The group froze the moment a large splash echoed through the sewers. North Korea didn't want them to stop and investigate the noise but regardless of his wishes, many of them slowed down, throwing a curious glance behind their shoulders.

"Keep moving!" North Korea snapped at them, "They're getting closer. We cannot let them gain any more ground."

There was no need to repeat. The countries hastened their pace but to North Korea, it sounded as if their movements had slowed down. Has fatigue struck them already?

"Do you know where we're going?" Lithuania asked worriedly.

Ah. So that was what bothered them. Well, in a sense, it bothered North Korea as well. In reality, he didn't know where he was taking them and he had not considered it. His main priority at the moment was getting them out of harm's way, ironically.

He shot them a harsh glance and they cringed under his cold glare. Wasn't he supposed to ignore them? His boss strictly told him not to associate with...the majority of the world. And here he was, leading them towards what he truly hoped was safety.

Oh the irony.

"What sort of predicament have I found myself in, I wonder..." North Korea breathed under his breath.

"North? Where are we-" Lithuania started again but North Korea.

"You'll see," North Korea said impatiently. Honestly, he didn't want to admit he didn't know. He was not going to let his team even think for a second that his mind failed to find a way out. No; that was the very last thing he wanted.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Lithuania sharing an uneasy glance with Estonia. Scowling, North Korea snapped, "Stop looking at each other! Eyes forward! Feet moving! Faster, faster! Keep running!"

Poland frowned and tossed his head over his shoulder. Lithuania reached down to hold onto his hand so that Poland wouldn't run into something, saying, "Don't look behind you when you're running!"

Poland tugged his hand out of Lithuania's grasp and halted, crossing his arms haughtily. "There's like, nothing after us," he complained. "Why are we even running if no one is after us?"

"What?"

Lithuania slowed to a stop and stared into the darkness behind them. North Korea, too, slowed to a jog. He held out his arm to stop the others and the team listened to the sound of their pants and the eerie silence they had escaped.

"So then...were we imagining the footsteps?" Estonia asked slowly.

North Korea's mind raced again as he analyzed the situation. No sounds were to be heard other than their heavy breathing. Of course, he was aware of his rapid heartbeat pounding in his ears; it had been a while since he felt adrenaline run throughout his body.

He enjoyed it.

North Korea gave Estonia a wry smile and said, "There is nothing...there is absolutely nothing..."

Estonia adverted his eyes from North Korea. "Yes...there is nothing."

North Korea, seemingly satisfied, nodded and clenched his hand into a fist. Laughing shakily, he added under his breath, "We still have a job to do...don't we?" he said as calmly as he could.

The rest held their breaths. There was a definite edge in his voice, and they grew wary again. It was difficult knowing that doppelgangers, the enemy, were around somewhere in the unknown, but it also troubled them that in their own group, there could be someone just as dangerous.

North Korea realized this and laughed coldly. "What good is there for me to do something? Whatever I want to do for my own benefit, I cannot. Not in this condition. I don't care if you trust me or not, and I'm sure it's the latter, but there is no choice, is there?"

Another uncomfortable silence followed his echoing voice as it faded in the sewers. Through the dimness, North Korea could see the silhouettes of his teammates and the tension on their sweat stained faces.

North Korea's smile grew a little. "Why fear me? I have nothing. I cannot do anything. If I were to do something, I would be severely outnumbered. Why would I risk something like that? Now if you want to leave, so be it. I, however, was assigned a task and I will fulfill it with or without your help."

Ukraine gave North Korea a small, nervous smile. "You're very ambitious."

"Is there something wrong with that?"

Silence.

North Korea's smile quickly faded as he turned around, facing forward once more. "No matter," he said casually, his cold, icy tone disappearing, "if there really is nothing after us, then there's nothing to worry about. Quit dawdling and hurry up. We haven't much time to spare."

If someone was to interrupt him, they were not given a chance. North Korea was already walking away from them in a quick pace. The team could only follow after him, though they hoped they were not following blindly. If they were given a choice on what to do, what would they decide on?

Deep down, they knew that they would not know and that the burden North Korea had forced upon himself was heavy. If given a choice, would they help him rather than follow his shadow?

Even with a choice, there would not be a difference; North Korea would do what he wanted, and whatever fate wanted them to do, they would do exactly what they were currently doing. They could only follow because with North Korea leading them, following was the only option.

So far.

Russia knew his hands were in danger of being ripped off, but he did not care. Russia knew the pain could overwhelm him and he could fall as a victim by his own hands, and quite literally. Russia knew that it would not be easy to defeat his doppelganger, and it might as well be impossible.

However, for the sake of his team, he would hold his darker counterpart back for as long as he could. He would not allow his darker counterpart to hurt anyone anymore.

He would not...

He could not...

Dark Russia showed no sign of recklessness. It was apparent that doppelgangers learned quickly; trick them once and their guard would rise once more, making them near impossible to take down.

Dark Russia's dark red, nearly black, eyes did not gleam like most of the other doppelgangers'. Russia felt as if the longer he glared into them, he would be trapped in the agonizing darkness. In Dark Russia's eyes, there was a vacuum that sucked up any sign of emotion. Though it was dark, Russia was certain that even if there was to be light, there would be no reflection in Dark Russia's eyes.

They were hollow and lifeless.

"You escaped," Russia whispered.

Dark Russia did not move.

Russia slowly thought the problem over. The blood from his hands ran freely, soaking his sleeves to the point where they could no longer absorb the crimson and dripped to the ground, forming a pool at his feet. He was not able to move his fingers but he felt as if there was no need to. He could stand his ground without using his hands, after all.

"Why are you here?" Russia asked.

Dark Russia held Russia's gaze for a little while longer before deciding to speak in a soft, low voice, "I do not know."

"How did you get here?"

"I do not know."

Russia narrowed his eyes. Dark Russia's expression did not change. He did not shift his position, he did not seem to breathe. It wasn't as if he needed to, but the sight of complete and total stillness started to unnerve Russia.

"When did you come out? Why do you exist physically and yet I still harbor this feeling...why do I still feel you inside of me when you're right in front of me?" Russia demanded. Answers. He needed answers. Never before had the world seen such a thing. He felt that if he didn't know, he would go mad.

Dark Russia seemed to sense this. "You're scared," he whispered.

Russia's glare worsened.

Dark Russia paused, savoring the tension. Then, quietly, he said, "It has been a little over a month, da? Why am I here? Why do you still feel me? You can never get rid of emotions naturally. The idea of me being in two 'places'...am I really in two places? Where am I really? Am I in a 'place'? Though you are a country, and therefore a 'place', where does an emotion lie in a country? A chunk of land? A piece of the earth?

"I am an abstract idea; something that does not exist physically. I am nowhere, but I am here in you. With you. My location exactly, it cannot be determined. I am both nowhere and everywhere. I come from both nowhere, and anywhere. Hate is one abstract idea, and humans naturally harbor me. I am merely your piece of the hate. So where am I? That is up to you to determine."

Russia silently processed the words Dark Russia said. Grimly, he asked, "You answered 'where' you are. You are in me. That is what I believe, truly."

Dark Russia nodded curtly. "I see. It is was you believe. What we believe. What I believe."

"However...if you are an abstract idea, something that doesn't exist physically, then how did you gain your physical form?"

Dark Russia smiled for the first time. "I do not know," he said.

"What do you want? What do you wish to gain by going against us?" Russia asked, wondering how much longer he can stall verbally.

"What do I want? Truth be told, I do not know. I am an emotion. Can emotions have a sense of want? Is that not what your greed is for?"

"You doppelgangers have showed several emotions before," Russia pointed out with a scowl.

Dark Russia harrumphed. "So we have."

"And if you don't know what you want, isn't is better to return to me? Isn't it better to give up your physical body? Roaming the world with no reason, no ambition...what will you gain?"

Dark Russia's eyes narrowed slightly, giving Russia a cautious look. "Is that the only point of life?" he questioned. "Gaining? To live life, you must gain? Is that all we do?"

Taken aback, Russia stared at his doppelganger's contorted face of disgust.

"Is that what life is to you?" Dark Russia snarled. "Are you saying that a pointless life deserves death? Do you know how many lives were lost during wars that seem pointless? Do you? Thousands of men, forced to fight whether or not they want to, for your benefit! Because of war that you and the other countries take part in, countless numbers of lives are lost! And you are now fighting to stay in control? How can you be satisfied as a country if your people die for no reason?"

"So that's why..." Russia whispered in realization. "You want to better the world...isn't that right?"

Dark Russia sniffed. "A world without death is impossible. But death can be avoided for a long time. The young able-bodied men who died in wars could have grown old and live a happy life. How is it that you are happy to win any war knowing you lost so much? How can your generals send men to war as a distraction so that they could send more men elsewhere? How can you sit back and let them kill off your people, throw them away as if they were nothing? How are their lives worth less than the men in the other group?"

Russia shook his head. "To think a form of hatred could be so concerned about this-"

"I am a part of you," Dark Russia said grimly. "That does not mean that I do not share your beliefs."

"My beliefs," Russia repeated quietly.

"Our beliefs," Dark Russia corrected harshly. "What do we believe, or used to? Tell me. Do you remember? Do we remember?"

"I want my people to be happy," Russia said hoarsely.

"Want? Not 'wanted'? You still do, da?"

Russia nodded.

Dark Russia scowled, "Then you understand why we could do better than you countries."

"But you are hatred. This doesn't seem to fit you-"

"I told you I am a part of you. I know I saw that we all, as a single emotion, are the same, but we are also part of the individual. Every hatred is different in a way, and I realize that in order to better the world, I know what I must do. I will do what you failed to do."

Russia's facial expression darkened. "What I...failed to do?"

Dark Russia's lips twitched up into a wry smile. "Oh how we both hated isolation...the past, you were always bullied...always alone. People were afraid of you, many fought you, and even allies were cautious around you. Our people suffered and since you did not have many allies, who was there to help you?

"We want our people to be happy. You failed to do so many times in the past. What can I do to succeed? I have pondered this many times, and talking to you right now has made me decide that I do, indeed, have a goal. A personal gain. I am no longer wandering without ambition. The other doppelgangers had forced me into their game, but I was never interested.

"But now, I changed my mind. I will show you I can do better. I will outdo you. This, I know."

Russia gritted his teeth. Dark Russia's words wounded him, brought back painful memories, and despite trying to keep his hatred under control, he could not help but seethe. "Do you really blame me for the lost lives of the people?" he demanded. "Do you not realize how much their deaths pain me? You're only an emotion; you cannot feel the devastation I have felt, and you cannot begin to imagine the suffering I myself have felt! What you are, you are my hate. You only exist because I feel it, and I feel it because other countries have killed my men! And you have the audacity to say I am satisfied?"

"You do nothing to save the lives! If you had done something, they would have survived!" Dark Russia yelled.

"If I had done something, others would lose theirs as well!" Russia snapped. "I could save a few thousand men and lose thousands more! If I had let it be, and I did, only a handful would die rather than millions!"

"War could be prevented in the first place! If you could have done something-"

"No matter what I do, I cannot prevent it! What had happened in the past, it cannot be helped! History is history; there is no changing it. If I could change it, I would but I have no power to do so-"

Dark Russia scoffed, "Yes, that's right, isn't it? You have no power, no power at all."

Russia didn't know what happened. His mind completely shut out every sentient thought and the pain that he burdened him vanished. A blur of scenery passed by his eyes; he saw red in the darkness. He saw the whites of wide eyes and the whites of bared teeth. He recalled a flash of iron but the gray iron quickly became stained with crimson.

His hands were seemingly useless, but it turned out that if he did not feel the pain, he could still use them. Later, he found that splinters of his bones could be found protruding from Dark Russia's face, beads of blood running down his pale skin.

The wounds would close up around the bone, trapping it there so that his doppelganger now had spikes coming out of his face.

My thoughts...I'm slipping... Russia thought as his consciousness ebbed away. He had not fallen into this state in a long, long time. His rampaging nature would soon take total control of him and he would not be able to think straight. He would not be able to think at all; from then on, it would all be on instint rather than his sentience.

I can no longer...

The rage Russia felt inside of him burned furiously that it felt as if he was literally cast in flames. The hatred bottled up inside of him, the hatred that he had tried to hard to contain, had finally broken completely. His hatred was loose and free at last, and the madness inside of him took over.

It was this that, Russia had believed, determined the outcome.