Arthur was walking home.
Well.
He had walked a few blocks, then stolen somebody's subway card and got off at a station closer to home, but generally speaking, he was walking home.
He wasn't in a hurry to get back though. If possible, he wanted to avoid going home for as long as possible. He'd already figured out a way of doing that too.
First he'd go to the corner shop, buy a newspaper and stock up on some food, then he'd pay either Blackie or Blue Hands a visit, find out what they've been up to in the last two weeks, before finally going on a crime spree across town.
He reminded himself to be careful when visiting Ivan and Yao. They were both monitored and if Kirkland visited them too often, their bosses would eventually put two and two together and have him killed before he even got the chance to run.
He looked around the park.
He could see some mothers chatting happily with each other, while children played on swings and slides. In the distance, he could see a few super heroes and villains. He should probably take some notes or something, as the super community, both good and bad, was how he earned his money now, but... Then again, he was officially still on holiday. He should enjoy it. Besides, someone else was covering for him. He really shouldn't have to fuss about deadlines yet.
He frowned and looked away.
Looking at that... Looking at those people, mothers, children, heroes, villains... It somehow led him to think of Angélique and more over, of that strange armour.
The armour was not good. From what he could gather, it increased your abilities... Good in theory, but it did so to the point that you couldn't control them anymore. He had to...
Well.
He needed to...
He wasn't involved with the armour... But the armour was connected to him. He knew it was financed by the same people, it had to be. So... It was partially up to him to rid the world of its makers and destroy that suit completely, not just for Angélique... But for everyone. That kind of technology was dangerous, after all. And whatever research was conducted to make it...
Well, the Supers Rights of the sixties...
They couldn't have made such armour without studying the biology of Supers first, which had been highly illegal for over fifty years. Sure, general information for Supers existed, but nothing real, nothing that really explained anything, of why certain people on this planet had almost God-like powers or why some Supers abilities were genetically inherited or why some powers just randomly appeared.
... He needed to know what was up with that armour.
He could visit the Whisperer about this, but unfortunately for him, the Whisperer wasn't a true neutral anymore. The two were, as Angélique had pointed out, friends and no matter how much he denied it, very little could be changed about that. So, going to the Whisperer for information would no longer be just business.
And he knew that no one but the Whisperer was as resourceful or reliable when it came to information. After all, everyone liked cats. And with cats telling him all their secrets...
He let out a deep sigh. Some secrets were better left secret. He knew that better than anyone else.
Speaking of secrets...
Ivan had a secret information source. That was how he seemed to always know so much.
Well, Arthur was using the term "secret" very loosely. After all, he knew who and what the secret information source was, since it only took one swift glance and a short chat with Ivan to know.
Eduard von Bock was an infamous hacker known as "Ace", wanted internationally for hacking into governmental databases, shutting down various well-known websites, directly causing at least eleven fandom wars on seperate occasions and causing system crashes in various areas.
Arthur didn't know much more than that... If he wanted to, he'd have to meet von Bock in person and with the guy living in Estonia, the chance of that was slim.
However, von Bock was how Ivan got his information... Was it possible for him to get information from this source too...?
Trust was a huge issue... Von Bock could hack any system anywhere. He could probably locate him through all the technology lurking everywhere in New Pond. He could figure out a lot about him, from where he is, who he was... And where and what he'd been up to, prior to New Pond.
No, he couldn't use the Estonian. It was too dangerous.
The Brit had no choice. He had to go and do some investigation himself. But not as the Magician... This was something he had to do off the books.
He entered the corner shop. Lilli was behind the counter again, her brother in some corner of the shop, putting tins on the shelves. He greeted them and hurriedly picked out various food items from the shelves.
He went to the till, picking a newspaper and adding it to the items.
"You're in a rush today," Lilli said. Arthur paused, surprised.
"Oh. Sorry, no, just force of habit. I've actually got a lot of time right now..."
"Would you like a plastic bag?"
"Yes, that'd be nice."
She packed the things into the bad and handed it to him. He looked at her and noticed something odd.
"... You're dressed nicely today. Meeting someone...?"
"Ah, my brother bumped into an old friend a few days ago-"
"He is not my friend!" Vash snapped from his corner of the shop. There was a crashing sound. Lilli frowned.
"- He invited us to dinner tonight... And I won't have enough time to get changed later on, so I decided to just be dressed for it already."
"Smart..." Arthur replied. She smiled.
So, Roderich and Vash had finally bumped into each other? It seemed Vash wasn't taking it well at all. He sighed.
"Well, I hope you have a good time tonight," he said.
"I'm sure I will... Good day Mr Kirkland."
"Good day Lilli."
He left the shop and walked home.
The Magician ran across roof tops, staying out of sight. The sun was setting in the west.
He had tried to visit both Ivan and Yao, but neither had been home. He was hoping to catch them in villainous acts. He had visited a few well-known villain gossip areas in New Pond, hoping to pick up on at least some news... (he didn't want to ask the Whisperer for help. It'd have been fine if it weren't for the do-da with Angélique).
Luckily, he did pick up on some useful information, even if it was the Sight that gave it to him... Tonight, there was going to be a "meeting" between the Frozen Stars and the Dragons about territories and borders. The meetings were still small, perhaps two or three villains from each side, but that was mostly to keep heroes from interrupting their "business".
Arthur had tried to ignore the worry he felt when he thought about the meetings. He had known that official meetings happened now and then, but apparently, their frequency had doubled in the last few weeks, round about when the Magician had entered the scene again...
Was it his fault that things were suddenly escalating between the rival gangs?
Of course not. The whole thing was going to escalate sooner or later. One city was never going to be big enough for two powerful gangs. Admittedly, it was cliché that the place wasn't big enough for them both, but the more anyone lusts for power, the stronger their greed gets and eventually, they'll be consumed by their desire and leave destruction in their path.
All right, so the Magician hadn't experienced this too much, but that was because he had been busy enjoying the confusion and anger of every do-gooder in New Pond. The difference between most villains and the Magician was that the Magician was mostly doing his criminal deeds, simply because he could. They were usually doing it for power.
He paused for a moment, before jumping into a tree. He sat down in some of its branches. He was out of breath and the wonderful Bad Touch Trio had been heading his way. He leaned back, relaxing against the trunk of the tree, a leg dangling off the branch. Only a few more blocks and he'd be at Väinä Company's headquarters. He just had to wait to them to pass him by.
There were still plenty of people, running around in the streets below. It was summer, it was somewhat late, but with the sun still peaking over the hills, people were bound to be around and about.
It was surprising that anyone would be on patrol with so many people about. Usually, they only patrol at night...
The three continued onwards, not noticing the Magician at all. He let out a sigh of relief. He didn't feel up to confrontation. The very idea of having to talk to them...
He watched them, till they were out of sight, before looking at the masses below. He smiled. If any of them looked up, they'd have the shock of their lives. Sure, he was currently dressed as the street Magician, but he was still a villain, no matter how recognisable.
... He grimaced, when he saw a villain in civilian clothing walk by.
Frozen Star. On Dragon territory. He watched the villain walk into a donut shop. Shortly afterwards, the guy left again, with a bag full of donuts and a half-eaten one in his hand.
The Sight told him that that donut shop was the villain's favourite place in the whole world. Must be horrible to have it belong to the Dragons. Arthur briefly wondered why a donut shop would be anyone's favourite place, particularly a super villains, but soon shrugged it off. The guy was a lower type villain. New. Probably wouldn't last a week, before Ofarcher comes along and hands him to the authorities. He looked away.
A gang war was coming. And despite the Magician's plotting, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to stop it on time. He knew he was dissolving the gangs... But how fast and cleanly had Yao and Ivan acted? How many possible heads had been removed?
... How much did the Great Dragon and Cold Bite suspect?
He let out a deep breath. Perhaps he could give the Dream Team a tip off, if things looked like they were going to go from bad to worse. That way, at least some of New Pond would be all right.
N-not that he cared or anything! He couldn't care less about New Pond! A couple weeks ago, someone tried to take over this place with a giant laser beam! And he didn't even blink in concern!
Arthur massaged his head.
Maybe he should go back home. Put off Magician activities for a while. He'd only just come out of it and he still felt all over the place. Being a manipulative bastard might be a bit too soon for him. And the Sight wasn't really working that well yet...
But... Did he have enough time to not do anything? He'd missed two weeks! He didn't have a clue what he'd missed!
For all he knew, the gang war might be at the brink of breaking out. Anything could have happened!
Of course, that was only a worst case scenario and with Yao and Ivan (hopefully) taking out 'potential heads', the gangs should have been too busy licking their own wounds to start any war.
Still... The potential gang war wasn't the only thing he'd missed. For all he knew, any member of the Dream Team could be dead. He knew he had a few voice mails on his phone, but he hadn't checked them yet.
Either way, he didn't have that much time on his hands. Besides, with the armour research likely to still be out there, imperfect, still in need of test subjects to experiment on... The longer he waited, the more difficult it would be to rid the world of it...
No. He didn't have enough time. He couldn't postpone anything. Not at the moment.
He carefully climbed out of the tree, back on to a rooftop. He should focus on what he was actually doing now. Forget whether or not he was capable of being the Magician for now. He supposed if he avoided direct confrontation with any Supers, be it good or evil, he should be fine. Regular people weren't anywhere near as dangerous to a... weak... Magician.
So, he should focus on what he was actually going to do.
Which was breaking into the Väinä company. Before he could do anything about the armour, he needed some more supplies... After some "villain shopping", he could go after Ivan and Yao, assuming he didn't miss the meeting... Of course, the meeting wasn't until very late at night, so he should be able to catch them.
He journeyed onwards, slowly approaching his destination.
Arthur looked around the empty room. Having attacked security first, he had perhaps ten minutes before anyone realised something was wrong. The cameras were down and most guards were easily dealt with (God, he loved the stun gun).
He entered, cautiously.
The scientists were long home, having finished any work on any of their projects... Where were they?
He walked over to the storage room, pulling out the keys he'd stolen from the man in charge of security.
Sneaking around, it didn't take long to locate the projects. All rowed neatly and alphabetically. He looked through them, picking out things he thought useful. Sometimes he wondered how the Väinä company could be such a perfect place for... villains.
It always had things useful for villains. Useful items, almost perfect for crazy plans that villains created. It was almost suspicious...
He sighed and continued going through the projects. He found a little device. The Sight revealed that it was some sort of code cracker, a hacking device... That would be extremely useful. The less he had to use the Sight in his little trip, the better.
He pocketed the item and continued rummaging for things.
He had perhaps two minutes left to get to a place where he could escape from. But he hadn't found what he was looking for. He hurriedly looked for anything to recharge the stun gun, but he wasn't finding anything. Admittedly, he wasn't certain where to find it. He didn't even know if they would stock them in the store room or whether research was still being done or... Anything.
"Come on... Where is it..." he muttered. Suddenly, something blared. Arthur's head shot up.
"Oh come on!" he cried. He was sure he'd still had at least a minute...
He sighed and was about to leave, when he noticed something... He moved aside projects and pulled out a very sleek looking gun. His Sight provided him information. It was essentially a better, upgraded version of the Stun Gun. A new prototype! Arthur grinned.
"Yes!" he said, not realising how loud his voice was or that it had neatly covered the sound of someone getting closer.
The door suddenly slammed open. Arthur froze.
"... Not a problem, I can get out of..." Arthur had started to think, as he slowly turned around, to see who was behind him. He paled considerably, almost dropping the gun in his hands when he saw who it was. He had been prepared for any given guard, but... It wasn't a guard.
America and the Magician stared at each other, while time seemed to slow down. Arthur's mind immediately filled with panic. He wasn't prepared to meet a Super! Not yet! Besides, he had never been seen as the Street Magician before, what would happen now? He wasn't in control of the situation, nothing had carefully been planned out, he had to say something, regain control, but he had no idea what to do-
In his panic, Arthur didn't realise that he had a rather useful stun gun in his hands.
The shock from not only being caught during a "secret" outing, but also as the street Magician had completely shattered his mind and stopped any decent thoughts from forming.
America, however, seemed to quickly decide what he had to do. Admittedly, it wasn't the smartest thing, but sometimes intelligence mattered very little.
America lunged at him. "What are you doing here?!" he demanded when Arthur instinctively dodged. "Are you the one behind the attack!? Are you the leader?!"
Arthur was silent. It was like his voice had shut down. Nothing would come out. Any confidence was drowned in the panic that simply kept growing bigger and bigger.
Not just that. Arthur had another problem, one that he had yet to realise.
The problem with this fight, causing more unnecessary distress, was that he wasn't seeing America in front of him. He was seeing Alfred. He saw Alfred. And Alfred was his friend.
The Magician usually viewed Alfred and America as separate(ish) people, but with his mind so clear, everything was too well connected and he knew that Alfred didn't behave any differently when he was America. America acted exactly like Alfred would. Unlike Arthur, with Kirkland and the Magician, there was no separation between American and Alfred, other than the mask.
Alfred was spewing demands at him, trying to figure out what the Magician was doing here, but Arthur was so panicked and growing continuously more bewildered that he couldn't remember the important fact that while America was Alfred... He was currently the Magician and the Magician didn't know Alfred was his friend.
He didn't realise that during this whole fight, he was in advantage over America, because he had the stun gun. He didn't realise that his panic was stopping him from getting out decently. He didn't even realise he was panicking.
But Arthur did realise one thing. He realised that Alfred had left him an opening, a way of escaping. The door, the way into the room... It was open and nothing was blocking his way out. He quickly ran for it, trying to get there as fast as he could. Unfortunately for him, most Supers were usually above average when it came to physical abilities. In other words, there was no way any normal man could outrun a Super.
Alfred had seen what Arthur was running to and had quickly gone to block him. When Alfred appeared in front of the door, Arthur came to a halt as fast as he could. He stared at him in disbelief for a moment, before taking a few steps back.
Unfortunately, Alfred couldn't tell how afraid the Magician was. With the mask hiding Arthur's emotions, his body language being as secretive as ever and the villain not speaking, he assumed that the Magician was trying to get the fight over and done with as quickly as possible.
Or better said, America thought that the Magician was finding him a mere annoyance. So unworthy of his time that he wasn't even wasting his voice on him.
"Hey, talk already! You disappear two weeks and then you won't talk to your favorite hero?!"
Arthur stared at him for a moment, blankly.
His hands clenched and that was when he realised he was still holding the stun gun in his hands. Unfortunately, to realise this, Arthur had briefly looked down at his hands... And so helped Alfred realise that Arthur was the one in a better position. Alfred immediately attack the Brit again, knowing that if he wasted too much time, Arthur would shoot him. The sudden attack made Arthur topple to the ground. His back complained, but Arthur didn't make a sound.
He was too focused on the realisation that, with the American being much heavier than him, he couldn't struggle free. He couldn't even move.
During the fall, the gun had been knocked out of his hands and lay close by the door, away form Arthur. The Brit could feel Alfred's grip around his wrists. In fact, he felt it too well.
He was pretty sure that his wrists were forming bruises.
"You lose Magician, now tell me where-" Alfred started, but then finally saw the look in the Magician's eyes. And he finally processed how very, very oddly the Magician was behaving... He was... He was also using a bit too much of his strength... Considering that the Magician was not a Super. If he used any more of his strenght, he might actually break-
"Alfred, you're hurting me!" Arthur suddenly cried, before Alfred could loosen his grip. Arthur didn't realise what he had just said and, when Alfred, for some "strange" reason, loosened his grip, he struggled away from him. His heart was racing and as soon as the weight was gone, he tore free and ran out of the room, subconsciously picking up the gun and running as fast as he could down the hall, away from Alfred. He heard the American call after him, yell at him, and most worryingly, approach him fast, but Arthur ignored it. He could find somewhere to hide before Alfred caught up.
He ran and entered a room.
He had entered a dead-end. A giant locker-room with only one door.
Of all the stupid...
He needed to hide, quickly. Arthur looked around and noticed a still open locker. He quickly entered it, careful not to lock himself inside. He levelled his breath and waited.
Arthur listened carefully, as he watched America briefly enter the room, looking around... For him. Arthur didn't remember the last time he'd been this afraid.
For a moment, he was sure the American would look around the room, but luckily, someone started calling for him. America really seemed like he wanted to stay and find him, but the hero eventually accepted that he had to leave immediately.
Arthur let out a deep breath and rested his back against the locked, before slowly sinking to his knees, or at least, as best he could inside the locker.
He stayed in the locker a while, before eventually crawling out. Less frenzied, but still utterly distressed, he somehow managed to decide that the best course of action was to hurriedly get home. He could always go and find Yao and Ivan later. And he had everything he had come for.
All he wanted to do was go home.
And so he did.
Exhausted Arthur fell onto his bed. He didn't want to do anything any more.
Finally, he relaxed and let his mind go... And then he realised what stupidity he had committed.
How... How could he have even been so stupid? He should have been able to handle that situation, it had just been America.
But... But it hadn't 'just been America', had it?
During the entire fight, he had kept seeing Alfred, instead of him... And when he attacked him... Well, he'd already been panicking. But then he completely lost it. The panic took over and made him forget how to act, what to do...
"Alfred, you're hurting me!"
He couldn't believe he'd let that slip.
He had called America "Alfred".
No.
The Magician had called America "Alfred".
Worse, it had... It hadn't been a simple statement... When he yelled that...
When he yelled that...
"Alfred, why are you hurting me?"
He sighed.
... Perhaps Alfred wouldn't have realised that though. Perhaps Alfred would assume that the Magician only knew who he was...
And...
... Maybe Alfred would assume the Magician only revealed he knew who he was, in order to escape?
... Yeah. So now... Well. Now America was definitely wary of the Magician. More than before...
So actually, he'd accidentally actually boosted his own rep.
... Right?
Arthur frowned. He knew that wasn't how it worked. He was still partially dressed as the Magician... He should put it away...
But... He looked at his wardrobe and scowled.
Of course he was going to make a huge, bloody blunder! This was his bloody mess, of course this was going to happen! He angrily stormed up to the wardrobe, hurriedly opening the secret compartment.
He couldn't do this any more. It was clear that he couldn't be the Magician any more. At least, it was impossible to him now.
With actually having friends... He simply couldn't continue and... And he had already thought about stopping after sorting out the Gangs in New Pond, but now...
Now...
Arthur started tearing out all the clothes in his secret wardrobe, throwing them haphazardly across the room. He wanted everything out. Out and gone.
A small part of him knew he'd later put it all back neatly, but right now, he just... He had to do something irrational. He needed to... Needed to...
He hesitated, when he found the journal. He had gone far enough back that he had actually gotten to the things from the deep, deep past. Of course he'd stumble on that.
He picked up the journal, suddenly feeling nostalgic. He fell to his knees and looked at it, opening on a random page.
Ever feel like you're just a pawn in someone else's game? Helpless to their machinations... Or maybe I'm just tired. Anyway-
Arthur frowned and quickly slammed the journal shut. He hadn't written in it in years and didn't remember what he had actually written back then. Or rather, he refused to remember. The weeks after Lizzy's death were hazy for a reason.
Arthur closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the journal.
Right.
Lizzy.
There was a reason.
The Magician was just a mask he wore to hide.
But now that he had friends... The Magician... the mask was useless.
He knew that being "defensive" wasn't going to keep it secret much longer... Keep it safe much longer.
... He should...
...
But he couldn't. Not yet anyway.
He threw it behind himself, onto the pile of everything else, not realising that it didn't land on the pile, but slid underneath his bed.
He stopped throwing things out and just started rummaging at random, suddenly feeling incredibly nostalgic. There, a photo of his dad and himself in Canada.
When he left home, he had taken all his photos and documentations with him. Anything to do with him had either been destroyed... Or was now hidden, deep inside the closet.
Arthur smiled a little.
There were more photos. Photos of Alfred and Mattie as babies... A picture of himself and Mary, at the library... The Pirates all camping around a fire... Mary in her wedding dress... The one she would never wear...
He put the albums and photos aside, spotting letters in the corner.
For a year, Lizzy had gone down to Australia, to spend time with her cousin there. Her parents had thought that some time down-under would make their daughter behave better. It didn't work, of course.
There was a whole pile of letters, describing a cousin Lizzy loved very much. Arthur remembered being upset about her leaving... The Pirates really disliked him. He'd always known that, but he had never known the full extent of it. Until she had gone for a year, of course.
Well. And then there was when he next saw them, after Lizzy's death.
"I didn't kill her!"
"Oh yeah? Then why does this video recording say otherwise? You willingly entered that car and left her to die on the sidewalk! To bleed to death!"
"I- I..."
"... Get out."
"... What?"
"Get out. Get out now!"
"... No. Phillip, you have to listen, I swear, I didn't abandon her, I-"
"FUCK YOU! STOP FUCKING LYING!"
Suddenly, Phillip lunged at him. Arthur easily dodged him, but felt shocked anyway. Pirates never fought with each other. He knew Phillip hated him, but this... Going against the code?
"What the bloody hell are you-"
Phillip punched him. Arthur fell to the ground and Philip started trying to beat him up. Of course, the Brit dodged most, before kicking the older Pirate in the shins, quickly getting to his feet when Phillip was distracted. He threw some punches and kicks back, but the fighting continued anyway. They must have made a lot of noise, because the others came in.
"What's going on?" one of the Pirates asked.
"Redcoat! He betrayed us! He left Queen to die in the streets and now he's trying to kill me!"
"What?!" Arthur snapped, a little stunned.
"Kill him. Kill the traitor!," Philip yelled hysterically. They hesitated, but one came forward, reaching for his gun.
"No, wait, I'm innocent!" Arthur cried. They wouldn't really, right? He was a pirate! He was their best spy! They- They wouldn't...
The member grimaced.
"Sorry 'mate'. But if he says you're a traitor..."
Arthur, for a second, watched as the Pirate aimed his gun at him... And then, in a flash of fear, he ran towards the pirate and pushed him to the ground. The gun was triggered. It shot Phillip, who yelled out in pain.
"He shot me!" Phillip cried, pointing at Arthur as well as he could. But Arthur had long since left the room and was now hurriedly running down the hall. He had to get out of here.
"Get him!" Phillip yelled. Arthur ignored him and slid down the stair banister and ran for the front door... Sadly, other Pirates had caught on that Redcoat was wanted caught and were blocking his way out.
He was on the ground floor. He could see a window. Behind him were Pirates, in front were Pirates, slowly closing in. He quickly opened the window. When they saw he was still escaping, shots were fired, but they all missed. Luckily. He climbed out and quickly continued running.
"No! You're letting him escape!"
The Pirates quickly gave chase, but with not all of them fitting through the window in one go, they had to watch him run, as they struggled against each other.
Phillip, holding his bleeding shoulder, watched from the office.
"You won't get away with this Redcoat! There's no where you can hide!" he yelled. Arthur heard him and stopped running for a moment. He looked back at the old warehouse. He could see the rage in Phillip's eyes, despite the distance.
"You hear that Redcoat?! We're coming for you! Yeah, you can run! But we'll find you! We always do! And when we find you, we WILL KILL YOU."
Arthur continued running away.
"YOU HEAR ME REDCOAT?! WE'LL KILL YOU!"
Arthur hesitated and kicked the letters aside. He had been trying to forget that too. Sure, in New Pond he was quite safe from them... But... A small part of him was still afraid. Sure, it'd been seven years, but... Never take a threat lightly.
God he hated gangs.
He sighed and sat still. Nothing good had ever come from being a part of the Pirates. If he hadn't met Lizzy...
... But Lizzy was the only good thing in his life.
Well.
She'd been the only good thing in his life.
Arthur looked at the pile of things from his teens. His eyes widened, when he saw something red in the pile.
He pulled it out and looked it over, surprised. But then he smiled.
"Hello. Haven't worn you since the Fourth of July, seven years ago," he said, as if greeting an old friend. He felt the red fabric and remembered when he first received it, smiling.
"What's this?" Arthur asked.
"Don'cha like it?" Lizzy asked. She looked disappointed. He sighed and looked it over again... He didn't know what to think of it.
"Well, it looks OK... But... Won't people spot me more easily with this?"
She rolled her eyes.
"Ya don't 'ave t'wear it on missions. Just thought it'd be nice if ya were called somethin' other than dull ol' 'Arthur'"
"Like how you're called Queen."
"Yep."
"What would they call me?"
"Arthur Redcoat."
"That sounds stupid."
"'Ow about just Redcoat?"
"Still stupid."
"Hey, Redcoat's cool. Ya know, they're the baddies Americans fought to become independent!"
"I know Lizzy. We did do history at school. But it's still stupid. ... Hey, since they lost... Wouldn't being named after them be bad luck? Are you trying to make me unlucky?"
"Just wear it."
"Fine."
"So, from taday, ya'll be known as the Redcoat. Or, ya know, Arthur Redcoat."
"This is so stupid."
"I dunno, I think ya look pretty cute."
Arthur paused and looked at her briefly.
"W-well, I guess it doesn't look too bad. It's a bit big though."
"Course it is! I made it so you'll fit into it at any age! Stupid."
"That's dumb! I'm thirteen, do you even know how much I'm going to grow?! Why can't you just make a new coat for me when I outgrow the old one?"
Lizzy shrugged.
"I'm sure ya'll always be a shrimp. So you won't need a huge coat. Unless you get fat."
"... Thanks Lizzy. Really, thanks."
"No probs!" she replied, either not hearing, or choosing to ignore the sarcasm.
Arthur looked the coat over. It was still dumb, of course. But... then again...
He looked at the coat.
Everything he had done up until this point had had a reason. No matter how reckless it seemed, there had been a reason.
Sure, he didn't remember the reason, but...
There had always been a reason...
And... And if the armour really had something to do with... With it. Whatever it was...
And since he couldn't go in as Kirkland or the Magician...
He might as well go in as Redcoat.
After all.
The armour was part of Redcoat's history.
In the hetalia wiki, Estonia is described an "ace student", so that's why he's called Ace. Most real-life hackers don't get codenames or pseudonyms, but whatever.
Shoutout to Rainstorm-Mosspath, who brought up a pretty decent argument for why Seychelles should be from... Seychelles... I don't know why I thought I might have to change her nationality.
Thanks for all the reviews! They're always a joy to read!