Reunion
Chapter 2 ~ Surprises Galore!
Hetalia/Avengers
DeepDarkYetDangerous
"A-Alfred?" I froze.
There was no way this man standing in front of me could be who I thought he was.
'M-Maybe he's just his grandson, or maybe his great-grandson or something, and just happens to look very similar to him or something...' I tried reasoning to myself. I didn't want to get my hopes up, just to see them crash again.
I knew it was impossible, but I still asked the question that started to gnaw at my thoughts.
The man before me nodded his head slightly, with tears in his eyes, as he smiled happily down at me.
"H-How are you s-still a-a-alive?!" I was utterly confused right now. I knew it couldn't be true. Maybe this was just one big dream? "I-I saw th-that warehouse ex-explode! I saw it! There's no humanly possible way you could've survived!"
"That's the thing." Alfred, the tall blond man in front of me explained more quietly than I think I had ever heard him talk before, other than on undercover missions. "I'm not exactly human. I'm a country. I am the living representative of the United States of America. And, if I may add, I do believe you did the same exact thing to, Steve. Go on a mission and go M.I.A. But you went missing for around 70 years. I only went missing for around 2 months. I happened to finally recover just after I caught wind of that day." Alfred's eyes were trained on the ground, staring at it as if it could vanish at any given time, as he recalled that sorrowful day. "But here you are today. And so am I. And, see? I told you we'd meet again. This little reunion of ours is just a little under seventy years late I guess..." He finished with a small chuckle as he looked back up at me.
"A-A l-living re-representative?" I asked, as I slowly took in every word he said to me.
Alfred chuckled again.
"Yep. As long as someone gathers under my flag and considers me a country, I live on." He explained.
Alfred looked up over my shoulder and looked around the room, the smile vanished from his face as he squinted his eyes slightly as he glanced at all of the other Avengers, and I could hear that they were all shuffling around, trying to make it look like they hadn't been listening in on our conversation.
Alfred sighed and lowered his head. "You know, it's kinda considered very rude and impolite to eavesdrop."
I could tell that Alfred and I had everyone's attention when I turned around to look around the table.
Janet had taken off her headphones, and they were laying on the table. Hank had stopped writing, and was now sitting up in his chair with both of his hands palm down on the table, and his pencil still placed loosely in his right hand.
Clint had frozen, looking at us out of the left corner of his eyes, still holding up his bow, as he had been inspecting the damages it had acquired in the last few battles he had used it in.
Bruce, however, was the only one who had not looked like he was listening. He was currently doodling in a notebook that was in front of him. I guess he had calmed down considerably since the beginning of the meeting.
Tony stood up from across the table and was looking Alfred up and down, his arms crossed in front of his glowing chest.
"You know, I've heard of 'Bringing history to life!'," Tony began jokingly, shaking his hands in front of him at that last part about history. "but I never would have thought of it this way." Tony finished, earning one of Alfred's deafening laughs and an ear-to-ear grin, which I remembered all too well, causing me to grin as well.
"Well, my Bio-scanners say you're a few hundred years old, but yet, they also say that you're only late teens or early twenties…" Tony remarked, as he read what was on the screen of the hand-held device, which he had just picked up from the table in front of him. "By the way, how is even possible?" Tony asked Alfred with a look of complete confusion on his face.
"Well, us countries don't age like normal people, obviously. If we did, we'd all be either REALLY old by now, or probably even dead." Alfred started to explain. "We age by how large our population is compared to our percentage of land we control, by how well developed our government form gets, and many other things. Currently, I think I'm probably aged around nineteen. But during World War Two, I was about, uh, I think I was maybe…" Alfred paused and thought for a few seconds. "I-I actually don't know how old I was back then… I might have been around seventeen… Although, my country has matured a bunch since back then, so maybe I was only sixteen…" He continued, more to himself than anyone else.
"YOU WERE ONLY SIXTEEN OR SEVENTEEN?!" I shouting in shock, my voice coming out louder than I had intended for it to.
I looked up at Alfred, my eyes wide open.
"Y-Yeah." Alfred said, a slight rosy color faintly dusted his cheeks. "I've been fighting for almost my entire life though, and I was told once by England, that when he first gained control over me when I became his colonies, I was ran into a full-grown buffalo, and I was able to swing it around in circles by its two front hooves!" Alfred defended, adding to the interest level that everyone in the room had for him.
"But anyways, like I said, the countries more the percent of population to land, and how advanced our technology is, and some other variables, the older and/or taller the representative of that country is." Alfred, who was now leaning up against the keyboard of the large computer that was in the back of the room, explained.
"So… You're saying that one person from each country represents it?" Clint asked surprised, almost dropping his bow before he gently set it down on the ground beside both his chair and quiver.
"Yep." Alfred nodded his head. "But if you really want to get technical, there's the regular representatives, like me, then there's the group with the opposite gender representatives, then there's also capitals, states, providences, and other important things like such."
Clint opened his mouth to say something else, but was halted by an ear-splitting siren and flashing red lights that filled the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, and swallowed up all of the quietness immediately.
"Avengers!" came Fury's voice from the huge monitor in the back of the room. "There's an intruder in the building! Not much else is known, but we need you to find and capture him! Fury out." He barked before the screen went back to the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo once again.
"Alfred, what are you doing?" I asked him as he started to type away at the computer keyboard.
"Well…" Alfred started as he continued to concentrate solely on the computer. "I'm turning off the sirens before someone becomes deaf." He finished saying after pressing one last button as he stood back up.
Not a moment later , the sirens stopped, and we all sighed in relief.
"Well, Avengers." Alfred turned back to me and the rest of the team. "You heard Nick! You should split up into groups and search the building!"
"Ah, excuse me, but what makes you think you that you can give MY team orders?" Tony questioned Alfred, as Alfred started to break the Avengers into groups.
Alfred stopped and turned to Tony, who was behind him at this point.
"Oh, I don't know…" Alfred looked dead serious as he started sarcastically. "Maybe that fact that I'm over two hundred and six years old and have lead every. Single. War that the U.S. has been in since then. Including the Revolutionary War, which I was only around EIGHT YEARS OLD AT THE TIME!" Alfred yelled back to Tony, not liking the fact that his authority was being questioned.
Tony's eyes were the size of saucers, as he realized just what exactly Alfred was saying that he had been through.
"Now, Tony, T'Challa! You two go and search the North wing! Thor, Natasha! You go search the South wing! Banner and Clint! The East wing! Hank and Janet! The West wing!" Alfred barked out, pointing to each member as he called them out. Then he turned to me. "Steve! You're with me. Avengers, GO!" Alfred finished, slamming one of his fists onto the table.
They all nodded their heads (except Bruce, who was now the Hulk after the sirens… He just grunted…) and left, except for T'Challa and Tony.
"And what exactly are you going to do?" Tony asked.
"Security cameras." Alfred said, as he jabbed his right thumb over his shoulder at the large monitor behind them. "I'm going to find out who, and where, this intruder is. I'll need Steve here though, so I can get the message to everyone else of where the intruder is. He also serves as back-up if need be."
"What about if the intruder comes here?" Tony asked.
"Ha! I could probably take 'im blindfolded!" Alfred laughed. "I'm a hero, after all, and a hero won't go down without a good fight, even if they don't even know who, or what they're going up against!"
'Now THAT'S the Alfred I now…' I thought to myself.
"Now, Steve." Alfred turned his attention back to me once more. "Like I just said, I'm sending you to wherever the intruder is. Got it?"
"Got it!" I saluted playfully, remembering the good ol' days, getting a side smile from him.
"Now Tony! T'Challa! Get moving soldiers!" Alfred commanded.
I knew it was basically Alfred getting into his war zone mood, but it still shocked me to see someone who was usually so out there and a happy-go-lucky guy become so stern and serious.
Tony had quickly suited up, and both he and T'Challa left.
Alfred watched them leave, then turned back around and started typing away again, looking up at the computer screen.
"Come on… Come on…" Alfred muttered impatiently.
There were a bunch of what I think are called "windows" that opened up all over the monitor, scattered all over the place, and even over lapping some of the others.
After a minute or so, Alfred shouted a loud "Yes!", startling me.
Alfred started to type furiously again, and one of the window things zoomed in and took up most of the screen except for a small map of the building that was in the lower right hand corner of the screen.
The map had a hallway towards the beginning of the building that was red, instead of the white color like the rest of the building. I could assume that was the area that the security camera covered.
Alfred watched the footage intently – which he was fast-forwarding to try and catch up with the girl - and changed to different cameras to get either a better angle of the intruder as she, as it turned out, kept walking down the hallways, going through them as if the men trying to stop her were not even there.
But at the last bit of footage, even before we had caught up to real time, we saw something that stop us both in our tracks and caused us the do a double-take.
"I-Is th-that u-us?" I asked Alfred quietly, almost a whisper, as my voice betrayed me and cracked, as we looked towards each other.
The only answer I got from my old war friend was a dumbfounded look.
We both slowly turned our heads to look behind us to see the intruder standing behind us.
"H-Hey Steve?" Alfred called over to me without looking away from the girl. "Call the others."
I did so as I continued to look the girl up and down in shock.
She was probably only around sixteen or so. She had long blond hair that was down and very wavy, that would probably reach her mid-thigh when straightened. Her hair flowed in the non-existent breeze, causing it to look like flowing water.
Holding the front of her hair back was an odd looking headband like thing. It was silver and reflected the light, proving it was a metal. It framed her forehead and temples, but stopped just below were the top of her elfish-like ears attached.
She was probably high five feet tall, and wore an outfit that was something out of this world.
Her outfit was a puffy gray – almost white – floor length dress that seemed to flutter and shift in the non-existent breeze, just like her hair, causing it to almost look like she was covered by a mist or fog, but still hugged her hourglass figure.
But what was the most interesting about her outfit was that it seemed to change colors.
One moment, it was almost a white color, and then the next, it was a darker gray in some areas.
I could see her dress do that in the security footage, but I thought it was just the lighting. But seeing right now, I could tell it was not.
"Who are you?" Alfred questioned. I could tell he had to gather a lot of his now scattered courage to ask just that small question.
He probably wouldn't have been so threatened by this girl if we hadn't witnessed her powers.
She had been able to make all of the bullets, tranquillizers, and whatnot pass straight through her as if she were made of thin air.
Not to mention, the ten combat lines that she had came across – which were shoved against the walls, almost as if there was an invisible, impervious bubble, that surrounded this girl.
"I am Kareal'Am, or Kristal Embrace, in your Earth language." She spoke with her head held high enough that she seemed to emit a noble or royal aura, but not high enough that it hid the respect the girl seemed to have towards Alfred and I.
When she spoke though, her voice was like the sounds of pure, crystal clear ringing bells.
"I am from the planet 'Amru, or I believe, as it is in your language, Delusion?" She paused very slightly, trying to remember if that was the correct translation, before continuing again. "I have been sent here to Earth by my father, Kaldur'Am, the Prime Minister of my planet." She finished.
"Why would he send his daughter here?" Alfred wondered aloud.
"I am the only child of my father, and the other councilmen of my planet have been corrupt by a mysterious force that controls their minds, clouding them from the real needs of my world. We are in dire need of a group of heroes, and we belief that you, along with the others you team with, calling yourself 'the Avengers', are the heroes we have been looking for." Kristal pleaded.
"Our help?" I asked. "Why us of all people?"
"My father and I have been watching you and your friends, while you battle against your foes, being victorious, even when you had no chance of any sort of victory." Kristal explained, just as the doors burst open, and the rest of the Avengers come running in.
So, …
THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHAN KYOU FOR ALL OF THE REVIEWS!
I've gotten a bunch of reviews, and I will post this as soon as I get TEN REVIEWS!
(So far I've gotten six, so hopefully it won't be too long… Edit 8/21/12: I just need one review now!)
O.M.F.G. …. O.o *eyetwitch*
First thing…
THIS STORY JUST MAY HAVE A PLOT AFTER ALL! (nowhere near what I would have thought when I first wrote the first chapter, about two months ago… But hey! It's still a plot!)
None of my other stories really have plots, and I REALLY need to work on that…
But, the second thing is, THAT SHCEDULE PICK UP FOR MY SCHOOL IS … UM… WITHIN THE NEXT HALF WEEK! (Basically, for people who don't know, that's where we go to my high school, get our schedule (obviously), get our pic done for school ID cards, and whatnot…)
And I wonder about this upcoming year… (Edit 8/21/12: I got my schedule, and I found out, the first semester, I have 0 period, which is the class before 1st period, and double lock-out. So I start school at 7:05 a.m., and leave at I think 1:30 ish p.m.! Second semester, not so lucky, as I got put into US Gov. in 8th (last) period… I guess they were overflowing in that class and I just got placed there… Hopefully someone drops out or something… So I will probably have more time to work on this story and others… At least, maybe during the TWO STUDY HALLS THEY PUTT ME IN IN SECOND SEMESTER! ARUG! *goes to sulk in corner of despair*)
Last year, I kept having to remind myself that I was a sophomore, not a freshman ('cause I kept feeling like it was still the year before…
And since I'm going to be a Junior this year, I wonder if it'll still feel like Freshman year or what… Quite frankly, I don't know what to expect…
One last thing though… Those of you who recognize Kristal's dad's name (it's very slightly changed), gets a free, fresh out of the computer, virtual cookie! (I didn't mean for the name to be his, so I'm just borrowing it…)
Oh yeah! I don't own DC Comics, or Marvel Comics, OR Hetalia! (I'm just using them briefly… There's some U.S. law about free use infringement or something like that… I don't know which law it is though…)
Well, enough of my rambling, I got to go get ready to go babysit the kids across the street…
Edit 8/21/12:
SHOUT OUTS!
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR YOUR REVIEWS/COMMENTS!
Dennisthepinkgoldfish
Sora Moto
Oniongrass : I hope that the edit that I did with the –WWII- and –Present- help it to be more understandable!
Box of Tomato Fairy : Да! And so would be some vodka! Lol jk… My mom let my try some vodka that she had on her finger, and it was DISGUSTING! I guess you won't have to worry about me ever becoming an alcoholic…
DrawerDiary
Prussia's Mistress : Why thank you! Is it Prussia approved then? :' D
KoiGirlPGSM : Same with what I said to Oniongrass; does my small edit make more sense now?
Warrior Chickenz : OH NOEZ! NOT THE DREADDED ANNOY-THE-CRAP-OUT-OF-YOU-REPETITIVE-PMS-FIRE-BREATHING-DRAGON-NAMED-STEVE! *looks around frantically, then pulls 10-year-old brother out from under his bed* SICK 'IM NICK! … My dad's name is Steve… And so is Captain America's… But I could see my mom being a dragon more than my dad…
I CALL ENGLAND HE IS MINE : … O.o … I love your username… And I guess here you go!
Under the stars tonight : YES! SOMEONE THINKS HAS POTENTIAL! … Um… Woops… Did I type that outloud? Lol jk. It's just that NONE of my stories actually have any plots, and actually, I'm starting to think this one has a plot to come! (it's just not the one I would have thought of when I started writing this story… ) BUT IT'S STILL A PLOT!
TheGilbird : YES! YOU ARE THE LUCKY 10TH REVIEWER! … I don't remember if I had said if you would get anything for being the 10th reviewer or not, so IDK… THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU! NOW TO THE POSTING!
And one last thing…
Nothing makes ya feel stupid than finding out something you had thought was broken for almost all summer, then, the day before school starts, ya find out on COMPLETE ACCIDENT, THAT THE BUTTON YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE **** IT DID, TURNED IT OFF! I just found out about a half hour ago (wow, it's been that long already?), that the button right next to the power button on my laptop turns off the built in mouse pad… I knew that the button on the other side of the power button turned off the internet, but still! I went almost the whole summer using the tiny mouse that plugs into the USB thing on my laptop (which I call the mouse Minny Mouse… It's even pink…), when all I had to do was press the button!
It even has a hand pointing to the left of just below the center of a square/rectangle… *grumble grumble grumble*