Chapter Six – The Ones in Charge
"Should we try to fight our way out?" Al whispered worriedly to Ed as the three remaining thugs surrounded them. Ed and Al both rolled their hands into fists as the large men pointed their guns at the two alchemists in the center isle of the train.
"Just don't get shot," Ed said before leaping forward and punching one of the thugs in the face. Al grinned and quickly followed suit, throwing a few punches and easily taking care of the large man. Ed took care of the other two men with even more ease than usual. Being bigger and made completely out of metal helped a lot.
"I've got to remember to get better help," A low voice sighed from the doorway. The two brothers looked up to see who was after them this time, and then they both gasped in surprise.
"Colonel Mustang?" Al inhaled sharply. He then felt a light pressure against his leg, and looked down to find that Joker was rubbing against his leg and purring. Al smiled slightly and then reached down and picked up the cat, holding him protectively to his chest. Somehow, just holding a soft life in his hands made him feel so much better.
"You bastard," Ed spat angrily. "What do you want with us?"
"My, Alphonse, what a potty mouth you are today, hm?" Roy tutted with a smirk. "And I don't want anything with you. I just want Fullmetal."
Ed cocked his head as he reconsidered the man in the blue uniform that was standing in front of him. Sure he had recognized the voice as Mustang's earlier without knowing it, but there was still something strangely familiar about the man that was standing in front of him. His voice may have sounded like Roy Mustang's, but the style of speech didn't quite fit. And he was referring to Ed and Al as if he had never learned that they had switched places.
"Now, Fullmetal," Roy continued, "I want you to come with me peacefully. Because if you don't, I will kill everybody on this train, and I'm sure you don't want that, hm?"
"No," Al said softly, clenching his hands into fists. "I thought you were our friend. We trusted you."
"Ah, how easily human trust is broken," Roy smirked. Suddenly something clicked in Ed's mind, and he realized why Roy didn't sound exactly like himself. He could see the thugs starting to climb back to their feet, except for the one who had gotten shot in the arm, of course. Ed's mind spun and he quickly clapped his hands together, desperately hoping his idea would work.
Al looked over in surprise as blue alchemical light flared around his brother. Ed quickly pressed one hand to his right arm and formed it into a blade similar to the one he always used with his automail. He then lunged forward and stabbed Roy in the gut.
"Brother!" Al cried out in surprise and blood leaked out of the corners of Roy's mouth. "Why did you do that?!" Ed just silently pulled out his blade, and Roy coughed, spitting out flecks of blood.
"Because this is not Colonel Roy Mustang," Ed answered simply. "He's really Envy." Al looked back at Roy and his eyes widened when Roy took his hand away from his stomach and wiped the blood away from his mouth. Through the rip in his shirt, Al could see Roy's skin knitting back together until the only thing that could possibly indicate that he had been stabbed was the blood on his shirt.
"Very good, Alphonse," 'Roy' said, and then swiftly changed into his usual long-haired form. "I never would have thought that you would have been the one to figure me out. I would have bet all my money on the pipsqueak."
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE COULD BUILD A PENTHOUSE SUITE IN A HYDROGEN ATOM?!?!" Ed and Al both screeched in unison. They then both stopped together and managed to stop themselves from attacking Envy on the spot. Ed knew he didn't want to end up hurting Al again just because he couldn't control himself.
"Whoa. That was… strange," Envy said, looking between Ed and Al. Ed just crossed his arms across his chest while Al blushed slightly. Sophie laughed from her seat, making Envy turn to look at her.
"Why, hello there," Envy said, grinning at her and revealing two rows of sharp teeth. Sophie gasped and grabbed onto her older brother's arm, hiding slightly behind him. Al clenched his fists and then quickly stood between Envy and the two children.
"Don't touch them," Al growled, gritting his teeth together as he stared Envy down. For once he wasn't trying to act like Ed, but he still had the outward appearance that he was the older Elric brother. Envy smirked as he looked Al over.
"And why not?" the homunculus asked slyly. "Are you attached to them or something, pipsqueak?" Al narrowed his eyes slightly at the short comment, but managed to keep control of himself. It was Envy, after all. Height insults were practically expected.
"They're just innocent children," Al replied icily. "They don't have anything to do with you and me. Just leave them alone." Envy smirked again and leaned in closer to Al.
"And what if you decide not to come along with me?" Envy asked, blowing warm air onto Al's nose. "I might need a little persuasion to make sure you cooperate and do what we want you to do."
"You're going down, Envy," Al growled slightly before clapping his hands together like he had seen Ed do so many times before. But this time, only a slight spark of blue light cackled around Ed's hands before fizzling out and dying with no reaction. Al looked at his hands bewilderedly, and Envy looked between Al and Ed.
"Well, isn't that interesting?" Envy said, and both Ed and Al tensed at his words. "The great Fullmetal Alchemist can't do the alchemy he's famous for, while his brother is able to do it. I wonder…"
Before he could finish his thought, a large metal fist came in contact with his head. Envy scowled and turned around to see Ed in a fighting stance. Al knew his brother would have looked very angry if he had a face to express his feelings with.
"There's barely enough space for you in this train car," Envy said to Ed. "Are you sure you want to start a fight with me and put all the lives of these humans at risk?" Ed lowered his fist slightly and looked around the car. Most of the people in the car were holding onto those around them and watching the scene before them with wide eyes.
"Now, you come with me," Envy said, turning back to Al. He then paused slightly and looked between the two brothers. "On second thought, both of you come with me," Envy said slowly as he considered them.
"Why do you want us?" Ed asked, clenching his fists and carefully looking around the train car. He didn't want anyone to get hurt while he wasn't watching. The thugs were standing back up, though it didn't seem like they were going to do anything to hurt anyone without Envy's orders.
"That's for me to know, and you to find out," Envy said with a smirk, earning a scowl from Al. "Now come along quietly, and nobody will get hurt."
"And how are we supposed to believe you?" Al spat angrily. Ed mentally grinned to himself. Envy had gone and put Al in a foul mood, which was hard enough to do, and now Envy was going to have to deal with an angry Al, which Ed knew could be even scarier than himself in a bad mood. Perhaps bad moods just had more time to ferment in Al.
"What choice do you have other than to believe me?" Envy said. Ed and Al both tensed and looked at each other worriedly. They didn't know what Envy wanted with them and they didn't trust him, but they didn't want anyone on the train to get hurt either. "So what do you say?" Envy asked with a smirk. Both brothers hesitated, trying to figure out what they could do that wouldn't hurt the people on the train, but that wouldn't force them to go with Envy.
"You're taking too long," Envy growled in a low voice before looking over at one of the thugs pointedly. Ed and Al both jumped as the sudden sound of a gunshot and a high scream rang through the car. Ed and Al both jerked and saw blood blossoming on Sophie's chest.
Timmy let out a hoarse scream in horror before quickly grabbing his sister's shoulders and holding onto her tightly. Sophie coughed once, and bright red flecks of blood spotted her pale lips. She didn't seem to notice Timmy holding onto her and letting warm tears fall onto her cheeks.
"You-!" Al started angrily and lunged towards Envy, but was then interrupted but a loud clunk. Al quickly spun around, and saw that instead of dripping tears, Timmy was instead dripping blood onto his sister's still form and had a long black nail going through his head. Lust retracted her nails again, and the small body slumped forward.
"No!" Ed screamed in horror as he watched blood pool on the seat around the two children. Just a few minutes they had been telling Ed and Al about how they had been visiting their mother in the hospital, and now they were…
"Can I eat them, Lust?" Gluttony asked, poking out from behind her legs and looking at Ed and Al with gleaming eyes.
"No, Gluttony," Lust said smoothly. "We need them. But you can always eat the other people in here if they decide to fight us."
Al could hear a woman gasp, and another man cried out, "What the hell are they?" Al clenched his hands until his could feel the nails of his left hand digging into his palm. He glanced over at Timmy and Sophie, and then back at the three homunculi.
"You said no one would get hurt if we went along peacefully," Ed said in a lower voice than usual. It was the best he could get in the way of showing his anger. "People got hurt. I guess that means we don't have to live up to our part of the bargain."
"Wrong choice," Envy scowled, shifting his feet so his was in a better position to fight. Ed glanced around quickly and noticed the door at the back of the car.
"Brother, you get out of here," Ed said softly with a quick glance towards Al. "I'll distract them for a bit, okay?"
"But-"
"Just trust me, okay?" Ed said. Al looked at Ed curiously, and got the feeling that he would have been wearing his familiar trademark smirk if he could. Al hesitated slightly, then nodded and turned, trying not to look at Sophie and Timmy as he ran towards the door with Joker tightly in his arms.
"Hey, since when does the pipsqueak run away?" Envy said, looking after Al confusedly, as if he was deciding whether or not to chase him. "What the hell is going on here? It's like it's topsy-turvy day and no one told me!"
Ed quickly thrust forward with his arm before Envy could decide to run after Al, using his right arm, which still had a blade. Envy jumped back in surprise, but still managed to get a graze on his cheek.
Ed soon found that while he couldn't get physically tired, the fight was still mentally draining. He not only had to focus on fighting Envy in just the space of the isle of the train, but he also had to make sure his moves were more well planned. Unlike with a physical body, if someone held a knife to the right place, he could be in serious trouble. With his normal body, he was used to just shrugging off wounds.
"Now arriving in Landover," the intercom cackled, and Lust looked up at it as Ed and Envy continued to spar. "Next stop, Baser."
"Envy, stop," Lust commanded sternly. "You know what our orders were. We have to get off here whether we have the boy or not." Envy looked over at her as if she was taking candy away from him, and then looked back at Ed.
"This isn't over," he growled through clenched teeth. "For you or your brother. We will get what we want someday." Lust then extended her fingers and instantly killed the four men they had been using for help. They obviously didn't think very much of the help they had managed to hire.
Ed kept his stance, and the three homunculi walked off the train, along with most of the people in the car, who were running for the safety of the inn. Ed finally relaxed and then turned and walked out the door Al had run through.
"Brother!" Al said in surprise as Ed walked through. "I was worried about you! What happened?"
"They just got off the train," Ed said slowly, scratching at the back of his head. "I was planning to throw them out the window to make sure they wouldn't follow you."
"Brother!"
"Hey, they can't die!" Ed protested. Al paused slightly, and then started laughing. Ed looked at him for a minute and then joined in with him.
"Well, I guess we should go back in," Ed said uncertainly with a glance towards the door once they had stopped laughing. Al bit his lip and held Joker tightly to his chest as he thought about going back into the train car.
"I don't want to," he said softly, remembering the blood pooling out from little Timmy and Sophie. "Can't we just jump off the train here or something and walk to Baser?"
"Jump off the train?" Ed repeated disbelievingly. "But what about our stuff? It's still in there where we left it!"
"It's not that important," Al muttered softly, looking down at his feet. "Just Joker's cat carrier and some extra clothes for you." Ed almost retorted with something else, but then realized just how disturbed Al had been by the death of the two young children. And while Ed didn't like to admit it, he didn't really want to go back in the train car either.
"We're going back home to be with our dad," Timmy said. "Every Saturday we come down to Central because our mom is in the big fancy-schmancy hospital there. Then we go back home to live with our dad."
Ed shook his head, trying to clear the memory from his mind. Timmy and Sophie's problem had hit just a little too close to home, other than the fact that their dad actually cared about his family. How would their sick mother be affected by their death?
"Well, if you think you can handle jumping off the train," Ed said slowly. "Just don't bang my body up too bad, okay? And make sure to protect Joker when you jump too." Al looked up and quickly nodded before facing the edge of the train. Luckily, the train wasn't moving very fast since it hadn't had much time to gain speed, so Al quickly bent his knees and jumped, with Ed following behind him with a slight shake to his head.
They were so anxious to get off the train that they didn't hear a frantic sentence shouted from the inside of the car as they jumped.
"Someone get help quick! The girl's still breathing!"
Yes, yes, I know, it took me forever to update, and then I went and did that. –winces- I'm sorry about that, really! Anyway, at least now I've finished off the cliffhanger, and hopefully now I won't leave it sitting around for quite so long. Meep.