Hetalia - Down the Rabbit Hole
"An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break." – Ancient Chinese Proverb
Terra City, University of Gaia, Lecture Hall 1
"Jones? Jones!" Alfred F. Jones jumped awake and his startled sky-blue eyes went wide as his head snapped up off his desk; a chorus of laughter filled the crowded lecture hall while Professor Bonnefoy stared up at him with both hands on his hips. Aw crap. it'd happened again, Alfred thought as he turned and glared accusatively at his twin brother Matthew (smug jerk) for allowing him do to so.
"Is the french revolution not cutting it for you? Shall we go back medieval economics instead?". There was a collective groan from Alfred's surrounding fellow students at the memory of the particularly tortuous subject. The sunny blond american sheepishly grinned and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Uh, sorry professor. I didn't get much sleep last night, too uh- too busy studying for this this class!" He laughed and flashed his brightest grin as an apology. His history lecturer, professor Francis Bonnefoy, gave a chuckle of his own before he checked his wristwatch and set down his book on his clustered desk.
"While I encourage you to keep up the hard work, I would appreciate it if you kept the napping, at least in my class, to a minimum. Though I will have to ask you to stay behind to receive your punishment" The professor returned with a quirked fair brow and Alfred gave a low groan as the bell rung and there was the general clatter as books were gathered together to leave. The students slowly filtered themselves out of the hall and Alfred rose and waited beside the Professor's desk, shooting Matthew 'I am so gonna chew you out later' eyes as he passed. Francis let out a deep sigh before he turned and looked at his student.
"Sleeping in my class isn't the only reason I've asked you to stay behind, Alfred. You are failing, and if you don't get your act together, then I'm afraid you are not going to graduate". Alfred huffed and ran his hand sloppily down his face. Great, just what he needed on top of everything else.
"I- uh, jeez, is there anything I can do for extra credit or…?" Alfred suggested hopefully and his stomach jumped when a smug smirk slipped onto his professor's face.
"It's funny that you should mention that" Francis purred and looked up as someone appeared at the open doorway. When Alfred turned and looked to, he recognised person who stood there. Wearing a loose cameo green shirt and black pants, was a young man in his early twenties with choppy golden hair and furrowed comically thick eyebrows; his strikingly green eyes scowled as they alternated between Alfred and Francis. The elusive english student, Arthur Kirkland. Alfred didn't know much about him, only that he majored in English Literature, and he was reportedly a genius when it came to academic studies. Mysterious, talented, and easy on the eye (if Alfred was being honest), Arthur made for an person of interest that drew many's attention.
"What do you want Francis?" The blond snapped as he stepped into the hall, his footsteps bounced as echoes off the walls and Alfred had had to suppress the delicious shiver that ran down his spine at that glorious, glorious english accent.
"Ah! Arthur, allow me to introduce your assistant for this evening, my student Alfred Jones" Francis beamed and Arthur's eyes turned on Alfred in disbelief before they narrowed back at the frenchman.
"I didn't ask for an assistant. I am perfectly capable of covering the story by myself" He cooly dismissed and Francis motioned over to Alfred.
"He needs the extra credit Arthur, please. With this I'll say we are square". Arthur visible squared his jaw in irritation.
"Fine," He relented through gritted teeth after a long moment, "but we are even now. You" Arthur pointed at Alfred, "follow me. The exhibition starts in half an hour and I do not want to get stuck in traffic". With that, Arthur spun on his heel and breezed out of the hall, leaving Alfred to stare at his professor as though to question whether he even had a say in the matter.
"You'd better catch up with him. Arthur can be quite impatient" Francis winked at him and gestured him to get a move on. Alfred's feet shuffled clumsily before they found themselves and he jogged after Arthur, able to catch up easily in his excellent shape just as they got to the university's entrance steps. Alfred fell into step alongside Arthur and stole a glance at him, the Brit kept his eyes forward to scan the traffic that had began to build up.
"Hey, so I'm Alfred Jones, failing history student and your partner tonight. Nice to meet cha'" Alfred spoke up with an extension of his hand. Arthur gave the briefest of glances at it.
"Yes, I know. Francis said" He curtly replied and Alfred had to work to keep his smile from slipping. Wow, amongst all the talk about him, no one had said anything about Arthur having a sucky attitude.
"Yeah, he did. But, I thought I'd do the polite thing and introduce myself properly, so I'll try again. Hey, I'm Alfred Jones" Alfred put out in a sickly sweet politeness, daring Arthur with his eyes to refuse him. To his credit, Arthur met his stare head on (the couple of inches Alfred had on him not deterring him in the slightest) and didn't waver for a couple of seconds before he forcefully strained a smile and shook Alfred's hand.
"Well then, Alfred Jones, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Arthur Kirkland. Thank you for coming with me this evening. It's just a shame we'll be late getting there" Arthur finished with a sigh and a motion to the gridlocked roads. Alfred followed his gaze and chewed his lip thoughtfully before he lightly smacked Arthur on the arm.
"I have bike, it'll get us there fast. And, I'll let you have the helmet" He grinned and set off towards the parking lot, leaving Arthur to follow after him with an expression of pleasant surprise.
Diamond District, Terra City's Gallery of Art
Alfred's bike slowed smoothly to a stop in front of the architectural miracle that was the Terra City's art gallery, a huge structure of glass and metal lit up by colourful spotlights of yellow tones. The bike swayed as Arthur climbed down from behind Alfred and took off his helmet, his messy hair now even more tousled than before.
"Well, that was impressive, cutting a ten minute drive down to four," Arthur remarked as he traded the helmet for his bag that contained his camera and voice recorder, "though admittedly, I thought we would crash a few times".
"Na, you had nothing to worry about. I've been driving her since I was thirteen," Alfred reassured while he propped, and chained up the bike to a nearby lamppost. That done, the two of them walked up the gallery's long stone steps towards the entrance, passing large promotion banners. When Alfred looked closer, they read 'Mind's Twilight collection by Mia Everson'.
"So obviously it's an article about the exhibition, the artist from what you told is some weird, spiritual, voodoo lady which is cool an' all I guess. But what I don't get is why you're the one covering it? I thought you were an English student" He asked as they stepped inside, Arthur flashed his press pass he had been given to security and they were guided past the queuing masses; jealous art lovers and low level critics glaring at them as they bypassed straight to the front; Alfred couldn't help but feel childishly excited as they went in. He had never been to anything resembling such a high class event as this, coming from a middle class background himself. It wasn't hard to venture from the way Arthur was acting that he was quite used to fancy events.
"I am, but the girl who was supposed to be on this had to drop out suddenly, and well, she's an old friend so I volunteered in her place" Arthur answered while he bowed his head to adjust his camera settings, and then raised it to take a wide shot of the exhibition hall. The great hall was vast and lit in low lighting to give an atmospheric presence, with the paintings illuminated just barely enough to be seen. There was a very sophisticated air that radiated from the present wealthy and first class, all dressed in prim suits and elegant gowns that brought to Alfred's attention how out of place his bomber jacket and jeans were. At least Arthur could get away with the smart/casual look.
"That was decent of you," Alfred complimented and gave Arthur a friendly smile, "and here I thought you were just a big ol' grumpy gills". Arthur rolled his eyes at him, but Alfred caught sight with delight the unwilling smile he had tried to hide with his hand while he pretended to clear his throat. Huh, the more Alfred was getting to know him, the more he was imagining the two of them as friends. Arthur cleared his throat again before he pointed over to the centre of the room where a formally dressed man stood on an elevated platform with a microphone; behind him a wide screen that had a heavy draped curtain concealing the piece beneath it.
"We should take a closer look, that must be the centre piece of the collection" Arthur leaned in and Alfred gave his response as a nod. When they moved closer, the man's nasally voice came into range.
"And without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure and honour to at last unveil Everson's final masterpiece of the collection, 'Lucid'". The man then reached up for the unveiling cord and gave it a sharp yank to cause the curtain to fall.
The canvas was huge and at it's centre were two figures divided by a line with a swirling, inky cloud that was filled with many number fours. From the inky cloud, twin trails reached down to feed down into the twin humans' heads, and that was the end of the similarities as after that the humans differed. The figure on the right was plain and stood with it's eyes closed, the trail of ink that attached to it's head looping back on itself. However, the one on the left was definitively different. The left human was wide awake and from the ink trail that passed through their head, instead of coming out as the same black colour as the right had, it came out golden. It was a stream that flowed, branching off all around the figure in spirals and curls; one particularly thick stem returning to the cloud it had came from. Alfred awed at the colours and masterful strokes, but when he looked at Arthur for his reaction, he saw that Arthur's face was pale in the dim lighting with a look of alarm. However, before he could ask, the man on the platform spoke up again.
"A great many have wondered what the story could possibly be behind this wonderful painting, and now I will explain it to you all. As you all know, Everson was a firm believer of the estranged and mythical, especially in power of dreams. Lucid dreams to be exact, dreams where one becomes conscious that one is unconscious, and thus becomes capable of influencing the dream. Effectively becoming a master of your own reality.
Everson, however, thought that there was a state beyond this state of lucidity, and that was exhibiting the same sensation of manipulation during wakefulness. Manipulation of the physical world on a molecular level with the power of the mind alone. Some would call it magic, some would call it science, but one thing is certain in all of this: it is unlike anything we could ever imagine". There was a few gasps and a few more eye rolls at the man's speech, believing his words for the utter nonsense they were, though Alfred found himself getting so swept up in excitement of the idea, that he did not notice Arthur's body start to tense up.
"So why all the fours in that cloud there?" A woman with an upturned nose shouted out, and the man looked up to where the number repeated itself over and over inside the black oil.
"An excellent question, but unfortunately, one with an answer we can only speculate on. The fan favourite being that Everson perceived one's dreams to be a glimpse of the fabled 'fourth dimension', accessible only through our subconsciouses and thereby explaining why we, as three dimensional beings, are unable to retain and replicate the lucidity we experience in our dreams. Of course, as Everson believed, save the special few depicted by the figure on the left". There was another round of applause that slowly trailed off to general discussion. Alfred turned to Arthur and was taken aback at his rigid body language; clenched fists held on either side while his back was as straight as a board.
"Are you okay Arthur?" He asked with a gentle tap on his shoulder, and Arthur jumped as though he'd been shocked by a live wire.
"Yes. Fine," Arthur dazedly replied before he looked back to the painting and with a heavy sigh, took a picture of it, "I am just tired, that's all. We should -um, we should ask a few questions and get some quotes". Alfred gave him a concerned once over before silently deciding to keep a close eye on him for the rest of the night and scanned the crowd for anyone that stood out.
"Oh I know it's simply too unfair. The nerve of him, buying it up before it could even be considered for auction, and then deliberately choosing to include it in the exhibition to rub it in our faces! Doctor Braginsky, hm. Look at him there, standing there all smug admiring the painting that'll be hanging above his fireplace soon enough!" Alfred couldn't help but overhear the rant of a nearby loud lady to her friend, who looked bored out of her mind and examined her manicured nails lazily. On his tiptoes, Alfred spotted the man that he assumed was the doctor, stood alone looking up at the painting with both hands held together behind his back. Hmmm, so the good doctor had already brought the piece but had deliberately allowed it to be displayed tonight. Interesting…
"Arthur, I know who we can talk to" Alfred whispered as he grabbed Arthur's hand without a thought and proceeded to drag him after him as he pushed through the crowd to the front; Arthur's flushed rose cheeks unseen and his protests unheard. When they broke the line, Alfred saw that the doctor wasn't as alone as he had thought. Two suited men that were clearly bodyguards, stood nearby and when Alfred made his way forward, they moved to block him.
"Please step back sir and enjoy the view" One with the ginger sideburns ordered, an obvious threat in his gritty voice. Alfred seized up the guard, and smugly entertained the thought of how different things would be if he were suited up; he could sideline them without the batter of an eyelid. However, he was not. He was in civilian mode, so he had to act like one.
"Uh, Alfred Jones and Arthur Kirkland from the University of Gaia's student magazine. We were wondering if we could ask Mr Braginsky some questions about today's collection?" He tried and the guards remained unimpressed. Arthur wrenched his arm free and was about to hiss that they should leave before he got them kicked out, when something occurred that neither of them expected to.
"Arthur Kirkland?" A heavily accented voice spoke up from behind the guards, and the pair instantly stepped aside to reveal doctor Ivan Braginsky. The Russian man was huge, with broad shoulders, a big nose and extremely unsettlingly violet eyes that locked themselves onto Arthur. Alfred's brows frowned as he looked back to Arthur who seemed just as confused as Alfred was.
"Yes, that would be me" Arthur finally spoke up and extended his hand to the doctor, who after a long moment of pause took it; his large hand engulfed Arthur's.
"It has been a long time" The doctor said with a smile that may have meant to be friendly, but instead made Alfred want to run away from the man. Arthur took his hand back stiffly.
"We have never met" The Brit disagreed, his tone one of confusion and the doctor gave a small laugh.
"Well, you were rather young at the time. I would be more surprised if you did remember. What did you say your business was here?".
"Writing an article on the exhibition. As the owner of 'Lucid', we wondered if we could ask you a few questions about it" Alfred explained and gritted his teeth when the Russian's eyes barely even looked his way before dismissing him in favour for Arthur. He was starting to dislike this doctor more with every second.
"What would you like to know?" Doctor Braginsky asked, the question very clearly directed at Arthur, who uncomfortably shifted his weight under the intense attention.
"Well, primarily, what do you find most attractive about Everson's work?" Arthur replied as he took out his voice recorder and clicked the red button. The doctor pressed his lips thoughtfully.
"I would have to say that it's her imaginations that strike me, the lore of it is quite fantastical to wonder about". Arthur raised a thick brow at his answer.
"Pardon me for saying so, Doctor Braginsky, but I took you for a man of science".
"I believe everyman is prone to flights of fantasy, what separates them is their ability to act on them" The doctor elaborated and Alfred felt there was some hidden meaning behind those words. This doctor was more than met the eye. He had a disconcerting aura about him, as though he were a wintry storm bound in flesh. Arthur's head bobbed in neutral agreement and Alfred decided that he was not going to be ignored for any longer.
"So why were you so eager to buy 'Lucid' before it could be put up for auction?" He loudly asked, and could of swore that the doctor gave the quickest roll of his eyes before he met Alfred's stare.
"Simple. Because I wanted it," Doctor Braginsky curtly countered and, as Alfred predicted, immediately turned back to Arthur, "master Kirkland, do you have anywhere in particular to be tonight? If not, I would be happy to continue this interview in a more private location. Perhaps my penthouse? I have quite the collection of some of Everson's older work that I think you would enjoy". A pulse of alarm shot through Alfred and his eyes met Arthur's in shared disturbance. Alfred gave him the tiniest of shake of his head, and Arthur returned it with the tiniest nod.
"That is very kind of you, doctor Braginsky. However, I must complete this article by tonight and we have not even seen the rest of the collection. If you'll excuse us… Alfred?" Arthur looked to his partner and Alfred gave him a smile as he passed him on his way back to the crowd, before he to followed; a brief glance over his shoulder to reveal that the doctor's eyes remained on them until the crowd separated them once again…
"So this is where he has been hiding," Ivan hummed to himself as he watched Arthur Kirkland's golden halo vanish into the masses. He looked to his security.
"Deliver master Kirkland to my apartment before I leave, unharmed. I do not care for how, only that it is done".
"What of the one he is with?".
"Keep his death clean. A nice open and close murder investigation for the police department". The suited men nodded before they slipped after their targets. Ivan took in a deep breath and turned back to his masterpiece that had reunited him with Arthur; the lucid figure seemed to glare down at him accusatively.
"It is finally time to end this game of ours, Victoria" Ivan smiled to himself, plucking off a tall champagne glass off a passing waiter and sipped it slowly; enjoying it's fizzy, sweet flavour.
The sun was setting and the street was empty when Arthur and Alfred exited the museum, job done with Arthur even allowing Alfred to take a few pictures of his own towards the end of the evening. Despite his earlier reluctance, Arthur found that Alfred wasn't the annoying, loudmouthed, meat headed jock he had had him penned for. There were moments during his constant rambling that Arthur felt were actually quite endearing, with rare hidden nuggets of information that hinted that Alfred was more intelligent than he had given him credit for. Arthur thought all of this while he occasionally peeked at him, always when Alfred wasn't looking. His chatter akin to that of comforting background noise, and when it abruptly stopped at the top of the gallery steps, Arthur followed Alfred gaze down to where a gang of men dressed all in black waiting near Alfred's bike. Arthur narrowed his eyes at them. They were as shady as anything, the stereotypical troublemakers ready to start some.
"Hey, don't worry. Just follow my lead" Alfred's voice interrupted his thoughts and Arthur blinked at him before he hilariously realised that Alfred had taken his silence as fear. Ah, if only he knew that Arthur could floor all of them before they could even blink. For the sake of appearances, Arthur gave a nervous bite of his lip and nodded. The reassuring smile Alfred shot him made his heart speed up for a reason Arthur couldn't label as they walked down the steps towards the gang.
All eyes looked over to them as they approached and Arthur saw that a few tapped and nudged each other excitedly. Uh oh, may be Alfred's lead had been too bold. As Alfred tried to move past, all seven moved to intercept and Arthur felt his stomach twitch as they shuffled to surround them.
"Is there a problem here fellas?" Brave, brave Alfred cautiously asked and there was an echoing laugh among the gang. Arthur silently groaned, he knew their type: only out for a fight. It would be very unlikely they would back down peacefully. One of the men with a black hoodie stepped forward and flashed his teeth like a shark.
"Not one mate" He hissed, and before Arthur even had time to react (which was fast by his reflexes) a gang member from behind slugged Alfred in the back, a solid thud! as the blow connected with his ribs and sent Alfred stumbling.
"Alfred!" Arthur cried out as he felt thick arms slip under his and lock around the back of his head; a full nelson hold. He grunted as he tried to bring his arms down, but the thug was well built and retaliated by applying more painful pressure on his neck. Shit. Double shit. While Arthur was held back, the other gang members closed in on Alfred. However, the american did not look scared by their numbers, and simply readied himself into a fighter's stance; wide, low centre of gravity, arms raised on either side of his head.
"Trust me fellas, you really don't want to do this" Arthur heard Alfred's voice warn them and then the one in the hoodie snicker as he pulled a switchblade out of his pocket.
"Mate, for a thousand quid I'd kill you both. But I guess they wanted him," the man motioned back to Arthur, "for themselves". Alfred's pupils shrank as they darted over to lock with Arthur's, and created the perfect opening for the man to lunge with his knife.
Arthur's brain instinctively shifted into gear as he brought his hands up, grabbed his capturer's fingers and snapped them backwards without missing a heartbeat; the bones shattered with a sickening crack. The man screamed as he dropped Arthur, howling as he clutched his mangled digits. Landing balanced on the balls of his feet, Arthur pivoted and swung his elbow around to crunch into the man's nose to finish the job. Upon hearing their comrade cry out in pain as he dropped, a few of the men turned away from attacking Alfred and frowned when they saw Arthur free.
"You little-" One of them spat and charged at Arthur in rage like a bull in an arena. With a smirk, Arthur sprang when the man came within range. His hand dipped low to grab the his ankle and without slowing his momentum, straightened up and yanked the man's feet from under him; already sprinting for the next man before the other collapsed.
The one left had enough sense to try and run after seeing what he could do, but Arthur was enjoying himself too much to leave loose ends. He effortlessly caught up to the runner and leapt high to scissor his thighs around the man's neck, then twisted his hips midair to leverage his bodyweight and slammed the man down to the concrete pavement. As he made whimpering noises at his feet, Arthur remained in his stance for a few seconds more, ready to kick the man in the head if he tried to raise for seconds. His heart pounded in his ears, his breaths shallow and quick, his limbs shook as adrenaline coursed through his veins and a light sweat had broken on his forehead. God, he loved it. So much so that he had to contain himself as not to smile when he looked over to Alfred; his exhilarated high fell with confusion when he saw Alfred was surrounded by unconscious bodies, mirroring his bemused expression as he stared back at him.
"Are you hurt?" Arthur forced himself to break the prolonged silence and saw Alfred shake his head as though to clear it. Thankfully, Arthur saw no visible wounds nor blood on him.
"Uh- yeah, I'm fine. You?" He replied numbly and Arthur nodded. Of course he was fine, as though those weaklings could of actually hurt him. Alfred stared at him with a mix of amazement and bafflement, not quite able to decide how he felt about what he had just seen.
"But you-, that was amazing! How did you do that?". Arthur felt heat raise to his cheeks and forced himself to casually shrug.
"I've taken a few mixed martial arts lessons," He lied before he raised an eyebrow at the gang members that lay motionless at Alfred's feet. Hm, a more interesting thought was how had Alfred taken on all four men at once without a scratch?, "what about you?". Alfred's ears went red and rubbed his neck bashfully.
"Yeah, yeah self defence classes and all that". Arthur wasn't satisfied with an answer that sounded so wooly, but decided to let it rest. His instincts was nudging him that they should move on, that the pavement was too exposed.
"Well, I say we leave before any of them wake up" Arthur prompted as he stepped over (and deliberately on a few), towards where Alfred's bike was stood. When he didn't hear any movement behind him, he turned to see that Alfred was looking at him with brilliant curiosity.
"What?" He demanded and Alfred gave a soft smile that felt like it went straight to Arthur's heart, causing it to flutter.
"You're a surprising guy, Arthur" Alfred chuckled as he climbed on and Arthur got on after him, wrapping his arms around Alfred's abdomen as he ignited the engine.
"You have no idea" Arthur thought as they sped away from the museum, the sun now set and gave way to night and it's stars…
The black car's occupants watched silently as their targets raced away. The driver reached into his inner jacket pocket and dialled his client's number.
"Is he in your custody?" The voice cooly asked over the audible background chatter of the exhibition.
"Negative. He proved more resourceful than anticipated, the boy he was with to". There was a pause on the line.
"I expected so. Prepare and hold a hit on this boy he was with. He may have yet to be some use in this" Ivan Braginsky commanded before he cut the line dead.
So, new superhero AU that I've had in the works for a while. Really excited to get this rolling, this blended mix of Batman, Miraculous Ladybug and Darker than black all wrapped up in a Hetalia AU. It's going to be fun ;)
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you enjoyed this and are looking forward to seeing more, please leave a review letting me know your thoughts, opinions and questions. Once again, thank you for reading and as always,
Until next time folks!