The scientists checked and rechecked the Demenision Travel Device (here aftered referred to as DTD) and Angela nervously gripped and released the steering wheel as Maes Hughes,her legal gaurdian, gave her a set of instructions.
"Okay Ang, aside for the scientific exploration thing your doing, I want you to go see my wife,Gracia, and my daughter, Elicia. Tell them I'm okay. And if you by chance see Ed or Al, never call Edward short."He warned, leaning in through the rolled down window. Angela nodded. She had heard very little about Hughes' other life in the other world she was supposed to visit. She had heard small tid bits like, 'I used to have a daughter, you remind me of her' or 'You have the attention span of Edward'.
"Hey."Hughes put a hand on Angela's shoulder."You'll do fine. I promise."Angela stared at Maes. She gripped to that promise as the scientist ushered him away and comanded she rolled up the window. It was time.
...A little later in the "other demension"...
Angela was...surprised to say the least. Everything was normal,people looked normal, buildings looked normal. The sirens were barely audible over the music that was blasting from the car's stereo. People began to surround her. Curious, yet frightened, Angela opened the sun roof and grabbed her gun. Standing on the clean seats, she poked her outside.
"Come along peacefully and we won't hurt you!"yelled a black haired man wearing an old fashion military get up. Hey...all these people were wearing weird military outfits.
"Hey, does your name happen to be Roy Mustang?"Angela yelled back, remembering Hughes had a friend in the military.
"Who's asking?"he yelled. Angela tucked her gun into a belt loop.
"Oh, nobody. Maes just said that he had a friend named Roy Mustang."replied Angela causually. The crowd gasped.
"You know Maes Hughes?"asked a blonde girl who was holding a pistol.
"Well ya, you obviously do too. One sec."Angela killed the music and climbed out the door, grabbing a Dr. Pepper before exiting. She walked over to Mustang, noticing how light she felt and the air seemed cleaner as she breathed it in. The other officers avoided her like a plauge and kept a five foot distance between her and them. Angela rolled her eyes and opened the bottle,everyone screamed at the hissing.
"Jesus, calm down it's soda."Angela said, taking a swig. The blonde scrunched up her nose.
"What's soda?"she asked. Maes said there wasn't much in the technology department but, soda?
"You want to try some?"Angela offered, pushing the ice cold drink at her. She glanced at Mustang and hesitantly accepted. She put her lips to it and winced as the carbonated soda flowed into her mouth. Her eyes widened in surprise and handed it back to Angela.
"It's good!"she exclaimed surprised. Angela smiled widely.
"It's my favorite too, right after Sprite."she agreed."So, what's you name?"
"Riza Hawkeye."Riza stuck her hand out. Angela shook it.
"Angela."She answered and Roy cleared his throat.
"How do you know Hughes?"he asked.
"Ah, long story."Angela waved away the thought."But I'm going to go so if you could-"
"WAIT!"screamed a small, blonde boy, breaking through the barrier of people. A suit of armor, making too much noise to be manned, followed the boy. He's cute. Angela shook her head. Armor can't be cute, the air here must be making her delusional.
"You make this much commotion and you think you can just leave?"angerily demanded the boy. Angela crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her hip.
"In fact, yes. I can and will. Unless someone's gonna stop me and small fry ain't gonna cut it."she replied curtly.
"WHO YOU CALLING SMALL FRY?" Oh, this must be Edward. Oopse. Edward ran towards Angela and swung at her. Angela easily dodged it and jabbed at his shoulder. A standard move, Angela could have done it in her sleep. But she wasn't used to doing it so fast and she definetly didn't mean to do it so hard. Ed seemed as surprised as Angela was and his arm clanged to the ground. Wait, clanged? Angela picked up the metal limb and worked the elbow joint.
"Your arm's made of metal? But it seemed so human."she commented just as he demanded loudly,"How'd you do that?" and Alphonse shouted"Brother!" Silence fell across the crowd, the only sound that could be heard was Angela playing with the arm. Mustang cleared his throat.
"Clearly it would benifeit the both of us to have a small chat, hm?"he asked.
"Ya..I guess.."Angela said, still captivated by the limb. All of a sudden, she snapped out of it and a look of worry swarmed her face."Could we get him to a hospital or a mechanic or something first?"she asked, gesturing to Ed with his fake arm.
"That can be done later-"
"No! I would be more talkitive if we fixed Edward's arm."insisted Angela."We could take my car, but some of you will have to ride on the top." Roy and Riza exchanged glances. Roy finally nodded, Angela smiled.
"Ahem."said Edward, pointing to the arm.
"Ah...sorry?"Angela tried, handing it back. He grumbled something that Angela couldn't quite make out.
"If it makes you feel better, Al's too tall to sit in front and I need some directions."Angela offered, begining to walk towards the car.
...1\2 Way to the mechanic's house...
"How does it go so fast?"asked Riza, who was squished into the front seat with Ed. Naturally, he was giving her the silent treatment with the occasional left or right.
"To be honest, I'm not sure. But it's powered by the sun,which we call solar energy, because we didn't know if there would be any gas here."explained Angela, keeping her eyes on the dirt road."We had to make the car very durable, so we added a few things regular cars don't usually have."
"Like what?"
"The tires are completly filled with rubber and they installed a metal plating inside. And we stuffed old phone books where we could and used bullet proof glass, so I wouldn't get shot or anything."Riza nodded, taking it all in.
"Hard left."muttered Edward, Angela almost tipped the car over. Roy and Al screamed. Riza stiffled a snicker. It was a few more miles before Angela could see a small cottage surounded by farm land. Angela parked five feet away from the front door. A small old woman with a pipe and a tall blonde in a purple jumpsuit peeked out the front door. Angela unlocked the car doors and opened hers while Edward stared curiously at it.
"I feel like a freaking cheaufer."she muttered, walking over to the passenger side to let out Ed. Roy and Alphonse jumped off the roof of the car, apparently very thankful to have survived the trip.
"Edward!"exclaimed the blonde, running over to him.
"Hi Winry."he said.
"You broke your arm again?"Winry exclaimed, grabbing the arm.
"I didn't break it this time! She did!"Ed accused, pointing at Angela.
"Completly by accident!"Angela added. Winry narrowed her eyes at Angela, inspecting her with slight blood lust.
"I'm just gonna go and...do stuff...So have fun!"Angela rambled nervously, running to the trunk of the van.
"Oh well, c'mon let's go inside."Winry said. Angela heard five sets of feet shuffle inside, she sighed and opened the trunk. Ang set aside a few heavy cardboard boxes which contained food,clothes, and a few scientific instruments with a new found ease. She pulled out her solar powered stereo, a mix CD,and a old quilt her grandmother had made for her. Not even bothering to put away the boxes, Angela laid the quilt down on a clearing next to the house and set down the stereo. After popping in the CD, she thankfully collasped onto the quilt and let the music wash over her.
"Why do I feel so light here?"Angela asked the clouds. But she knew that wasn't the real thing that was bothering her. For a faint second, out of the corner of her eye, Angela could have sworn that she saw an incredibly cute blonde boy. But when she turned her head, all she saw was Al's metal exterrior. Angela was no longer comfortable with the fact that Alphonse was only a suit of armor with a soul atached. There had to be something more. There just had to.
"What are you thinking about?" Ang was so deep in thought that she gave a little jolt at the sight of the old woman standing before her.
"Nothing."Angela answered,sitting up.
"A girl can't be staring that intently at a cloud and have nothing on her mind."scoffed the old woman.
"Um...then... I was wondering if Alphonse is really only a suit of armor with a soul attached. He sems like so much more. And if you could answer this question,was Alphonse blonde? Like, dirty blonde?"asked Angela. The woman had a look of surprise in her eyes and just smoke her pipe,thinking.
"Yes...he was..."She seemed distant, probably remembering the old days. "Pinako Rockbell."
"What?"Angela asked.
"My name is Pinako Rockbell. What's yours?"asked Pinako.
"Angela. I don't have a last name anymore, although, if I could choose, I'd like it to be Hughes. Want to sit down?"Angela offered, patting the quilt. Pinako gladly accepted.
"Hey, Pinako? Edward had a metal arm that works just like a normal one. We don't have that in my world, could you tell me what it is? Pretty please?"
"Automail, Ed also has a metal leg."Angela laid back down and stared at the sky again.
"Amazing..."she whispered.
"Enough about us. What about you?"asked Pinako.
"My world? It's pretty cool, I miss it a lot."
"How so?"
"Well, it's faster for one thing. We have planes and subways and rockets and race cars and submarines too. But here, well all I've seen, is a few horse drawn carridges, old timey cars, and trains. I can tell you one thing I don't miss though."
"What's that?"
"The air. It's really dirty compared to yours. And the air pressure seems to be lighter too, but I won't know til I check it with the barometer later."
"A barometer?"
"I'll show you later..."
"Okay Ang, aside for the scientific exploration thing your doing, I want you to go see my wife,Gracia, and my daughter, Elicia. Tell them I'm okay. And if you by chance see Ed or Al, never call Edward short."He warned, leaning in through the rolled down window. Angela nodded. She had heard very little about Hughes' other life in the other world she was supposed to visit. She had heard small tid bits like, 'I used to have a daughter, you remind me of her' or 'You have the attention span of Edward'.
"Hey."Hughes put a hand on Angela's shoulder."You'll do fine. I promise."Angela stared at Maes. She gripped to that promise as the scientist ushered him away and comanded she rolled up the window. It was time.
...A little later in the "other demension"...
Angela was...surprised to say the least. Everything was normal,people looked normal, buildings looked normal. The sirens were barely audible over the music that was blasting from the car's stereo. People began to surround her. Curious, yet frightened, Angela opened the sun roof and grabbed her gun. Standing on the clean seats, she poked her outside.
"Come along peacefully and we won't hurt you!"yelled a black haired man wearing an old fashion military get up. Hey...all these people were wearing weird military outfits.
"Hey, does your name happen to be Roy Mustang?"Angela yelled back, remembering Hughes had a friend in the military.
"Who's asking?"he yelled. Angela tucked her gun into a belt loop.
"Oh, nobody. Maes just said that he had a friend named Roy Mustang."replied Angela causually. The crowd gasped.
"You know Maes Hughes?"asked a blonde girl who was holding a pistol.
"Well ya, you obviously do too. One sec."Angela killed the music and climbed out the door, grabbing a Dr. Pepper before exiting. She walked over to Mustang, noticing how light she felt and the air seemed cleaner as she breathed it in. The other officers avoided her like a plauge and kept a five foot distance between her and them. Angela rolled her eyes and opened the bottle,everyone screamed at the hissing.
"Jesus, calm down it's soda."Angela said, taking a swig. The blonde scrunched up her nose.
"What's soda?"she asked. Maes said there wasn't much in the technology department but, soda?
"You want to try some?"Angela offered, pushing the ice cold drink at her. She glanced at Mustang and hesitantly accepted. She put her lips to it and winced as the carbonated soda flowed into her mouth. Her eyes widened in surprise and handed it back to Angela.
"It's good!"she exclaimed surprised. Angela smiled widely.
"It's my favorite too, right after Sprite."she agreed."So, what's you name?"
"Riza Hawkeye."Riza stuck her hand out. Angela shook it.
"Angela."She answered and Roy cleared his throat.
"How do you know Hughes?"he asked.
"Ah, long story."Angela waved away the thought."But I'm going to go so if you could-"
"WAIT!"screamed a small, blonde boy, breaking through the barrier of people. A suit of armor, making too much noise to be manned, followed the boy. He's cute. Angela shook her head. Armor can't be cute, the air here must be making her delusional.
"You make this much commotion and you think you can just leave?"angerily demanded the boy. Angela crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her hip.
"In fact, yes. I can and will. Unless someone's gonna stop me and small fry ain't gonna cut it."she replied curtly.
"WHO YOU CALLING SMALL FRY?" Oh, this must be Edward. Oopse. Edward ran towards Angela and swung at her. Angela easily dodged it and jabbed at his shoulder. A standard move, Angela could have done it in her sleep. But she wasn't used to doing it so fast and she definetly didn't mean to do it so hard. Ed seemed as surprised as Angela was and his arm clanged to the ground. Wait, clanged? Angela picked up the metal limb and worked the elbow joint.
"Your arm's made of metal? But it seemed so human."she commented just as he demanded loudly,"How'd you do that?" and Alphonse shouted"Brother!" Silence fell across the crowd, the only sound that could be heard was Angela playing with the arm. Mustang cleared his throat.
"Clearly it would benifeit the both of us to have a small chat, hm?"he asked.
"Ya..I guess.."Angela said, still captivated by the limb. All of a sudden, she snapped out of it and a look of worry swarmed her face."Could we get him to a hospital or a mechanic or something first?"she asked, gesturing to Ed with his fake arm.
"That can be done later-"
"No! I would be more talkitive if we fixed Edward's arm."insisted Angela."We could take my car, but some of you will have to ride on the top." Roy and Riza exchanged glances. Roy finally nodded, Angela smiled.
"Ahem."said Edward, pointing to the arm.
"Ah...sorry?"Angela tried, handing it back. He grumbled something that Angela couldn't quite make out.
"If it makes you feel better, Al's too tall to sit in front and I need some directions."Angela offered, begining to walk towards the car.
...1\2 Way to the mechanic's house...
"How does it go so fast?"asked Riza, who was squished into the front seat with Ed. Naturally, he was giving her the silent treatment with the occasional left or right.
"To be honest, I'm not sure. But it's powered by the sun,which we call solar energy, because we didn't know if there would be any gas here."explained Angela, keeping her eyes on the dirt road."We had to make the car very durable, so we added a few things regular cars don't usually have."
"Like what?"
"The tires are completly filled with rubber and they installed a metal plating inside. And we stuffed old phone books where we could and used bullet proof glass, so I wouldn't get shot or anything."Riza nodded, taking it all in.
"Hard left."muttered Edward, Angela almost tipped the car over. Roy and Al screamed. Riza stiffled a snicker. It was a few more miles before Angela could see a small cottage surounded by farm land. Angela parked five feet away from the front door. A small old woman with a pipe and a tall blonde in a purple jumpsuit peeked out the front door. Angela unlocked the car doors and opened hers while Edward stared curiously at it.
"I feel like a freaking cheaufer."she muttered, walking over to the passenger side to let out Ed. Roy and Alphonse jumped off the roof of the car, apparently very thankful to have survived the trip.
"Edward!"exclaimed the blonde, running over to him.
"Hi Winry."he said.
"You broke your arm again?"Winry exclaimed, grabbing the arm.
"I didn't break it this time! She did!"Ed accused, pointing at Angela.
"Completly by accident!"Angela added. Winry narrowed her eyes at Angela, inspecting her with slight blood lust.
"I'm just gonna go and...do stuff...So have fun!"Angela rambled nervously, running to the trunk of the van.
"Oh well, c'mon let's go inside."Winry said. Angela heard five sets of feet shuffle inside, she sighed and opened the trunk. Ang set aside a few heavy cardboard boxes which contained food,clothes, and a few scientific instruments with a new found ease. She pulled out her solar powered stereo, a mix CD,and a old quilt her grandmother had made for her. Not even bothering to put away the boxes, Angela laid the quilt down on a clearing next to the house and set down the stereo. After popping in the CD, she thankfully collasped onto the quilt and let the music wash over her.
"Why do I feel so light here?"Angela asked the clouds. But she knew that wasn't the real thing that was bothering her. For a faint second, out of the corner of her eye, Angela could have sworn that she saw an incredibly cute blonde boy. But when she turned her head, all she saw was Al's metal exterrior. Angela was no longer comfortable with the fact that Alphonse was only a suit of armor with a soul atached. There had to be something more. There just had to.
"What are you thinking about?" Ang was so deep in thought that she gave a little jolt at the sight of the old woman standing before her.
"Nothing."Angela answered,sitting up.
"A girl can't be staring that intently at a cloud and have nothing on her mind."scoffed the old woman.
"Um...then... I was wondering if Alphonse is really only a suit of armor with a soul attached. He sems like so much more. And if you could answer this question,was Alphonse blonde? Like, dirty blonde?"asked Angela. The woman had a look of surprise in her eyes and just smoke her pipe,thinking.
"Yes...he was..."She seemed distant, probably remembering the old days. "Pinako Rockbell."
"What?"Angela asked.
"My name is Pinako Rockbell. What's yours?"asked Pinako.
"Angela. I don't have a last name anymore, although, if I could choose, I'd like it to be Hughes. Want to sit down?"Angela offered, patting the quilt. Pinako gladly accepted.
"Hey, Pinako? Edward had a metal arm that works just like a normal one. We don't have that in my world, could you tell me what it is? Pretty please?"
"Automail, Ed also has a metal leg."Angela laid back down and stared at the sky again.
"Amazing..."she whispered.
"Enough about us. What about you?"asked Pinako.
"My world? It's pretty cool, I miss it a lot."
"How so?"
"Well, it's faster for one thing. We have planes and subways and rockets and race cars and submarines too. But here, well all I've seen, is a few horse drawn carridges, old timey cars, and trains. I can tell you one thing I don't miss though."
"What's that?"
"The air. It's really dirty compared to yours. And the air pressure seems to be lighter too, but I won't know til I check it with the barometer later."
"A barometer?"
"I'll show you later..."