"What the hell are you doing?" England shrieked, scrambling towards the creature of myth while frantically struggling to recall a fire-starter spell.

An outraged screech rent the air and the heap of white foam that was the phoenix exploded out, fire erupting along its feathers. The bird lunged towards America-

More spray hit shot out, overtaking the phoenix and bringing it once more to the ground.

Nothing in the clearing moved. The nations were frozen in shocked, horrified silence. America was glaring at the bird while Canada stood several steps away. They were both holding small fire extinguishers and had the nozzles pointed directly at the phoenix.

With an angry hiss, the phoenix rose up on its long legs and shook its wings, sending sparks flying in every direction. A new fire ignited and quickly spread across its entire body.

"Yeah, remember me, you red-feathered turkey vulture?" America growled. He kept the fire extinguisher's nozzle trained on the burning bird with the focus and intensity of a soldier on a battlefield.

"America," Germany snarled through gritted teeth, "put down the fire extinguisher. Now."

"The phoenix is not a threat, you idiot," France snapped. "It is a creature of myth and legend, of beauty and wonder."

"It's a goddamned menace!" America retorted. "I don't know what the hell you guys are talking about, this thing is nothing more than a charred, overgrown pigeon."

With a loud cry, the phoenix suddenly lept into the air and quickly disappeared from sight.

"Lovely. Well done. Are you happy now?" England demanded, staring after the flaming bird. "This was it! Our one chance!" He spun around and started stalking towards America, a murderous light in his eyes.

"One chance for what?" Canada asked in an incredulous voice. He cast a wary look into the air and then shifted closer to America, not quite moving to stand back-to-back with him but clearly ready to defend his blind spots. "A chance to burn down the entire Nature Park?"

England sputtered. "Wh- It wasn't going to burn down anything!"

"The Miramichi Fire of 1825 begs to differ," Canada retorted in a flat voice. "It took decades for New Brunswick to recover."

"Not to mention Yaquina, Oregon, in 1853," America added.

The brothers started going back and forth: Silverton, 1865; Saquenay Fire, 1870; The Peshtigo and Great Michigan and Chicago Fires of 1871; Thumb Fire, 1881; Santiago Canyon Fire, 1889; Great Porcupine Fire, 1911.

"And then there was the Chinchaga Fire in 1950." Canada shuddered. "It was awful - the largest forest fire ever recorded in North America until the Manitoba Fires of 1989. Almost 25,000 people had to be evacuated"

"You think the Firebird started those?" Russia asked after a moment, his voice incredulous.

"We don't think, we know." America looked annoyed. "Canada told me you guys kept going on and on about how amazing and awe-inspiring and benevolent this stupid thing is."

"I was hoping you were talking about something else," Canada continued in an irritated voice. "That there was another phoenix-like bird out there, not . . . this one."

America tilted his head towards his brother. "How big an area burned just a few years ago, during the Chelaslie River Fire in British Columbia?" he asked.

"328,892 acres. That's over 1,330 square kilometers." Canada paused. "513-ish square miles," he added, giving his brother sidelong look.

"Like I said, a menace."

A menacing hiss floated out from the treeline. The twins turned, fire extinguishers at the ready.

"What did you do?" England suddenly demanded, eyes gleaming with barely suppressed rage. "What. Did you do. To the phoenix?" he asked again, voice growing louder.

"We didn't do a God-damned thing!" America exclaimed, eyes scanning for the glint of red-gold. "It's just another flippin' supernatural creature that came over and started wrecking shit!"

"Anoth-" England sputtered. "You don't believe in the supernatural! We've been over this! Again and again!"

"I don't believe in that all your chanting and wand waving does anything." America snorted. "But when my chickens start to burst into flames anytime they're startled - which is a lot seeing as they're chickens - you becoming willing to accept anything." There was a moment of silence. "I had to fire-proof my chicken coop because of that horny thing," he added in a frustrated voice.

"I'm confused," Russia interjected, giggling softly. "I thought fat Americans loved chicken extra crispy?" A wide smile stretched across the large country's face, waiting eagerly for the response.

America let out a strangled oath and dove for Russia. Canada dropped his extinguisher and wrapped his arms around his brother, trying to hold him back. His twin let out a frustrated and infuriated, wordless shriek as swung his nearly empty fire extinguisher at Russia. Canada rocked backwards, digging his heels into the dirt as he lifted America clear off the ground, holding him in place.

"Put me down!" America howled. He jerked, twisted, trying to find the leverage to break free of Canada's grasp. "This isn't a fucking joke!" When his northern neighbor's grip refused to weaken, he chucked the red canister at Russia.

The other G8 members watched with wide eyes as Russia easily stepped out of the way of the canister - and then as it proceeded to punch through several trees before disappearing from view.

America and Canada scuffled for several moments. Every time America seemed to be breaking free, Canada somehow reasserted his grip, wrestling his brother back under control. For all America's stretch, it wasn't enough to defeat the leverage Canada had on him.

The phoenix's cry suddenly rent the air.

The brothers froze, immediately turning their heads every which way, trying to spot the bird.

Down, down it descended from the sky, the sun at its back as it fell. Fire swelled around it and with a loud screech, a plume shot forward towards the ground.

The trees lining the clearing caught fire as the fire attacked slammed into the ground. A wave of heat rippled out, causing the nations to leap away, falling and scrambling as they struggled to put more distance between them and the building inferno.

"This is how it fucking starts!" America howled, his voice carrying across the clearing. "Campers caught video of the last wildfire this thing started! It was startled by a deer. A fucking deer and it tried to burn down the entire fucking continent!"

The fire started to grow, flames licking up above the treeline. The phoenix landed, surrounded by flames. Spreading its wings, it slowly started stalking towards the twins.

Germany rushed forward, frantically searching for the fire extinguisher Canada had dropped moments earlier. The fire was building, raging, he had to do something.

In the distance, thunder began to rumble.

America and Canada stared back at the phoenix as it drew closer and closer. America's hands were balled into fists, ready to lash out the moment the firebird stepped into range. Canada looked more wary as he dropped back, hands dipping into pockets, searching for . . . something.

Just out of reach of America's grasp, the phoenix stopped. It began to flap its wings, wire leaping forward-

A nearly solid mass of rain suddenly slammed down into the clearing. Lightning tore through the sky and the boom of thunder cause the ground the shake.

As the rain continued to pour, the flames slowly, slowly began to diminish.

The fire surrounding the phoenix had shrunk under the bird's red and gold feathers seemed to smolder in the suddenly dark clearing. The firebird stared up at the sky and hissed, American and Canada forgotten.

Then came another flap of wings. Out of the darkness, another bird appeared. It's feathers were dark, blacks and blues. Instead of the long, trailing tail feathers, it had a tuft of feathers rising up above its crown. Each flap of its wings was immediately followed by a rumble of thunder.

America stepped forward and raised an arm up into the air. He seemed utterly unconcerned with how soaked his clothes were or that the water clinging to the lenses of his glasses had rendered him almost completely unable to see.

The dark bird landed on America's arm, only partially folding its large wings. The bird was massive, nearly the size of America's torso . . . and seemingly the same size as the phoenix.

"Here's the deal," America snarled, giving the phoenix a dark look. "Go back to Egypt and don't come back. Otherwise, my pal here will feel obligated to step in."

"And we all know much damage that would cause," Canada added. He stepped up next to America, the dark bird between them. Eyes locked on the phoenix, he reached up and gently stroked the black-blue feathers.

Silence filled the clearing, broken only by the occasional rumble of thunder overhead. The fire that had been overtaking the clearing was finally dying down, washed away by the heavy rainfall.

The phoenix snarled, its feathers still smoldering and sparking. Slowly, the sparks began to grow until the firebird was once again ignited. The water that had been falling on it evaporated in the heat, rising above its head as steam and mixing with the smoke.

Suddenly, it sprang into the air, letting out a sharp cry. It flew towards the North Americans, angling upwards at the last moment, it's long tail cracking like a whip. Light flashed as the feathers snapped against the dark bird's head.

Light flashed in the strange bird's dark eyes, mirroring the sudden jagged flash of lightning overhead. Then, as the phoenix flew away, the rain began to let up. Stooping down, the bird nudged first America's, then Canada's head with its beak.

"Thanks for coming," Canada murmured, stroking the feathers one last time before stepping away.

"We owe you one," America agreed. "Ready?" After the bird gave a short, crisp nod, America jerked his arm up, propelling it up into the air.

Dark wings flapped, propelling the strange creature upwards. With each downflap, thunder rumbled, a short but powerful sound. Soon, it too disappeared from view, flying in the opposite direction as the phoenix. Shortly after that, the rain began to thin and eventually stopped all together.

America flopped down onto the ground, landing unconcerned in a large mud patch.

Canada squatted down next to him and stretched his arms forward.

"I'm glad I left Kumajiro at the Visitor's Center," he commented. "Wet bear smell is rather unpleasant."

"Hah, and can you imagine how that would have gone down if he had been here?" America rolled his eyes and let himself fall back prone into the mud. "God, adding an ice spirit to a phoenix versus thunderbird match would have just wrecked this place even more." He made a vague gesture towards the soggy, singed looking trees.

"Thunderbird?" England asked, voice cautious. He frowned. "I'm not very familiar with it."

"Course not," America retorted. "He's got manners, unlike Spicy Chicken Legs. Doesn't go around wreaking shit."

Germany suddenly loomed above America. He was clutching Canada's discarded fire extinguished with a white-knuckled grip and looked like he was considering smashing America's head in.

"Dude, I know that sucked," America quickly responded, scrambling back onto his feet. "But, uh, well, it really would have been worse if the phoenix had stayed."

Canada straightened up, reached out, and gently tugged the extinguisher out of Germany's hands.

Now empty, Germany began to clench and unclench his hands into fists.

"Seriously," America hurriedly continued, backing further away from the murderous looking nation. "All it does is start fires. It's a jerk with great PR."

"America!" Germany suddenly yelled. He lunged forward, hands outstretched and grasping at America, who let out a shriek, turned, and ran.

The pair disappeared into the woods, leaving the other nations to track their frantic chase solely by the sound of them crashing through the brush.

As the sound of Germany's enraged pursuit faded from earshot, France walked over to Canada and took hold of his shoulders.

"Just . . . tell us next time," he asked in a soft, pleading voice. The Frenchman's hair was still soaking wet, hanging down around his lead like limp spaghetti. His fine clothes were also soaked and clearing thoroughly ruined. "So we can avoid a mess like this one."

Canada bit his lip.

"We'll try."

Really sorry the conclusion took so long to get out. I hope you enjoyed it! I'm trying to get all my unfinished stories done before NaNoWriMo next month. See you later!