Chapter Text
England closed his front door, leaned against it and sighed in relief. Finally, he had been given a long weekend, no need to work, no need to see the other nations and argue with them. Time to relax, watch some telly and, perhaps...
Dropping his briefcase by the door, he shrugged off his coat, tugged off his suit jacket and pulled at his tie till it was loose. Then, once he had rolled up his sleeves, he marched himself off to his study and switched on his computer. England leaned back and waited for it to load completely before clicking on the Fantasia game symbol that America had, at some point, created a short-cut for on the desktop. After logging in, a smile adorned England's face as he summoned his favourite, cute, pixelated creatures before sending his mage character off into the expansive world.
Well, where he actually went was his 'garden' where he grew 'herbs' for his potions and spells. After harvesting what had 'grown', he 'planted' some new ones then headed off to the town his 'alliance' usually met. He wondered if anyone else was playing today. Most of the time, China would be online but too busy making money to pay attention. He didn't mind one bit, though he was always annoyed if Russia turned up and England was left alone with him. Apart from that, France hardly appeared except for when America specially requested it, America was several hours behind and usually working and England could never bloody find Canada, no matter how long he spent looking.
Today, it was quiet. China's cart was nowhere to be seen, Russia hadn't popped up, France wasn't there and he couldn't see Canada. However... The Alliance Notification window popped up at the side, telling England that America was online and nearby. He blinked and stared at the screen, unsure of what to do. Should he go find him or let him come to England? After all, if he went to America, he would think that England was actively seeking him out to play, just the two of them...
Feeling himself beginning to blush, England smacked his cheek and scolded himself. Enough of that nonsense! There was nothing between him and America... His heart sank and he sighed, feeling a little disheartened. Maybe it would be best if he signed off and took his mind off things with a good old soap. If he hurried, he could still catch Corrie.
xXHeroXx: Eeeeeenglaaaaanndd!!!!!
Seeing the message pop up in the customary speech bubble startled England and he jumped. On screen, the little gunman character America played ran into the area England's was in. Without stopping, it barrelled into him and knocked the mage flying. Some numbers and a negative sign appeared in the top right of the screen, indicating that England's character had sustained some damage. Scowling, England clicked on America's character in order to speak to him and quickly typed his own message.
Te4P0t: I've told you before, idiot – call me Arthur on here! People can see these bubbles!
Te4P0t: And stop knocking me over! You know it damages my character!
xXHeroXx: Thank God it's not happened to you!
Te4P0t: What's not happened to me?
xXHeroXx: There's a glitch in the game. You need to log off before you get sucked in!
Te4P0t: Sucked in? What on Earth are you talking about, Alfred? Have you been playing this for too long?
It was at that point, as England waited for the response, that the screen flickered, the entire image turning black for half a second before returning. This happened three times in quick succession before settling just in time for him to see America's message.
xXHeroXx: No! Just log off!
Irritated, England tapped the keys loudly as he sent his next message.
Te4P0t: Why should I? If there's a glitch in the game, you should log off, too.
xXHeroXx: I can't. That's the point! I'm stuck here.
Te4P0t: What?
The image flickered again and, just as England was able to see their conversation again, he realised something. It made him freeze, staring at the tiny characters on the screen. What did it mean? Tentatively, he typed out a new message.
Te4P0t: Wait. Since when do you spell and use punctuation correctly on this game?
Just as he sent it, the screen flickered once more before suddenly bending as if something was pushing from the inside. Alarmed, England pushed his chair as far back as he could and stared as the screen began to curve into a protruding sphere. The glass surface was white but speckled black as if it was displaying static. As it pushed outwards, it tapered so that the sphere became a head attached to a neck as whatever the thing was pushed its way into England's study.
Obviously, this was the glitch. Quite how America and Japan had managed to make this, he didn't know but he was sure some magic would stop it. England raised a hand – and stopped. If he stopped the glitch – now forming shoulders – would America be trapped, alone, in that world? Would there be a way to get him back out? Surely there would be. But how long would that take? Would it take years? Centuries? Would America still be the same if he went without company of his own kind? What if they had to shut the game down to get rid of the glitch? Would America die, alone and trapped?
Before England could reach a decision, a pair of arms thrust out of the screen, caught his wrists and dragged him to the monitor. With a cry of protest, England tugged at his arms, trying to get free. He had to call Japan – he would surely know what to do. But the glitch's grip was tight and it pulled England closer. The nation dug his heels in, drew on the residual strength from when he had been an empire and pulled.
The glitch still managed to pull him through the computer and into the world beyond.
England shifted where he lay and instantly knew something was wrong. He had definitely gone home and hadn't intended on any drinking so quite why he was lying on the ground, he wasn't entirely sure. Besides that, he was sure he was wearing robes, a different material from his own set, velvet instead of coarse fibres. Also, there was something nudging his hand and someone shaking him. The someone was saying, over and over, “No, no, no, no-”
“Oh, shut up, America,” England growled, his head throbbing as he knocked America's hand away and sat up, rubbing at his temples with his eyes closed tight. His memory was returning, images of the computer and America's gunman character coming to him. “Urgh,” he said as he slowly came to terms with what had happened.
When he finally opened his eyes, America was looking down at him with concern, his huge, overbearing gun strapped to his back over the long, brown coat he was wearing. He looked far more impressive than the centimetre tall character he moved around in the game. The gun was still ridiculously huge, though.
America held out a hand and England took it, allowing the other nation to pull him to his feet. Once he was standing, he took stock of their surroundings. The sky above was blue and filled with perfect, white clouds – each one looked like a child's drawing. In the west, the sun was setting, perfectly round and a little bright but otherwise a pale facsimile of the sun in their world. Around them, NPCs bustled about, each looking slightly too perfect to be real, though they smiled in passing as a real person would. Other players hurried by, chatting to each other, bubbles appearing above their heads so that England could see some of their conversation. The buildings were all the same colour but marked off at exactly the same length. At his feet stood three cute, odd little creatures, the ones he had summoned earlier. They seemed concerned and he smiled to placate them before looking up at America who was looking decidedly sheepish.
“Heh, sorry,” he said. “I think the Glitch mighta followed me to your computer.”
“Idiot,” snarled England, hitting his companion over the head. He was satisfied to see a red number pop up above America's head, though the fact that it was only -1 was rather disappointing. “There's nothing to be done now,” he told America. “We need to figure out how to both get home and stop this thing before any humans are dragged in here.”
“Ah. Right,” said America, suddenly looking determined. “I was on my way to message Ja- Kiku when I spotted you were online and thought I should warn you – not that you listened ,” he added, pointedly. He grinned at England, cocky as usual.
Sniffing, England turned his back on him and stalked off, heading towards his favourite apothecary. “I could have handled it myself. I just got distracted with your little messages.”
“Sure,” America replied, grin still firmly on his face.
England rolled his eyes. “Well, then. How are we going to message... Kiku?” It was damn odd saying Japan's human name.
“We put in a feature for us to be messaged with any issues,” America explained. “If we go to the next town where he usually signs in, there's a way to send him an e-mail from there.”
“All right,” said England. “Let me just find some things in here.” He gestured at the shop they had stopped in front of. “We may need some for the journey – there are still enemies between us and Kiku, isn't there?”
“Yup. I might buy stuff, too.” America paused. “I'm glad you're the one stuck in here with me.”
For a moment, England's heart stopped. Dare he hope...?
“It's way better than being stuck with Russia.”
With that, America entered the apothecary. England stared after him, fingers twitching. Above his head, a speech bubble popped up.
Te4P0t: I'm going to kill him.