Hello Again! I'm so very happy with how this chapter turned out! And it's longer too!^^ 5 pages!
Now I'd like to warn you about this chapter. It gets a little violent. And Ed also swears a lot more in his one too. I just want to warn you.
With that in mind, I hope you enjoy this! Happy reading!
Alphonse was sure he was done for. Who knew how long he'd be falling for? He couldn't even see the bottom! So, he closed his eyes, and waited for the sound of rushing wind to pass his ears.
But then a hand grasped his.
And blood splattered.
Al opened his eyes to see a older man squeezing his hand, keeping him up with all his strength as Al dangled over the pit below. But what Al also noticed was thick, sticky crimson liquid coming out from his mouth. He clearly looked like he was struggling. Al had forgotten about his arm and it began to make cracking noises, making Al yelp.
'Not good! His arm his starting to come out of the socket! I need to get him up now!' Hughes told himself. With everything he had, he pulled the boy up and into the chamber. Shortly after, he coughed up more blood as he picked the boy up and ran out of the chamber as the final beam snapped and the chamber fell silently below. He set him down as he wiped the blood from his lips and beard. Al let out a sigh of relief but still clenched his shoulder in pain. Hughes took a greedy breath of air and made his way to the boy.
"Your body has probably atrophied from your malfunctioning life support. Your arm, let me see it. "Hughes explained, then motioning toward his arm.
Alphonse watched the man closely, unsure to trust him. He saved his life, sure. But what was this man's motives? He took one last gaze at him, and his appearance was a bit misleading. His beard had taken over half of his face, and his hair looked like a mass overgrowth on his head. His glasses were grungy and cracked as well. Al was beginning to have second thoughts if he should trust this man. But the man's eyes were what stopped him. They were hazed over with a bit of insanity, sure. A bit crazed if you might say.
But... His eyes were soft. They seemed understanding and compassionate. They were...
They were the eyes of a father.
Alphonse wasn't sure what was, but he felt he could trust this man somehow. With a bit of hesitation, he moved his hand away from his shoulder to let the man observe the arm. Hughes looked over it with care, as a parent would look over their child who had fallen down and scraped their knee. After he was finished, he looked Al in the eye with full seriousness.
"I'm really sorry, but I'm going to have to put it back in. It's going to be painful. Way more then when it popped out. I need you to trust me, I'm here to help you, alright?" he explained. His eyes were apologetic and looking for approval.
Alphonse took a deep breath to silence his doubts. He can trust him. He wouldn't hurt him.
"Alright. I trust you."
"Okay then. Now, I need you to be strong. Can you do that for me?"
"Yeah," the boy answered, looking Hughes straight in the eye, "Just make it quick please."
"Right." He responded, beginning to grab the arm, and slowly bringing it up to the necessary angle. Al couldn't help but cringe and hiss in pain. Hughes swallowed the guilt in his throat and continued.
"Alright. You ready?"
Al took another deep breath to calm himself.
"Yeah."
"Okay, on three. One...two...THREE!"
And then Alphonse screamed.
"Hello, and again welcome to the Amestris Laboratories Enrichment center-"
"What, the hell!? Who the fuck is that?" Ed exclaimed, nearly dropping Roy.
"Relax! Its just the announcer!"
"Oh... Phew, don't fucking scare me like that..."
"Who are you even talking to?"
"...No one. Nevermind."
"-The portal will open. And emergency testing will begin in three, two, one."
Click!
Suddenly, a warm light shown on Ed's back. When he turned, a round ring of orange was placed on the wall. It was magnificent. It was wonderful how it stood out from the dull overgrowth and rusting of the chamber. But really had him lost for words was what was within the ring of light.
He could see himself. He could see himself standing in the glass room with the small sphere in hand. He looked to his right, and similar ring of light was on the wall as well. Only that one a deep blue. He could see himself more clearly in that one. After a little while, he decided to place his artificial hand on it, thinking it was a screen of some sort. He was caught of guard when his hand wasn't stopped by glass. His hand went straight through, with no delay. He was stupefied by just how easily it went through.
This has to be some kind of trick right?
He closed his eyes and took a leap of faith as he stepped right through. He felt a rush of wind from a different direction and the sounds heard in the room were less muffled. He opened his eyes to find the glass room in front of him.
What the hell is this?
"Having fun now aren't we?" snickered Roy, amused with the boy's awe of the portals.
Ed frowned down at the little AI in his hands with a snarl. This guy was getting on his last nerve. Why did he have to even carry this thing around anyway?
"You know, I outta leave you here to rust with the rest of this junk. You're starting to really piss me off." Ed threatened. He gave the small core a smirk and a narrowing of his eyes.
"That'd be a bad move on your part. You see, when we get to the main breaker room, the only way you can access it is if you have a AI connect to it. In this case, that would be me. So, in other words, your stuck here without me." the small sphere shot back, sounding a bit too smug for Edward's liking.
"You bastard. I don't understand how your friend even puts up with you. Your annoying as hell." Ed muttered.
He started to walk around the glass room in the center and towards the door that conveniently opened for him as he approached it. He walked through the doors to find a small room with an overly-sized button on the floor, a tube of some sort coming from the ceiling, and another door which he guessed led to the exit. Shortly after he strode in, the doors shut behind him with a click and a whirr.
"Cube-and-button based testing remains an important tool for science, even in a dire emergency. If cube-and-button based testing caused this emergency, don't worry. The odds of this happening twice are very slim."
Ed set Mustang down and walked to the button. Halfway there, the bottom of the tube opened up and a box fell with a clang. He put the pieces together in his mind and went to grab the cube to place it on the button. When he picked it up, it wasn't as heavy as he expected it to be. So, he hauled it over without a problem. When he dropped it on the button, the entire room shook for a second or two, making dust fly in the air. But just as Ed guessed, the door opened.
Well, halfway.
"Congratulations, you're not as big of an idiot as I made you out to be, squirt." Mustang teased from on the floor.
Ed took this opportunity to kick him across the room.
"DAMMIT! I'M NOT SMALL!"
"GODAMMIT! AGAIN WITH HURLING ME ACROSS THE ROOM!"
"WELL KEEP YOUR FUCKING TRAP SHUT!"
"Whatever! Just pick me up so we can go." The small core demanded, trying to change the subject. Oh, how he couldn't wait to get this brat out of here!
Ed finally calmed down and snatched him off the ground and stomped through the doorway that kept sparking as it attempted to keep open. Ed stopped dead in his tracks when he came face to face with a strange blue force field of some sort.
"What. The fuck. Is that."
The voice chose this time to speak up.
"Please note the incandescent particle field across the exit. This Amestris Laboratories Material Emancipation Grill will vaporize any unauthorized equipment that passes through it."
Ed looked at the small core with mischief. "Hmm, I wonder..."
"Whatever you're thinking, don't even! You need me, remember!?" Roy began to shout.
The teen snickered as he held on to Mustang with both hands and dashed through the Grill.
Passing through that was the strangest feeling Ed had ever felt in his life. His whole being shook, his head was throbbing, and his stomach was doing somersaults. He stumbled back as he began to see double. The core slipped from his fingers and down the stairs as he dropped to his hands and knees. He breathing came out ragged and shallow. He felt like he was going to hurl.
"S-shit..." he managed to sputter out. He swallowed hard as he licked his lips. After focusing on regulating his breathing, the feeling passed and he started to stand up. He slowly dragged his feet down the stairs to where the sphere laid, completely silent.
"Oi! Shit pile! Wakey wakey!" he huffed still a bit woozy. He leaned over to pick him up. "What? No back talk?"
When Ed turned him over, he had lost his voice. Roy's screen was flickering and static. He wasn't responding either. He shook him, slapped his side even. But nothing was happening.
"Hey! Don't bail out on me now! Damn it! Come on!" he yelled close to his screen. He shook him harder and harder. "HEY!"
Shortly after, Mustang seemed to have snapped back into reality. His screen stopped flickering and started returning to its shade of blue. He let out a soft groan.
"...Wha-? What just happened?" he slurred, looking around drowsily.
"God dammit! You have goin' there for second! Thank god!" he sighed in relief.
"Ha, that's cute. You were worried about me?" Roy teased.
"Shut up. Let's just make a note not to take you through that again. Look, I see one of your rail things." Ed pointed out, eager to change the subject.
"Fine then. Give me the cold shoulder why don't'cha? Just connect me there, okay?" Roy said.
"Finally! Now I don't have to carry your fat ass!" Ed chirped in relief.
"Now that hurt."
"Whatever," he muttered. In no time, he had Mustang on his rail and made his way to the elevator, "You know, you're annoying as fuck."
Mustang let out a loud, long laugh. "I think you've already told me that. But it s not like your any different."
Now it was Ed's turn to laugh. "Touché. You never told me your name, you know. Do you even have one?"
"Of course I do!"
"Well, what is it?"
"Just call me Mustang."
I've noticed that Ed and Roy have become comic relief in this story. huh, odd. Oh well!^^ Look forward to the next chappy soon!^^