Billy Squire

"We were a respectable movement that fought for our cause with respectable means. It was the state that turned violent against us. So I'm not taking criticism from a member of the establishment. I'm gonna see to it that they reap what they've sown."

- Billy Squire in Chapter 72

Billy Squire (ビリー・スクワイア) is the former leader of the Red Circus, and the main antagonist of the Red Circus Arc.

Appearance
Billy is a tall man with medium length hair and narrow eyes. He wears a black knit cap, a black shirt, and a jacket with the initials of the Red Circus on its left shoulder. He seems to have pale skin with some stubble on his chin.

Before joining the Red Circus, Billy had much shorter hair and was a clean-shaven man.

Personality
Billy is a cold and hardened man bent on punishing the state for wronging the people and his allies. He is willing to do anything for his goals, even taking young students as hostages. In addition to his hatred of the state, Billy has a disdain for the elite upper class, seeing them as selfish and spoiled people and believed that trait was carried on to their children. Despite his demeanor, Billy has a soft spot for children as they remind him of his late daughter, Biddy, who was also a member of the Circus and killed in a protest.

It is later revealed that Billy was once an upstanding man who taught Biddy how to be a good person and instilled in her the importance of helping others. After Biddy's death, Billy became distraught, and after joining the Red Circus, pretended to forget about her to keep his anger and reason for living from melting away. While being aware that the group's methods were wrong, Billy chose to do nothing about it.

During the hijacking of the Eden Academy buses, Billy witnesses Anya Forger and the other student hostages fearlessly standing up for each other, despite their situation. Their acts make Billy recall his memories with his daughter and the lessons he taught her, causing Billy to have a change of heart. Wanting to redeem himself as a father, he decides to turn himself in to the police, taking full responsibility for the kidnappings.

History
As shown in a photograph, Billy was a soldier before settling down to live with his wife and daughter, Biddy. At some point, Billy's wife disappeared from the family for unknown reasons, leaving Billy to raise Biddy on his own and teach her good morals and to be a caring and helpful young woman.

Because of her desire to help others, Biddy became an active member of the Red Circus (which was still a student movement at the time) and prepared to leave for one of their protests. Fearing that the group was shady and the government's strictness with protests, Billy worried his daughter would get hurt, or worse, and attempted to talk her out of going. Intending to be there, Biddy declared that while she is not scared to die for what she knows is right, she is of living in a world where no one is allowed to criticize what is wrong. After Biddy continued to ignore his pleas, Billy stated that he only wanted to keep their family safe. Later, Billy would find Biddy's corpse from the aftermath of the protest. As her father, Billy became marked by the SSS and was offered help by the Red Circus to get out of the country.

Over time, Billy became the leader of the Red Circus, which changed to be more extreme in their methods. After most of the group were eliminated by both the SSS and the assassin group, Garden, Billy hid outside Ostania. He would later return to command a faction in Berlint in order to realize the Red Circus' goal of retrieving their captive members and finding refuge in a neutral country.

Red Circus Arc
Billy boards a Eden Academy school bus with a partner, and immobilizes the dorm tutor who was in the bus as the students' chaperone. He learns that a car is going after them, so he heads to the back of the bus with a shotgun, opens the window, then shoots at the car. The shells hit the car's front tire, causing it to crash. One of the students screams out in fear, but Billy points his gun at her to shut her up. Billy then turns to the rest of the students and introduces himself and his group as the Red Circus, and that their bus is now hijacked.

Billy walks back to the driver's seat with the shotgun, scaring all the children. Billy notices Bill Watkins standing up and starts talking, so he points the gun at him to shut him up. Billy begins to tell them that he knows how important their parents are, calling out Eden students by their surnames and for the work of their parents. He says they were born and raised as the elite, which makes them valuable hostages, and tells them to pray that their parents use the power they have to rescue them. Later, Billy hears Anya Forger randomly shouting that she has to go to the bathroom and cannot hold it any longer, and he tells her to hold it in. A while after, Damian Desmond approaches Billy and tells him he has to poo, and that his eyelashes twitch whenever he gets an upset stomach, getting Billy to wonder if Eden is "a moron factory." As Billy grabs the boy by his collar, he notices Anya and Becky Blackbell opening the window and throwing something outside, angering Billy. He grabs a strange collar and puts it on Anya, and tells all the students that it is a bomb, and if anyone on the bus tries to act against them, he will detonate it along with the girl.

After watching Anya worrying for her life, he thinks to himself that the bomb is fake but he will use his last resort plan if they decide to plan anything else, but still warns her to stay put. Sometime later, Billy sees Damian get up and asks for the bomb to be attached to him instead. Billy acknowledges his courage, so he decides to put another bomb on him instead of changing it. Moments later, they are interrupted by a loud pop, and the bus starts to swerve around. The bus makes a stop, and the police surround the bus shortly after.

Billy and his squad are surprised to see that the Berlint City Police found them. The children, noticing the police cars outside, excitedly get up from their seats, but Billy stops them by shooting his pistol at the ceiling, threatening that if anyone tries to leave, he will shoot them. Over a megaphone, the police tell the Red Circus members to surrender. Billy asks Vadim if they can break through, but he replies that it will be impossible with their flat tires. The woman then warns Billy that the SSS is coming from the other side, so with no other choice, he grabs black sheets from his bag and orders the students to cover the windows. Then, Billy walks out with Damian and tells them that if they plan on doing anything, he will blow up the kid with everyone inside the bus. Billy states his two demands: to free all his comrades in prison and to give all of them safe passage to the country of Nortica. He adds that he will release five students for each comrade the police free.

Back in the bus, Vadim scolds Billy for not making a bigger threat to the kids, but Billy says that as soon as they give the police a deadline, the SSS will start storming the bus, so what they can do now is stall for time, which would cause parents to start putting pressure on the government. After being held for too long, Billy notices some of the students squirming, so he orders anyone who needs to use the bathroom raise their hand as they will go outside to do their business at the shrubs, one at a time. Emile Elman quickly raises his hand, and Billy reminds him not to run away. The two go outside, and after Emile finishes doing his business, he admits being embarrassed at having to do it outside like this, and Billy says he has led a charmed life and to thank his parents for that. Afterward, they go back to the bus.

Billy notices more people in the area, so he gets off the bus and asks the agents for the council's answer, where they reply that they are still deciding but, in the meantime, would like to bring food and water to the students. Billy agrees as long as a teacher is the one who delivers the food. As Henry Henderson gets escorted to the bus, he notices the tutor being seriously injured, so he tells Billy he needs to go to a hospital. Billy declines, but after Henry negotiates to keep him in custody in exchange for releasing the dorm tutor, Billy agrees and proceeds to tie up Henry and release the tutor.

Billy stares at the children with a tender look as they are chatting and eating. Henry asks him if he has children, to which he replies a daughter. Henry tries to appeal to Billy's parental side to make him free the students, but Billy interrupts him and reveals that his daughter was murdered by the state, as she was also a member of the group. He explains how the Red Circus was originally a student movement asking for peace and equality, but the state went violent against them. He tells Henry that he will not take any criticism from a member of the establishment, and will make sure the state will reap what they have sown.

Looking at the children reminds Billy of his daughter and his final moments with her before her death. Tired of waiting like sitting ducks, Vadim suggests to Billy that they get their partner, Bruce, to get moving with the second bus. Because they are avoiding radio contact to prevent giving away his location, Bruce's hostages are their trump card. Later, the SSS captain announces to the Red Circus members that their comrades from the second bus are all dead. He tells them to surrender if they do not wish to meet the same fate as them, giving them until dawn to make their choice. Billy is shaken and simply says they failed. Vadim and their partner tell him not to give up already, Vadim reminding him of their friends, goals of reviving the Red Circus and teaching Ostania a lesson, and his daughter, so Billy agrees to keep going with the plan.

Anya approaches Billy, who wonders if she needs to use the bathroom, and tells her to hold it in. Unexpectedly, Anya says she is hungry and asks for more rations, shocking everyone. Billy yells at her and threatens to detonate her bomb. Anya is undeterred and says she is not afraid, mirroring Biddy's speech. This unnerves Billy as he begins to see his daughter in Anya. He begins to think about Biddy's words, and Anya suddenly repeats some of those words. Billy snaps and removes the bomb from Anya, telling her to leave, as the girl is making him lose his resolve. However, Anya refuses, to everyone's shock once again. Billy yells at her, saying that the Eden students are selfish elites, but recalls Damian and Emile's courage for their classmates. Anya demands more of the rations, making Billy believe that the children are not eating enough at home. Billy's misunderstanding continues, thinking that even Donovan Desmond has fallen low since losing power and that Ostania's economy has collapsed with a food shortage while he was out of the country.

Astonished by Anya's selflessness, Billy asks why she is so concerned about the food and if she is being forced to do this. Anya replies that she wants to make a world where kids don't need to cry, and Billy is shocked by this noble goal. Even more shaken, Billy starts contemplating that by labeling the students as elites, he is furthering inequality. However, Vadim asks if he has forgotten about his daughter and tells him that if he wants equality, he must make their enemies know the pain of losing a child, aiming his gun at Anya. Billy flashes back to the past, to the time when Biddy got scratched while trying to equally distribute food amongst the neighborhood cats because she cannot bear to hear anyone cry. Billy is proud of his daughter but realizes she used their food from the pantry to feed the cats again. Biddy giggles and reminds him that he taught her to "Be a giver, not a taker. Help each other up, don't hold each other down." Because Billy has always been teaching her these ideals, Biddy is proud to be the person she has become.

Back in the present, Billy realizes that he has never forgotten about his daughter but pretended to keep his anger, his reason to live, from melting away. Vadim says there is no time to waver, but Billy takes their guns and bags, then steps outside the bus. Billy knows that the Red Circus' methods are wrong but did nothing to stop them. However, he refuses to let his daughter die again, as he still wants to be able to call himself a dad. Billy puts down the weapons and surrenders, shocking everyone. Vadim yells at him to get back inside, but Billy tells the forces that he is the sole planner of the operation and to be lenient with his comrades as he coerced them into joining him.

As his partner steps out of the bus, Vadim attempts to take off. However, he gets quickly apprehended by the police and Martha. As the Red Circus members get taken away, Billy takes a quick look back to see a smiling Anya waving to a crying Becky, who rushes to her and Martha.

Skills
Weapon Proficiency: Billy has good aim and a good handling of guns, as he was able to shoot the tire of the car that was chasing them while the bus was moving. He also brought a variety of weapons with him when he got on the bus, like the taser he used to knock out the dorm tutor, or the two fake collar bombs he put on Anya and Damian.

Biddy Squire
Like any father, Billy loves his daughter dearly and always did his best to keep her safe. He raised her with the mindset of helping and supporting those who need it most, as he wanted his daughter to become a person with great values. Upon learning of her death, he was devastated and decided to avenge her, joining the Red Circus. He set out to hijack two school buses to pressure the government to release all the Red Circus members they have in jail and put pressure on them. He later realizes that his methods were wrong and that he really faked all that anger as he was afraid of forgetting his daughter. But in truth, he realizes he will never forget his Biddy, so he decides to surrender to the police and deal with the consequences because he still wants to be called her dad.

Anya Forger
At first, Billy was shown to be somehow uninterested in Anya as his priority was to have under vigilance the children with the elite parents, but the moment she throws something outside the school bus window, he gets angered and tries to threaten all the kids by putting a fake bomb on Anya. Even after this attempt, Anya does not hesitate to stand up in front of him and makes him remember why he joined the Red Circus in the first place: for his daughter. After seeing Biddy in Anya, he tries to set her free out of guilt, but Anya refuses again. After she tells him her motivation for acting this way, Billy is shocked by her noble goal. Billy begins to realize that he never forgot about Biddy and surrenders to the authorities, thinking to himself that he cannot allow his daughter to die a second time, referring to Anya.

Henry Henderson
Billy thinks of Henderson merely as a hostage, and when Henry attempts to reason with him by appealing to his parental side, Billy tells the headmaster that he will not take any criticism from a member of the establishment.

Chapter Appearances

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Trivia

 * His name is a reference to the American rock musician Billy Squier.
 * Billy is the third villain who have used bombs as resource, with the other ones being Keith Kepler and Snoops.
 * Oddly enough, Billy is the second antagonist who attached an explosive to one of the Forgers, the other being Keith, who wanted to turn Bond Forger and other dogs into suicide bombers as part of his assassination plot.

Quotes

 * (To himself) “The Red Circus methods are wrong. I've never had any delusions about that. And yet I never did a thing to stop them. But I can't… I can't stand by… and let my daughter die a second time. Because I still want to be able to call myself her dad.”