They waited until a tray containing three plates of food and little water and gathered up the cutlery.

"This'll take forever." Lovino sighed.

"Well, at least I have a plan."

They began to chip away at the cement holding the cold and solid bricks together with the cutlery, slowly scraping the bits with the knife.

"It's too tough." Ludwig said.

"Keep going." Kiku whispered.

All three of them started to put more pressure on the knife, bending it slightly and gradually chipping off the cement.


An hour in, they saw a beam of light shining through the cement. It hit them, almost blinding the three of them. They silently cheered and began to twist the now bent knife through the hole, but before they could, the sound of footsteps was inching closer They hid the tools and Ludwig covered the hole with his body.

"What's all the commotion here?" It was none other than Arthur stood right infront of them. Before they could answer, Arthur unlocked the cell, stepped in and pushed Ludwig out the way with a force, revealing the shining beam of light from the chipping. He turned around to say something but he felt a sharp pain in his back, forcing him to the ground. Ludwig, Lovino and Kiku all piled on top of him, covering his mouth, but he managed to bite one of their fingers.

"Guards, help." Arthur muffled between their hands, trying to bite at all of them. The trio made a break for it, running towards what they thought was the exit and then they saw it. Sunlight, glowing beautiful sunlight and fresh air.


Arthur launched himself up and chased them, catching up with them. He sprinted, but he stopped in his tracks when he realised that they had split up, running in different directions. Arthur cursed under his breath and headed for the person he thought would be the most useful to gain intel off, the Italian of course. He rushed towards Lovino, who panicked. Lovino knew that Arthur was chasing him specifically, adrenaline pumped around his bloodstream as he begged his body to run faster. But Arthur was just too fast for him and was gaining rapidly on his tail, he tried to divert Arthur's attention, but he was just too focused on getting his prey. Arthur reached out and grabbed Lovino, placing a hand over his mouth, Lovino breathed through his nose hard. He bit Arthur's hand and let out a scream, with frustration and desperation. Ludwig and Kiku heard Lovino's scream that pierced their ears, Ludwig turned back to help him.

"Lovino, where are you?" Ludwig screamed, running towards the direction.

"Wait, it's too dangerous." Kiku warned, but Ludwig didn't want to listen. He ran up to see Arthur holding Lovino in an armlock.

"Hey, stop, let him go!" Ludwig shouted at the blond haired Brit, sprinting up to them.

"Why should I, German?" Arthur sneered.

"What the hell did you come back for, idiot?" Lovino spat "Leave before he catches you too." Ludwig was surprised at how he reacted to him being there, trying to save him. Lovino struggled in Arthur's grip, but it was just too painful, he winced a little, gritting his teeth.

"Can't we make a deal?" Ludwig fixed his eyes on the floor.

"Like what?" Arthur asked, kind of interested about what the German soldier had to offer.

"Him for me." Ludwig growled, he couldn't believe he was doing such a thing. He noticed the cold glare coming from Lovino though.

"Are you crazy? You're so fucking stupid." Lovino growled at him.

"No thanks, this one will be a lot more useful." Ludwig got into a fighting stance and balled up his fist, stomped up to Arthur whilst glaring at him.

"I wouldn't bother if I were you." Arthur smiled confidently.

He suddenly heard the clicking of the guns around him. Scanning the surroundings, there were at least ten British troops surrounding them. Ludwig and Kiku both put their hands up, surrendering.

"I'm going to be nice and give you two options, you run away and never come back here again." Arthur glared at the two. "Or I will kill you here and now."

"Let's retreat for now, we'll gather our forces and get Lovino back." Kiku whispered to Ludwig.

"Are you crazy? We can't just let him get kidnapped."

"Trust me they won't do anything serious to him, they need the intel."

Ludwig nods and they retreat back to the base, where they gathered up their troops to break into the British and American barracks.


But Arthur was way ahead of them and positioned troops around the area of the base, knowing that they would come back. He got a radio message saying that they are coming and he just smirked at his own ingenious.

"Those idiots are so predictable." He grinned.

"Major, the Japanese, German and Italian troops are invading the base." Alfred came in, forcing the way through the door, quickly informing the Brit.

"Don't worry, Alfred my dear boy, I've got it covered."


The duo got closer to their destination, Ludwig's ears pricked up picking up the rustling in the bushes and stopped in his tracks.

"They know." Ludwig growled through gritted teeth, balling up his fists.

"How? This is a surprise attack." Kiku asked, dumbfounded.

"Put your hands up and drop your weapons." A familiar voice shouted out from the bushes.

"It's him." Ludwig emphasised angrily.

The troops launched out of the bushes, surrounding them in a tight circle. No way of escape. The sensible idea was to raise their hands and drop their weapons as they attempted to run, but it was no use.

"Shoot to kill, men." Arthur ordered, stepping to the outside of the circle, an evil smile curled his lips. "I will not let more of them invade my base, they know where it is now." The area was overcome by a strange sense of silence and peace as the British soldiers raised their weapon up at the enemy. They squinted their eyes, bracing for impact from the gunfire, but none came. Instead they opened their eyes to be greeted by a familiar herd of troops countering the British, then that's when Ludwig saw it. The troops got distracted and ran to aid the others in fighting the mysterious army.

That familiar grey hair and red eyes, the memories flashed through him. His brother, Gilbert was right there, glaring into his blue eyes, flashing him a little grin under his hat.

"Hey there, luddy." Gilbert grinned and slammed his hand on Ludwig's shoulder, making him wince.

"Good to see you again." Ludwig smiled. "How have you been?"

"I'm alive." Gilbert chuckled.

"This is my brother, Gilbert and this is sergant Honda." Ludwig introduced.

"Nice to meet you."

"So, I'll catch up with you soon, my men need assistance, meet me by the German base at sundown ok?" Gilbert winked, rushing off.

Ludwig nodded and him and Kiku ran back towards the British and American base, there they gathered weapons and searched for the missing Lovino. They split up into two, that way they could get more area covered.


Ludwig scowered the area in search of the whereabouts of Lovino, a sense of panic stumbled upon him when he realised that Lovino wasn't in the prison or the interrogation area. Maybe he escaped? He sprinted outside, hoping to gain some answers to this whole situation and there he found it. The colour of his face drained away and he felt sick to his stomach, a trail of fresh blood, seems like it had been there for an hour or so. He followed it, his heart racing and his body tensing up.

"No, please, no." He panted. His stomach dropped and he felt like he was about to throw up, there he saw Lovino, lying against a tree with his front coloured with his own blood. Ludwig knelt infront of him and shook his shoulders, desperately calling out his name, but no response.

"Kiku, he's here." Ludwig shouted. Kiku rushed to where Ludwig was calling him from and stayed silent in shock. He felt Lovino's cheek, it was cold and clammy.

"How will we even face Feliciano with this?" Ludwig fell to his knees, tears dropping down.

"Wait, the troops are coming back." Kiku exclaimed. "We need to move." Ludwig moved to pick up Lovino and carry him, with such difficulty, his legs were still painful from the bullet wounds.

"Careful your injuries." Kiku helped him support Lovino's weight.

"There's still hope to save him." They carefully retreated to the nearest ally medical tent, as Ludwig's brother dealt with the following troops. They were so lucky and they were both grateful to Gilbert for saving them.