A/N (Phantom Sunsong): Um, not much to say here. And please, don't kill me, 'kay? It had to be done to advance the plot!

Chapter Eleven

I couldn't help but squeak in surprise as something hit Al's armor with a clang that echoed above my head. I heard something fall, and another cry of astonishment from outside. It almost sounded like another Pokémon.

"Ed!" Al exclaimed. "Brother, are you alright? Why were you in such a hurry? And what is that—"

"No time, Al! I saw the chimera!" I gave a sigh of relief when I heard Ed's voice. Then the implications of what he said hit home. He'd seen Sirene?

"Who do you think I am?!" I nearly froze. This time, I was sure it was another Pokémon. They weren't speaking the human language, which was for sure. I didn't recognize the voice at all, but it was very high and young. I nearly growled in irritation. Were there were even more Pokémon coming here?

"Don't get yourself worked up over her." I turned quickly, to see the munchlax lounging in his cage, seeming to have recovered some. Not enough to want to break out, apparently. Either that, or he didn't really care.

"She's just a kid," He elaborated. "A little pichu."

"And how do you know?" I shot back, not trusting the other Pokémon as far as I could throw him.

"That crackpot trainer and his luxray caught us together, or whatever you'd call what he did with weird blue lightning." He shrugged. "She's not dangerous or anything."

"If you're with Isorfold, what were you doing here?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"I'm not with him," The Munchlax scoffed. "More like he assumed he could control me. I'm not much for rules and people telling me what to do—that's why I lived alone back home, ya know? Anyway, that pichu, Mera, she's a sharp one. She figured out how to get out. She realized we could pull up the latches on the doors, since it was obviously made to hold creatures without fingers." He wiggled his own in emphasis. "Anyway, we went our separate ways after that. She said she was out to find a good trainer, I was just looking for some food."

"And you jump through a window to get it?" I asked sarcastically. The munchlax shrugged apologetically.

"I can't help it; I have a weakness for sweets. I didn't mean anything by it, really. And the Lick—"

"We were fighting," I replied quietly, realizing less than a second after I'd said it that I was echoing Arrow. "I bit you pretty good, too." I had to admit to myself, the munchlax wasn't as bad as I had been expecting. He wasn't some kind of fighting machine, like the typhlosion, or working for Isorfold… I cringed, immediately regretting thinking about the typhlosion.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I looked back at the munchlax, and then shook my head.

"… Nothing," I muttered. He didn't look convinced, but he didn't press the matter. I was glad that he wasn't prying and returned my attention to the conversation outside Al's armor.

"The black and blue chimera was chasing this little yellow one?" Al asked, surprised. There was a pause, during which time I assumed Ed nodded.

"Yeah, I know, it's weird." He sighed. "But you're right. It's probably long gone by now. The real question is, what should we do with this one?"

"Um, Brother… I have one too," Al added.

"Two? Jeez… I guess we can't say our chase was unproductive." There was another pause, and I began to get impatient. If only I could see what was going on!

"Hey, where are we?" The munchlax asked suddenly. I was about to answer when Ed spoke again.

"I just don't really want to go back to Mustang's office without the right chimera, especially with the tip-off. He'll never let me live it down." I felt like my heart stopped. They couldn't take them there! I looked hesitantly over at the munchlax. He was watching me uneasily.

"Maybe we shouldn't," Al replied quietly.

"What? But, Al—"

"I don't want to give them any more chimeras, Brother," the suit of armor continued with a little more force. "Who knows what they are doing to the other one? I don't want to condemn them just because we don't have anything better to do with them."

There was a really long pause after that. Finally, I heard Ed say, "Alright. We won't, Al. We'll just say we didn't get here in time." I let out a sigh of relief, and I wasn't the only one. Al did as well.

"Thank you, Brother."

"Yeah, yeah." The armor began to move again, and I assumed we were going back to their home.

"What is going on?" I didn't look at the munchlax, though I felt his gaze on me. He sounded slightly unnerved by the sudden movement.

"You asked before where we were," I said, avoiding his question. "You know that metal human from before? We're inside him." There was silence for a few moments, all but the creaking of the armor.

"So, what, he ate us?" I almost laughed, but he sounded so serious that I couldn't.

"Not exactly. He can open his chest." I paused for a moment, contemplating how to best pose explain the situation without sounding crazy. "The truth is, hard as this will be to believe, we're in another world. One that doesn't have Pokémon in it." For a moment, he just looked at me. I thought for sure he was going to laugh, and I almost wondered if I would as well, simply out of the absurdity of it, but he didn't. He sighed instead, scratching his head with a dull claw.

"To be honest, I was beginning to wonder. When we broke out, and I was exploring, I had noticed the complete lack of Pokémon. I tried not to think about it, but that idea was in the back of mind, after the lightning." He shook his head. "Why?"

"He wants to use us," I answered, guessing his unspoken question. "Isorfold, I mean. The human with… the luxray." I hesitated over the last part, nearly saying 'Sirene' instead. "He wants to use our powers to take over this world—"

"No, that's not what I mean." I looked up, puzzled, as he continued. "Why us? What significance do we have that we would end up in this place?" I blinked. It wasn't something I had considered much. I don't really believe in fate, and I don't know many Pokémon that do. This munchlax, though, apparently did. I couldn't say which of us was right, the more I thought about it. What was the likeliness that my mother would end up here with me, the one Pokémon I thought I had escaped? Could it be anything but fate?

"Anyway," the munchlax continued, trying to banish the dark mood, "I never introduced myself properly. I'm Boro." He waited expectantly, and it took me a minute to realize he was waiting for me to give him my name.

"Tasha," I replied with a nod.

"Right then. Tasha, I formally apologize for my behavior before."

"Me too," I conceded. "I attacked you, after all. The fault is mine."

"Let's just let bygones be bygones," He said with a wry grin. "It seems we may be working on the same team now, so to speak. What, exactly, is out goal?"

"To find a way back," I said bluntly. "And stop Isorfold." And my mother, I added silently. Boro shrugged.

"Sounds good to me. Whatever it takes to go home. I'm not entirely sure yet that I like this place. Too quiet, you know?" I smiled. Yes, I did know.

"Some of the humans aren't too bad," I told him. "But yes. Sometimes I really miss not having a two-sided conversation, like we are." He nodded, but seemed slightly puzzled.

"How long have you been here?" He asked. I paused for a moment, wondering that myself. How many days had it been?

"Um, I think I'm on my third day," I said, not entirely sure of myself. Doing the math in my head, I nodded more decisively. "Yeah. Three days." I grinned sheepishly. "It feels like forever, though." It was at that moment that the front of the armor opened. Ed looked in on us, blinking slightly at the sight of Boro. The munchlax just stared back. Then, from out of his hair, an oval-shaped head with large, diamond ears popped into sight. The pichu wasn't quite as young as I thought she had been upon first hearing her voice, but she was no adult. I knew I was older than she was, most likely. Then there was the way she was practically clinging to Ed. There was something about it that seemed funny. It was almost like she was practically tame.

Then it hit me. Boro had said she was looking for a trainer, and she'd apparently found one. It just happened to be Ed. I quickly ducked my head down under my paws to stifle my laughter. I didn't see her eyes narrow dangerously.

"What are you laughing at, cat?" The tone almost made the words sound dangerous, but combined with that high-pitched, squeaky voice, it was comical. I could no longer hold back the giggles, and they erupted, turning quickly into full-blown laughter. I heard her 'hmph' imperiously, but that only further fueled my mirth. Boro and Ed both sweat dropped.

"Al, since when can cats laugh?" Ed asked.

"Well, Shinx is no ordinary cat," Al replied, though he even seemed a little perplexed. When I finally stopped, Ed tried to get Mera to let go of him and get into Al's armor, but she immediately pulled a fuss.

"Wh-what are you doing!?" She asked incredulously as he tried to pull her off his head. "No, I don't want to get in here! I want to be with yooooou!" After a lot of pulling and yelling, during which time not only I but also Boro and Al started chuckling, and Ed was getting very irritated, he finally gave up.

"Fine! Stay there!" He let her go and turned abruptly, ignoring the fact that his hair was nearly out of its usual braid. Al sighed at his brother and carefully closed the front of his armor.

"I think Mera found her trainer," I said, then started giggling again.

"What's so funny about it?" Boro asked curiously.

"Just that she picked Ed," I told him, and left it at that. Just as I was feeling Al begin to walk again, though, I heard Ed hiss something.

"Al! Look!" Then, Al gasped, and I wanted to growl. What the heck had they seen? And in a flurry of movement, we were suddenly moving. Fast.

And I thought just walking was horrible. This was the first time I'd ever been inside Al when he was running, and it wasn't an experience I would like to repeat. I was suddenly moving back and forth, first my head and then my hind legs hitting metal. We stopped just a moment after we started, but that was only to get Boro out of Al; apparently, the cage was making too much noise. During that time, I managed to climb up and press my front and back claws into cracks in the armor. I was still shaken, but not nearly as bad as I was down in his foot. Still, it was torture clinging there, feeling like my entire body would never stop moving. When it finally did, I fell to a heap in the bottom of Al's leg, exhausted. I just barely registered what Ed and Al were saying.

"This was where it went, Brother."

"Yeah." Ed's voice had an eager, almost violent edge to it. "Finally. Time to get this guy, Al. We have him." As tired as I was from the running, it took me a moment to gather what he meant. Then it all made sense. They'd seen Sirene, obviously. Why hadn't I guessed that before? And she had led us directly to her master's lair. Feeling beaten and bruised nonetheless from our hasty departure, I settled into my usual spot, trying to rest while I could. I had a feeling that something was about to happen, something important, and I needed to be in the best shape I possibly could.

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Exhilaration gripped Ed in anticipation of what lay ahead, just before them. They could finally end this little detour away from their real purpose: to find a Philosopher's Stone and, ultimately, a way to get their bodies back. That meant finding and apprehending Isorfold, and that big-shinx chimera had led them right to him. It was perfect. They could take him while his only remaining chimera was reeling from its earlier fight with him.

But when Ed went to make his way inside, he was stopped by his brother's large, metal arm. Al began walking towards the door of the building the chimera had disappeared into instead.

"Al, what are you doing?" Ed asked, running to catch up.

The building itself looked like it had been abandoned for a while, though they were deep into the slums of East City. Some of the surrounding buildings had been damaged by past terrorist bombings, the cavernous holes in their dilapidated walls simply neglected when the local military decided it was too much trouble to fix them. Others, like this one, had been left in relatively good condition, abandoned simply when fear had forced the people away from these areas. It looked like a place that someone would have an illegal alchemical lab.

"Al, what's your problem?" Ed continued. "Why did you stop me?"

"We can't afford to get careless," Al said, turning towards him. "You're always so sure of yourself, but look at the way the chimera just led us here. Who's to say it wasn't under orders, and there is a trap waiting for us?"

"Well, if that's the case, then I'm—" Ed began, but he was swiftly cut off by Al.

"No, Brother, I will," The suit of armor told him forcefully. "If there is some kind of trap, like if he has a gun, or if he has some bigger, fiercer chimera waiting, it won't hurt me as badly as it could you."

"Al, I'll be—" Ed tried to say, but Al wasn't letting him speak.

"No, Brother. I'm not letting you walk into these things blindly anymore! We're all we have!" Then Al looked down, and in a quieter tone, said, "I don't want to lose you." Ed watched his brother for a moment, the yellow chimera still clinging to him, and finally sighed and scratched his head irritably. Much as he hated to admit it, Al was probably right in that respect. The blue and black feline had had plenty of time to get here and back while he and Al had been swapping stories of the morning, and could be leading them on simply to trap them. It was probably the best course of action, though that didn't mean he liked it. Not one bit.

"Alright, Al," He said, yielding. "You… you're right. We need to think about this. Underestimating Isorfold is what led to us letting him get away the first time. We can't make that same mistake again."

"Right," Al agreed, sounding relieved that his brother had relented. "Let's go, then." When Ed nodded, he turned and took the last few steps to the door, with Ed right behind him. Almost as an afterthought, he laid the cage with the green and cream chimera he had caught that morning down beside the stars that led up to the entrance, where it could be easily retrieved when they left. Then he opened the door and walked inside. Ed followed, only to knock into Al's back and stagger backward.

"Al, what—"

"Brother! Don't come any closer!" Ed felt his heart rise to his throat at the fearful tone in his brother's voice.

"Al, what's wrong?!" By the time he was done asking, though, Ed knew exactly what was wrong. He had seen the complex transmutation circle under Al's feet begin to light up. He could do nothing but shield his eyes with an arm as blue electricity engulfed the armor that was his brother.