"I heard that one out of every four people is a mutant!"

"Where the hell did you hear that?"

"Well, I found this website-"

"Feli, seriously?"

"I would prefer not to think that something as strange as a mutant can be in a group of four. What? There are roughly seven here right now, that would mean about two of us would be a mutant. I don't like thinking that there are so many freaks crawling around."

"Well, I don't think they're so bad. If there were more like Energy running around, this world would be a better place."

"Or a worse place."

"Don't even get me started on Energy. Besides, with good mutants, there are bad mutants. I don't need super villains running around."

"Hey, Gil, are those the new kids that are going to be in our homeroom?"

The entire conversation stopped for the group to look over at two boys that were being escorted by a teacher through the halls. They were obviously twins, by the looks of them, but judging by the way they carried themselves, their personalities were fairly different. Gilbert was honestly thankful for the change in subject. Whenever his friends got on the topic of mutants, it generally wasn't flattery. It was no wonder he hadn't told anyone but his own brother his secret. His circle of friends wasn't exactly huge (a bit of a disappointment, considering how awesome he was) and even included his own brother.

There was Francis, a bit of a prick that worried about if his hair looked alright half of the time and flirted with girls and boys alike the other half. Then Antonio, who was always extremely nice, no matter what anyone said to him, but a little bit of a dunce. Those two were Gilbert's best friends, but he hadn't told them his secret because…well…Francis hated mutants. Then there were the Italian twins. Feliciano, who was younger, was always sweet and bubbly and happy and pretty much believed anything you said to him. Lovino was pretty much his exact opposite, generally angry at anything and everything and loved to curse, especially at Ludwig and Gilbert. And then Arthur, a stubborn as hell Brit with the biggest eyebrows you will ever see. No one really knew why he hung out with them, considering the fact that he frequently said how stupid they all were. Ludwig was also a part of the group, though mostly because he was dragged in by Feliciano and Gilbert. They all attended the fabulous Hetalia Academy, a school for the children of the rich, but it had this air of public school in order to give them a sense of "normalcy" and "to understand the rest of the world better."

"They are not bad looking, I must say," Francis noted and Gilbert rolled his eyes. Sure, they weren't bad looking, but there was really nothing interesting about them. They looked extremely similar, especially from this distance. The only thing they really had going for them was the fact that they were twins. "Especially the taller, more athletic one. I bet his ass is fantastic."

"No, no," Antonio shook his head. "The other one looks more innocent, that would be for a better time, in my opinion at least."

"Are you guys seriously talking about this?" Gilbert scoffed and Francis immediately stood up to look at the twins as they walked further down the hall.

"I was definitely right about that ass," Francis noted.

"Is there anything else that fascinates you other than someone's ass?" Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Well, I was rather interested in the rest of your body last year when you went through your 'rebellious' phase," Francis laughed as Arthur turned a bright shade of red. Gilbert cackled and Lovino even snickered with them. Last year, Arthur had decided he was tired of going in the direction his brothers wanted him to go, which involved taking over their company. That was when he was fun, he broke all kinds of rules, managed to find a shit ton of drugs on a daily basis, and dared teachers to get him in trouble. There was the fact that the Kirkland company basically funded the majority of the school, so that put Arthur in a…special situation. He could do anything he wanted, and the only time he took advantage of it was when he went punk. Now he was back to stuffy, sweater vest-wearing Arthur that kept his head down.

"I thought that the phase was kind of…cute," Feliciano shrugged. "It's like discovering yourself, right?"

"I will never do that sort of thing again," Arthur sighed. "Lord knows the damage done to my liver from all the alcohol and my brain from everything else."

"We should get to class," Ludwig sighed just as the bell rang.

"Perfect timing as always, West," Gilbert laughed. "C'mon Feli, we have newbies to welcome in homeroom!"

"Gilbert," Ludwig stopped him shortly after everyone but Feliciano dispersed. He looked him dead in the eyes, serious as always. "Do not leave school early again, for whatever excuse you come up with."

"And if it's necessary?" Gilbert raised an eyebrow.

"Know what the police can handle on their own," Ludwig said quietly to ensure Feliciano couldn't hear him.

"Sir, yes, sir," Gilbert saluted him before running into the crowd with Feliciano, going right to homeroom.

Being the new kid always sucked. Especially a few weeks into the school year. People had already met up with their old friends and they generally didn't accept new people into their little cliques. Not that Matthew wanted to be in a clique or anything, it was just nice to be included sometimes. Alfred, with his charisma and charm would be able to make it into any sort of clique he wanted, even the gamers. Granted he did have a few problems talking with girls (a secret he only told Matthew), but he was still charming to every girl that ever saw him. Matthew even saw a few girls fix up their make-up and hair hurriedly as they passed them earlier that morning.

Now, however, the principal of the school had dumped them in their homeroom, where their teacher there would take over for him. Clutching his schedule for the day tightly in his hand, Matthew followed his brother through the rows of desks until they slumped down in seats beside each other. Matthew was sitting right below a vent, but he didn't really mind. He was nervous. Definitely nervous.

"So you two are the newbies," chimed a harsh voice as a pair of hands were practically slammed on the desk in front of Matthew. He jumped and saw that the boy in front of him had the oddest features. A snow white head of hair, beady red eyes, an incredibly pale complexion. He was albino, that definitely wasn't something one saw every day.

"And who the hell are you, welcoming committee?" Alfred scoffed back at him and Matthew shied to the back of his chair. Just by a glance, he could tell that these two personalities clashing could either turn out to be very, very good or very, very bad, it just depending on how they met. And this wasn't turning out very well so far.

"I don't think that's the best way to talk to the first person you meet at school," the albino scoffed.

"Gilbert," a smaller boy with auburn hair and the strangest curl pulled on his sleeve and Gilbert groaned, looking back at him. It just occurred to Matthew that Gilbert was breaking a lot of the school rules with his uniform, not even wearing a blazer but a jacket of his own liking. Matthew figured it must have something to do with his parents and how rich they were. Matthew and Alfred's parents weren't rich at all, so they would have to be careful about which rules they broke in a place like this. "Weren't we supposed to make friends with them?"

"Yeah, whatever," Gilbert removing his hands from the table to cross his arms over his chest. "I am the awesome Gilbert, at your service, and this is Feli. You two?"

"I shouldn't have to answer to you," Alfred said crossly.

Matthew took a deep breath, mustering up all of his courage and hoping his voice would come out loud enough, just this once. Alfred may be bad with talking to girls, but Matthew was bad with talking to pretty much everyone. "I'm Matthew, this is Alfred."

"Didn't say you had to," Gilbert snorted at Alfred before looking back at Matthew with a smirk. "So, Matt, what brings you guys here at this time of year? How come you didn't come sooner?"

"Oh, um…" Matthew mumbled, looking at the desk. Those beady red eyes pounding down on him were definitely making him nervous. "O-our parents put all of their belongings into a will…saying that all the money they had…w-would go to our schooling. Th-they wanted us to go here. It just…t-took a while to get everything settled."

"You should really learn to speak up," Gilbert said. "You've got a nice voice, when you're not stuttering."

"Well, ciao!" Feli said happily, gripping onto Matthew's hand and shaking it happily. "I'd be happy to be the first real friend you have here!" He quickly darted over to shake Alfred's hand and Alfred laughed, shaking it with him.

"Don't worry about this place," Gilbert smirked. "We may all be rich kids, but not all of us act like it."

"Right…" Matthew mumbled as the teacher collected everyone's attention and people grudgingly went to their seats. The new students were introduced and the other students were all told to at least introduce themselves to the two before the period ended.

Matthew didn't bother to remember a lot of the people, mainly because they didn't bother to remember him. Alfred had a merry time getting along with people and already managed to get some girl's number, despite being completely flustered the entire time, but she didn't sense it. There was this guy named Mathias, who was just about as loud as Alfred and Gilbert, but Alfred actually got along with this one, and then the bell rang. That left only one other person to be introduced, but he still stood at the back of the class.

At first, Matthew was a little scared of the boy. He towered over everyone there, including Alfred, and wore a thick scarf over his uniform, despite it being near the end of summer. He had white hair similar to Gilbert as well as violet eyes that sent chills down Matthew's spine. He looked a little cold, but also slightly troubled, if Matthew was honest. Matthew started walking to the door with Alfred and Mathias and the tall boy followed after them. Matthew heard the boy suck in a deep breath before he placed a heavy hand on Matthew's shoulder, making the smaller jump slightly.

"Hello!" the boy said cheerfully, a smile that looked a little fake plastered onto his face. "My name is Ivan? And you?" His accent was thick, definitely Russian. Matthew was honestly a little startled at how suddenly he started a conversation. He was about to reply when Alfred gripped tightly onto his arm, pulling him away slightly.

"He's Russian," Alfred hissed into his ear. "Get out while you can!"

"Alfred!" Matthew sighed, shoving his brother off of him. "That's rude."

"It's true!" Alfred said resolutely, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Dude's right," Mathias chimed behind him. "He's crazy."

Matthew took a deep breath and looked back at the boy, who had already begun to walk away, a slightly dark expression on his face. For the second time that day, Matthew mustered all of his courage and ran after the boy, despite having no clue where his next class was.

"Ivan, wait!" Matthew called after him and the boy somehow heard him over the large crowd and stopped, a very…surprised look on his face. "I'm sorry about my brother….he can be a…jerk sometimes."

"It is fine, do not worry, da?" Ivan smiled at him, this time a lot less fake.

"Um, my name is Matthew," he introduced himself and stuck out a hand. He noticed that Ivan's hands were gloved and the boy looked hesitant to shake his hand, but did so anyway, his hand practically taking over all of Matthew's. "I-If you wouldn't mind, would you show me to my next class?"

"I do not mind at all," Ivan smiled and Matthew gave him his schedule, which was now thoroughly crumpled due to Matthew's nervousness. "You have math. I can show you, my class is in the same direction."

"Thank you very much," Matthew let out a deep breath and followed the large boy through the hallway. He noticed that quite a few people went out of their way to avoid him and Matthew was curious as to why. Sure, he looked a little creepy and he was definitely overly nervous first talking to him, but he was harmless. "So, uh, Ivan…what do you like to do for…uh…fun?"

"I like to play hockey," Ivan said simply and Matthew smiled. Ivan wouldn't be a bad first friend at all. He wasn't quite sure if he could count Feli or Gilbert, considering they had talked for maybe a minute at most.

"I play hockey, too," Matthew said happily. "At least…I used to. At my old school. Do you know if this school has a team?"

"Da," Ivan nodded. "I am captain. You seem a little small to play hockey."

"Just wait until I get on the ice," Matthew laughed.

"Holy shit!" came a shout behind them and Matthew jumped. Before he knew what was happening, he was shoved, roughly, away from Ivan and down the hall, before he was pushed into a room, the door slammed closed behind him. "Man, totally saved you back there!"

"What?" Matthew mumbled, catching his breath after the shock. It was Gilbert, standing proudly in front of the door.

"Ivan's crazy, dude!" Gilbert laughed. "You're just lucky I was awesome and saved you from that maniac."

"Ivan's not a…" Matthew shook his head. He definitely didn't need courage for this. He was slightly ashamed to say it, but sometimes his anger got the best of him (ask Alfred about the last time he messed up Matthew's pancakes) and he somehow managed to throw caution to the wind. "Why does everyone seem to think he's creepy or crazy? I was having a nice conversation with him! Who are you even to say that he's a creep? I bet you've known him for two seconds! And you made me lose my schedule, it'll be up to you to get me a new one, since you're so scared of Ivan that you probably won't even go near him to get it back!"

Gilbert blinked at him. "Okay, one, holy shit that was awesome, I didn't think you had that in you," Gilbert laughed. "Two, Ivan's fucking crazy, ask anyone. Three, I'm not scared of him, I can fucking handle that creep."

"Oh, maple," Matthew grumbled under his breath, holding onto his head. He had really hoped he could have another class with Alfred. He may steal the spotlight a lot, but he was still a good brother that was always around, at least slightly boosting his confidence. Suddenly, Gilbert's phone buzzed and he held up a finger, pulling it out to examine it intently.

"Holy shit," Gilbert's eyes went wide and he glanced around slightly before he began to shake.

"What's wrong?" Matthew asked curiously and a few other teenagers got alerts on their phones. Matthew didn't have a smart phone like them, his phone didn't even have internet, he was left in the dark.

"Uh…" Gilbert mumbled, sweat beading down his forehead.

"Oh, my God!" a girl screeched from further in the room. "Did you hear about the store being held hostage?"

"According to this website, the police, like, can't even get in!"

"I think I'm gonna puke," Gilbert mumbled, his face turning white. Matthew barely stumbled out of his way before Gilbert ran from the room. He could already hear the hurling sound.

"There he goes again," a boy who was lounging on a desk said. Matthew was a little startled by how…sexy he was? Was sexy the right word for it? Even in the same outfit as everyone, he managed to stand out quite a lot with waving long blonde hair, slight stubble, and bright blue eyes. "Mon ami tries to act tough all the time but he's a big softie at the face of danger. And who are you, mon cher? Êtes-vous nouveaux? Ah, désolé, you do not speak French."

"I am new, it's fine," Matthew mumbled. That was one thing he could do, speak French. He'd lived in Canada for a few years, of course he knew French. Alfred…not so much, but he was Alfred. The boy seemed a little surprised before he grew a wicked smirk. He said something in French that Matthew dared not repeat, something that would most likely get him detention for quite some time, but Matthew chose to ignore it as he sat down as far away from the Frenchman as possible.

"It is quite odd how quickly he manages to get onto the scene."

"That must mean he has some sort of device that allows him to know the news constantly. If we could narrow our search down to people with smart phones or technology, finding Energy would be a lot easier!"

"We cannot just assume that the freak has anything. He may just be lucky, or he may just be homeless, walking around the streets and waiting."

"Just look at the clothing! That's an expensive brand."

"I wouldn't put it past a mutant to steal what it wants. Especially not this one."

"Fine. What do you suggest we tell him?"

"Ah, the boss…I don't know. That is all we can tell him. We'll find him eventually, but we can't simply capture him as a hero. We have to capture him as he pretends to be human."

"It makes my skin crawl to think that I could pass by that mutant every day. We really need to get them off the streets."

So I start and end this chapter with dialogue that makes it so you can't tell who's talking. I feel special. Anyway, welcome to chapter two, where a lot of key players were introduced, even in the little bottom bit. That was only two people, if you were curious, and they will be revealed in due time, as well as a few other people we'll be needing later too! I don't plan on this cast to be as big as my last one, but it'll still be extensive. Some people will be more of…side characters we'll say. Anyway, my last fic, I gave Mathias a pretty bad rep, so I'm improving it for the sake of this story. A little. This isn't just a prologue anymore, so we should all be excited!

Plot and romance will be happening soon, my dear children, you must wait. All good things in due time. Anyway, I love Ivan, I like to think that he's just really socially awkward a lot of the time because he doesn't have a lot of friends. Matthew's the same, so they get along pretty well. (RuCan's another thing I ship sometimes, but PruCan will always be my OTP).

Anyway, please review! It's very, very kind of you! And I will see you next time I post!