Chapter 4: The South Side
Alfred sauntered into the gates of his prestigious private school with a smug grin on his face as students, parents, and staff members bowed, murmuring things like, "Good morning, Prince Alfred," and "Welcome, Your Highness."
The young prince strolled into his seventh-grade homeroom and walked over to a little girl with long blond pigtails, glasses, and violet eyes. "Hey Maddie," Alfred grinned as he sat down.
Maddie Williams looked up and adjusted her glasses, smiling shyly. "Hi Alfred."
"Listen, I just heard about this great place—we can leave at lunch, I'll have a driver come pick us up!" Alfred whispered, and Maddie's eyebrows shot up to her hairline.
"Alfred! We can't ditch school!" She hissed, looking around to make sure no one had heard. "Our parents will kill us if we just leave!"
"And we can blame the school for not keeping a closer eye on us naughty kids." Alfred finished for her. "It'll be great, Maddie—but only if you come with me. It'll be no fun if I'm by myself…"
Maddie let out a defeated sigh and opened her English textbook. "Fine," she muttered. "I'll go with you."
"Great!" Alfred grinned. "You're the best, Maddie!"
The prince turned around and started rifling through his backpack while Maddie stuck her nose into the book and blushed. Why do I let him talk me into these things? It's like I can't say no to him…
The bell for lunch rang four periods after, and just like he had said, Alfred had a car waiting for them.
"Mr. Fernandez! Can you take us to the South Side Shopping Center?" Alfred asked as he and Maddie settled into the back seat. Antonio—their Spanish driver—gasped.
"Dios mio, no, Prince Alfred! It is muy peligroso over at the South Side! No place for kiddoes like you!" Antonio shook his head. "Your papa will have my head if I take you!"
"But we just wanna try out that new Spanish restaurant a few blocks down…" Alfred said, pulling a sad face. "And I was gonna invite you to eat with us, since we can't go without an adult…"
Tempted by the promise of food, Antonio sighed in defeat. "Alright, chicos. I'll take you to the restaurant. But you have to promise to—"
"I hear they also have churros for desert," Alfred said in a sing-song tone.
Antonio gulped, and stomped down on the accelerator.
"Poor Mr. Fernandez!" Maddie whispered to Alfred. "You know how much he loves Spanish food—especially churros!"
"Yeah, so?" Alfred raised an eyebrow. "That's why we're taking him to a Spanish restaurant."
"Ohhh," Maddie nodded, understanding. "I see."
After a ten minute drive, Antonio parked in front of the restaurant—which was dangerously close to the South Side of the city. The three strolled into the eatery and were seated at a table near the restrooms. Alfred winked at Maddie before saying loudly, "Mr. Fernandez, I have to go use the restroom. I'll be back in a little bit, okay?"
"Yeah, okay." Antonio murmured as he flipped through the menu. By now he wasn't really listening; he was much more interested in all of the delicious options of food the restaurant offered.
"Um, I need to go too." Maddie said as Alfred gestured for her to follow him to the back.
"Yeah, sure. Okay. Waitress! Can you bring me a tomato, please?"
Alfred and Maddie slipped out through the back door, and when Antonio didn't follow, Maddie sighed in relief. "He didn't see us," she said quietly, fixing her blue and red plaid uniform skirt.
"Yeah. Now all we have to do is walk to the South Side before he realizes we've been gone for too long." Alfred took Maddie's hand and tugged her towards an alley leading back to the sidewalk. "Come on!"
Maddie blushed, staring at their entwined fingers. We're going to get into so much trouble…yet that doesn't really bother me as long as we're together.
The two twelve-year-olds walked along the sidewalk together, Alfred smirking and Maddie blushing as people bowed in the presence of the prince. Alfred saw Maddie's discomfort and whispered in her ear, making her shudder. "Just ignore them and keep walking; we're almost there."
"Where are we even going, Alfred?" Maddie tugged at her tie. "It had better not be anyplace dumb." She said in a warning tone.
"Don't worry, its' really cool, I promise." Alfred reassured her. "We're going to the South Side!"
Maddie gasped. "The South Side!? But—that's where all the criminals are! We'll get murdered, Alfred! Are you insane!?"
"Of course not!" Alfred looked offended. "My Uncle Ivan said it's where all the fun happens! He wouldn't lie to me!"
"Well…I guess." Maddie shrugged just as they arrived at the torn-up alley. She shivered at the cold breeze that blew her hair back as they watched the dark passage warily. "Are you sure about this, Alfred? What if your uncle was just being sarcastic?"
"Trust me, he was surprised to hear that my dad hasn't brought me here yet." Alfred marched into the alley confidently. "Come on, Maddie! Or are you scared?" He teased.
"Kind of," Maddie admitted timidly as she took his hand, walking through the dark, damp, smelly passage with him.
"Don't worry, I gotcha." Alfred said reassuringly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. Maddie blushed and looked up at the sky; even the weather seemed dreary on this side of the city.
"Hey, look!" Alfred pointed at an abandoned building with a sign that read, "FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION SOLD HERE". "You think there still might be some guns in there?" He asked as he dragged Maddie towards the shop.
"Um, Alfred, I don't think—"
"Come on, we'll be fine! It's just an empty shop." Alfred confidently yanked the door open and shoved Maddie inside, following closely behind her.
Maddie glanced warily around the empty shop and let out a sigh of relief when no one jumped out and stabbed them to death. Alfred looked around at the empty shelves and dirty aisles before scoffing and walking towards the back. "There's nothing out here; you think there's some stuff in the back?"
"Maybe," Maddie replied, her nerves being replaced by curiosity. "You wanna go see?"
"Yeah, that's the spirit!" Alfred grinned evilly. "Come on, let's go check it out!"
"WRONG!" An Asian accent screeched, and both kids jumped so high they almost hit the ceiling. Yao had materialized out of positively nowhere, looking beyond mad. "The only checking out you two will do will be to check out of here!"
"Mr. Wang!? How did you find us!?" Alfred demanded. "Did you follow Mr. Fernandez!?"
"No!" Yao snapped back. "I stopped by at that new Spanish restaurant to have lunch, when I saw Antonio there stuffing his face with tomatoes! I asked him what he was doing here, and then the idiot started going off about how he had lost the Prince and Secretary Williams' daughter!"
Maddie blushed, looking down, but Alfred scowled at Yao, looking him straight in the eye. "It wasn't his fault, Mr. Wang. We—no, actually, I convinced Maddie into coming with me and we snuck off."
Yao sighed. "Prince Alfred, what will your father think? You can't expect me to keep quiet about this—"
"Please, Mr. Wang! If you tell him, he'll kill me!" Alfred pleaded. "Come on, cut me some slack! I was just curious about this place because my—"
"You have money?" A childish voice said in a European accent. The thee turned and gawked at a skinny, brown-haired boy sitting on the counter, eyeing them with cold black eyes. Alfred patted his pockets and shook his head; Yao squinted at the boy. He looked to be about fifteen, and was dressed in what looked like a dirty military uniform.
"You have money?" The boy repeated, his eyebrows knitting in anger.
"No, I'm sorry, we were just leaving." Yao grabbed the kids' hands and dragged them towards the door, only to crash into something tall and hard.
"Trespassers, Raivis?" A quiet, dangerous Lithuanian accent growled. Two pairs of crimson eyes framed by chin-length dark hair glared down at the three intruders from a sickly pale face.
"They have no money." Raivis threw one leg over the other, straightening his back. "They broke in. You know what we do to intruders, don't you, Toris?"
"Taip," Toris nodded, and his hand shot out to grab Yao by the throat. "Let's do away with the oldest one first."
"Perhaps we can keep the girl for later," Raivis smirked.
"What!?" Alfred snapped, turning to face the dark-haired boy. "What are you, twelve? That's like, just so wrong!"
"My age is of no concern of yours!" Raivis snapped. "Eduard, you take care of that one while Toris finishes off the Asian!"
A cold hand gripped the back of Alfred's jacket and lifted him off the ground. "HEY!" The prince roared, twisting around to see his captor. Eduard was a pale, stark-white haired man—about the same age as Toris—wearing cracked glasses over a pair of icy blue eyes. His chin was disturbed by a short knife scar, and there was a gleam of irrationality in his ice-colored orbs.
Yao fought Toris viciously, while Raivis grabbed Maddie, preventing her from escaping. Maddie shrieked, tugging out of his grasp, and ran to help Alfred. Eduard easily backhanded her so hard that she flew backwards, right into Toris. He jerked to the side, surprised, and his grip on Yao's neck loosened. Yao pulled a few of his kung fu moves on the soldier-like Lithuanian, and soon Toris was on his back, groaning. Raivis shrieked something in Latvian before saying, "Forget the boy, Eduard! Kill the man, first!"
Eduard dropped Alfred and went at Yao. The Chinese man countered his blows with great effort, though his age and uncomfortable work clothes were holding him back. Toris was picking himself up off the ground, and Raivis rounded on the younger kids. Alfred pushed Maddie behind him, trying to remember all of the moves he had learned from Mr. Wang's kung fu lessons. Maddie whimpered pitifully, and guilt settled itself in Alfred's stomach. I shouldn't have brought her here… he thought guiltily. This is all my fault!
Raivis swung, hard, catching the prince in the jaw. Alfred was surprised by the pain, as he'd never been hit before. Damn! That hurt! Is this what all those heroes in the movies have to go through on a daily basis!?
Alfred regained his composure and winced as the tender spot began to throb. Raivis grinned, revealing a gap where his left canine should have been. So he's fought before, Alfred realized. Of course. These guys are criminals!
Raivis swung again, but this time Alfred was ready. He dropped and with a sweep of his legs, knocked Raivis to the ground as well. The blue-eyed boy cried out in frustration and picked himself up, but Alfred was fast. Three lightning-quick kicks to the face, and the Latvian was out cold.
Maddie screamed; Yao was so busy pummeling Eduard that he didn't notice Toris sneaking up behind him with a knife.
"NOOO!" Alfred lunged at Toris, but the Lithuanian man rammed a booted foot into his stomach, sending the prince flying backwards. Yao looked up for a split second, giving Eduard enough time to hit him hard in the stomach. Toris took the opportunity and stuck the knife into Yao's shoulder. Maddie shrieked as Raivis grabbed her arm, but Yao was out like a light and Alfred was still dazed, on the floor.
This is it. Maddie thought, tears streaming down her face as Toris and Eduard approached Alfred's weak form. The prince was trying to gather his strength and get up, but Toris had hit him hard. Maddie felt her chest throb, and she began to bawl. This is how we're going to die? At the hands of criminals like these?
The last shreds of hope slipped from her grasp as Toris grabbed Alfred by the hair and lifted him up, holding him against his bent knee. Eduard stood in front of them, rolling up his sleeves. Maddie screamed, but Raivis put a hand over her mouth. Eduard reeled back his fist in preparation to knock Alfred senseless, but the sound of a thundering gunshot made him stop short.
Author's Note:
Did any of you guess it? 2p! Baltics as the hyenas! Isn't it just fitting? Sorry if they're not how you imagined, or if you're disappointed in my choice for Ivan's minions, but I really liked writing this chapter. I love the Baltics, but as much as I do I still find their 2p!s to be a little more interesting.
Oh my StarClan, 7 followers and 2 favorites? Yay! It might not sound like a lot to you other popular authors, but this is awesome to me! Keep 'em coming!
Review Answers:
frenchfriesandtoast: Thanks! I really thought China was fitting for the part of Zazu, and when I combined their characters here, I just totally fell in love with him!
anonymous: Thanks for giving this story a chance! It's my first Hetalia fic, and so far I'm having a really fun time writing it. I appreciate you taking the time to review. Also, did you ever think the hyenas would be played by the Nervous Trembling Trio's 2p!s? I had a lot of fun with this chapter...
Thank you all!
All the best, Maple