Full Metal Alchemist Fan Fiction
Snake
By Kraven Ergeist
Alphonse Elric really couldn't complain. It was an interesting world he now lived in. It had a few things that were different, a few things that were the same. The same people walked under the same sky. Everybody did the same things. They had grew up and got jobs. They made love and war. They got married and had families. And they all died at the end of it all.
Of course, the differences were as profound as the similarities. There were different Gods. There were different languages. There were different foods and clothes and cultures. Valid contrivances, all of them - just…different.
Al couldn't have said he didn't miss the things he'd left behind in his old world. His home. Winry, Rose, all the people he used to know. All the memories that had once been so faint to him, would now be the last keepsakes he would ever have of that world. But he had his brother. That was what was important.
He did miss alchemy though, even while a part of him was glad to be rid of it. He had studied it all his life – and while studying alchemy also involved hard understanding of chemistry, physics, biology, calculus, engineering, and many other studies that would still be useful to draw upon in this world – to not be able to capitalize on or much less even use the one field of study you had devoted your life to and been so good at…
He definitely missed alchemy. But his other knowledge and skills would see him through. Especially sticking with Edward, who must have known twice as much as he did. The fields of science in this world were about on par with that of their old world – it had a few things theirs didn't, and vice versa, but were more or less balanced – and two brothers who were as versed as they were would have no problem finding a place in the world.
Especially on a quest like theirs.
Al sighed. Saving the world, one scientific misdemeanor at a time. His brother had devised a plan to keep science from getting out of hand. They'd move to urban areas, where universities produced some of the world's finest scientific minds, or find some of the older, more experienced minds out in the rural areas, tinkering with whatever they could come up with to bide their time. It honestly astonished Al to think on the number of dangerous items a single creative mind could concoct. The number of labs he and Edward had sabotaged, either from inside – playing the role of eager young lab techs – or out, using their more devious background, or hired help, to break, enter and destroy whatever the world didn't need to see for another couple of decades.
Alphonse switched his grocery bag to his other hand. Day two in Paris France, and he'd eluded more piles of canine excrement on the streets than he cared to count. The city had its sights to be sure, but it had an underbelly that reeked of urine and bad cheese. And the housing was tiny, not that he really minded. As transients, moving from place to place, a week in a crappy apartment was a good week. They could just as easily sleep on a train or under a bridge or in a hay cart for all their luck.
"Oof!"
No, it was not the low class housing or the smell of rotten fish, or the panhandlers and prostitutes on the streets who might as soon rob you as rip you off that bothered Alphonse Elric as much as what came careening into him at that moment, knocking the paper bag he carried to the street, depositing its contents of baguettes, cheese and link-sausage all over the dirty city streets.
"Hey, watch it shrimp!"
Ordinarily, Alphonse would apologize in such a situation, but his brother had warned him ahead of time about Paris – never trust a passerby on the street who just happens to run into you. Chances are, you've already been mugged.
"Hey, wait!" Alphonse got quickly to his feet and followed deftly after the stranger who had so carelessly knocked him over.
The passerby quickly turned a corner, and Al caught a quick glimpse of blonde hair. Leaving his soiled groceries behind, he followed after him as he turned a corner, clearly running. Alphonse cursed, quickly patting down his pockets. His pocketbook was gone. Damn it, this wasn't what he signed up for when he came to this city! He and his brother split their cumulative funds down the middle – the thief was about to get away with half their money for their entire trip!
He spotted the patch of blond and followed the pickpocket across the street, dodging passing motorcars that blared their horns in alarm. He ignored them, bolting after the thief, crying out "Arrette! Arrette!" the French word for stop.
The thief didn't stop. Instead, he turned another corner, and Al followed after him just in time to see him barrel up the inner corner of a building to grab the ledge of the drainpipes and scramble onto the rooftop.
Al cursed under his breath. This is the kind of situation he really missed using alchemy for. If he could, he could have easily trapped the thief in a stone grip or turned the walls to sand. Something!
Instead, he had to mimic the move and rappel up the perpendicular walls to try for the ledge. Alphonse wasn't an athlete by any stretch of the term, and it was by sheer blind luck that he even managed to get a grip on the drainpipe. The sharp metal grate cut into his hands and he winced. But he held on. Grimacing as blood dripped down his wrists, he managed to get his elbows up onto the rooftop.
"You must really want this back, huh?"
Alphonse nearly fell. The taunting voice looming above him was distinctly familiar – and feminine.
When he looked up, he saw Marta dangling his pocketbook over his head like a cat-toy.
Then he really did fall, a pile of trash his only buffer against the hard ground. He barely felt it. His eyes were still focused on Marta's face as she winced, mockingly.
"Oooh…bad fall…"
Alphonse was still stunned. It was Marta! How could she be here now!? She was dead! He'd seen her die! He'd felt her die inside of his armored body all those years ago!
Wait…Ed had told him about this. Some people's faces crossed over the gate! They had no knowledge or basis for their other worldly counterparts. Just their faces.
"M…Marta…"
The woman standing on the rooftop above him either didn't hear him or didn't care. As if to spite him, her attention was fully on his pocket book, rummaging through it.
"Alphonse Heidrich, hmm?" she said absently, glancing at his card. "You here on vacation? Here to see the wonder and beauty of Paris? Bet this wasn't in your plans, huh? Life sure sucks sometimes."
She plucked the money out of the pocketbook and folding it up, tossing it back down at him, landing unceremoniously on his chest.
"Better luck next time…" she winked at him, before dashing out of sight.
Alphonse couldn't get up. He couldn't even take hold of his now money-less pocketbook he was so stunned. That had been Marta! She looked exactly the same! With the exception of her tattoo and hunting knife, she was a spitting image! She still wore a black tank top and army pants! Her hair even looked the same! Everything about her was just…
Alphonse caught his breath and picked up his pocket book. She had only taken the money – his cards, travel papers, and everything else were still in there, which was a silver lining, he supposed. His papers were all to Alphonse Heidrich – since coming, he'd adopted his erstwhile otherworldly counterpart's identity, having already being in good academic standing, which was easier and more convenient than forging an identity out of scratch. It had taken over a year to match Heidrich's expertise on rocketry so he could account for any knowledge he'd be expected to have.
Alphonse got to his feet and brushed himself off and absently slipped his pocketbook into his coat. His thoughts were still on Marta. She was alive! Seeing her like this made him feel so nostalgic. She even had her same smart mouth she always used to have. But remembering how she'd died…it tore at his heart. She'd been inside of him – a part of him almost! And even though he had been the one stabbed…the blade had cut Marta. She bled through him, as though he was bleeding her blood. She had died inside of him, through him, as he had been made to feel the pain of death, but not die, to feel the fear, the helplessness as the living flesh and blood inside of him turned cold.
He wanted to follow her, let her know everything was alright, that he was sorry for…
Alphonse shook his head. No, she wasn't Marta. Not really. She wasn't the same person. Her memories were all her own. Even if the Marta he knew would have looked at him, and been surprised that the suit of armor had become this unassuming blond haired kid…this one wouldn't. She just saw him as another passerby on the street, an unlucky victim for her to leech off of to try to get by.
It broke his heart, to suddenly see her again, only to be splashed in the face with the realization that she was still dead, and this other was just a face.
Like the homunculus, Sloth.
Alphonse turned to go. He'd had his fill of doppelgangers. He had seen his mother impersonated and succumbed to her childishly. He would not do the same for Marta, unwitting temptress though she may be, he would not allow her to play with his feelings.
Never again.
Empty handed and broke, he made his way to their apartment.
xxxxx
Ed sighed.
"Al…didn't I tell you not to travel with all your money in the same pocket? Always keep it divided – either in a spare wallet or at home. Otherwise, this sort of thing can happen."
Al sighed, biting his lip. "I understand, Nii-san."
Ed shook his head. They had been living out of a suitcase for the better part of a year, going from place to place, and the constant shift in their surroundings wasn't good for either of their nerves. True, they had done the same thing back home, but at least then, they always had the assurance in the back of their minds that they at least had a home to go back to.
Ed and Al sat at what sufficed as a kitchen table in their apartment. It was also the dining room table, living room table, and bedside table, as it was the only table in the entire complex. Splitting the rooms up meant every room was a bedroom, and both brothers had to fold up what served as their bed each morning. This was, of course, because Noah got the only actual bed in the entire apartment.
"Well, I didn't have much to work with, but I think I fixed something edible," the dark skinned gypsy girl said as she carried out a steaming pot. "When in doubt, make soup. It should hopefully keep you guys going for the night."
Alphonse winced at the mention of their lack of foodstuffs. "I'm so sorry, Noah! If I hadn't lost our groceries…"
"Don't worry about it, Al," Noah smiled. "Trust me, I've kept more people fed on a lot less than what we've got. Believe me, we are far from living meager lives."
Noah had been traveling with Ed and Al throughout their journey through Western Europe since they left the caravan. The others had been sad to see her go, but Noah had been adamant. The brothers' mission followed near enough to a nomadic lifestyle that it really wasn't that big of a change for her, and she had taken it upon herself to look after Alphonse and Edward as well as make up for what they had been through, and her part in it all.
In the beginning, she had been more focused on Al, some part of her still believing that it was her chance to make up for things after Heinrich's death. But along the way, Al noticed, her attentions had been shifting more and more towards his brother. All of which he had all but failed to noticed, of course.
Al sighed.
"So, everything set for tonight?" Noah asked.
Ed nodded. "Most of it. Though I'm really going to have to scrape our funds together if we hope to make a decent bargain."
Al bowed, nearly dipping his hair into his soup bowl. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"Calm down!" Ed chided. "We all learn from our mistakes. Next time, be more careful."
Alphonse frowned. Though he'd told Ed about being pick-pocketed, he didn't mention that the perpetrator had a very familiar face.
"What about those stones we picked up from Spain a few months ago?" Noah offered. "We could bargain with those."
Ed frowned. "Those things? They're minerals, might as well be fool's gold – not worth a thing."
Noah shrugged. "So? A band of brigands might not know the difference."
Ed shook his head. "An unprofessional band of brigands, maybe. But pros know what to look for – they know what's valuable and what's not. It's more than likely they'd be able to spot fakes. And trying to pull the wool over their eyes might not put us in good standing."
Noah sighed. "I see…"
Alphonse groaned. "Why are we hiring mercenaries again, Nii-san?"
Ed sighed. As mature as Al had grown, he was still such a kid sometimes. Sitting back, Ed withdrew a black and white photograph and set it down on the table.
Al and Noah stared hard at it, noticing some kind of oversized vehicle with treads instead of wheels, and what looked like armor plating and a triangular shaped nose that looked like it could ram through a brick wall.
"This," Ed said grimly. "Is called the Schneider Chassis. It's an armored vehicle, designed to turn the tide on the war everyone feels is yet to come. It's still in pre-production, this is just a prototype. If this thing gets put on the factory line, it'll change the shape of warfare as we know it. What I'm planning to do is break into the facility where this abomination is housed and destroy it, along with all the plans."
Noah and Al looked at their companion nervously.
"You've actually been planning something on this scale?" Al quipped. "Nii-san…overlooking the fact that this could easily be called terrorism…you're talking about taking a government facility and destroying it! Nii-san, we're pacifists, not revolutionaries! We can't just destroy every piece of modern technology that comes out! This is going too far!"
"And besides," Noah added. "This is more dangerous than anything you've ever done! The farthest you've gone is wrecking a lab, where the only thing at stake was property damage and maybe a small chemical fire! You're talking about an armed raid against a military facility! Have you completely lost your mind? There's no way you'll be able to pull this off!"
Ed grinned. "I won't be joining this raid. None of us will. That's why we're hiring mercenaries. We find a group that's capable, experienced, and more importantly, has reason to want to disempower France's military. We give them a description of what we want to destroy, pay them well, and get out of dodge before it gets back to us. It couldn't be simpler. And if they fail, well, we can always find another group."
Al found it a little disturbing how nonchalantly Ed was taking this.
So did Noah. "Ed, you can't do this!"
"Why?" Ed frowned. "If this goes off without a hitch, no one's going to be hurt. The government will be down one facility, and there'll be one less piece of dangerous technology in the world."
"And if things go awry, think of how many people could be killed!" the gypsy grabbed him by the shoulders. "Ed, think about this! This isn't something you want to do!"
"Ed…" Al interrupted before Ed could rebuke her. Noah may be head over heels for him, but Al knew how his brother ticked. "How many mercenary groups would be crazy enough to take a job like this? Even if we could find a group that was willing, there'd be no way we could afford it!"
Al was just as opposed to this as Noah, but unlike Noah, he knew the only way to make Ed see the futility of his approach was to put it in a practical perspective.
Or so he thought.
"As luck would have it…" Ed smirked. "I've found just such a group…"
xxxxx
The Boise de Boulogne, the massive wooded area to the northwest of Paris was a little eerie at this time of night. Prostitutes and opium addicts lined the streets. The police who came their practically ignored the riffraff simply for their sheer numbers. It was the perfect place to hold a meeting that might ultimately end bloody.
"Who exactly did you find for this job, Nii-san?" Alphonse shivered in the night. The snug jacket he'd brought did little to stave off the cold chill of the wind, and Noah threw shame to the wind and huddled as close to Edward as was legally allowed in public. Strictly for warmth, of course.
"You'll see," Ed smiled, knowingly. "I found a group of ex-soldiers from Germany's Reichsheer from the World War, all very eager to put France its place after their surrender at Compiègne, and for a very reasonable price."
Alphonse offered a helpless look to Noah, who just frowned and bit her lip. It had seemed like a good idea at the time to question the feasibility of Ed's plan, but now that seemed to be coming into fruition…
"Don't take another step!" a voice came out from within the trees.
Al and Noah jerked in surprise. Edward, for his part, just raised his hands calmly.
"Peace, Geiz…" he said, nonchalantly. "You don't want to shoot your financier, do you?"
Alphonse did not feel in any way unjustified in backing up a few steps when he saw the face that emerged from the darkness. Noah looked equally afraid, and she didn't even recognize him.
Al did.
It was Greed - or at least, this world's version of Greed (or more precisely, the human he'd been intended to be). He wore a set of aviator glasses, bigger than the one's he'd worn in their old world, but somehow scarier. He still wore fur around his collar, ironically, although this time it was bound to a brown leather jacket instead of a vest. The most prominent difference, however, was the lit cigar that dangled carelessly in his mouth - that and the Mauser rifle hanging from his shoulder.
"You're the kids that wants us to blow up the French military complex?" Geiz said in a heavy German accent.
Ed smiled. "Whether or not the facility blows up is irrelevant to me. What I want destroyed lies in the facility. If you can't get to that, there's no deal."
Geiz took a puff from his cigar. "You want us to blow a base, we blow up a base. You want us to blow up the Eiffel Tower, we blow up the Eiffel Tower. If it lies within France, we blow up whatever you want us to blow up."
Al and Noah just gulped.
"What I wanted 'blown up' is this…" Ed handed Geiz the photograph of the Schneider Chassis. "And all records pertaining to it. It can't be allowed to assist the French in the upcoming war."
Ed grinned, seeing that his words had captured the mercenary's attention. He was speaking like a German nationalist – in truth, he could care less which side won the war (if there would even be one – which he honestly doubted) so long as the number of casualties weren't increased by science and technology.
Greed – Geiz – smiled at the photograph. "This here…this is French military weapon?"
Edward nodded. "The Kaiser already has the plans. What we need from you is to ensure the French can't fight on equal ground."
More nationalistic lies. Edward was honestly surprised at how readily he was pulling these out of his hat. As it was, he almost made it sound like he was a German spy hiring outside help. For the world's sake, he hoped that's what Geiz believed – if Greed's look-alike got it in his head that it would be useful to steal the plans for Germany – or any other country – this whole operation was moot.
Geiz continued smiling at the picture, his teeth still sharpened to fangs in this world.
Ed shivered. Keep cool. Don't let on that you recognize him. Keep cool.
Geiz snapped his fingers and there was a rustling in the bushes.
"The facility you speak of is…to the west, yes?"
As he spoke, figures began to emerge from the woods.
"Yes…" Ed nodded. "In France's main military complex in La Defense."
One by one, the figures emerged from the woods, some carrying Mauser rifles, others carrying bayonets. One appeared to be carrying a flamethrower.
"I would like you to meet my comrades," Geiz said, gesturing to the brigands that stepped into view. "Once you've seen them, you will have no doubt in our abilities."
They were an assorted rabble, somewhat military, but were unkempt in a very unprofessional manner that simply screamed mercenary.
"Bido…"
A bald man stepped out carrying a Mauser rifle.
"Loa…"
A large man in a full jacket emerged carrying a sledgehammer.
"Dorochet…"
Then walked out a man with slicked back brown hair carrying a bayonet.
"…And Marta."
The blonde tank topped woman sauntered out, knife now worn around her belt.
Ed recognized them all immediately. The irony was threatening to cause him to burst into laughter. Noah just looked terrified.
And Al…
"Hey squirt…" Marta made a kissing motion in the air towards Al. "Small world, huh?"