Back again! This is the penultimate chapter so, enjoy!
Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya and W E Johns!
Chapter 9 : The Last Battle
The opera singer hit the high note …..
The sound vibrations hit their peak and the weapon began to waver on its support, as if too tired to stay up right and Arthur and Alfred could see small explosions from components on the disc and they knew it was ready to blow so Arthur turned the helicopter around and got them out of there as fast as it could fly. The weapon was now free of the sound being thrown back at it but it was too little, too late!
The small explosions kept happening as a chain reaction set in and they travelled to the transmitter in the center and it blew apart in an spectacular display of fire and debris, taking the rest of the disc with it and the destroyed pieces fell to the ground in a tangle of twisted, burning metal, its deadly sound silenced for good.
In the control rooms, the effect was equally as devastating. The generator was now creating power that had nowhere to go and it began screaming, as much of the power rushed into systems already overloaded and began blowing apart but it was not enough to clear the surplus and, with one last deafening screech, the generator blew with the full force of the power it had created.
The explosion broke the surface and concrete and soil were flung into the air, watched by Arthur and Alfred in the helicopter from a safe distance while it was followed by more explosions as the control rooms were completely destroyed and buried by their own generator.
"And there went the power base!" Arthur declared, happy with his work. Not only was the weapon down but it had taken what powered the weapon with it! Bouncing back from this would take time, especially if this was a prototype, which Arthur suspected it was. It might even take years!
"Say goodbye to the secret weapon!" Alfred replied. He might have worried that the Germans would rebuild the weapon but it would take a while, years even and it was 1917. The war would be over in another year and he knew that this weapon would never see the light of day again.
Hooray for our side!
"You might say we 'nuked' it, eh," Arthur quipped and Alfred could not help but grin at the reference to what he had said 'nuked' meant. Although, in about twenty-eight years, Arthur might learn what it really meant.
"Let's go," Arthur said as he turned the helicopter and began to fly in a specific direction. The convent and a blonde French girl he had said he would come for once this mission was over.
"I have a promise to keep!"
(AN : This was where I was going to end the chapter, last week but, despite it not being the same kind of situation, I felt it was too soon after Manchester to post the part of the story about things exploding. Maybe I was being too sensitive, I don't know. It just felt wrong to do it)
The battle was over! British troops cheered as the helicopter, that they had assumed was some newly invented aircraft that their engineers put together, flew over their heads. They waved at the helicopter in victory, some punching the air and, as Arthur moved the helicopter around the trenches, Alfred gave a victory punch back at them and they cheered louder. They had beaten the enemy, the sound weapon was no more and history was still on track. Just one thing left to do.
A few civilians and nuns wandered the convent courtyard, closely watched by the guards left to watch them while the main troops had taken over a nearby manor house that they were using as a billet, much to the dismay of the owners but there was nothing they could do about it. Inside, the injured were back in the chapel with those tending to their care but they were not allowed to leave without permission or an escort. Marie was giving water to an injured man and her thoughts drifted to Arthur. Would he come back for her, like he promised? She cursed herself for doubting him. He had always kept his promises to her, she was the one who had not trusted him completely, at first, with the situation with her brother and the enemy. Never would she distrust him again!
But what if he could not returned to her? What if something had happened to him? His was a dangerous life and he was brave but not indestructible and she could not stand the thought of losing him a second time.
Two Germans sighed as they walked toward the courtyard doors, heading out on their assigned patrol. Patrols were tedious but orders were orders and they stepped beyond the gates. Tedium vanished as they were grabbed from either side, one punched by Patrick and the other by Allistor. Both went down and they were dragged out of sight and Rhys tied them up.
The brothers went back to the gate and peered inside again. Soldiers standing guard over the civilians was a problem as they assessed the situation.
"Grenade?" Patrick asked. With warning, the local people could get out of the way but it was a risk, one that Allistor was not prepared to take and he shook his head.
"Too close to the civilians," he said. Yes, they might get clear but then some might not and the brothers were here to help them, not harm them.
"Maybe they'll listen to reason?" Rhys suggested. This was not the stupid statement it sounded like, this was like code between the brothers, suggesting a different kind of attack but it put them at extreme risk.
The Kirkland Brothers strolled calmly into the courtyard, with their hands behind their backs like they were just taking a leisurely walk but, in their hands were their guns, poised and ready for action. With their attention on the civilians, the soldiers did not notice the three men wander in.
Allistor took stock of the situation, noting that some soldiers had propped their weapons against the walls of the convent while they chatted but some were holding their guns. They would have to be taken out first.
"Top of the morning to you," Patrick called out. The civilians had an inkling that this was not going to end well and ran for cover which was what the brothers wanted. They could do what they needed to do without innocent people being caught in the cross-fire. The soldiers stood frozen, not expecting the enemy to just stroll in and give a morning greeting.
"Ye wouldn't mind surrendering, would ye?" Allistor asked. The enemy soldiers looked at each other and then back at Allistor, like he was insane.
Then everything happened at once.
The soldiers with their guns went down first, as planned and then Allistor, Patrick and Rhys turned their guns on the soldiers who had to pick theirs up. Rhys who had a Lewis gun, moving it around as he sprayed the courtyard with bullets, taking down a good portion of the enemy.
In the chapel, everyone turned at the sound of gun-fire that rattled outside and knew something was happening beyond the walls that would affect them. Most half prayed that it would free them from the clutches of their captors and half prayed that the fighting would not spill into the chapel. Marie prayed that this meant that Arthur had come for her but all any of them could do was sit and wait.
The sound of the gun-fire also carried to the commandeered manor house and the Germans began to mobilise, grabbing their fire-arms and heading for the convent.
A bullet zipped past Allistor from a sniper, firing from an upper window and Allistor sent a bullet of his own back, this one hitting his mark and the soldier fell through the open window into the courtyard below. The last of the soldiers had been dealt with and they made their way into the convent, taking care of any stray guards as they went. They had to secure the building before more soldiers came to try and retake the convent so any locals they found they ushered toward the chapel.
All the able-bodied people in the chapel stood up when Allistor burst through the door, followed by the other civilians and Patrick while Rhys guarded the outer door with the Lewis gun. Marie looked around desperately. Where was Arthur?
"Stay down, everyone!" Allistor ordered. "This isn't over yet!" This was emphasised by the sound of more gun-fire as Germans appeared in front of Rhys, running toward the convent and he opened fire. Allistor and Patrick went to the main entrance to the convent, not realising that Marie had followed them, to find more enemy soldiers there and began to lay down suppressing fire but the convent was surrounded and their weaponry would only last so long.
Then came the sound that they hoped they would hear, the whomp, whomp, whomp of Arthur's flying windmill and Rhys saw it first as it came over the trees, turning round over the sky. The Germans looked up at the weird, hovering thing in the air. Then a gun appeared out of the side and those smart enough to know what this meant ran for their lives.
Alfred sprayed the area around the enemy with bullets, scattering the enemy as they desperately ran to dodge the rain of metal coming from the strange aircraft. They could not even stay still long enough to take aim at the whirling black thing and they ran for the surrounding trees.
Having taken care of the enemy on one side of the convent, Arthur took the helicopter to the other with the main entrance and took the enemy there by surprise too. More soldiers ran from the onslaught, routed and in disarray. Rhys, having barred the door he had been guarding, came and joined his brothers at the main entrance to watch as Arthur brought the helicopter into a landing.
The blades began to slow down and Arthur and Alfred disembarked from the helicopter, keeping their heads down from the still moving blades and Marie's heart warmed. She knew she should never have doubted him, that he would return as promised. And he had, although she never expected him to turn up in such a strange aircraft!
She pushed by the other brothers to meet Arthur half-way, ignoring Allistor's order to wait, that it was not safe yet and she just ran toward Arthur. This time she would never let him go again.
She climbed over the convent wall and ran into the field with Arthur's brothers following, just wanting to run into his arms but then came a sound that was familiar to Arthur and his brothers, the sound of a plane and they looked up to see a familiar bi-plane bearing the iron cross.
Beilschmidt's plane!
There it was! The aircraft that changed the tide of battle! That had destroyed their most powerful and secret weapon. That could cost his side the war if not destroyed itself!
He would destroyed it if it cost him his life and he began firing.
Bullets began spitting up pieces of dirt as they hit the ground, coming toward Alfred, Marie and the Kirkland Brothers.
"GET DOWN!" Arthur screamed and everyone threw themselves on to their stomachs as the bullets fell between them. Arthur threw his body over Marie to shield her as bullets rained down round her. The bullet storm passed quickly as Wolfgang flew past and began his turn for another pass to get the helicopter that had been missed in his first pass.
Arthur knew that they had to get into the convent before Beilschmidt came around again and got up.
"Let's go!" he ordered and everyone got back to their feet.
Everyone except Marie!
Marie was not moving and Arthur knelt down beside her, fear clutching at his heart and he turned her over. Her blonde hair draped over her face and he pulled it away, revealing her pale face and closed eyes. Blood soaked her blouse from where a bullet had hit and gone straight through and she was still. So still!
Arthur looked up with pain-filled eyes at the plane, which looked like it was doing a barrel roll in victory. He would get Beilschmidt for this! The German would pay!
A slight movement caught his eye and he realised that Marie was still breathing so Arthur picked Marie up and he carried her into the convent and toward the chapel, his brothers fanning out round them and Alfred covering the rear with the Lewis gun. He could not lose her, not after he had just got her back and he was sure that his grandson had been telling him that Marie would be the one he would marry, his wife and the mother of his son, possibly other children too. She could not die!
When he burst into the chapel, carrying Marie's prone body, nuns and people with any medical training came to help and Arthur laid her down on a pallet while his brothers took defensive positions by the doors and Alfred climbed up on to the sill of the convent's huge stained-glass window to see what Beilschmidt was up to. The bi-plane appeared and headed straight for the helicopter, shooting his gun.
The strange aircraft was just sitting on the ground where it was helpless and Wolfgang was not about to miss this opportunity to rid the German Empire of a significant threat to victory. He missed it on his last pass but this time he would get it.
A rain of metal was spat toward the black aircraft, making holes in the plexi-glass and the metal body but it was the bullets in the fuel tank that sealed the helicopter's fate as the hot metal of the bullet interacted with the fumes of the fuel.
The helicopter was ripped apart by the explosion ignited by the bullets and pieces flew everywhere. What was left was burning, a fiery wreck. Flames devouring the remains of the aircraft from the future.
The explosion was seen by Alfred and heard by the others in the chapel while people worked to stem Marie's bleeding. She was still pale and unconscious, still hanging by a thread.
"He got the helicopter," Alfred reported, watching the helio burn. Arthur did not mourn the loss of the helicopter, despite how it could have change the course of air combat. Watching Marie potentially dying was driving him insane and he needed to do something to distract him.
And that something? Get revenge!
"Jones, give me the gun!" he ordered as he stalked toward the door and Alfred threw him the Lewis gun and he caught it on his way out of the door, grabbing a couple of grenades from Rhys as he passed. He ran out of the convent, into the nearby cemetery, watching as Beilschmidt circled back round for another shot at the convent.
Arthur stood by a statue tombstone of the Virgin Mary and child and readied the gun as Beilschmidt completed his turn and began to fly back toward the convent.
Wolfgang spotted the figure standing in the convent cemetery and knew it was Kirkland, who else could it be! Well, let this be their last battle!
He opened fire.
The moment Beilschmidt's plane was in range, Arthur began firing, his gun spitting bullets at the approaching bi-plane, ignoring the bullets the plane was spitting back at him but, somehow, none of them hit and Arthur kept firing as the plane flew over his head but he knew Beilschmidt would be back. This was a fight to the death now and one of them would not walk away.
A few minutes later, Beilschmidt flew back into view and Arthur readied his gun and the shooting began again. Arthur's gun fired a number of bullets before the gun just started clicking as it ran out of ammo so Arthur took out one the grenades and, as Beilschmidt came in close, Arthur pulled the pin and threw it up as Beilschmidt came over his head, just as Beilschmidt dropped something himself. Arthur looked down at what Beilschmidt had dropped and saw the stick grenade, ready to blow. Arthur's own grenade had flown straight up and came back down.
Straight into Wolfgang's cockpit!
The stick grenade exploded, sending grass and soil into the air, pelting the statue of the Virgin Mary, blowing little pieces of stone off the statue with the blast.
Wolfgang's eyes bulged as the grenade bounced off his lap and on to the floor of the cockpit, disappearing into the shadows and he knew had no time to find and get rid of it. His last thoughts were of his wife and sons back in Germany as his plane flew on its last journey.
The last sight was of Wolfgang's plane, disappearing behind some trees before an explosion ripped through the sky, igniting it up with fire. The only sign of the end of Wolfgang Beilschmidt.
As if the darkness of war had lifted, the sun broke through the clouds and bathed the statue in light and Arthur stepped from behind it. When he saw the grenade, he had taken refuge behind the statue and it had shielded him from the blast, saving him from death and harm.
The weapon was destroyed. Beilschmidt was dead. It was over!
Arthur ran back into the chapel, praying that he was not running back to the worse news possible. Marie was hovering at Death's door when he left to deal with Beilschmidt. Had she stepped through?
The Abbess was bandaging Marie's wound now that they had managed to stop the bleeding but all they could do was wait now and hope that the blood loss was not fatal. Alfred and the Kirkland Brothers took turns throughout the night, standing guard against the enemy coming back. Arthur stayed by Marie's bedside, holding her hand and watching her breathe in and out, just to be sure that she still lived.
Dawn broke outside and, as the sun rose, it shone through the stained-glass window, casting colour across the floor and the colours fell on Marie's white face and woke Arthur who's head rested next to hers and he sat up, looking down at her and making sure she was still breathing. He stroke her cheek softly and carefully, as if she was made of delicate glass. Alfred watched the exchange and thought about Alice. How was she doing, back in 2017? Was she worried about him? Wondering if he would make it back to 2017 and to her? He would make it back, at least this time.
Arthur's heart was aching that she had not woken up yet and he feared that she never would. This might be the day he could lose Marie for good and the thought send a shaft of pain through him but if this was their last day, he would not let it pass without showing his true feelings, even if she was not awake to acknowledge them.
He lowered his head and brushed his lips over hers. They were as soft as he remembered and just as sweet. He pulled away, fearing that, when he did, she would be gone, leaving her body and him behind, alone.
Marie's eyelids twitch and Arthur's breath caught in his throat. They twitched a little more and, slowly, they lifted, revealing her beautiful sapphire eyes. Arthur remembered to take the breath that he forgot to pull into his lungs as he became caught in her gaze when she looked up at him.
"Hello, Love," he whispered, as if afraid that any over loud noise would send her back into unconsciousness again.
"Bonjour, mon petit lapin," she whispered back. Arthur smiled, bending down and claiming her lips again. She was going to live! Peter had been right! This was the woman that Arthur would marry and have children with, he would accept no one else.
Marie never would have thought that the clichéd kiss of True Love would be the thing to wake her. She remembered hitting the ground when the bullets rained down, the pain of one entering her body and the last thing she remembered was Arthur's body coming over her to act as a shield, even as the bullet that had already hit robbed her of her consciousness. Now, he was here, watching over her and she knew he would watch over her for the rest of her life.
Arthur looked around and saw his brothers, grinning at him, partly because they were happy for him that Marie was going to live and partly because of the sappiness that they would tease him for later. Then he looked up at Alfred who was once again standing up at the window where he had been keeping an eye out.
"Thanks, Jones," Arthur said. "Your help is deeply appreciated."
"No problem, Artie," Alfred replied, jumping down from the window …
…... and landing in the cold waters of the Thames river where a police river boat was waiting for him!
Peter Kirkland was waiting at the quayside with two men in RAF uniforms when the army-commandeered river police boat that had pulled Alfred from the river pulled into the side and, once moored, Alfred was escorted under armed guard from the boat. When they stepped on to the quayside, Peter came forward, holding up an id.
"I'll take charge of this man!" he announced, showing them his credentials. The army sergeant nodded and they turned Alfred over to Peter and the two men took hold of Alfred's arms to escort him to a waiting car. Alfred got in the back with Peter and one of the men while the other got in the front with the driver and they drove away. Both men were red-heads, as was the driver, all looked like they were in their forties and, to Alfred, looked vaguely familiar.
"Did you destroy the weapon?" Peter asked and noticed how Alfred's eyes flickered to the other three men in the car. "It's all right! They're familiar with the situation. Even the soldiers on the quayside know, we just had to put on a show of taking you into custody, in case any nosy policemen saw us." Alfred gave a silent 'aah' of understanding although he did not really understand at all.
"Yeah," Alfred replied. "We blew the weapon sky high." Peter gave a sigh of relief.
"Well done!" he praised. He reached under the seat in front of him and took out some dry clothes and passed them to Alfred to change into.
"Peter," Alfred had to know. "I know Arthur had at least one child but he lived through the war, didn't he?" Both Peter and the man sat on Alfred's right side looked at each other and smiled.
"Oh yes," Peter replied as Alfred removed his jacket and shirt. "He fought in both World Wars and survived both of them. Marie was tried for treason but her part in the destruction of the weapon bought her some clemency and she spent a few years in prison but she and Arthur married when she was released and they had a son. Called Alfred!" Alfred grinned at that, pulling on the dry shirt.
"I know he's not alive now," he commented as he buttoned it up. "I mean he can't be, can he?" Peter smiled, sadly.
"I'm afraid not," he replied. "But he lived to be a good age, he died in 1978, aged 84. All the 1917 Kirkland Brothers have gone now but they've all left their mark. Let me introduce you to my companions." He indicated to the man on Alfred's right.
"This is Scott," he said and turned to point to the man in the front passenger seat. "That is Liam and the man in the driver's seat is Aidan. They're all Kirklands and Allistor, Patrick and Rhys's great grandsons!" So that's why they seemed so familiar!
"You're kidding!" Alfred exclaimed, changing his trousers. Difficult in a moving car, or any car for that matter. "That's so cool!"
"Thanks, lad," Scott said, sounding like his great grandfather. "None of us would have existed if it hadn't been for you, we owe you our lives."
"Yes, thanks," Liam added. "And our kids have their lives because of you."
"You're a hero, boyo!" said Aidan from the driver's seat. Alfred liked the sound of being a hero and he had no idea that, when he was helping Arthur, he would affect so many lives.
"You're welcome, guys," Alfred replied as he pulled on the dry jacket and then he wondered.
"Huh! Guys, where are we going?"
There we go, one chapter left where 'The Department' will be properly introduced but that's for next week. In the film, the only medical treatment Marie (the name of the character in the film is the same as Fem France's name, it just fit!) received was the Abbess holding a rag over the bullet wound and she recovered within a few minutes but that didn't make sense to me so I dragged it out a little, with people having some medical knowledge of how to help and her taking a whole night to wake up. From the point that Peter takes charge of Alfred and asks him if the weapon was destroyed, this story departs completely from the film story line so the next chapter, for the most part, is completely original.
Now, question? I know it seems like I killed off Wolfgang but I have ideas of how he might have survived so …. should I leave him dead or bring him back for a rematch? Please comment and let me know what you think!
Next week, Alfred meets 'The Department' and finds out just how far the effects of 'time jumping' spreads and wedding bells are in the air. As well as thunder and lightning! Till then,
Hasta la Pasta!
