I do not own Hetalia.

With a sharp scrape, the knife slid over the roughened edge before glimmering in the faint light, sparkling as Ivan twisted it in his hand. Watching as the light reflected into the darker corners of the room, he grinned lightly as a muffled moan of protest came from his companion, crouched beside the closet with a large case before him.

"Dude, stop that. You know it's annoying."

"You are annoying." He replied with a shrug, continuing to examine the blade. Finally, satisfied with his handiwork, he stood again to cross to the closet, crouching to draw level with Alfred. "I hope you are adequately prepared?"

"I'm more than prepared, man, I'm fuckin' ready to get started. Do you even have anything beside the knife?"

Ivan rolled his eyes, standing again. "The other knives, of course. And the scalpel, should we need it, and the pipe…I trust you to take care of the rest."

"Hey, as long as you grab the shovel, it really doesn't matter. I'm ready." Alfred stood, shrugging the duffel bag over his shoulder before zipping it up. "Get everything out of sight, and we'll go."

"I do know what I am doing. You are the idiot, remember."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Come on!" He beckoned impatiently, moving to the door, then relaxed as Ivan finally moved to follow. "I thought you'd never get a move on…"

"And miss the most important time of day? You are crazier than I thought."

"You think a lot of things, Russkii, but none of them are true." Alfred shrugged, glancing out at the darkened alleyway before setting off along it, Ivan following a few steps behind as they made their way into the main thoroughfare to weave between the various lights. Smoke hung heavily in the air as drunks stumbled from bars across the street, neon lights flickering pathetically in an attempt to penetrate the mists of the streets, and the pair was able to seamlessly blend into the scenery as they left the brighter areas of town. The sound of water running was eventually audible, and the two men walked up a small incline before stopping at the top of a brick bridge.

"Here again? Surely it has not been-"

"It's been six months, we'll be fine. Just as long as you don't make too much noise."

Ivan rolled his eyes, pulling a sleek metal pipe from inside his cloak as he went to the stone barrier. "You are the noisy one, as I said. No finesse."

"Who needs finesse? The poor bastards'll be dead anyway." Alfred followed the taller man, removing the bag from his shoulder before tossing it over to the concrete ridge below. Ivan moved to stand atop the barrier at the side of the bridge, staring into the darkness, then leapt down to follow the bag. A moment later, Alfred brought up the rear, stumbling slightly before Ivan extended a hand to steady him. "You found someone?"

"There are three here. Possibly two on the other side of the sewer." Ivan replied lowly, motioning with his head. "You deal with them."

"Got it, chief." He flashed a brilliant smile, saluting to the Russian, then crouched to remove something from the bag. With the sound of a splash, and then another of dripping water, Ivan waited to hear the sounds of two low screams, cut short with a thud. The body lying half-covered by a pile of rags nearest to him stirred slightly at the sound, then was yanked up as Ivan took him by the hair. The eyes visible in the darkness widened suddenly, and Ivan could hear the sharp intake of breath as he prepared to scream, but with a deft spin of the pipe, he knocked the man unconscious and left him on the ground. The two left sleeping barely even woke as he bashed their skulls in, one cracking audibly in the silence under the bridge, and Ivan dragged the bodies to the center of the ridge before beginning to clear them of their rags.

With a faint splash, Alfred reemerged from the water to join Ivan, glancing down at the bodies with a shrug. "You were right. Only the two over there."

"They are yours. Do what you will."

"Trust me, if I had been more prepared, I would have."

"Get me the light."

"Knew you'd get there eventually…" Alfred rolled his eyes, moving back to the duffel bag to toss a large flashlight to Ivan. He caught it quickly, snatching it from the air, then flicked it on to continue removing the clothes from the three bodies before him.

"Here is something different. We have a woman."

"Really? Under here? That's-"

"Different, yes. But no matter." Ivan shrugged, crouching to remove a small knife from the wrist of his coat. With a series of small, precise cuts, he removed the last of the fabric from the bodies before plunging the knife into the neck of the middle figure, pulling the blade downward before it hit the collarbone. The body jerked once, and the eyes flew open in sudden terror, but Ivan released the knife to take up his pipe once more, bringing it down on the man's crown to see the skull crumple. A drop of blood trailed down the forehead, and Ivan placed the pipe to the side as he studied the wound with a frown. "It is a shame. It is so much less…appealing this way."

"Makes it easier to get the brain, though."

"Brains are boring. Masses of lumpy mush. Who needs them?" To illustrate his point, Ivan began using another knife to prod the shards of bone, picking them out of the hair before tossing them into the water behind him. When there was a decent hole in the bone of the skull, he cautiously plunged his thumb into the opening, pressing down against the defunct organ. "See? Useless. No fun at all."

"If you insist. I thought you would've liked them, but…" Alfred shrugged, taking a small handsaw and a plain steak knife from the bag. "I'll be back in a while. Don't wait up."

"I never have." Ivan replied distractedly, removing the one knife from its resting place in the man's neck before setting it to the side. He used the flashlight to study his newest companion for a moment, tracing the outline of the body with a finger, then set the light atop the pile of clothing before resuming his work with the cooling corpse. Pulling one of the arms to him, he placed the knife against the vein before slicing along the skin to draw blood, tracing a line all the way up to the elbow. With a few quick movements, he was able to pull the skin back to expose the now bloody muscles of the forearm, an angry red in the light of the flashlight.

A sudden grin flashed across his expression, and he carefully used his index finger to carefully separate the stringy threads of muscle, ignoring the blood as it gushed out in a thick mass to trail across the man's abdomen and legs. Eventually, he let the hand fall to reclaim his knife, making a large slash across the man's torso before continuing down until he reached the navel, pulling the skin away with a sickening snap before examining the layers of muscle covering the internal organs. He could hear the sounds of Alfred's actions from across the way, creating a muffled orchestra to his own silent ministrations. With the knife in one hand, and the other coated with blood, he begin to trace designs across the lifeless body, pausing to paint the lips a deep flushed red before severing the head from the neck. Eventually, he finished with the one body to move on to the other, laying it flat on the concrete before slicing open the calf. Ignoring the blood that slowly poured out onto his shoes, he made a large incision into the back of the knee, pushing his fingers inside the opening before pulling hard on a stringy cord among the bones. The leg jumped once, spattering blood across the concrete, then went still when Ivan snapped the cord. Moving upwards along the body, he severed the man's genitals from the main mass of the body, tossing them aside before pulling out a mass of thick tissue from inside the newly-created cavity.

"You have way too much fun doing that." Alfred muttered, kicking the already disposed body. Ivan glanced at him momentarily, surprised at his quick return, then shrugged.

"It is why we come. You may watch, if you like." As Alfred shifted into position, Ivan extended his incision up the lower half of the man's body, pulling apart the revealed organs to eventually uncover the spine. When he reached the hands, he turned the arm over once to examine the wear on the man's calluses, then sliced up from the wrist until his knife met bone.

"Honestly. It's actually boring just watching you."

"I saved the best for last. The girl is over there." Ivan motioned with his head, still concentrating on the man's hand. Alfred shrugged, standing, then eventually moved to uncover the body, running his eyes down the figure with a low whistle.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Basic cut. Collarbone to pubic bone." Ivan smiled faintly, eventually exhaling softly as he pulled the heart from the chest cavity. "You look lovely."

"You like it? I stuck with the usual." Alfred shrugged, following Ivan's instructions to split the body cleanly in two. "I noticed you didn't go with any on their stomach this time."

"It is known as 'supine'." Ivan specified, standing to approach the body. "Was she pretty?"

"Eh." Alfred shrugged, rocking back on the balls of his feet. "Coulda been, I suppose. Anyway. What are you going to do?"

"Not much. Simply-" Crouching beside the girl's waist, Ivan poked at the skin at her navel, peeling it back with the tip of his knife to shrug. "It is different. A girl is always interesting."

"Oh. Right. I forget you like that kind of stuff." Alfred watched as Ivan carefully exposed the uterus of the cooling body, prodding it experimentally, then stood. "Well? We done here?"

Eventually, Ivan nodded and followed suit, looking to Alfred. "You have the proper equipment, I trust."

"Of course."