"Phey, are you ready yet?" Rileycalled out; her tone was impatient as always.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Actually, I wasn't anywhere near ready, but that's not the point. After a couple more arguments with Riley, and hitting my head on the sink while trying to get my pants on, I was ready.

As I walked out of the bathroom, I heard my mother comment, "You really do look like Ed."

Kyla was dressed as Roy, her normally blonde hair hidden under a black wig. The scowl that decorated her face really did make her look the part. I'm just glad she didn't toast me.

I suddenly felt someone poking me in the arm.

"That's lame; you didn't get real automail." Chloe continued poking me.

"Of course I didn't get real automail! I have two good reasons not to get real automail. One, it doesn't exist, and two, I actually have a right arm!"

"I would have gotten real automail," she replied, still poking me.

I smacked my forehead. "I know you would have, Chloe…"

Chloe was dressed as her own character from Pokemon; the stuffed vulpix I had loaned her completed the outfit.

"Isso cute!" she squealed, and hugged it again.

"So, is everyone ready for the anime convention?" There was a resounding cry of "Yes!" and we were off.

---

About an hour into the ride, I caught Riley glaring at me.

"What now?" I sighed.

"I wanted to be Ed!" she yelled. "After all, I am his female clone!" It was true. She was blonde, short, and short tempered.

"Yes, but your hair's not long enough for a braid. Besides, you wanted Roy's gloves, didn't you?"

"Yes…" she grumbled.

I actually thought the costumes worked out perfectly. For my hair, it was amazing what a little hair dye and home made hair gel could do. I was really lucky my mom let me buy those contacts. My only problem was I was tall. Ed was short. Very short. I'm going to stop now, before I'm struck by lightning.

Chloe was Marek, her character from Pokemon. Considering her character resembled her so well, all she had needed was the vulpix plushie, and to speak with a Scottish accent, which she was really quite good at.

"We're here!" my mom called from the front seat as she parked the car.

"Finally!" The car doors flew open; I don't think the engine had even stopped running.

---

We had been at the convention for a while, and after all the glomping, being glomped, being chased by fangirls, attacking fangirls, and finally buying more Fullmetal Alchemist and Pokemon merchandise than you will ever see in your life time, we decided to get something to eat.

Lunch was uneventful. Well, I didn't have any milk, but I had to stay in character, right?

"So," I began to ask my friends. "How do you like the convention?"

My friends must have answered me, but I didn't hear them. It was like all the sound was suddenly cut out, I couldn't hear anything. Well, maybe there was something…It almost sounded like "help me."

"Phey? Are you alright?" I looked up to see the worried face of Chloe.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just felt a little dizzy, that's all…"

"Well good, cause we've still got the cosplay show to see!" Riley announced.

I checked my watch. "Whoa, it's about to start!"

"We'd better hurry then!" Riley exclaimed, dragging Chloe and me to the stage.

---

The cosplay show was great; my favorite skit was the Inuyasha Fullmetal Alchemist crossover. The person playing Edward was called short at least five times. Not enough in my opinion...heh heh heh…

"Now, it's time for the best costume contest!" the announcer's voice blared over the speaker system. "You've entered to win a one hundred dollar shopping spree in our merchandise department! And the winner is…" a drum roll played to build up the excitement. "Phey Tamarui!"

"I won! Wait, I won? I didn't even enter..." I turned to look at my friends both had mischievous grins on their faces. "I should have known…"

I climbed up to the stage.

"Miss Tamarui, the anime convention 2006 would like to give you this hundred dollar check!" A pair of assistants entered the stage holding a giant phony check.

"Would you like to say something?" the announcer asked me.

"Sure!" This was so cool, though a little cheesy. And a check for one hundred dollars! Now I could buy that book on alchemy I had seen!

"Ummm…" I wasn't sure how to start. "I'd like to say thanks to Riley and Chloe because, had they not entered me behind my back, I wouldn't have won!"

A few people in the audience laughed. "Bean!" someone called out.

"Bean!? I AM NOT SHORT!" What was I saying? I'm tall for my age, and I could care less about being called short.

This time the room erupted in laughter, and I could see my friends grinning. I relaxed a little. I guess I was just a little too in-character then.

"Thank you Miss Tamarui, you may now return to your seat," the announcer said as he handed me the real check.

"Thanks." I climbed off the stage just as the next act appeared.

"That was great!" Riley exclaimed as I sat back in my chair.

"Seriously; you sounded just like Ed. Your voice was perfect!" Chloe commented.

"What do you mean my voice was perfect? I didn't even try to do his voice. You heard me audition for the school play; I couldn't do a guy's voice if my life depended on it." This was really getting freaky; I mean, my voice sounds nothing like Ed's!

"That is kind of weird," Chloe began. "Maybe that microphone changes your voice, you know. Like a special effect."

"You're probably right, it was just the mike." I didn't want to scare them, but I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

---

After the show, we went back to the merchandise room. There was only one thing I wanted: that alchemy book. After getting the book, I let my friends have their way with the rest of the money. Bad idea, but I won't go into the gory details.

I checked my watch. "Hey guys, my mom's going to be here any second; you'd better hurry and check out!"

Help me.

There it was again, but this time, I could clearly hear it. By this time, my friends had finished checking out.

"Hey Phey, what's wrong?" Chloe asked. "You look kind of distant."

"Did you guys just hear someone say 'help me'?" They both shook their heads. "Guys, I'm really getting scared." I decided to tell them my fear. "I think someone's following me."

"Duh, you were just deemed best cosplayer. You've got to have at least fifty fan girls following you right now," Riley said in an annoyed tone.

"No, I mean really following me. It's starting to freak me— Where the hell am I?" Wait, that last part wasn't me!

"Whoa, Phey what was that all about? And I thought you said you couldn't do Ed's voice!" Chloe said with a shocked expression on her face.

"I can't— Who are you!?" I took off running for the bathroom, my friends right behind me. Once we were inside, I locked the door. Thankfully no one else was in the bathroom at the time.

"What the crap is going on!" Riley yelled at me.

"I don't kn— Get away from me!" I couldn't stop it! There was someone else controlling me!

"Phey, stop it! You're freaking me out!" Chloe said, her eyes wide.

"I can't stop it! Don't you understand? I'm being controlled!" I managed to say that, at least.

They both just stood there staring at me. I was sweating buckets, though out of fear or from the strain of keeping myself under control, I didn't know.

"What?" Riley spoke first.

"What the? Where am I? Who the hell are you people?" I had completely lost control.

"That's a question I think we should be asking you!" Riley practically screamed at me, well, at least the person controlling me.

I sat down on the floor, well it wasn't me, it was…argh! You get the idea, right?

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you, since it looks like I'm pretty much screwed now…" Whoa, this person sure did have nice language. "My name's Edward Elric."

"You're kidding…" it was Chloe.

"Kidding about what? My name's Edward Elric! You know, the Fullmetal Alchemist!" Well that was unexpected…Damn…I'd always wanted to meet Ed, but not like this…

"Yeah, I know…" Riley said slowly.

Ummm…excuse me, but, MAY I HAVE MY BODY BACK?!

"Wha?"

Well, mister Elric, if you haven't noticed, this body is female, and it belongs to me! Cool! I could speak to him telepathically…well it would have been cool, had he not taken over my body.

"Gah! I'm a girl!" Oh, so now he notices.

My friends just stared at him/me/us. It was easy to understand that they'd be at a loss for words right now.

Yes, and for once you're finally not short. You can thank my parents for that.

"I have never been short!"

My friends burst out laughing at the typical Ed response. His reply was to give them the most evil glare he could muster with my body.

"So guys…Hey, I did it! I managed to take back control!" Woohoo!

"Does that mean Ed is gone?" Kyla questioned, concern in her voice.

And where exactly would I go? Apparently I could hear what the shrimp wanted to say, too…weird.

"No, he's still here."

"Does this mean you're psychotic?" Chloe asked.

"Chloe, it's psychic," Riley corrected her.

"Yes."

I slapped my forehead.

So, are they always this crazy?

Yes, Ed, even without people taking control of my body! They are always this crazy.

"Why are you dressed up as Roy?" Ed was back. "And why are you dressed up as me?" Ed pointed to himself/me.

"That will take some explaining, and you know, I'll let Phey do that." Oh great. Thanks a lot Riley!

Ed?

"Yeah?"

Don't freak out.

Thus begun the explanation of Fullmetal Alchemist. By the time I was done, Ed felt kind of sick. I could tell because he was in my body. Man, that sounds weird.

"Then why am I real?" That was a good question.

Well, I began, Arakawa-sensei may be psychic. Whatever she wrote about you must have been her ability working on a subconscious level, leading her to believe what she was writing was just an idea that she came up with. Hey, it was the best I could come up with. So sue me.

Someone pounded on the door. "What are you people doing in there?" a yell came from outside.

"Ack! I totally forgot about mom!" I was back. "We need to leave now!"

"Right!" both my friends said at the same time.

We tried to exit the bathroom calmly, but the large line of unhappy people standing outside the bathroom door made that a little difficult.

As we left the building, we saw my mom pull up in her red SUV.

"Did everybody have fun?" my mom asked us as we piled in the SUV.

"Uh, yeah!" I replied. My mom gave me a weird look, but didn't ask any questions.

---

For the beginning of the car ride Ed was silent. At first I though he might have left, but then…

Exactly what time period is this? Because, judging by the cars I've seen so far and that thing your friend has in her hands, this isn't the 1900's.

"What thing?" I turned to look at Chloe. Evidently she had grabbed my DS behind my back and had begun to play it.

"Gimme that!" I snatched it out of her hands.

She laughed nervously.

"You're right Ed." I whispered, so as not to draw my mother's attention. "It's the year 2006."

Wow. How the hell did I end up here?

"That's a good question. A better one would be, how the hell did you end up in my body?" I sighed. "Ed what do you remember last before you were…well, me?"

I don't know…I guess I just remember falling asleep in my bed…nothing too exciting about that.

"No, but do you remember anything else? Maybe what happened just before you fell asleep?"

I thought I heard someone whisper 'Two birds with one stone.' But that's just crazy.

"Weird," I agreed.

"We're home!" my mom called out cheerfully.

I looked up as my mom pulled into the garage.

Do these two live with you? Edward asked, noticing Riley and Chloe were going inside with us.

"No, but they're sleeping over tonight."

Great.

---

My friends and I were all sitting on the huge bed in our guest bedroom. We had changed into our pajamas. My hair was still blonde due to the die, but my eyes were back to their natural violet.

"So, is Ed still there?" Riley asked.

"Yup." That was him. You could tell because my voice changed.

I'm not a phone you know! Ed just ignored me.

"This is…weird," Chloe spoke up.

To say the least.

"Hey Ed, do you think you can do alchemy?" Riley asked.

"That's a stupid question." That was me. "This is the other side of the gate. If we could do alchemy, I would have gone to Amestris long ago."

I'm on the other side of the gate! You can't do alchemy here?!

"No…" That was weird. Ed should have known that. "Ed, what was the last major thing you remember in your world?"

Kicking Roy's butt in that mock battle we had.

"Oh…" Well I certainly couldn't tell him about the end of Fullmetal Alchemist.

My mom came in the room, breaking the awkward silence. "That's funny," she commented, glancing over at the TV. "I could have sworn I heard Ed's voice. Well, anyway, it's time for bed.

For once, we listened to my mother and climbed into our respective sleeping bags at a reasonable hour.

"Good night, Ed," I whispered.

Good night.

---

"Phey. Phey! Wake up!" I could feel someone shaking me.

"Just one more hour, please," I drooled, semiconscious.

"Phey, it's me, Ed!" I jolted awake to see a pair of golden eyes staring down at me.

"You have your body back!" I squealed, hugging him.

He tapped me on the shoulder. "Ummm…Phey, turn around." I did. I wish I hadn't.

There was the gate, its doors agape. All those horrible eyes staring back at me. I screamed.

"Now you're mine!" without warning, thousands of little black hands shot out at me. I screamed again and closed my eyes. I had never been so afraid in my life.

"Move!" I could feel Edward push me aside. I opened my eyes. Those horrible little hands had him in their grasp. I watched as they began to pull him back in. I watched as he beat against them with his fists. I watched, feeling totally helpless— and I don't like feeling helpless.

"Get away from him!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I ran towards him and began tearing at the gate's grasping hands with my nails.

"Get out of here, you stupid girl!" Ed yelled at me, slapping my cheek.

"No!" I could feel the hot tears run down my cheeks. I could feel the sting where Ed had slapped me. But worst of all, I could feel the gate's icy grasp, slowly closing around me. Never had I hated anything as much as that gate. Never.

"Abeo." What was I saying? I had never even heard that word before!

Then everything stopped. The gate stopped. Edward stopped. I stopped. Without warning, my world faded into nothingness.

---

Abeo-Latin for Die

First thing's first, folks. This story is on an indefinate hiatus; I haven't worked on it in almost a year, so don't expect it to be updated any time soon, if at all. My reason for putting it up here is I'm quite proud of this particular story, and I'd like to see what people think of it so far.

And incase you're wondering, no this ISN'T a self-insert. Also, I've never been to an anime convention in my life, so please forgive any mistakes.

In other news, I seriously think my plot bunnies are on crack.