Ch.1- That Boy's a Monster
Any of you remember this story?
Yeah, I'm deciding to do it again xD
So, uhh, I have nothing to say. :/
I don't own FMA. ):
Please Read and Review. :)
"I dunno, Al," the seventeen-year-old muttered as he stared up at the large building. "Where did you say you got that scholarship again?"
"In the mail!" the fifteen-year-old chirped, grinning as he clasped his hands behind his back. "It said that you and I can go here without worrying about paying. And we're starting at the beginning of the school year instead of the middle."
The older teen continued examining the school doubtfully, observing the so-called 'Central Academy'.
It was a long brick building with multiple windows and five floors. Vines crept along the sides and corners of the school's façade while scraggly trees dotted the otherwise barren courtyard.
A chain-link fence ran around the perimeter of the school and cracks divided several sidewalks, allowing small weeds to pop up between the crevices.
The teen ran a hand through his golden-blonde hair which was tied in a customary braid with bangs parted to either side of his face to frame it, allowing a small strand of hair to point up like an antenna.
"I just don't trust it," he turned his yellow eyes to Al. "We get kicked out of our old school and the next day we get a free scholarship to this school for aspiring alchemists?"
"Stop being so cynical, Ed!" Al protested, rubbing his hand through short, light brown hair in frustration, practically disturbing the way his bangs swept to the left. "We get to go for free! You can keep your part-time job."
Ed sighed, glancing into his brother's earnest brown eyes.
He hated how Al always seemed to have a right answer.
"Oh, all right," he conceded, shouldering the black messenger bag strapped across his right shoulder, Al instantly perking up at his words. "Let's go inside."
The inside of Central Academy appeared to be like any other high school; tile floors, a library, principal's office, and gymnasium.
Ed and Al were heading toward their lockers which were conveniently located right next to each other.
Al was looking over his schedule.
"I have algebra, biology, English, and gym. What do you have, brother?"
"I dunno," Ed began fishing around in the pocket of his red, long-sleeved jacket that extended down to his upper calves.
He soon found what he was looking for and pulled out the crumpled sheet of paper which Al instantly snatched from Ed's hands.
"Al!"
"English, ICP, geometry, and art…aw! You don't have any classes with me!"
"Of course not!" Ed seized his schedule as he stopped in front of his locker. "We're in two different grades!"
"But we have lunch together at least!" Al stated cheerfully, immediately perking up. "That's something, right?"
Ed sighed, shaking his head with a smile.
"Yeah. That's something."
A red wrench came flying out of nowhere, connecting with the back of Ed's head.
"Brother!" Al gasped, crouching beside Ed who was clutching his injured head and cursing under his breath.
"Edward Elric!"
Ed's head shot up in surprise and he took refuge behind Al as a girl a year older than him stomped toward the duo.
The girl had a slender and healthily curvaceous build with her pale blonde hair tied up in a high ponytail, bangs coolly falling from right to left across her forehead, and a loose curtain of hair on either side of her face.
The blonde halted before Al, her blue eyes fierce, as she planted her hands on her hips.
"H-hi, Winry," Al squeaked, completely terrified of the older girl.
"Al, move aside so I can murder your brother," Winry commanded sweetly with a smile.
Hesitantly, Ed peeked over Al's shoulder before grinning nervously.
"Oh, hey, Win!" the older Elric grabbed Al's shoulders and began to move backward, keeping Al in front of him like a shield. "How have you been?"
"You have not called me, texted me or wrote me in three years, Edward!" Winry said, taking a step forward every time Ed took one back. "Don't think after all this time you can just show up out of the blue and say 'how have you been'!"
"W-we were busy…" Ed defended weakly.
"Too busy to even call to just say hi?"
"Mom died," Al put in solemnly.
Winry paused, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Oh, I didn't know."
"No, it's okay," Ed glanced off to the side as he finally released Al, his gold eyes hard. "It was three years ago."
Winry decide to change the subject, sensing that their mom's death was a touchy topic.
"I see you're still wearing the same clothes, Ed."
Ed, feeling he was safe from Winry's wrath, glanced down at himself, wondering what was wrong with his clothes.
He had on black trousers, a black T-shirt beneath his jacket, and wore black boots with thick red soles; the shoes were a poor attempt to help him look taller, but for his age five foot three was still short, especially when his younger brother was five inches taller than he was (eight without Ed's shoes and antenna).
Al, being the shy boy he was at times, wore brown slacks, a dark grey T-shirt, and had on a white jacket with the sleeves cut at the elbows.
"And still short," Winry added after a few seconds of thought.
"I am not short!" Ed screeched, immediately trying to climb over Al in an attempt to reach Winry, the younger Elric successfully holding Ed back.
"You're not wearing your mechanic clothes," Al noted as he continued holding Ed back who was screaming something about him not being as small as a grain of rice.
Winry had on a light colored tank top and a short brown skirt.
"Yup!" Winry grinned. "I also got my ears pierced."
She brushed aside her hair to reveal her ears which were pierced avant-garde style: two hoop earrings dangling from each earlobe and two cuff studs pierced vertically on her right ear.
"Wow, actually makes you look feminine," Ed said with a smirk only to duck behind Al when Winry made to grab her wrench.
The trio looked up when a bell sounded three times over the PA system.
"Well, there's the warning bell," Winry said, jogging toward the cafeteria where a set of stairs led to the second floor and above. "See you during lunch!"
The two Elrics waved before they parted to head to their first period.
Period 1-English
The teacher, Shou Tucker, was a strange man in Ed's opinion that didn't fit the bill as an English teacher.
He was twenty-five and two inches taller than Al with a thin face, short brown hair, chestnut eyes and round glasses; he had on beige jeans, a navy blue T-shirt, and a tan jacket that remained unbuttoned.
"All right, class," Tucker smiled in a friendly manner. "Since it's the first day of a new semester, why don't we introduce ourselves to our fellow classmates?"
Tucker called them alphabetically by last name and when it was Ed's turn he got a few strange stares as he walked to the front of the room.
"My name's Edward Elric; call me Ed. I'm seventeen and work part-time at a small café."
"Are you a Xerxesian?" someone asked.
"Not really," Ed chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. "I had ancestors from Xerxes, though."
A few students murmured, looking at each other and Ed smiled.
It appeared as if this was going to be an easy school year.
"You know, for a Xerxesian, you're pretty short," someone put in.
And there it was.
"Who are you calling so short he's considered an ant?!"
Period 2-ICP
Ed enjoyed chemistry, being an alchemist, so it was a real delight when he found out he was in integrated chemistry and physics.
Lujon was two years older than Tucker, but two inches shorter.
His black hair was short and shaggy with rectangular glasses covering his onyx eyes; Lujon wore simple navy blue slacks and a pale fuchsia button-up flannel shirt that had the collar folded down.
ICP went very much like English with everyone introducing themselves to their peers.
"Nekami?" Lujon peeked up from his attendance sheet, scanning the room. "Nekami? Guess they're absent."
Nekami…? Ed wondered as Lujon began to explain a bit about ICP and its relation to alchemy. Didn't I hear that name last period, too?
Lunch
After three hours of practically sitting still, Ed was relieved when lunch finally came around; by the end of ICP he was fidgeting in his seat, unable to remain still any longer.
Ed met up with Al and the two got their lunch before beginning their search for a seat.
"We got another three hours of school left," Al sighed as he and Ed walked side by side.
"Ugh, don't remind me," Ed moaned, practically dropping his head onto his tray. "My butt still hurts. Why didn't they give me P.E.?"
"Maybe cause you're a junior?"
"Nah, they got P.E. for juniors. Guess I just didn't get lucky enough to have that class."
"It's a good thing you don't. I heard the teacher is this really buff guy who constantly takes off his shirt."
"What, really?" Ed grinned with a laugh.
"Yeah. His name is Alex Armstrong."
"Armstrong?" Ed snorted. "And he's a muscleman?"
Al nodded, mirroring Ed's grin.
"That's so—" Ed grunted as he suddenly bumped into someone, firm grip on his tray keeping it from crashing to the floor, but the collision tipped his open can of wahoo punch over, spilling the red juice onto the person's shirt.
"Ahh, I'm sorry!" Ed apologized, looking at the person he had run into.
He was Ed's age and two inches taller than Al, towering over Ed. His long, wispy sage-colored hair was held up by a black headband embroidered with a red upside down triangle, causing his hair to spread out almost like palm tree fronds.
The black skinny jeans he had on were torn in several places with one large patch torn from the left side, revealing his thigh where a red tattoo that resembled a winged serpent devouring its own tail, the word 'sin' printed in block letters in the center of the circle the snake created, was imprinted; a studded black belt spanned his thin hips form right to left.
He wore a thin white tank top beneath a slim black short-sleeved jacket. Along with his semi-muscular build, a silver clasp was attached to the top of his right ear and a chain necklace was latched around his throat, the teen definitely gave off a punk air.
"Ah, watch where you're going, pipsqueak!" the green-haired teen snarled, his amethyst eyes glaring at Ed as three people came up behind him.
"What happened, Envy?" a girl Winry's age asked, holding two trays in her hands.
The girl's black hair reached to her lower back with some of it falling over her shoulders, purple eyes, and wore a black skirt with a red tube top; a crimson wrap bracelet with a dark blue snake that had light blue hands and ruby eyes wrapped around her left wrist and lower arm while blue earrings dangled from her ears and a sapphire necklace rested against her collarbone just above the same red mark that Envy bore.
"This runt spilled juice on me, Lust!" Envy growled, glancing at the black-haired girl briefly before glowering at Ed again.
"It's all right, En," a boy who appeared as if he should be in elementary said as he came to stand beside the enraged teen, his height a good foot shorter than Envy.
The boy's black hair was long and shaggy, reaching to the middle of his back with a long bang covering his left eye and like Envy he had violet eyes; he wore white capris, a red T-shirt with the insignia that Envy had, and black combat boots with an orange anklet poking out from underneath the tongue of his left boot.
"It's not all right, Wrath! No one spills juice on me and gets away with it. Especially not a shrimp."
"Who the hell are you calling a crustacean?!" Ed yelled furiously, causing Envy to smirk.
"Oh, so it can talk! I've never seen a talking shrimp before."
"I'm not a shrimp, you damn palmtree!"
"Oh, so the shortstack wants a fight, eh?" Envy grinned, shoving his tray at the rather plump teen standing behind him. "Hold my tray, Gluttony."
Gluttony stared at Envy's tray curiously, beady black eyes hungry; Gluttony wore a simple outfit of loose back jeans and a black T-shirt.
"Wait, Ed—" Al started, but Ed pushed his tray into his brother's hands.
"Quiet, Al, I need to teach a palmtree some manners."
Ed and Envy grabbed each other's shirts, fists raised in preparation to strike; Envy was grinning manically, obviously eager for a fight, while Ed's teeth were bared in a snarl.
"What's going on here?"
The two teens relaxed slightly as they glanced behind them.
Wrath whimpered, shifting to hide behind Envy.
"It's the wrench girl."
"Wrench girl bad," Gluttony mumbled, using Envy's tray to cover his bald head. "Wrench girl bad."
Envy scowled at Winry before he released Ed with a slight shove.
"Ah, you ain't worth my time, shortie," the disgruntled teen slunk toward a nearby table. "Come on, guys."
Ed watched as the other three followed after Envy before he took his tray from Al and began to make his way to a clear table.
"What the heck do you think you're doing, Ed?" Winry asked as she followed the two brothers.
"I was gonna teach him some manners," Ed explained as he sat at an empty table, Winry sitting across from him and Al beside the mechanic.
"But, Envy?!" Winry practically screeched. "Of all people?!"
"What's so wrong with him?" Al questioned innocently. "He seems like a punk with a bad attitude."
"That's not even half of it!" Winry whispered. "Envy's the leader of this notorious gang called the Seven Sins! He's vicious! He's severely injured people for getting on his bad side, sending several to the hospital!"
Ed let his gaze drift toward where he had seen Envy head and noticed the teen staring at him with hard eyes.
Envy idly twirled a plastic knife between his fingers, though in his hands, it appeared more deadly than it should have; he didn't seem to notice, however, that Gluttony was stealing small pieces of food off his tray.
"He's really that bad?" Al asked in surprise
Winry nodded. "He's got a horrible reputation, but so far he hasn't even been suspended or kicked out of school."
Abruptly, Envy slammed the tip of the knife down, piercing his tray with the edge of the utensil just millimeters away from Gluttony's wandering fingers.
The bulky boy instantly pulled his hand back with a yelp, holding his hand close to his chest as if the knife had actually cut him.
"I want you guys to stay far away from him, got it?"
Envy's pupils turned into cat-like slits as he continued to stare at Ed, though the corners of his mouth turned up in a small, cruel smirk.
"That boy's a monster."
Hmm...I think I did okay with checking it over. Sorry if there are still a few mistakes.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy. :3 ...I think I have to thank Twili for helping me with a few ideas in this story and the clothing ideas. :) So, thanks, Twili.
Any-whoo, please Read and Review. :D