"Edwina! Edwina, are you okay?" Ed shouted frantically.
"She's probably just playing dead." Envy sighed, walking up to the heap of rocks and bending down. He took hold of the pale hand that slightly showed from beneath the rocks. But as he yanked up, there was a wet ripping noise, and everything above the elbow was missing. "Uh-oh."
"Edwina…" Ed gasped.
"What is it now?" someone snarled.
Everyone whipped around. Edwina stood there, dust-covered and clutching a bleeding stump. "What, shorty?" she growled.
"Edwina! You're okay!" Al cried joyfully.
"Okay, so a gushing bloody stump for an arm qualifies as okay? When did I miss that memo?" she snarled. "And you!" she spat, pointing at the Homunculi. "Are dead!"
As she flew at them, Edwina morphed into a lion, growling and roaring. She tore viciously at Envy's throat and midriff, then ripped into Gluttony, and finally mauling Lust the best she could. When she was done, the Homunculi fled.
"Ow. I think… I lost a few ounces of blood too many…" she groaned, becoming human again. "Oh, sweet mother of Truth, ow."
"Here!" Ed Alchemically wrapped a bandage around her arm. "That should stop the bleeding. Now, what do you say we go back to the hotel?"
Edwina didn't answer, instead slumping forward, snoring softly.
"She's asleep?" Al giggled. "Here. I'll take her."
The two took her back to the hotel, and found that her mother was gone. When Edwina woke up and found that out, there was a tirade of swearing. But she cheered up when she located the collar her mom had had in her hand.
"Okay. So what're we doing now?" Al asked.
"I need to go see Annabeth, my auto-mailist. I need a new arm, and I need one fast. Annabeth almost doesn't sleep, but works and breathes auto-mail." Edwina said.
"Sounds like Winry's type of person." Ed said nervously.
"Winry?"
"My mechanic." Ed answered simply.
"Annabeth Zatsune… My mechanic recently sent out a notice that she is accepting apprentices. Maybe we should bring your Winry along. I'm sure Annabeth would love to meet her!" Edwina suggested.
"Why not? Rizembool is on the way to your home-town!" Al agreed.
"Al, do you have a death wish?" Ed grumbled.
A few days later, however, the group was on their way to Edwina's auto-mailist's shop. Winry was bubbling with excitement. She wanted to meet the one who had designed Edwina's auto-mail. Edwina's arm and leg both had retractable diamond-tipped claws, secret compartments, and were constructed out of something called titanium. Edwina said that it was rarer than gold and the strongest metal ever. So her arm was worth more than it's weight in gold.
Edwina nervously walked up to the door to knock. "I'm in the garage, Edwina!" someone shouted. Edwina beckoned for everyone to follow her. She led them around the side of the enormous house to a smaller building with an open front. The speaker was a tall pale girl. She had two long black pony-tails that were almost as long as she was tall. Her body was finely muscled, and she held a large brick of concrete that proved her muscular ability. But her eyes were what shocked them. Her right eye was an electric blue, and her left was a blood-red. "So, Edwina, are you going to introduce me to your friends here?" she laughed.
"Edward and Alphonse Elric, and Winry Rockbell." Edwina said bluntly.
"Winry Rockbell? But Edwina! That means this girl is your family!"
"What?" they all cried.
"Surely you remember your grandma Pinacko? C'mon, I remember your family reunions better than you do!" the girl urged. Then she just waved. "Whatever, whatever. I'm Annabeth Zatsune, Edwina's auto-mailist."
"Edwina mentioned that you were taking on apprentices! Is that true?" Winry squealed in delight as Annabeth nodded.
"So, Edwina. You got the arm off before the disease got to your heart?" Annabeth asked, digging up an arm identical to the one Edwina already wore.
"Disease?" asked Al.
"Yes. My arm contained a genetic disease that, if it reached my heart, would have killed me. Knowing this, Annabeth and I prepared ahead of time. We planned to cut it off this year, and had an arm ready for then."
"You guys are gonna be here a while, so get comfortable. Edwina, would you please let the dumb feline out for a moment." Annabeth ordered.
"Whaddya want?"
Ed and Al were shocked at Edwina's sudden change.
"Titanium is the best metal, but I need some more. Would you please go pick the order I placed up?" Edwina nodded, jumping away.
The brothers left Winry to coo over Annabeth's auto-mail, going to explore the house.
Almost a week later, Edwina was gone. She'd left a note saying that she'd gone to stay at an old friend's in Dublith. "Don't worry! We'll call Teacher!" Ed told Annabeth, already dialing Izumi's number.
"Hello?" came her voice.
"Hey, Teacher. It's Ed."
"What do you want?" she asked.
"A friend of mine said she was going to Dublith. She looks a lot like me, only she has two auto-mail arms. Have you seen her?"
"Hang on a minute." Izumi instructed. "Edwina! There's a young man on the phone for you!" he heard her shout.
