"I'll accept Russia as my partner," America announced as he extended the form to Headmaster UN.
The Power's face lit up, "Fantastic," he praised. It was one of his many problems that he could set to rest.
One of his ethereal hands drifted over to accept the paper but America yanked it out of reach at the very last second.
"But I do have a request to make. A fight to decide whether he stays or not."
UN's smile vanished and he gave an annoyed sigh, "America, I know you've played the part of the decision maker many times but this is different; you have no real say in this matter-"
America shook his head, "I know I will have to accept him no matter what but what comes after is not within your power to control. You can force us to play nice, but I'm certain I will not play you the victory fanfare that you wish to hear. In the end, it will only drag us all through the mud. I'm sure the other Branches will start their snickering all over again."
UN always hated negotiating with the Superpower for this exact reason. He always knew exactly which buttons to push and how to get under his skin. The mood in the room grew more and more electric and the golden wreath adorning the Headmaster's head began to wither into a smoking black crown of thorns.
"If you let me fight him," America chirped, "and if he actually wins, I would accept him as my partner and my equal wholeheartedly! Instead of an incompatible pair of freaks, we can become the greatest competitors and wipe the dirty ass smirks off your colleague's faces!"
He finished his speech and whirled around with a "tada!" expression on his face.
UN closed his eyes and drifted deep into thought. After what seemed like forever, he answered, "Fine. But I forbid you from using Sunfire. NATO, see to it then."
"Hold on, HOLD ON! You can't be serious!" NATO shook his head in disbelief.
"Russia doesn't stand a chance, Sunfire or not! He hasn't had any training at all!"
"I dunno. Being able to keep a Primo Awakening under wraps for this long while getting into fights every two seconds sounds like it would take tons of control to me."
"Actually... not quite."
NASA popped her head through the door.
"Sorry! Didn't mean to eavesdrop but it seemed like quite the argument happened. I couldn't help myself."
UN waved the apology off, "Not a concern at the moment but do continue on what you were going to say."
"Controlling isn't the proper word to describe what he's been doing. I would say... suppressing is closer- yes. In order to hide it, his mind and body have adapted in a way that makes sure that his Awakening cannot resurge unless it was absolute life or death. It did this by wiping his memory clean every time he used it. So in reality, he probably believed that he never had an Awakening before. This has changed, now that he's finally come to terms with it and Russia will probably begin to slowly remember the things that his mind suppressed before."
"The power of a Primo and the control of a newbie. Sound just like how you started." NATO chuckled.
"Wait- So... I CAN'T FIGHT HIM?!"
NASA laughed, "Silly, that's not true! There are other ways to fight than head to head combat!"
America pouted like a child, "What? How do I fight him without... fighting him?"
NASA glanced at UN and NATO before reaching into her pocket to remove a crystalline figure of a King.
"How 'bout a game of Chess?"
(RUSSIA POV)
"You've got to be kidding me."
America shook his head, "Nope. Completely serious."
His sudden request to play a game of chess was beyond suspicious and I was not ready to believe it was his only motive.
"Think about it, chess is not just moving pieces. It's about the strategy of war. You are the commander that needs to remain one step ahead of the enemy at all times so it is truly a good exercise. Like... think about how the other will act and synchronize with one another to ensure victory..." he rambled on.
"Okay, okay. Just shut up already." I sighed. I was getting way too worked up over a dumb board game, "Fine. I'll give it a go."
We were escorted to the room where the Academy Chess club was situated. America took the lead to make a dramatic entrance by slamming the wooden door open and scaring the crap out of about a dozen students.
"Here we are!" he exclaimed.
Norway waved us over to the back of the room where a big fancy crystalline chess board was set up.
"Have fun," he nodded and left.
America smirked and motioned me to the white pieces.
"Are you good with the rules? Or shall I walk you through it first?" he crooned, his expression was a bit too smug for my liking.
"I'm aware." I replied, not bothering to hide my displeasure, "Shall we begin?"
(Nobody POV)
Most of the club members and some others who had caught wind of the match were standing around our board, murmuring amongst themselves and betting with one another. Ukraine and Canada walked down the hall and stopped in to see what was going on.
"Did you hear? Apparently this game is supposed to decide whether Russia will be America's partner or not!"
"Seriously? Well I hope Russia loses then! He'll only drag Ame down."
"Nah dude. I heard that Russia actually has a crazy strong Awakening."
"Those are just rumors. Right?"
Canada and Ukraine finally managed to get to the front and the game was already underway.
"This won't end pretty, is all I'm able to say," Canada muttered.
Ukraine turned to look at him, "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Well, back in the day, our father was pretty big on chess so he kinda forced us to learn it. Ame actually got pretty good at it and... well, I'm thinking that this game will be pretty one sided. And what is he thinking moving the knight there?"
Ukraine shifted her focus back to her brother who was scanning the board with the knight in hand. She clenched her fist, as she laughed bitterly to herself.
"Of course he would. The knight was always his favorite..."
(One game later...)
"And... that's checkmate."
The room was silent in disbelief as America's King clattered to the floor. America was stunned as well.
"I... lost?"
Chaos came after the silence and people immediately began to spread the news. The chess clubbers began to break down every move and take notes and analyze the game, NASA was smiling and was repeating, "That was unexpected," and NATO's beaming face fell when he remembered he had to train both of the problem children.
America remained seated and was staring blankly at his fallen King. It had been quite a while since he had lost at absolutely anything.
Russia was being interrogated by anyone who was bold enough to talk to him. It was making him incredibly uncomfortable.
The Superstar suddenly stood up and his seat clattered to the floor. The room went silent and Russia glanced at him.
"That was a good game. I didn't know that you were that incredible at chess."
"It was enjoyable," Russia replied as he stood up to leave.
"Wait," America continued, "Russia, uh... would you like to... would you do me the honor and participate in the tournament as my ally?"
The room went silent again as people goggled at the Superpower's request.
"Sure," the Russian shrugged and sent the whole room into a frenzy.
Canada's dumbfounded face amused Ukraine and she began to laugh.
"You never told me that he was into chess!" Canada marveled.
"Well you never asked. Russia and I used to play whenever we could but I don't remember the last time I had won." Ukraine smiled.
Author's Notes: This chapter was actually a bit different from my original plan but in class, the teacher brought up something about chess. So I got curious and googled stuff and found out that Russia is quite the chess country.
Noice.