"My Boys."

Her name was Jewel. Jewel Vargas. She looked over a picture of her late husband, holding her newborn twins close. The twins grandfather, their nono, Romulus Vargas, came up behind her. "Jewel…" He started. She turned to him, handing them both to him. The younger one, by seven minutes, with light auburn hair and a curl on the left side of his head, yawned lightly. "Are you sure?" Romulus asked. The older twin, a darker brunette with an opposite curl, gave an angry sounding noise.

"Yes father, I'm sure. I want them to have the best. And the best means I can not be around." She sighed, standing on her tiptoes and giving Romulus a kiss on the cheek. She then spun around and began walking upstairs.

"Jewel! Wait!" She turned around again. "What are their names?"

She gave him a small smile. "The left curl is Feliciano. The right curl is Lovino." she turned away from Romulus again and slipped upstairs. Feliciano started to cry.

"oh! Shh… it'll be fine… just fine…" he tried to comfort the little one.

There was a single gunshot, followed by a loud thud. Romulus cringed. His beautiful, only child…

Dead.

0-o-0

0-Several Years Later-0

0-o-0

Lovino sighed, annoyed. His twin kept clinging to his arm, seemingly afraid of all the other kids. Some kindergartners looked at them funny, like they'd never seen twins before. "Feli, let got of me!" Lovino squeaked, trying to pry his brother's grip off him.

"B-but fratello… They're all so scary and looking at us funny…" Feliciano muttered. Lovino sighed, managing to get out of Feliciano's grip.

"That's because we're twins. Get over it. Go make some friends or something." And with that, Lovino stormed off, leaving behind a confused Italian.

"… eh?" Feliciano sat down where he was. Lovino made it to the other side of the room, and promptly sat down in a corner. Some students looked at him funny, but continued talking amongst themselves. One, seemingly apart from all the chatter, approached the Italian in the corner.

"E-Excuse me?" He asked, a light Canadian accent slightly piercing his quiet speech. Lovino looked up to see a blonde boy, indigo eyes and an odd curl sticking out of the front of his face. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Lovino hissed back.

"You know, this in my first day too. And everyone else's. The teacher is gonna start teaching soon, so you might wanna come out of the corner."

I'm sorry, but was this kid lecturing him?! Lovino huffed. "Name?" he growled.

"I'm Matthew Williams. You?" Lovino stood up and looked Matthew over.

"Lovino Vargas. My idiota fratellino is Feliciano."

"idiota… wha…?"

Lovino sighed in annoyance. "Idiot little brother. Does no one speak Italian anymore?!"

Matthew shook his head. "no. my papa told me that Italian is a dead language, like French, Russian, Chinese, German, and Prussian."

Lovino gave him a weird look "really?"

Matthew simply nodded. The teacher called for them all, and began to talk about what the school was designed for. Matthew dragged Lovino over, sitting next ho Feliciano, who seemed frightened.

"Hello. I'm Mrs. Héderváry. I'm sure this will be a lot for you kids to soak in, so listen carefully. This school is designed to educate you from kindergarten to eighth grade like any other school. But once you enter high school, it becomes completely different. You are trained to enhance your abilities. But for now, we'll start off basic." she laughed. "Any questions?"

Several students asked some, and got answers. Matthew leaned in close to Lovino, "Hey, wanna be my friend?" He asked the grumpy Italian.

The Italian leaned back "Sure, if you don't mind my fratellino."

"Then you won't mind my brother."

"You've got a brother?" Lovino asked. Matthew nodded, then pointed out a boy who looked similar to him, but had a different hair sticking off.

"His name's Alfred. He's American. And somehow, we're twins…" Matthew muttered.

Lovino laughed slightly, "world is mysterious…" he sneered. They waited for class to end, then when they went out to the playground, they all stayed in the same general areas, along with some others Lovino, Feliciano, and Matthew didn't know. Alfred looked at Lovino and Feliciano with his sky-blue eyes.

"I'm Alfred F. Jones!" He proclaimed, smiling, "Who're you two?"

"Lovino and Feliciano Vargas." Lovino stated plainly. "Who's your entourage?"

"This," he pointed behind him, to a tall-ish silver haired boy with a ratty jacket and a scarf, "Is Ivan. A legit Russian!"

Matthew stared at him in awe. "Are you kidding me, Al?"

Alfred shook his head. "I was born in Russia, before it fell, then we moved to Ukraine." Ivan said, a Russian accent dripping off his words. Lovino was impressed.

"And Yao, Chinese." he gestured to another, a boy(?) with a small brown ponytail.

Lovino scoffed, "really?"

Yao nodded, smiling, "Moved to Japan after China fell. One of my little brothers is Japanese."

"Ve~… that's cool" Feliciano said. "And you two are…?" He looked at the other two with curious amber eyes.

One, with pure white hair and red eyes- albino, spoke up, "I'm the awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt. I'm Prussian. Mien brüder here is Ludwig. He's German."

Ugh, Lovino didn't like the sound of his voice at all. Too… obnoxious. Like Alfred's. Ludwig, clearly annoyed with his brother, rolled his eyes. Matthew had a look of wonder in his, looking over the new people. He smiled, "I've got an idea. I think we should all be friends!"

Ivan smiled, "I don't have any friends, so I think that's a great idea!"

"I only have my brother and my younger siblings, so a change of people is nice. I'll be friends too." Yao laughed. Ivan stuck out his hand to the Chinese boy, who took it and shook. "What about you Gilbert?" Yao asked the albino.

"Kesesese~ Its an honour to befriend an awesome Prussian like me. So SURE! Ludwig, you have no choice in the matter" He shook both Yao and Ivan's hands, along with his brother's and Alfred's. Ludwig rolled his eyes.

Matthew looked around at all of them, "It'll be nice to see other people than Papa and Al, so yeah!"

"Ve, Me too!" Feliciano laughed. He and Matthew shook hands, then everyone else's as well. They all looked at Lovino. "Well fratello?"

Lovino studied all their faces, "As much as I know you're all bound to annoy me eventually… What the heck, I'll do it." And with that he shook everyone's hands.

"Alfred!"

Everyone turned to the new voice, an accent similar to Lovino and Feliciano's, but different…

"Antonio!" Alfred giggled. "Wanna be friends with all these guys?" He asked.

Lovino looked Antonio over. Short, curly brown hair and piercing emerald eyes. Antonio smiled, "I don't know all of you, but I'm told Spanish people were friendly, so sure!"

Lovino and Matthew gasped. "W-Wait… real Spanish?"

"Si! My parents were both the king and queen of Spain… then… well you know what happened…" Even though they were all just five or six, they all knew. Some of the European and Asian nations were falling. Spain was hit the worst- burned to ash. No houses, trees, animals, or people remained, that anyone knew of. But… that meant Antonio was the last Spanish boy on earth. Or one of them anyway. And then after Spain went France, then England and Germany, Italy, Russia, China and Greece. The big countries. And the big mystery is… no one knows why they fell.

"wow…" Lovino muttered, and stuck his hand out for the Spaniard to shake it. He did, then proceeded to shake everyone else's.

Alfred pointed to the sky, "It's official! We're all going to be the best of friends now!" they all cheered, well, except Lovino and Matthew, who stayed silent. Although, Matthew was smiling and Lovino still wore a scowl. Alfred laughed, just as Mrs. Héderváry called the class back inside.

0-o-0

0-Several Years Later-0

0-o-0

Feliciano fell to his knees, coughing up blood again. He looked shakily up at the man who punched him. An American boy named Bryson. He kicked Feliciano over, while two others, Lorenzo and Leo, held Lovino back. Bryson sat Feliciano back up. "Stupid retarded, Eighther." Eighther- n. a demeaning name given to a student who is going up a level higher than the person saying it. He hated it. It all started because A. They were both eighth graders, and B. Feliciano was just difficult to teach. That being said, they were easy targets. Not around their special group of friends, though. But alone… moving targets. The lights flickered for some reason.

"Pl…pl-please… st-st…stop…" he coughed up more blood… Bryson pulled his fist back, about to deliver a final blow.

"Last words?" He asked.

Feliciano went to open his mouth, but instead… "I think that's enough now, da? Perhaps I should put you in his shoes…" Feli looked up and saw Ivan holding back Bryson. Matthew and Gilbert ran over to the younger Italian and helped him up, getting him away. Alfred and Ludwig walked up, both popping their knuckles. "Time to teach you a lesson now, da? Its not nice to call my friends bad names." Ivan punched Bryson square in the face, the American falling to the ground like a bag of bricks. Seeing how fast Bryson fell, Leo and Lorenzo let go of Lovino and tried to run, only to be held back by Ludwig and Alfred. They lifted them up and were swiftly met with the same fate as Bryson. Ivan helped Lovino up.

"Grazie." Lovino muttered. They walked off, going to find Yao, Feli, and Gilbert. Antonio ran up behind them, following.

They wandered into the nurses office, where Ivan's sister Yekaterina worked. They strolled in, and Yekaterina pointed them to Feliciano. He was in an exam room with a bucket in front of him. Feli looked up at them when they walked in, no smile visible on his normally cheerful face. Yao was now there too. Feliciano's amber eyes were dull, and he threw up into the bucket again. Alfred bit his lip. "H-How is he?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"Not good, aru." Yao mentally cursed his verbal tick. "He's pretty bad this time… its good that this is our last day of Middle School…" he sighed.

"How bad?" Ludwig inquired, crossing his arms.

Gilbert looked at his brother, "This bad."

Ludwig sighed angrily. "Last day… then we know what we can do…" Ludwig ran his fingers through his hair as Feli threw up again. Lovino walked over to him, jumping up on the bed to sit next to his brother. He rubbed his back. Antonio stepped in further, shutting the door behind him so no one could see poor Feli.

"I hate people. Not you guys though." Antonio growled.

Lovino looked at the Spaniard, nodding in agreement. "Its because we're different. Italians, Germans, Chinese, Russians, Spaniards… There's no more of us…"

"And then Me and Mattie and you and Feli are twins, which is like, super rare." Alfred stated.

Matthew nodded "And so… we're outcasts pretty much."

"At least next year we can learn how to defend ourselves without using our fists, da?" Ivan asked, going to the sink and washing off his hands. When he finished, he took off his jacket and draped it over Feliciano, who silently thanked Ivan.

Yao nodded. "Being different sucks, aru."

Lovino growled in agreement as Feli threw up again. The lights flickered. Gilbert looked at them. "Ya know, they always do that…"

"What do what, amigo?" Antonio inquired.

"The lights… sometimes they flicker around us… its strange…" he shrugged "Maybe its just faulty wiring."

Lovino scoffed. "sure."

They stayed in there, missing their last class, all making sure Feli was alright. When he finally stopped, it had rolled over into an extra class. They waited, and rode the bus home together.

I should explain. A few years ago, someone tried to burn down Antonio's, Gilbert and Ludwig's, Ivan's, Yao's, and Matthew and Alfred's houses. They didn't kill them, obviously, but succeeded in burning down their houses, and some, killed their families. As a safety precaution, they all moved into the Vargas house, along with Gilbert and Ludwig's grandfather, Legolas and Yao's brother, Kiku. Romulus didn't seem to mind the many people at all- in fact, it appeared that he enjoyed it. And the house was big enough to fit them all. Like a mansion. Its quite interesting having so many people in the same house.

Kiku was outside, sitting on the porch and reading a manga, Soul Eater, and seemed quite engrossed in it. Feliciano pulled Ivan's jacket tighter around him, and walked up next to Kiku. "H-Hey Kiku…"

The Japanese boy looked up, "Kon'nichi wa Fe-" he looked over Feliciano and sighed angrily. "Some people…" He dog-eared the manga and stood up.

"Anything exciting happen today, Kiku?" Alfred asked, everyone heading for the door. Kiku opened it, allowing everyone in.

"Not really, no." He followed them, closing the door behind him. Lovino and Ivan led Feli to the living room, Ludwig and Yao headed towards the kitchen, Alfred, Matthew, and Gilbert headed for the backyard, and Antonio just stood in the middle of the hall. "Is there something wrong, Antonio?"

The Spanish man looked at him, "No… well," He headed for the living room, Kiku following behind. "I'm just worried about next year…"

"Antonio, I have a question." Kiku said.

"Si?"

Kiku sat down at the table, and Antonio sat next to him. "Do you know how they test for abilities? Or how they're sorted?"

Antonio thought for a moment, "Well, you do know that there's five classes, si?" Kiku nodded, "Well, almost all of them are divided into them." He excused himself for a moment, running upstairs. He came back down with a notebook and his laptop. He turned it on. "The first category is Movement. That's like if you can run super fast, can teleport, or move other things at certain speeds. This is also including flying if there is no wings attached." He went to Notepad on the laptop and typed it in.

"The second one is Mutation. That can be like giving an ability to someone, or like when someone has had their physical structure changed into something more advanced. Invisibility is also one, since it changes the arrangement of atoms in a person. It also has spawning ones, like making objects out of thin air and cloning." He typed that in as well. "Got all that so far?"

"Hai. This is quite interesting…" Kiku replied.

"Right. The third category is Mental. that's like being able to tell what someone's powers are, Omniscience or Omni-linguism, or different types of eyesight, like night vision, X-ray vision, freeze vision. et cetera. If it happens within a person's head or eyes." Antonio typed that in. "Although the Omni ones are rarer for people to have. Only ten people have had Omni-linguism, and even less for Omniscience. This can also include mind control of rare occasions. Most of these people have very, VERY, good memories." Kiku nodded, seeming to understand.

"Fourth is Form. This can be anything that's added to a physical form. Like healing factor, making acid, having wings, taking on traits of animals, et cetera. This is one of the more common ones, along with the fifth category." He typed that in. Kiku looked it over again. "You got all that, amigo?"

"This is a lot of information… And you're sure there's only five?" Kiku inquired. Antonio looked up, and saw that Ivan was now standing in the doorway.

"I'm getting there. Then there is Manipulation as the fifth. That's like being able to manipulate someone's powers, Animation, being able to control shadows, light, density, gravity, probability, et cetera. it's the most common one amongst us." Antonio typed that in. "It can also be like raising the dead, warping reality, as with illusions, changing temperature, and weather. But Dark Matter manipulation isn't in there."

"Is that all?" Ivan asked from the doorway. "What about… like, the special ones?"

"I'm getting there." He saved the document and opened a new notepad. "Ivan you wanna tell him?"

"If you would like me to." He sat on the other side of Kiku and pulled the computer towards him. "Not, there's those main five abilities, Da? Well those aren't the only ones. There's an additional three- the Rarest ones. Nunber Six, the third rarest, is Time and Space. That includes Time travel, Dark Matter Manipulation, crossing into other dimensions, making Portals, manipulating Time, and others that can change the fabric of Space and Time." Ivan said smiling. He typed that into a computer.

He took a deep breath. "Number Seven, second most rarest, is Psychic, Astral, and Shifting. This includes anything that can be controlled with the mind. Like Telekinesis, Telepathy, Astral projection, Astral Trapping, making psychic weapons. It also has some like Empathy and generation objects, like Fire, with your mind." He typed that.

"Also has the has Molecular manipulation, like slowing down molecules to make something stop, or speeding them up to make it explode, called Telegenisis.. Adds Precognition, having premonitions- the ability to see the future or the past. And also has Shape shifting, size shifting, morphing, elasticity, turning into gas or water or the material of an object touched." Ivan added. "You understand all that, Kiku?" He asked the Japanese man.

"Wow… And there's a rarer one too?" Kiku had his full attention on Ivan.

"Da. The Eight One, the Rarest of them all is Elements and Shields. This the control of the five elements of the world, Water/Ice, Fire, Earth- which includes rock and the plants and dirt, Electricity, and Metal. Its rare to have one of these, let alone all of them. Then Shields is the use of a protective barriers such as a force field, mirrors, a substitute, and bending reality, by bringing the astral plane forth as a shield. These people are immortal and can make others immortal if they wish. They can also make themselves mortal if they wish, but only after three thousand years." Ivan typed that up.

Kiku was speechless. "And there is a Ninth one, but it isn't counted because no one has ever had it. Its when someone has every ability ever." Antonio added, sliding the computer to him and putting that in as well. Antonio saved the document and shut the computer off. "And Twins normally have the best abilities. So do the ones from 'dead' nations, like us"

"W… wow…"

Ivan smiled, "I know its a lot to hope for, but I want to be able and have Molecular Manipulation. Blowing stuff up with my mind…" He gave a funny smile to Antonio.

"Everyone always hopes to have a rare one, but when they get theirs and it isn't, they're not disappointed because they like what they got."

"What do you hope to get, Toni?" Kiku asked.

"Hm… Rare I'd like Telekinesis, but Not rare….I'd like Healing factor with Shadow manipulation." He smiled, "But its a lot to hope for. What about you, Kiku?"

Kiku thought for a moment. He grabbed the notebook and pulled it over, and wrote down

1. Movement

2. Mutation

3. Mental

4. Form

5. Manipulation.

RARE

6. Time and Space

7. Psychic, Astral, and Shifting

8. Elements and Shields

"There's quite a few…" Kiku muttered. "Antonio, could you look up a list of abilities for me?"

"Sure amigo." He turned the computer bask on and Googled a list. "List of Superhuman features and abilities in fiction?"

"That'll work" Ivan stated.

Kiku nodded in agreement. Antonio clicked the link and allowed Kiku to browse through it. "Animation sounds interesting enough…"

"What is it?" Ivan inquired him.

Kiku read it aloud "Ability to bring inanimate objects to life or to free an individual from petrification." He read through the list again, "Or Power sensing…" He pushed the computer back, "Some of those are very weird…"

"And there's some not on here too, but those are the weird ones. Like Spawn Fireworks…"

"That would actually be some fun to have, da?" Ivan giggled. "Kill people with an array of colours and lights and loud noises~"

"I bet Gilbert would like that…"

Kiku laughed, "Probably." Kiku stood up and headed towards the kitchen, which was empty now. He grabbed a drink from the fridge and strolled to the Living room. Feliciano and Lovino were still sitting there, Feli asleep and leaning on Lovino's shoulder. Kiku sat down in an over stuffed chair, close to the television. He looked over them.

Twins normally have the best abilities. So do the ones from 'dead' nations, like us.

Kiku sat in thought. Lovino and Feliciano were twins, as were Matthew and Alfred. And most of them, sans Matthew and Alfred, were from dead nations. And now, it being many years later… nine years? Since Yao introduced me to them all… yes, nine years…More had fallen. Japan did, Finland and Turkey. Sweden was on the brink of falling, and most of Europe and Asia was halfway there. Canada and America held though, despite it all. Kiku sighed. Next school year was gonna be rough. But they'd get through it like they always did…

Right?

~ViraLayton