Summary: AU. The year is 2016 and the world has been taken over by a corrupt totalitarian government. . Alfred Jones and his brother Matthew have been oblivious to the new government's cruel actions since their birth until one day they follow their classmate Kiku to the outskirts of the city where they are dragged into the underground world of the Vox Populi or "Voice of the People". Now they're on the run as they work with some old and new friends during the adventure of a lifetime to rid the world of an evil and corrupt government while risking life and limb to liberate the people. Pairings include AmeriPan, PruCan, GerIta, FrUk, AusHun, Spamano, One sided GiriPan, and Pol/Liet along with other minor pairings.


Prologue: Dark Days

"Maybe if you weren't so busy kissing General Winter's ass you'd realize that your own family needs you, you narcissistic prick!" A blond teenage boy said with as much venom as he could muster.

"You failure, you're no son of mine! All this talk of art and creativity is nonsense! And how dare you even say something like that to your own father! Have you lost your bloody mind?" A tall man yelled before grabbing the blond thirteen year old in front of him and slapping him hard enough to cause tears to well up in his eyes "Maybe if you didn't associate with that troublemaking, lowlife, commoner trash and respected our government's idea for the future I wouldn't be the laughing stock of the Council!"

"Maybe if people were more like him and not afraid of you pompous assholes life would better for all of us!" The boy spat when he managed to get out of his grasp.

The eight year old Kirkland-Jones twins sat silently on the top stair of the spiral staircase as the sounds of an ongoing argument could be heard downstairs. It wasn't uncommon for them to take place since their father and older brothers didn't exactly see eye to eye on many things specifically politics. The three oldest brothers left four years ago but Alfred could still remember seeing Ian's fiery red hair as he and the others left into the dark, winter night. No matter how much pleading Matthew or Alfred had done to get his brothers to stay, they left, leaving behind a promise the promise that they would meet again someday. So far his promise hadn't been fulfilled but Alfred never gave up hope that maybe just maybe they'd one day come back for them but the sound of a soft whimper brought him back to reality.

"Hey Al, you don't think Arthur's gonna leave like they did?" Matthew whispered to him as gripped his stuffed polar bear Kumajiro closely.

The boy stared at his twin in disbelief "What? No! Artie would never leave us like that he said that remember, Mattie!" He couldn't believe that Matthew would even think such a thing "Why would you even say anything like that?"

"I dunno I'm just scared since he and Dad have been arguing a lot more lately." The quieter boy replied clutching the stuffed bear even closer.

"Trust me even though he and Dad don't get along he wouldn't just leave without taking us with him."

"I hope you're right Al." Matthew mumbled to himself. The sound of angry footsteps nearing the staircase caused them to rush in to their bedroom and pretend they were asleep.

"Where do you think you're going, boy?" Their father's voice rang out in the hallway as Arthur stomped to his room and slammed his door "As far away from you as fucking possible, asshole!" It was the last thing either boy had heard before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

Later on in the night Alfred stirred from his sleep at the sound of footsteps. He looked into the hallway only to see that it was their older brother, dressed in a grey winter coat and black pants with snow boots and a bag of what he had presumed to be clothes.

"You're leaving aren't you?" Alfred asked as he stepped into the living room.

Arthur sighed before replying in a firm voice "Yes I am." He turned to look at his younger brother, whose eyes began to well up with tears. He kneeled down to wipe away the tears that began to stream down his face "Come now Alfred, I need you to be strong for me and Mattie. With me gone he'll need someone to lean on and that person has to be you. I promise I'll come back for you and Matthew but for now I just need to gather my thoughts."

The boy flinched away from his touch with so many emotions flickering in his violet eyes the most notable being hurt and anguish "You liar! That's what they said and it's been four years already you aren't coming back and you know!" He snapped at him before Arthur pulled him into one last brotherly embrace.

"I'm so sorry, I know I let you down but Alfred I can't stay here anymore. Not here… Not with them." He said when tears began to form in his eyes as well "I will be back and I'll take you and Mattie with me but for now I need you two to get bigger and stronger." Arthur let go and walked towards the door sparing one last look at his younger brother "Remember I will always be with you no matter what and no matter what anyone says embrace your uniqueness and don't follow the crowd. No matter what tomorrow brings I will always be with you." With that the door closed as Arthur left out into the snowy, winter night.


Arthur walked swiftly towards the run down tavern where he knew Francis was waiting for him to meet up with him. The street was filled with abandoned and boarded up homes with no signs of people anywhere. The only sound that could be was the sound of snow crunching under his feet. Upon arriving at the tavern he noticed Francis talking to two other people, whose appearances were hard figure out from a distance. When he got closer he realized that it was Gilbert, the self proclaimed awesome Prussian and Antonio, a very cheerful boy who always had a smile on his face.

Antonio was the first to notice his presence while he walked down the street "Hey Arthur! Good to see you decided to make it, mi amigo!" The cheerful teen's voice rang out from through the deserted street. Arthur mentally face palmed hoping that there weren't any Sensor Officers out on a late night patrol.

"Well, well, well if it isn't the pretty boy himself." Gilbert greeted as he ruffled the shorter blond boy's hair "Good to see you finally decided to piss your old man off and come with us, looks like there is some rebel in you."

"It's good to see you guys too." Arthur responded as removed his hood.

Francis step forward and spoke, motioning the others to head inside the old tavern "Bonjour mon ami, come on inside we have much to discuss."

After a swift kick to the boarded back door the group entered the empty building and place their bags on the floor. Antonio managed to find the light switch which helped with the lighting problem. They took a seat at one of booths mindful of the limited time they had to discuss their plans.

"So did anyone notice you when left?" Antonio asked.

The teen shifted nervously in his seat "Err- about that…" He said earning looks of confusion from the other teens at the table.

"What do you mean when you say "about that"? Did you get caught while you were leaving or what?" Gilbert questioned, his usual lighthearted facial expression being replaced by an annoyed look.

"Nobody saw me I manage to leave undetected. Besides it'll be like I never even born knowing Father and the twins' mother." Arthur cringed at the thought of what his younger brothers would have now have to deal with.

"Good." Francis said "And since we're orphans with the exception of you and Gilbert no one will definitely look for us. We will just be another mystery disappearance for the pigs." The other three nodded in agreement at his statement.

"Well now that we've established that we can't go back from here, we should go meet up with Roderich and Elizabeta. When I spoke with them earlier they said Romulus and Gramps were getting our room set up." Gilbert spoke as he stood up and grabbed his bag "They are supposed to be meeting us here…" At that moment the door swung open revealing Romulus and Addler. Romulus was man of average height with tan skin similar to Antonio's and he had two curls, one at the top of his head and one at the bottom. Addler was about the same height as Romulus and had long blond hair with menacing green eyes.

"Gramps you finally showed up!" Gilbert said as he ran over to his grandfather who said nothing but instead responded with affectionate ruffle of the albino boy's hair. Arthur stared in awe at the two men who made the dream of freedom possible once again and gave rebirth to the idea of creativity and individualism.

Romulus noticed the boy and began to walk over towards him "No need to be afraid, young one. Are you one of the new recruits?" All Arthur could manage was a single nod of his head. Realizing this Francis decided to take matters into his own hands to save his friend from further embarrassment.

"Uh what he means, sir, is yes he is." Francis said making the other blond snap out of his trance.

"Well in that case we should get a move on before someone sees the light and calls the Thought Police." And with that Arthur and Francis grabbed their bags and followed Romulus out the door and into the large humvee that waited outside.


Somewhere in a Alley

"Hey Toris, like, look at what I totally found on my way back here." An eight year old long haired boy held out a loaf of bread for himself and his brown haired best friend. They made up a part of the local orphans that inhabited the city "Like here's your piece, Liet." He broke off a piece and handed it to the other boy before settling against the dirty wall of the alley and eating his piece.

"Thanks Feliks but how'd you manage to get this?" Toris asked the blond as he took a bite.

"Oh yeah I like totally got it while one of the merchant's weren't looking." Feliks said nonchalantly causing the older boy to choke on his piece until he managed to finally swallow the food.

"You what don't you realize that you can be killed if they recognize us!" He exclaimed his voice full of concern and worry for his best friend "At least tell me you had your hood on."

"Nope."

"Oh no this is bad. Feliks what were you thinking about?" Toris shouted at him.

"I was thinking about feeding my ungrateful friend!" He snapped back at him "But since you've totally forgotten that we're orphans with nobody but ourselves and only ourselves, I guess I can totally fend for myself and not some loser crybaby." The boy managed to stop himself from saying anything else realizing that his words had greatly hurt his friend. He walked towards the opening of the alley leaving behind a shaking Toris.

"Fine I can take care of myself without the help of a lazy, selfish jerk like you who only cares about himself!" He yelled back with equally as much anger making the boy stop in his tracks before continuing on without stopping to look back at his old friend "What did I do?" He thought himself as he began to sob silently "Now I really am alone." That night was first night since the orphanage that Toris cried himself to sleep without his faithful partner in crime by his side.

The next morning was even worse than the night before with a fresh blanket of snow covering the ground and the fact that he woke up without feeling the familiar warmth of Feliks next to him. When he finally made his way out of the alley to Central Square Marketplace hoping to find Feliks and apologize for what he had said. As he made his way through the crowded marketplace he saw some kind of commotion and a few indistinct voices yelling something. Thinking it would be best to not stick around and find out what was going on he walked past the crowd until he noticed a small opening and saw a child around his age continually getting pummeled by the Thought Police. Some people were cheering them on and others just stood there, absolutely mortified at the harsh brutality being dished out to the poor boy.

"That ought to teach you not to steal anything again." One of the officers said landing one last blow to the boy's stomach making him cough up some blood. His blond hair obscured his face from view but judging from how they had hit him the poor kids face probably got even more injured than any other body part.

"That's enough, men. You can send him to the palace dungeon where General Winter will decide what'll happen to him." A man with platinum blond hair said as the crowd parted for him. He was followed by two boys that were about his age that looked terrified and afraid.

"As you wish, Captain Kirkland." The officer responded humbly in stark contrast to his earlier personality. As the men handcuffed the boy, he looked around one last time hoping to find one person who would try and save him. Unfortunately no one spoke and his face fell once again. The boy gave Toris a glance and his whole facial expression lightened up. Toris immediately recognized him as Feliks. Knowing he would have to save his old friend and make up for what he'd said the night before he did the bravest thing he'd ever done before.

"Wait! You have the wrong person! It was me, I stole the food. I'm the one who did it." He called out just as they loaded Feliks into the police truck. He walked up to the officer with his arms out and waiting ready to go without a fight.

The officer unlocked Feliks's handcuffs, the people began to mumble amongst themselves about the brave little street rat who had willingly sacrificed himself for the other boy. "Well don't just stand there boy unless you want to go to prison. Get out of here before we take the both of you." Captain Kirkland said as he made his way to the limousine. Feliks gave Toris a hug as tears formed in his eyes not knowing the kind of fate that was awaiting his friend. After they restrained him Toris was thrown in to the back of the truck and while it was pulling off he caught one last glance at Feliks as the crowd dispersed accepting the fate that was waiting for him at the palace.


A/N: -Holds up hands in defense- Oh my god please don't kill me about the 4 month long hiatus! But I had bad writer's block and I wanted to revise the intro/prologue to the story while I work on chapter 4. Oh yeah and I really wanted give a small intro for a few of the characters with Grandpa Rome and Germania making their appearance. Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for all the alerts and favorites for the story. Oh yeah and I kinda forgot the disclaimer for the last chapter so here it is: I don't Hetalia, it belongs Hidekaz Himaruya. If I did then France and England would definitely be all over each other by now.