.
"Well it is China after all." Vietnam sighed. "Mass production is his thing, and so it must be his doppelganger's thing too."
China sent her a cocked eyebrow and then he did a double take. "Aiya, what is that?" he whispered in horror, pointing to the boxy mechanisms strapped to the backs of his people.
"They look like explosives." New Zealand said.
"How do you know, aru?"
New Zealand jerked his head to a safety poster plastered on the wall behind them. There was a diagram of the boxy explosive and the straps and a set of safety procedures underneath it. Below the safety procedures there was a big, red, and bold, THESE WILL EXPLODE IF YOU DISOBEY OR TRY TO ESCAPE underlined three times, followed by three fat exclamation points.
"Well gee, thanks for the warning." Malaysia muttered under his breath. "Now what? Now they have explosives on their backs. If we evacuate this many people, the doppelgangers will notice and start blowing them up."
"Would they even blow everyone up in risk of blowing the entire hideout up?" Australia asked.
"Depends on how strong the explosive is." Vietnam reasoned. "It may be strong enough to kill but weak enough to harm only the person the explosive is strapped to."
"How gruesome..." the Philippines shuddered.
"So...any ideas?" New Zealand asked, heaving a sigh.
China scanned the room for a while, then he tensed and hissed, "We need to get out of here, now, aru!"
"Why?" Australia asked.
"Doppelgangers are right above us."
"What?" Australia and the others glanced up. Sure enough, there was a walkway above them as well. Twenty feet up, Dark Cambodia, Dark Bhutan, and Dark Tajikistan stood together, overseeing the process the people had. Like Malaysia had said, China's people looked like they wanted to tear everyone else apart. They could tell just by looking into their eyes. Of course, the doppelgangers must have kept their hate down a bit so they wouldn't; they were needed for something, and that something looked like building weapons.
"We're gonna be here for a while." Wy sighed as they inched along the wall, heads pointing upwards towards the doppelgangers in case if the enemy suddenly looked down towards them.
The room was dark when Japan's Team Four rushed in. Japan closed the door the moment he, the last person in, stepped foot inside the room. The brief light that shone through the door when they piled in didn't give the first few people a good look at the place, and by the time Japan closed out the light, they stood in silence. Listening to the people outside, searching for them, they knew they didn't have much time before they start searching the rooms.
"Where's the light?" Taiwan whispered.
"I have no idea." Seychelles whispered back. "I don't want to move though, because I don't want to accidentally set something off."
"Me either, da-ze." Korea said seriously. "I died so many times in my games if I move a little bit-"
"For the last time, we're not talking about games." Japan sighed wearily.
"Yeah, but some games actually teach you how to survive, da-ze."
"Is there anything from your games that we can, like, do here right now?" Hong Kong asked.
Though it was pitch black in the room, they could practically see Korea's face brighten up as he exclaimed, "I got it!"
"Shhhhh!" Japan hushed Korea, facing his general direction.
"Sorry." Korea whispered. They were silent for a few seconds, and when the door didn't swing open, Korea continued. "You know how we couldn't get into the vents earlier because it took too much time, right? Well now we have some time and we can get back into the vents, da-ze."
Silence.
Then Thailand asked, "How is that relevant to your games, ana?"
Korea sighed. "Um, well...actually, it isn't. But! Clearly...clearly...there will come a time when my gaming experience will come in handy, da-ze."
Greece finally got the courage to move and find the light switch. It alarmed Japan a second after he realized that the light in the room would probably show underneath the crack of the door. After he ordered Thailand, Korea, and Seychelles to find a way to block out any cracks in the door that could give away their position, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Greece were scrambling around the room, looking for the air vent.
"Japan, I found it." Greece said from the corner of the room, shifting a desk away from the wall. "We can all fit in it."
"Good job, Greece." Japan said, nodding. "Can you get the grille off?"
The slits in the grille were too narrow for Greece to fit his fingers through them, and so Taiwan tried. "The tips of my fingers can only fit. I can't get a grip of it." she sighed, tugging futilely.
Japan shrugged off his backpack for the crowbar he had thought to bring along. He reasoned that moving through the air vents would be vital for their mission and the crowbar was how the team got into the air vents in the first place.
"Hurry, Japan." Seychelles said urgently in a small voice. "I can hear them coming."
In the silence that followed, they made out several footsteps nearing their door, voices calling down the hall. Japan darted to the corner of the room with the crowbar and with Greece's help, the two pried the grille from the opening. As Greece stowed the crowbar back into Japan's backpack, Japan told him to get the flashlights in the second compartment of the backpack.
"How many?" asked Greece.
"Three, at least three."
Greece handed one to Japan, another to Hong Kong, and held the last one as he hurriedly zipped the second compartment up.
"Someone turn off the lights." Taiwan whispered.
Thailand reached over Korea's head and flipped the switch down. They were in the darkness again, but the dimness was short-lived because Japan, Hong Kong, and Greece turned their flashlights on.
Korea let out a low whistle. "You really think of everything, don't you Japan, da-ze?"
"For the sake of the team, I have to consider everything." Japan answered.
"Do you have money on you, da-ze? I saw a vending machine downstairs and I'm kinda hungry-"
"Oh stop the silliness, Korea, ana." Thailand chided him. "Come on. We have to get going, ana."
"Greece, please lead the way. Go in first." Japan told Greece.
Greece nodded and Taiwan moved out of the way for him. As Greece fitted himself into the air vent, Seychelles asked, "Who's next? Japan, have you thought up of some sort of system or...?"
She let the question hang in the air for a few seconds, watching Japan's face. Japan was going to say that the girls should go last because, again, he felt that it was unacceptable for the others to be behind them for obvious reasons. But their safety would be at risk if they escaped last because who knew when the doppelgangers and the corrupted people would burst through the door.
Japan glanced at Korea, who raised an eyebrow. "What, da-ze?"
"Korea, you go next." Japan said, pointing to the air vent.
Korea nodded and got down on his knees, crawling in after Greece. Japan ordered Taiwan and Seychelles in next, and then Hong Kong and Thailand.
The doorknob rattled. Thailand, who was the second to last, hurriedly glanced at Japan with alarmed eyes. "Ana, hurry, Japan!"
"Yes, yes, I know." Japan said, his heart pounding. Before Korea, Thailand, and Seychelles left their post at the door, they propped a chair or two against the door to prevent an immediate door swing if the doppelgangers happened to try the door.
Japan heard the wood of the door split in half and he could see light rays shine through the huge crack. A harsh voice said, "Don't destroy the door, Indonesia's hatred."
"Japan, ana!" Thailand whispered urgently.
Japan picked up the grille and fitted it back in. He saw Thailand's golden eyes widen in alarm as he shot a glance over his shoulders. "What are you doing, ana?" he whispered in horror.
His whisper attracted Hong Kong's attention and Japan could heard Hong Kong asked, "What's happening?"
Japan merely lifted a finger to his lips to tell Thailand to be quiet. He only hoped Thailand could get the others to quiet down as well. Hurriedly, he scooted the desk back into place and stepped up onto it, starting to fit himself in the corner. He applied pressure on both hands and feet as he climbed up, situating himself close to the ceiling.
He risked his footing as he lifted a hand to push the ceiling tile up. The tile shifted away and left an opening in the ceiling, to which Japan continued to climb into. The lights in the room flashed open by the time he managed to get the ceiling tile to close over the gap.
Japan stayed still, breathing heavily in the hot air, crouched underneath huge tubes and pipes, careful not to get tangled in the wiring above the room. He could hear the doppelgangers pile into the room, stepping over the now broken door. He applauded himself for being able to escape undetected, even though his escape was much different from the others.
He waited for the doppelgangers to leave, and they nearly did until Dark Indonesia said, "Wait, look at that."
Japan bit his lips and waited, frozen. What did Dark Indonesia see? Oh, if only Japan was able to move and crawl to safety, but the ceiling tiles were weak and couldn't hold his weight. The frame that held them up wasn't as strong either; it was enough to have Japan sit on them but it was another thing if he crawled along them. And crawling on them would make too much noise anyway.
Japan wished that he continued his stealth training; he didn't think that he'd need it anymore in this century. He regretted dropping that subject.
"The desk is at an angle." Dark Indonesia murmured to some other doppelgangers or people that were probably behind him.
There was a small silence that followed, and then Dark Mongolia said quietly, "There's no visible air vent here. We know they traveled through them when they got here, right? Are they that desperate to use them again?"
"And after the rats we sent up there?" Dark Philippines added.
Another silence. Then Dark Mongolia said calmly, "Move the desk. Let's see where they are this time."
A cold bolt of fear struck Japan and carried the paralyzing fear through his veins. Did Thailand and the others sneak away to safety? Or did they stay there quietly, hoping the enemy would leave and have Japan return to them?
Japan heard the desk being moved away and he heard the metal grille fall out of its place. After a snort of amusement, Japan heard Dark Mongolia say quietly, "This will be a fun game of cat and mouse. Half of you will chase and find them in the vents. The other half will be spread across the building. If you find them, stop them from escaping- hold them in place if you must- and call us. We'll locate you in the vent and we'll capture them."
This is not good. Half of them? Half of the people standing in that room or half of the people in the whole building? Either way, there was a lot of people chasing after us so they'll be captured eventually. And knowing that they did send up the rats, they'll probably send something else. And the noises the team makes reacting to whatever the doppelgangers send up next, they'll be found for sure. Japan thought miserably.
"Oh? Looks, there's a footprint on the desk." Dark Mongolia said, sending a horrifying shock to Japan. "And if you look closely, you can see barely noticeable imprints on the wall. Could some of them be up in the ceiling?"
Okay. There was bad, but this was worse. Now all of them would be captured, instead of all but one. If all but one was tied up, there was a chance of escaping. But if Japan was taken as well...
Could he move? He had too; there was no point in stealth anymore. They knew he was there. What's the point in staying?
He gritted his teeth as the ceiling tile he had pushed away started to move. They were going to find him one way or another. Japan would have to postpone his capture in hopes he could save the others.
He clench his flashlight between his teeth and crawled away into shadows, hoping that whoever was trying to find him wouldn't be able to make out his figure in the dark behind the huge metal tube. Japan pressed a hand against the tube to see if it would hold his weight. When he saw that it would do, he climbed on top of it and waited. The rectangular block of light drew his attention to the spot he was at earlier. He saw a hand grope around for a while, and then it retracted.
Silence. Japan guessed that they were peering up there. After a minute of silence, Dark Mongolia murmured, "We'll worry about them later. We have to find the ones in the vents first. Then we'll take care of the ones in the ceiling."
Japan smiled to himself. They thought that the team split. The truth was, they did, but they didn't know that only one strayed from the rest. Was that a good thing? To have the enemy think that there was more far from their reach for now?
It would have to do, because right now, Japan had more freedom than the others. The problem? He'd have to continue on all by himself.