Waaah! Sorry this took so long! Writer's block is murder!
It doesn't help that I have to write this, 10 Little Nations, and a Denmark/Norway ff I'm gonna upload very, VERY soon that's based of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" (Walt Disney has nothing on my version ;) )
But now that this 900lb gorilla of a chapter is out of the way, enjoy!
NOTE: I do not speak French. I do not speak Italian either. Or Japanese. Or German (well, sorta). Or Danish (again, sorta). I speak fluent English and Spanish. Any non-English or Spanish terms have been created using Google Translate. So…. Many of them (especially the Japanese), may be grammatically incorrect. Bear with me on this… although if you want to throttle me everytime I use Japanese improperly, feel free to correct me with a better way to phrase things.
.:Chapter 3:.
As it turned out, winning the game was going to be a lot harder than Alfred originally expected. Finding the rest of their teammates had been simple enough. As sooner as the American exited the room, he was greeted by Wang Yao trying to sell him supplies, Francis making lewd comments, and Ivan… Well, Ivan was just smiling in his creepy, borderline homicidal maniac manner. After explaining to the others what was happening, Wang Yao and Francis agreed to help out their friends-although Wang Yao still made them pay for their equipment. Ivan on the other hand, offered to stay behind and guard the building.
"What? Don't tell me you're some sort of final boss," Alfred joked, punching his "friend" in the arm. The Russian teen smiled back at him, before punching him with enough force to knock the American over.
"Maybe, da? I don't know yet," he explained cheerfully. "Good luck da?
That had all been simple enough. The game became considerably tougher the instant the team set one foot outside the base… As it turned out, the outside world was teeming with monsters of all shapes and sizes. Man eating worms, carnivorous plants, you name it.
It didn't help that the team wasn't very experienced in fighting. The instant Francis caught sight of the monsters, he shouted "Je me rends!" before ducking behind his teammates for shelter.
"Wanker," Arthur growled angrily, dragging the Frenchman out from behind him. "I knew the French were weak, but this is pathetic…"
Somehow, despite their inexperience, the team managed to fend off any oncoming enemies. Arthur quickly figured out how to cast spells on enemies, while the remaining trio used their swords to strike foes that came too close…
Despite the minor setbacks while fighting–these included Alfred's alien friend, Tony, trying to kill an unsuspecting Arthur. Eventually the "monster Tony" was defeated by Wang Yao trying a sword through him-, the game was still relatively simple in Alfred's opinion. After what seemed like ages, they arrived at a small fort surrounded by dense woods.
"Are we there yet?" Alfred whined.
"No git, why would you think that?" Arthur snapped sarcastically before storming up to the door and shoving it open.
Upon passing through the doorway, the small team walked through a dimly lit hallway. At the opposite end of the hall, they could vaguely hear the sounds of two other people arguing vehemently and occasionally, in Italian.
"Shut up, bastardo, and finish packing! The allies will be here any moment, dammit!"
"Ve~, but fratello-"
"JUST HURRY UP, DAMMIT!"
Alfred snickered slightly as he watched the two from a short distance away. It figured… Feliciano and Lovino Vargas were hastily packing tomatoes and pasta into a bag. At the sound of his laughter, the younger Italian whipped about, only to shout in terror.
"Fratello! Alfred is here! What do we do?"
"Shit! Already! Damn they're fast! Hang on, I'll just grab a few more tomatoes-"
"Fratello! We need to get out of here!"
Too late. Before the Italian siblings could make their escape, the allies surrounded them. Alfred gave the pair a pitying smile before unsheathing his sword.
"Alright! Let's-" He paused suddenly, a frown crossing his face before turning to Arthur. "Hey, Iggy! Give me something heroic to say!"
Arthur snorted. "You're the one with the hero complex. Why are you telling me to do that?"
"I can't go into battle with a heroic catch phrase!" Alfred pouted.
While the two blonds argued, Feliciano and Lovino took the opportunity to try and flee from their enemies. Noticing this, Wang Yao hastily rushed after them, blades unsheathed. The Chinese teen managed to cut the pair off before they could escape, dealing a powerful hit with his swords in the process. While the Italians were knocked over by the force of the attack, Yao took the opportunity to scowl at his teammates.
"Westerners are so immature. Can't you two quit arguing long enough to capture these two, aru?"
Alfred and Arthur glanced between one another before shrugging. The self-proclaimed hero of the group lunged at the Vargas brothers, slashing down at them with his sword. "Smaaaash!" This attack was immediately followed by a powerful Wind spell from Arthur. Yao was right; the petty arguing could be saved for when they return to the real world. For now, they had more important matters on their hands.
Feliciano and Lovino reeled backwards in pain as the two attacks found their target. Feliciano promptly burst into tears, and Lovino began swearing angrily in Italian.
"Waaah! Please don't kill meeee!" Feli begged, waving a white flag in a feeble attempt to fend off the Allies.
Unfortunately for the Italian brothers, it would take a lot more than swearing, pasta, and white flags to stop the Allies. The brunets were quickly restrained by Yao and Francis… well, technically Francis was groping their captives. Either way, the pair couldn't move as Alfred swaggered towards the quivering pair.
"Waah! Don't kill me! I'll tell you anything! I swear!" Feliciano cried in horror, tears welling up in his eyes.
"You realize you can't actually die in a videogame," Alfred questioned, frowning in confusion; however, the question was drowned out by the sound of the younger Italian bawling at the top of his lungs. "Feliciano, you can't die in a—Feliciano you can't—Fel—WE'RE JUST TAKING YOU HOSTAGE ALRIGHT! QUIT WHINING ALREADY!"
Suddenly, both Italians froze. For a few moments, even Feliciano stopped crying. After what seemed like ages of dead silence, the pair chuckled. Their chuckling laugh turned to a loud creepy one, sending chills down the spines of the Allies.
"Veee, sorry guys, but—"
"—we tricked you bastards!" Lovino cackled gleefully as a massive pair of doors burst open at the very end of the hall.
"Thank you, Lovino-kun and Feliciano-kun," Kiku congratulated as he stepped out through the doorway. A group of stone gargoyles slinked after the Japanese teen before surrounding their foes.
"Kiku!" The allies shouted in unison, releasing the Italian brothers. As soon as they were free, the pair bolted through the doorway Kiku had just opened up. Alfred reached out to stop the two, but they were gone long before he could reach them.
Kiku smirked as his opponent's scowled at him. "Surprised to see me?" The gargoyles hissed and snapped at the Allies as they slowly circled them, herding the group into a tightly knit circle.
Alfred glared defiantly at his Japanese "friend", ignoring the gargoyle monsters pressing closer and closer to his team. He simply shrugged at the teen's question.
"If you Axis guys keep flocking to us, we'll have captured you all and beaten the game before the day is over!"
"I think you will find that I'm harder to defeat than Feliciano-kun and Lovino-kun, Alfred-san," Kiku replied simply.
Now it was Alfred's turn to smile. "We'll see about that… Go, Wang Yao!"
"Eh, why me, aru?" The Chinese teen complained. None the less, he unsheathed his twin swords and charged at Japan, dodging the surprisingly slow and cumbersome gargoyles with ease. One gargoyle attempted to pounce on the teen from behind, but it disintegrated into pebbles during the middle of its leap as Arthur attacked with a powerful Thunder spell. The other allies made quick work of the other gargoyles, leaving Yao and Kiku to fight one on one.
Kiku's confident smirk returned as Yao charged him. He simply rested a hand on his katana's hilt as his foe approached. Once Yao was within an arm's distance away, the Japanese teen sprang into action.
"雷スラッシュ - kaminari surasshu!"
In a flash of movement that was almost too fast to track, Kiku dodged Wang Yao's attack with ease, and in a lightning fast motion, he stabbed at the Chinese teen with his own katana. Yao dropped to the ground, clutching his arm as pain rushed through it. The Chinese teen bit back a hiss of pain as he whirled upon his rival, using his uninjured arm to swing one of his swords at the dark-haired boy. Kiku dodged his "friend's" attacks with ease, before slashing him across the chest with the katana's blade. Yao shouted in pain, once again falling to the ground.
"Yao!"
In an instant, the remaining Allies rushed to help their friend. Arthur cast Thunder, but the burst of electricity did not leave even the slightest injury on Kiku. Alfred and Francis followed up with their own attacks; The American charged the Japanese teen with his signature "SMAAASH!" attack, hacking away at Kiku with his broadsword. Meanwhile Francis lunged at Kiku with his rapier. Despite the ferocity of the two attacks, Kiku managed to parry them with ease. Kiku once again grinned at his rivals, though this time it was in a sadistic manner, unlike anything they would've expected from the mild mannered Japanese boy.
"How do you expect to defeat the 2-dimensional game master without any experience points?" He inquired before raising his blade to strike. "蓮の花秋 - Hachisu no hana no shi!"
The attack struck all four of the Allies- including the already injured Wang Yao-, knocking them across the floor. While the group lay on the ground, still trying to recover after the powerful attack, Kiku paced towards them. He stopped next Alfred, who was glaring defiantly at him. Kiku simply raised his blade over Alfred in response, preparing to end the fight once and for all.
"Whirlwind!"
A powerful burst of wind collided with Kiku. The blast was not nearly strong enough to cause him any real damage, but it did knock him away from Alfred. The blond craned his neck to see that Arthur had stood up and attacked with one of his magic spells. Artie cringed slightly as he moved; clearly he hadn't fully escaped Kiku's attack.
"Blast all! He's too strong! Let's clear out!"
Alfred couldn't agree more himself. Regaining his footing, the blond teen stood upright. Francis was back up on his feet, too. While Arthur continued to hold off Kiku with wind magic, Alfred limped over to Yao and helped the semiconscious teen to his feet,
'And to think this started out so easily,' Alfred though ruefully as they retreated from the Italian manse.
"Bollocks… Well that turned out well, Alfred," Arthur grumble.
The team had regrouped in a nearby forest after their failed attempt to capture the brothers. After the fight, the group of four had healed themselves using Wang Yao's vulneraries ("Hey! Who's paying for those, aru?"). Now they were planning their next course of action.
"Dammit! Why couldn't we beat him? That retreat was really un-heroic," Alfred complained, folding his arms across his chest as he pouted.
"Well, Kiku did say we didn't have enough experience points," Arthur explained. He sighed in exasperation. "You know what this means, don't you?"
"More Monster Tonys and Man eating worms?" Alfred scowled at the thought.
Winning the game was going to be a LOT harder than originally expected…
As usual, reviews are love and thank you for your patience…
GAH! I KNEW I WAS FORGETTING SOMETHING!
TRANSLATIONS:
"Je me rends!"= "I surrender!"
"雷スラッシュ - kaminari surasshu!"= Lightning slash
"蓮の花秋 - Hachisu no hana no shi!"= Lotus Flower Death (I changed it due to my horrid grammar and inability to understand japanese. I can't tell a verb from a noun from a adverb)