Deviation Actions
Literature Text
“Whohoo! This works perfectly!”
You were standing on top of a skateboard you had made yourself, surfing down the dim streets of your well-known Aethali*. The engine behind you whirred, not too loud, and not completely silent, as it sped up your speed down the streets, which was more or less devoid of people, making it the perfect testing-grounds of your newest invention.
This was what you normally did; you would find some gears and items scattered around on the streets, bring them home, and make something new out of it. Your parents were not too happy about your hobby, wishing you instead would do something others your age would do, but they left you to your own devices when they realised they could not stop you.
However, this day would be different from the others.
“You there! Stop right now!” you faintly heard someone shout. Looking behind you, you saw a male running down the same way you were heading, but you went too fast and were too far away to see any other details on him. Everything would probably have turned out differently had you only been able to make out the symbol he was wearing on his chest.
‘I don’t have time for this’, you thought, turning your head to where you were heading, and continued down the street. As you got to the flatter parts of the road, your speed slowly diminished, until the engine itself made a weird sound, and stopped working as well.
“I’ll have to fix this when I get back home”, you mumbled to yourself, taking off your black and brown goggles, letting them hang loosely around your neck, and picked up the board. Just as you picked it up, you looked to the other side of the street, where another man was staring at you, with an excited grin on his face, as he began to cross the street towards you.
As you were busy with the antics of this man, you failed to notice the man from earlier closing up to you.
“I must ask you to stop running away, or else you’ll have to come down to the station with me.” You turned your attention the man that had followed you down the street, who now were just a few meters away from you, giving you an opportunity to see an emblem on the man’s chest with the initials APD. Aethalian Police Department. What was it now?
“I believe I must see the registration papers of your vehicle, as well as your driving license,” the officer said as he got closer to you, reaching out his hand. Registration papers?
“What do you mean registration? It’s just a skateboard,” you inquired, crossing your arms over your chest in disbelief.
“It might have been a skateboard, but as soon as that engine was put on it, it became a vehicle. Now, do you have a driving license?” he answered, retracting his hand and began noting something down in his note block.
“I don’t have one,” you answered, as true as it was. The officer nodded, jotted something down, and sighted.
“All right. You’re coming with me down to the station,” he said, and grabbed your arm, making you lose the board in the process, and he began dragging you away despite your struggling. You might have hit him somewhere, but you neither noticed nor cared.
The man from across the street had just arrived to where you and the officer were standing just minutes earlier, and picked up your board, looking after where you had gone.
“It is a criminal offence to injure a police officer, kid. Didn't you learn that in school?” the police officer said sternly, rubbing his hand on the sore spot on his cheek to soothe the burning pain.
You snorted, scowling at the officer and his smaller, and almost completely brass coloured companion. Had you not been mad at the officer, you would have complimented him on the good work on the robotic dog. The gears shone in the sparse light, making a small, rhythmic sound as it clicked around, with its steam engine inside it humming in the background, producing small, white steam towers from the pipes.
Currently, you were in the tiny, worn down interrogation room in the Aethalian police department, glaring at the very same police officer that had taken you there. A snicker escaped your closed mouth at the look of a red mark that had begun to form where your hand had made contact with his cheek earlier.
“Think you are a smarty-pants, huh? I promise you, you won’t be so smug when your parents are informed of this little ‘stunt’,” the officer continued, glaring back at you. Your glare faltered for a second by his statement.
“Now, what is your name, kid?” he asked, taking out a pen and a note block from his front-pocket of his vest.
“Wouldn't you like to know,” you replied coldly, crossing your arms tightly.
The officer sighted. “Look, you can either cooperate and make things easier for both of us, or you can continue this act of yours and force me to bring my supervisor down here,” he paused.
“And believe me; I would rather not do that”.
You were about to say something back, but were interrupted by a loud series of knocks on the door. The officer in front of you, with a confused expression evident in his face, turned around towards the door and opened it. He barely had time to brace himself, as right after he unlocked it and turned the doorknob around, the door burst open.
“Yo! Heard you found someone interesting down-town,” the strange man said loudly, a smile spread across his face as he laid his eyes on you. This man… For some reason, he seemed familiar.
Despite the protests from the officer, the stranger went straight up to you.
“How did you make the engine on that board?” he begun, taking your hand in his as he began shaking it.
“I've never thought about doing something like that! It is a bit simple, sure, but to actually make it work with so few components? I’m impressed!” he rambled on, leaving you stunned. Just who was this man?
‘Wait a minute,’ you thought… ‘Wasn't he the man from earlier today?’
“Alfred, I have told you countless times before; you are not allowed to enter interrogations rooms when they clearly are in use!” the officer behind the man – Alfred, as you just learned – interrupted.
“How did you even enter the building? I am sure you were permanently banned from ever entering this department after you nearly blew up the place last time,” the officer continued, as he grabbed on to the blonde man’s shirt, earning him a yelp of surprise from said man.
“Dude, calm down!” Alfred retorted, breaking free from the officers hold. The officer frowned at him. Ignoring him, Alfred returned to face you.
“The name’s Alfred F. Jones,” he continued excitably.
“Nice to meet you, I guess,” you replied uncertainly, as you examined him. Despite being tall, he was shorter than the officer was. He had short, ash blonde hair, which was somewhat hidden underneath a big pair of copper-coloured goggles, yet one lock of hair managed to sneak up. Oddly, he was also wearing a pair of glasses, framing his sky blue eyes. He grinned.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“I'm __________,” you answered, dumbfounded, noticing the police officer scribbling it down. Oh, shoot, you thought. Now the time of hiding it had all been wasted.
“Nice to meet you __________,” Alfred said, taking your arm again and you away from your thoughts. However, instead of shaking it, he pulled you out of the uncomfortable chair you sat on, and towards the door, which had not been closed after he entered. Before he could exit, though, the officer stood between the door and you two.
“She is still charged for trying to run away and hitting a police officer in duty,” the male said firmly. Alfred chuckled.
“Dude—I mean, sir,” Alfred begun, trying his best to stay somewhat serious.
“I understand you feeling down for almost losing to __________,” the police officer looked like he was about to protest, but Alfred continued.
“But you don’t need to be so strict to yourself. Loosen up a bit. Things like this happens all the time here, you know? How do you expect anyone to be able to distinguish between an honourable police officer like yourself and a low-life robber in the dark of night?”
The officer wavered for a second, giving Alfred and you enough time to slip past him and run out of the room and the police department. In the background, you could faintly hear the officer shout something at you, but Alfred’s laugh made it hard to hear what he said.
Some minutes later, the two of you stopped running, standing in an alleyway, darkened by the suns absence, panting. Well, you were panting. Alfred seemed like he was used to this type of running, as he barely looked like he had broken a sweat. You used your newly free hand – he had let go of your hand after you ceased running – to comb away the hair strands that had gotten in front of your eyes.
As you began to regain your breath, you looked at him.
“Thanks for helping me out of there,” you said, giving him a weak smile.
“No problem; it’s what a hero should do, saving people in distress,” he replied, as he clenched his fist and made a thumb up towards you. Your smile turned into a frown at his statement. As you turned around, ready to walk away from the man, you felt a hand on your shoulder.
“Wait a moment,” Alfred said, turning you around to face him again.
“Where are you going?” he asked, his grin faltering somewhat.
“Well, I would like to get home and sleep, since it is, as you probably can look around you, almost the middle of the night,” you replied, as a matter of fact. Alfred seemed taken aback by your answer, letting go of his grip on your shoulder. You took a step away, still facing him.
“Look; I'm thankful for you busting me out of that place, but I don’t know you. You are just a stranger. For all I know you could just be some kind of crazy person. Didn't that officer say you nearly levelled that place down to the ground?” you continued. By the look of things, your statement really made an impact on the man.
Sighting, he pushed his glasses further up his nose.
“Now that you've become an ‘acquaintance’ of the police, they will probably not take it lightly when you are taken in again; don’t look at me like that, you know it will happen!” You scowled at him, as he put his arms up, as to defend himself.
“Wouldn't you be safer with someone who could get you out of a situation like that? Also, with my work, you would be able to test out all these awesome gears!” he went on, his grin returned to his face.
“Still doesn't change the fact that you are a bomber”.
“That was just a one-time accident. Clocks usually don’t explode when you tinker with them,” he retorted, his arms again in a defensive position, before adding lowly, his gaze diverted from you, “I think?”
You face-palmed.
“So anyway,” he resumed quickly, holding out a hand for you. Your gaze switched between looking at his arm and his face, as the light from the passing road vehicles slowly lighted up his face.
“__________, will you become my assistant? I could really need someone like you, who thinks outside the box. Oh, and if you’re worried about the pay and some place to live, I promise that it’ll be enough for whatever basic needs you might have. And I have a place for you to live too.”
“You’re going to stalk me home and ask me until I give in, aren't you?” you sighted. His grin grew slightly, not noticeable, but you knew. You took his hand, and shook it.
“Sure, why not? It’s not as if I have any other choices. And I still need to get back my skateboard,” you continued, before pausing. “Come to think about it, what is it even that you do?”
When you had come home to your parents later that night, you had received a big scolding for not telling them that you had planned to be out for so long. Their worry didn’t diminish when you told them that you had found a job with a stranger you had just met, but after some discussion, they reluctantly approved, even though it was purely formalities. You were, after all, a grown up person.
And this is how you came to know Alfred, one of many inventors in Aethali, or, as he preferred to call himself, a gadgeteer, not that there was any difference between the two, and began your work as his assistant, up in the clouds on his workshop-like airship.
And true to his words, he did have many amazing gadgets, most of which he had created. When you first started, he told you about most of them, especially about a pair of goggles that, despite looking unassuming, with its copper coloured tubes and small cylinders with some sort of blue light emitting from them, would enable the wearer to read this so-called ‘atmosphere’ Alfred had heard so much about. For some reason, though, it did not work for him. He also helped you fix the skateboard you had made, making the engine stronger and more durable, giving the two of you a little project before the real work begun.
During the weeks that followed, you learned more about both Alfred and his work. Alfred had grown up another town, Ceimara**, but had to move to Aethali because his home-town lacked the possibilities he needed to further his career as a gadgeteer.
“It doesn't pass a single day that I wouldn't miss good old Ceimara,” he would comment, with nostalgia in his eyes, before you both resumed work.
Every day followed almost the same routines. You would get up as the sun raised, casting a warm, orange shine over the Zeppelins in the sky, before you would help Alfred with whatever he would be stuck in when trying to reach for the gears that were just within reach. After eating you would work again, until the tiredness took hold of you, and both of you went to sleep. Then came the next morning, and the morning after that.
“Hey __________, what do you think about this?”
You looked towards Alfred, staring at the blueprint he held up for you to see. The design itself was good, but what he wanted to make…
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to build a time-travelling machine,” you answered.
“Oh, come on! Just think of all the possibilities! One can alter the course of history to improve the conditions of humankind!” he retorted excitedly, not wanting to back down.
“But it could also be misused. The greed of humans would surely take control, and then everything would spiral out of control,” you sighted, putting down the screwdriver you were holding.
“You better drop the idea.”
He put his hand behind his neck, trying to calm down his excitement.
“Yeah, you’re right. It’s just that it would be so cool.”
“But hey, how about we celebrate tonight?” he asked, as he put the blueprint of a machine never to be made away.
“Celebrate what?”
“The time you’ve worked with me, of course! How long has it been, a month? Two?”
“I think it’ll be three months tomorrow,” you counted on your fingers.
“Then it’s decided! We just need to buy some food, and we’ll throw a little party of ourselves to celebrate!” he said, and began to write something down on a piece of paper. Walking towards him, you could recognise it being a shopping list. When he stopped writing, he looked over the note a final time, before handing it to you.
“Here you go! Be back before the dark, okay?” he said, and went back to work. Just like him to push anything that does not involve machines over to you. Then again, you were his assistant.
You grabbed your coat, and headed towards the elevator. You were lucky the airship would stay almost completely still mid-air, so you were able to get down to the ground without having to land the whole airship.
“Well then, I’m off!” you said, as the doors on the elevator closed before you, taking you down to the ground below.
Although the sky was cloudy, you could still see that it was darkening as you closed up on the airship. It had taken longer than you anticipated to buy all the things you needed, but in the end, you found them all. Taking the elevator up, you looked through the bags. Was this not a little too much for just the two of you? Then again, Alfred did eat a lot.
However, as you arrived to the final and only stop, you felt like something was off. First off, it was too silent for a place Alfred would be in. Secondly, why were the lights off?
“That’s weird,” you muttered, as you entered the main room. However, no Alfred was there to welcome you back, as he usually did when you stepped outside. Your sense of uneasiness soon developed into one of worry when you noticed a note stuck on the table.
If you wish to see your lovely friend again, bring the blueprints of his newest invention to the
address written down below. It will be a pleasure doing business with you.
Love
A. K.
True to what the letter wrote, an address was written below the signature. The address, you recognised, belonged to that of another airship. No time to waste, you thought, and brought up the blueprint from its hiding place with the other rejected ideas. Whoever taking Alfred had not tried to look after it too much, as most in the room was left more or less untouched. Before setting off, you grabbed your skateboard, and went off again. Time to repay a favour.
Arriving outside a landed airship, you were immediately confronted by a male, probably one of the kidnapper’s henchmen, despite looking like he was no older than sixteen. After looking you over, probably to ensure that you had not brought anything dangerous with you, he opened the door, and stepped out of your way.
“Like, good luck,” was all he said, before closing the door behind you, leaving you to face the lions nest alone.
After walking down the cramped hallway for a minute, you arrived at a more spacious room. The walls were lined up with books, and in the middle of the room were two sets of chairs and a table. Sitting in the chair facing you, drinking a cup of tea, you guessed, sat another male, this one with blonde locks and emerald eyes, although his eyes were weighted down by something dark and large above them, probably his eyebrows judging by the location. He was wearing a quite elegant purple suit, with a brass coloured brooch inlayed with an emerald on his white tie. You held the rolled up blueprint in a firmer grasp.
“How nice of you to drop by. I believe you have something there for me, or am I mistaken?” he said, putting his cup on the table, and stood up. Walking towards you, he held out his hand, before retreating it.
“Ah, but how rude of me. We have not even introduced each other. Well, let us get the formalities out of the way, shall we? My name is Arthur Kirkland,” he bowed, looking into your eyes.
“And what about you?”
“I’m __________,” you answered uncertain.
“What a lovely name! Now, I am sure you have more important things to do today other than keeping me company, so let us keep this short and simple, hm?” he asked, not even waiting for your answer before continuing.
“I can see you have the blueprints in your hands as well. Marvellous! Now, give them to me, and we can both go our merry ways.” He reached out his hands to grab the papers, but you stepped back.
“Where’s Alfred?” you asked. “I am not giving you this until I see him. Alive,” you added holding up the blueprints above your head. Sighting, he snapped his fingers, and as he did that, two men holding back Alfred showed up.
“__________!” he shouted, struggling to break free.
“Alfred!” You began to walk towards him, but the sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted halted your way.
“I believe we agreed you would give me the blueprints if certain conditions were met, correct? Now, hand them over,” Arthur said, his impatience growing. You turned around, and held out the papers.
“Here. Take it. Just let me and Alfred go,” you threw it towards him, which he got a hold of mid-air. You turned towards Alfred, who had been released of the hold of the men. You immediately grabbed a hold of his arm, and began walking towards the exit.
“__________, are you sure that was a good idea?” he said, but you just stared right ahead, about to open the door leading out when an angry shout was heard.
“The blueprint is blank! Get those two twits back here right away!” Arthur’s voice travelled through the hallway. Alfred’s eyes widened.
“You didn’t…”
“Do you really believe I would let anyone get those blueprints? Let alone someone who was obviously more than a little interested in them?” you said triumphantly, and opened the door. All went according to your plan. Well, save for the fact that the airship was about to take off.
“Oh, great, what to do now?” you pondered aloud. You could hear footsteps nearing the two of you.
“If you have a plan, it would really fit to do it now. Just saying,” Alfred said, panic evident in his voice.
“I think I have one, but I’m not sure you’ll like it,” you answered, taking off your backpack and retrieving your skateboard.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“We should still be low enough to get down safely. Now, hop on and hold yourself onto me,” you said, taking on your goggles as you stood on the board. Alfred, not seeing another way, did as you said, and no sooner, the hum of the board’s engine filled the sound between the two of you, as you launched out of the airship and towards the ground.
“I can’t believe you two did something so dangerous! It’s almost as awesome as something I would do!”
Several years had passed since the kidnapping, and you and Alfred were both attending a meeting along with many other inventors. The story of your little adventure had reached several of their ears, including the man they were talking to now, as it was impossible for you to hide it, since it would require another explanation just as logical for your brass coloured right arm, humming a low, but familiar sound.
After the two of you had gotten off the airship, with the skateboard just touching the ground, it had flung both you and Alfred off of it. For him it went better, with only a few broken bones and some scrapes, but you had landed with all the force against the right arm, mangling your arm in the process. Some spectators had seen you land, and went to help you to the nearest hospital, where the doctors declared that they would be unable to save your arm.
Deciding it would be better to just remove it than to let it get infected, they did just so, giving you a surprise when you woke up and only being able to feel your left arm. The people that had helped you two to the hospital had also brought along most of the mangled pieces of your skateboard, so as soon as you could get out of the bed, you began working, fumbling with only your left arm with the parts.
And by the time you were allowed to leave the hospital, a familiar brass colour was stuck where your right arm used to be.
“It certainly was interesting, but I don’t think I would want to do something like that again,” you laughed, smiling. Alfred laughed as well, before putting his arms around your waist and hugged you from behind.
"But I was lucky to have my own hero right beside me all this time," Alfred joked, smirking.
Word count: 4 178
For a long time I have wanted to try my hands on writing a fanfiction, so I hope this attempt falls to everyone's taste.
Regardless, I enjoyed writing it ^v^
Some notes:
* Aethali: An anagram of Hetalia
** Ceimara: An anagram of America
The characters mentioned in the story comes from Hetalia, which belongs to Himuraya Hidekaz
Story written by begitte, aka me.
