Welcome home

Bittersweet Victory

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Downtown Supermarket!! My name is Sweden and today, MalPhilIndo will be racing Iceland,Norway and Finland in the one and only....SHOPPING PRIX!!" Sweden announced through the cardboard roll he was using as a microphone. MalPhilIndo were already in their shopping cart while Martial and Del were just sitting off to the sides. Finland,Norway and Iceland were just as prepared and both teams were in for the race of a lifetime.

Handing the makeshift mic over to Martial, Sweden took his spot next to Del as Martial announced the rules. "You guys have the same shopping lists in your hands. Its only a matter of who gets back first! Whoever wins todays race will move on to the next race against Ame,Aussie and NZ!! Remember, if any team gets stopped by any of the shop assistants, it means automatic disqualification. You ready?" Martial passed the mic to Del who stood up to cheers from the racers. "Three, two, one, GOOOOO!!!" Sweden sounded the airhorn and the teams were off!

The first item on the list was castor sugar. Indo expertly swerved the cart to the baking aisle and Phil reached out for the castor sugar from his seat in the cart. Mal ticked it off the list and MalPhilIndo had their first item. Meanwhile though, the Nordics were already in the second aisle. As Denmark waved at them from his spot in the cart, Iceland picked up the speed. Mal and Indo shared a look while Phil ducked.

"Shall we?" Indo asked Mal even as a sly smile crept across his face. "We shall.." As the cart picked up even more speed, Mal swept out his arm and knocked the second item into the cart. KitKat. As the team swerved into the third aisle, they found the Nordics still hunting for the third and fourth items. Inwardly smirking, MalPhilIndo were sure that victory was theirs. Their secret wespon smiled back at them from its place on the shelf.

"Take two Kuya" Martial placed a +2 card on the growing deck. Studying the cards in his hands, Del placed another +2 card on the deck and turned to Sweden. "Take four Sweden" Sweden raised his brows as he looked at his two opponents. Reaching from his hand, Sweden placed not one,not two but 3 +2 cards on the deck. "Uno. Take 10 Martial" As Martial begrudgingly took the 10 cards from the draw pile, a store clerk approached the 3 men.

"Excuse me sirs, but are you waiting for anyone?" she inquired, glancing at the deck of UNO cards. Del looked back up at the clerk even as he skipped Sweden's turn. "Yes ma'am. Forgive us if we're disturbing you." he said as charmingly as he could. The store clerk blushed a little before returning to the matter at hand. "Not at all sir, but I would appreciate it if you wouldn't play in the middle of the aisle..." this caught the men's attention and they looked around their surroundings as though only just realising that they were in the middle of the Children's ailse.

"Of course ma'am. Once again, please forgive us if we've caused you any trouble," Martial apologised as he kissed her hand. By then, the poor woman was as red as a tomato, " N-no problem..." she stammered out. Sweden chuckled a little as he added on, "Of course, someone as lovely as yourself should be treated like the lady she is!" the poor shop clerk rushed off, thoroughly flustered. The three countrues turned back to their game, still in the middle of the aisle.

"Hey guys, where do you think the vegetable aisle is?" Finland asked his brothers from inside the cart. Denmark took the list from Fin and noticed that they were nearly done. The only problem was that the store was so large that they had nearly resorted to asking a store clerk for help. "Maybe it's at the front of the store?" Iceland voiced, vaguely recalling a bunch of women toting vegetables coming from that general direction. "That's a possibility..." Denmark mulled as he tried to remember the layout of the store. A loud crash caught the Nordics' attentions and all three brothers turned to MalPhilIndo racing away at breakneck speed.

"Wait....Did they attach bottles of coke to their cart?!" MalPhilIndo heard Finland wonder as they blasted off. Covering one of the bottles whenever they needed to turn, it was a miracle that Indo didn't run over any unsuspecting shopper with how he was driving. Mal and Phil were both having the time of their lives, as they cruised through the store aisles,long ago breaking the speed limit.

"Change colour to....blue." Martial said as he placed a wild card on the deck. Sweden glanced at Del, unsure of who would win between the two. Having won the previous round, Sweden now sat back as he watched the filipino brothers have at it. Del placed a blue +2 card on the deck which Martial quickly countered with 2 more +2 cards.

A shadow loomed over the three boys and they looked up to see North Korea looking down at them in confusion. "What are you doing?" his eyes looking to the three countries for answers. As if in explaination, Martial just gestured at the cards. Nodding his head, North just sat down next to Martial and watched as the game unfolded further. Yet as the game progressed, Sweden noticed a light blush on Martial's face and exchanged a knowing glance with Del. Looks like someone's in love~

It was the final aisle and MalPhilIndo hurried to grab the stuff they needed. Since it was the final aisle, there was more stuff to get. Carrots,Potatoes and even long beans had to be found before they were dumped unceremoniously into the cart. Even fruits were given no mercy what with how the team dumped them in. As Phil grabbed the final pineapple, he locked gazes with Denmark from across the aisle. The two teams were engaged in a stare off so intense that other shoppers decided to skip that particular aisle entirely. Finally after a full minute of staring, the teams were off once again, not to the next aisle but to the finish line.

Del,Martial,Sweden and North were waiting for the teams to pass through. Sweden was already prepping his camera while Del was looking out for other shoppers. "Is...this normal or something?" North turned to Martial who nodded his head, "Pretty much, happens every year actually." he answered, focusing his gaze to where the teams were supposed to appear. "Huh. Cool. I was wondering if you wanna come try out some new guns with me at my place. South will be hanging with Jap so we can practise as long as we want" North invited Martial as he leaned against the shelf. Martial turned bright red but retained his composure. "Sure. I guess I can make it.." his eyes widened when he saw the look Del was giving him. Even Sweden was shipping it from behind the camera.

As the teams crossed the finish line, Sweden snapped the picture while Del and Martial helped the competitors to drinks. North mostly just stood to the side, amused at the sheer wackiness that was going on around him. Sweden checked the picture one last time before heading to the teams. This was the moment everyone was waiting for. Who was the winner of this year's Shopping Prix?

MalPhilIndo held their breath as Denmark, Norway and Fin just looked on with only the barest hint of anxiety. Holding up the picture for all to see,Sweden announced the winners of the Shopping Prix. "This years winner is.....MALPHILINDO!!!" the small crowd cheered its approval and the other teams congratulated the three friends who were practically jumping on each other in joy. At least they were until a store clerk recognised them... "Excuse me but aren't you lot banned from here?!"

As the teams, Martial,Del,Sweden and North sat on the sidewalk, they realised that they did all that shopping for nothing. It was Mal who broke the oh so heavy silence, "So...how did you guys get banned?" he turned to Denmark,Finland and Iceland who were looking back at him nervously. "I kinda sorta left some legos in a packet of grapes..?" Denmark confessed and Finland picked up the tale of when he got in a fist fight with one of the employees.

"I smashed his head in with a bottle of wine..." he admitted while rubbing his neck. "At least you didn't try to drink it!" Iceland countered as he remembered how he opened up a ton of bottles of wine and had staggered home drunk. "Pft. Amatuers. South and I hacked into their PA system and blasted a buch of nursery rhymes for an hour straight." North said proudly as he looked down on the others. Soon enough, every one was taking turns sharing how they got themselves banned from the store downtown