"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." – William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Chapter Twenty-Four:
Falling into Place
"Oh shit."
Annora stared at Envy for several seconds, trying not to let the homunculus see just how scared she was, before Katie noticed their visitors. The anime-obsessed girl looked over at the homunculus with wide eyes before she let out an ear-splitting squeal and promptly launched herself at the green-haired Sin, wrapping her arms around him and encasing him in a rib-crushing hug.
"ENVY-KUN!!" she squealed excitedly, glomping the bewildered Sin with all of her strength, immediately ratcheting the severity of the situation down from flat-out terrifying to faintly amusing and seriously unnerving. It took a few seconds for Envy's brain to catch up with what was happening, and his already volatile temper snapped, although this was also encouraged by Lust's poorly repressed snickering at the scene.
"What the- GET THE HELL OFF ME!!!" the shape-shifter snarled as he attempted to pry the ecstatic teenage girl from her position with her arms wrapped tightly around his torso, and failed miserably.
"Uhh… Katie?" Annora said hesitantly as she watched her friend with obvious unease. "I think you might want to let go."
As funny as it was to see Envy freaked out like this, she still didn't think that it was exactly the smartest thing in the world for her friend to be clinging to a homicidal, mentally unstable artificial human.
"No!" Katie protested as she withstood Envy trying to haul her off by the back of her jacket. Annora let out an annoyed groan as she leveled a dirty look in the shorter girl's direction, irritation obvious in her voice as she spoke forcefully.
"Katie, let go of the homosexual palm tree, now," she growled warningly.
"NO!"
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME, YOU STUPID HUMAN!!!"
Annora rolled her eyes upwards before she darted forward and trapped her obsessed friend in a headlock, cutting off Katie's supply of oxygen and forcing her to release her 'bishie'… whatever the hell that was. The sixteen-year old let out a huff of irritation as she pulled the other girl a respectable distance away from the upset homunculus, trying to mask her fear with annoyance and scorn. She knew that if she lost her head now, both she and Katie would stand a snowball's chance in Hell of getting out of this little fiasco alive.
"I know I've probably already asked this before, but are you fucking insane?!" the brown-eyed teen hissed angrily as she held her friend back from jumping the now-thoroughly pissed off homunculus again. "You don't just go running up and hugging people that you don't know like that!"
"Sheesh Annora, chill out," Katie said as she wiggled out of the other girl's grip, shooting her an odd look. "What's up with you? Just because some people from the anime club decide to dress up in costume doesn't mean that you need to freak out like that. It's not like they're the real thing."
Annora barely managed to keep herself from shouting a stream of insults at her friend as she stared at the bespectacled teen incredulously, completely blown away by what her friend had just said. There was no way in hell that anyone but the real Envy would have greeted her like that, especially the 'I told you that you couldn't hide from me' bit.
"The anime club, right," she muttered as she gave a forced chuckle, glancing out of the corner of her eye at the three homunculi, trying to come up with a way to get out of the hole she had just dug for herself. "I forgot about that."
Envy cocked an eyebrow at her sudden change in attitude before he, Lust, and Gluttony found themselves under a barrage of questions from Katie as she viewed their outfits excitedly.
"Wow, these have to be the best cosplays I've ever seen!" she enthused as she looked up at the green-haired Sin with absolute adoration in her eyes. "I mean, you guys even got the hair to look right! And everything looks so natural! How did you do it?!"
An evil smirk slowly crossed the homunculi's face as he regarded the hyper teen thoughtfully, and he allowed a sliver of his usual ego to show through.
"It's just because I'm that good," he boasted, crossing his arms over his chest before he returned his attention to Annora, who was watching him warily with an indescribable look on her face, her free hand gripping the strap of her messenger bag so tight that her knuckles turned white. "However, I think I need to talk to you friend over there."
"Crap," Annora muttered as she took a precautionary step back. Envy smirked at the teen as he leaned forward, a mocking grin planted firmly on his face.
"What, surprised to see me?"
"No, I'm just not looking at you until you're wearing something that I'll actually classify as clothing."
"Ouch. I think you've hurt my feelings."
"Wow, you actually think?" the teen asked sarcastically as she flashed a strained grin. "And here I thought that you were totally brainless, kind of like one of those stupid bimbos on the cheer squad. All body and no brains."
"Are you insinuating something?" Envy growled dangerously, not liking being compared to an airheaded girl. Annora merely gave him a triumphant smirk as she slowly backed up, an odd look in her eyes.
"Only if you think I am," she replied cryptically. "Unless of course I'm lying. Then you only think that I'm insinuating something, which means that I wasn't. Or I could be telling the truth, because you won't believe me even if I tell it to you."
"Huh?" the homunculus said, clearly confused as he looked at the girl quizzically. Behind him, Lust let out an annoyed sigh as she fixed the older Sin with an exasperated look.
"Envy, she's playing word games with you," the buxom woman stated shortly. "She's trying to confuse you."
"No, really? You think?" Annora growled as she slowly inched closer to Katie, smirking inwardly as an ideal escape plan dawned on her. "And here I thought I was just making small talk."
The two homunculi frowned at the girl's sarcastic statement before Envy opened his mouth to say something, only to be interrupted by Gluttony.
"I'm hungry," the obese Sin said suddenly. Katie looked over at the other homunculus and frowned, an odd look crossing her face as she scrutinized the blank-faced creature closely.
"What in the hey-?" she began, only to have Annora suddenly dart forward, placing herself in between her friend and the homunculi. A knowing smirk flashed across the other teen's face as she suddenly slammed her fist down on the ends of their lunch trays, sending the toxic cuisine flying at Envy, Lust, and Gluttony.
"Eat this then, assholes!" she shouted as the mystery meat surprise sauce hit Envy full in the face, and landed with a loud 'splat' on Lust's chest. Gluttony just leaned back and opened his mouth wide, catching his portion of the school food attacking them.
Annora didn't wait around long enough to take in the damage that she'd caused as she grabbed Katie forcefully by the elbow before she proceeded to drag her friend back towards the doors leading to the inside cafeteria, slamming the thick metal doors shut behind them as they ran.
"Annora, what the-?" Katie tried to ask, only to have the taller girl cut her off.
"Don't talk, just run!" she snapped, glancing over her shoulder to make sure that they weren't being followed. Thinking quickly, the sixteen-year old pulled the other girl with her out into main part of the cafeteria, effectively hiding themselves in the crowd, before heading towards the double doors that led out into the hallway.
"But-"
"Katie, just listen to me for once!"
The odd-eyed teen stared at her friend in bewilderment, wondering just what had happened to make Annora this tense. Had she missed something?
"Annora, why are you freaking out about a couple of the kids from anime club dressing up?" Katie asked as she let the other girl pull her along. "It's not like they're the real thing, and besides-"
"Katie, I hate to break it to you, but those were the real things back there," Annora shot back tersely. "I know this because before I left Amestris, Envy threatened to come here and kill everyone I've ever cared about. His exact words to me were 'You can't hide from me, bitch'. How the hell do you expect me to not react to them just waltzing right up to us?!"
"Well I think you're overreacting."
"I am not overreacting!" the sixteen-year old snarled as they reached the doors leading out into the halls, and she immediately lashed out with her right foot, unceremoniously kicking the twin doors open. "You're the one who's not reacting enough!!"
Katie tried to pull herself free from the other teen's iron grip as she was dragged through the doorway before Annora kicked the doors shut and jabbed a finger meaningfully at the small windows set into the entrance.
"Watch the other doors through that and then tell me that I'm overreacting," she growled, her usually warm brown eyes narrowed dangerously from a combination of fear and anger. Hesitantly, Katie did as she was told, and was shocked to see the metal doors that they had just gone through at the other side of the cafeteria get sliced into pieces before they crumbled, revealing Lust standing there with her claws extended and a smug smirk on her face. Upon seeing the oddly-dressed woman, along with the two males standing behind her, panic set in among the students in the lunchroom, and the majority all bolted for the closest exits.
"Time to go," Annora said as she dragged her friend off down the hall only seconds before the flood of students entered the halls, followed by the loud shrilling sound of someone setting off the fire alarm.
"Where are we going?"
"Anywhere but here."
A loud shout of 'There she is!' behind them gave the brunette cause to glance behind them, and was treated to the sight of Envy forcing his way through the crowd of students to get to the two girls. Annora swore foully underneath her breath before she abandoned all pretenses of looking like the rest of the panicked teenagers in the hallway and broke into a run, dragging Katie behind her.
The moment that they reached the intersecting corridor, Annora turned right while the majority of their classmates went left, heading out in the direction of the main parking lot.
"What are you doing?!" Katie hissed urgently before she chanced a glance behind her to make sure that Envy hadn't seen them yet. "Everyone else is going that way!"
"Yeah, well everyone else doesn't have a trio of murderous homunculi on their asses," Annora ground out before a morbid smirk crossed her face. "Besides, the chemistry lab is this way."
"Uh oh… why do I have a really bad feeling about this?"
"That's because you know me way too well."
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Ed cursed colorfully as he tore after Twilight, trying his hardest to ignore the unwanted thoughts springing up in the back of his mind about how he should just let the canine go on its way and not bother with catching up, how the small animal was nothing more than yet another painful reminder of Annora's absence. However, all thoughts of just letting the dog go flew right out of his head at light speed when the puppy finally bolted out of the alleyway, and right into a street.
"Shit!" Ed snarled as he put on an extra burst of speed and snatched up the dog just as car slammed on its brakes with a loud squeal, the horn coming into play as the driver expressed their fury at the teenager having burst out into the busy street from out of nowhere. Startled by the loud sound, the teenage alchemist let out a loud curse before his feet slipped out from underneath him on a patch of ice, and he landed unceremoniously on his ass.
"Brother!" Al shouted out as he emerged from the alley, and saw his older sibling sitting in the middle of the road while staring wide-eyed at the front bumper of a strange black and white car with an odd set of blue and red lights up on the roof. "Brother, are you okay?!"
"I'm not dead if that's what you're asking," Ed answered shakily as he got to his feet, eyeing the strange car uneasily as he cradled Twilight protectively in his arms. If he had been just a few seconds later, the dog would have been road kill.
"Hey, just what the hell do you kids think you're doing?!" the man who had been driving the car demanded as he opened the driver side door and stepped out onto the snowy street, pushing up the brim of his tan cowboy hat as he glared at the two boys. "You could've been killed pulling a stunt like that, kid!"
"Look here pops, if I hadn't my friend's dog would've gotten killed, and then she'd have my ass for letting it happen!" the Fullmetal Alchemist snapped back as he glared daggers at the strangely dressed man. The older man was wearing khaki slacks, sturdy dark shoes, and a dark brown jacket with some sort of badge on the front. The man frowned slightly as he peered closer at the teenager, and arched an eyebrow as a thought suddenly struck him.
"Kid, how old are you?" he asked, and Ed turned red at the 'kid' comment as he leveled a death glare at him.
"I'm sixteen," he growled darkly, and Al let out a groan as he clapped a hand to his face in frustration.
"Brother, be nice," he scolded before he turned around to look at the man that had almost hit the older Elric, and bowed slightly in apology. "I'm sorry for how rude my brother's being right now. We've kind of had a bad day."
"I know the feeling," the man muttered as he let out a sigh before he shook his head. "And speaking of bad days, aren't you two supposed to be in school right now?"
"Huh?" was Ed's oh-so-intelligent reply to this question, incredulity flashing through his golden eyes as he gaped at the man.
"I'm one of the police officers who keep an eye out around town for kids like you thinking it's a cool idea to skip school," the man explained as he rolled his dark eyes upwards. "I know that every school from here in Flagstaff to all the way in Prescott have been closed down for snow days for the past week, but that doesn't mean that you can ditch just 'cause you don't feel like going back to school after a week's vacation. Although, I think I can cut you two a break because you said that your friend's dog escaped, and I have the fact that I almost hit you to prove it."
A frown crossed the alchemist's face as he stared at the police officer intently, before realization hit him like a brick.
"Flagstaff?" he gasped sharply before he and Alphonse exchanged shocked looks. The police officer, Officer Jackson, ignored their surprise as he removed his hat and ran a hand through his brown hair.
"Look you two, why don't you hop in back and I'll give you a lift to school," he offered before he cast a sideways glance over at Al. "Uh… you're probably going to want to take your costume off first though, because I don't think you'll be able to fit in there otherwise."
"He'll fit," Ed said suddenly before inspiration struck him, and he started doing what Annora would have dubbed as 'bullshitting'. "Y'see, we're doing this reenactment for our class, and Al forgot his costume, so we had to go home to get it, and that's when our friend's dog escaped, so we had to go after her before something happened to her. Um, I don't suppose you could drop us off at…" the alchemist paused for a second to think before he remembered the name of the school that Annora had told them that she had gone to. "Redford High School?"
"Sure, not a problem," Officer Jackson responded as he let out a wry chuckle before heading back into his car. "Just hop in the back, and we'll get going. But hey, are you absolutely sure that your brother can fit inside while wearing that thing?"
"We'll find out, won't we?" Ed asked rhetorically as he looked back at the younger Elric and flashed him a reassuring smile, letting Al know that he knew what he was doing. "It took forever to get him all set up in that thing, so we really don't want to take it off unless we absolutely have to."
"Makes sense to me."
And with that parting comment the older man got into his squad car and fastened his seatbelt, waiting for the two boys to follow him. Ed hesitated for a second before he followed after the police officer, only to have Al suddenly grab a hold of his shoulder.
"Brother, what are you doing?!" the fifteen-year old hissed urgently, worry evident in his eyes.
"Finding Annora," the teenage alchemist shot back. "Somehow I don't think that it's just a coincidence that we suddenly ended up in this town that Annora kept insisting she was from. Hell, that police officer just confirmed that even her school exists. You're the one who's always been asking about whether or not Annora may have been telling the truth, right? Well here's our chance to find out if she was telling us the truth, or if she was just some deranged, smart-ass teenage girl."
Alphonse froze for a second before he nodded in agreement, and Ed flashed his younger brother a cocky grin before he headed towards the police car, not realizing that he still had Annora's backpack on his back while cradling Twilight protectively in his arms. To any passing observers, he looked exactly like any run of the mill teenage boy that was supposed to be in school.
"Don't worry about it, Al," he encouraged over his shoulder. "We'll be fine."
"I sure hope so," the possessed suit of armor muttered as he shook his head and sighed, following the older Elric into the back seat of the cruiser, which was a bit of a tight squeeze, but he managed to get in with only the minimal amount of squishing Ed. "I really hope that you know what you're doing, brother."
"Yeah, so do I," Ed managed to gasp weakly as he scooted slightly away from his sibling so he wouldn't get squashed any more than he already was. "Now let's go and see if we can find Annora. Hopefully she hasn't gone and gotten herself into trouble again."
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"We are so seriously screwed," Katie chattered as Annora quietly shut the classroom door behind them, eyeing the chemistry classroom that they were currently in doubtfully. "I know that Envy-kun might spare us if we apologize or something, but if Lust and Gluttony are with him, then he'll probably be forced to act like a jerk."
The brunette slowly turned around and stared at her friend for several long moments, the look on her face indicating that she thought the other girl had lost her mind.
"Katie, just keep quiet, and worry about your stupid obsession later," she finally gritted out, trying not to lose it and snap at the anime-obsessed girl. "We need to get out of this alive first."
Annora ignored Katie's sputtered protests as she looked around the room anxiously, and a slow, almost homicidal smirk, crossed her face as her eyes landed on what looked like a large fish tank full of water, with two jumper cables attached to metal rods extending down into the water. It was one of those things that she had seen in a science video once, where you ran an electrical current through the water, and as a result it produced hydrogen. She couldn't remember what it was called, but she had an idea about how to deal with the homunculi now.
"Jackpot," the sixteen-year old whispered as she went over to the device and started examining it. "Well, it looks like I'm gonna have to follow Ethan's philosophy on fighting now."
"And what's that?" Katie asked suddenly as she came up behind her friend, and winced slightly when the taller girl suddenly let out an unnerving snicker before she responded.
"When all else fails, blow shit up."
"WHAT?!" the bespectacled teen yelped, only to have Annora whirl around and clamp a hand down over her mouth before anything else could come out.
"You idiot! Are you insane?!!" she hissed angrily. "They'll hear us!"
"But-"
"Shh!" Annora whispered urgently as she dragged her friend away from the door just as someone walked by, and a familiar spiky-haired shadow appeared on the frosted windowpane set into the door before it moved on, passing them by for the moment. The sixteen-year old stared at the door, her brown eyes wide with barely repressed terror as she tried to encourage her suddenly numbed mind to work.
The teenager hissed out a soft curse as she released Katie, and the gravity of the situation hit her like a ton of bricks. The homunculi were here in her world. The place where she had grown up in, and where nothing weird had ever happened. If she didn't do something, and soon, they were probably going to cause mass chaos and havoc once they figured out that they were in a different world, much less a plane of reality.
"Shit on a stick," Annora grumbled as she returned her attention to the machine, wondering how she could get it to produce more hydrogen than what was available in the tank. After musing over the problem for a few seconds, she noticed the spray nozzle next to the sink, and a roll of duct tape sitting on the counter not too far away from it. The girl grinned as inspiration struck her, and she turned on the machine before removing the glass container that the hydrogen was supposed to go into, making it so that the gas would seep into the room instead.
"Umm, Annora… what are you doing?" Katie asked hesitantly as she watched the taller girl rip off a piece of duct tape and wrap it around the spray nozzle, insuring that it was permanently on, before she stuck it into the tank and turned the water on. Already a funny smell was starting to fill the classroom, and Annora noticed that she was having a little bit of difficulty breathing.
"Just a bit of a diversion," the sixteen-year old answered offhandedly before she grabbed her friend by the arm and hauled her over to the supply cabinet up by the door. Without even bothering to explain anything, Annora opened up one of the wooden doors and shoved aside a few small boxes that were on the lower level.
"Get in there, stay hidden and don't make a sound until I say so, got it?" she asked seriously as she helped Katie get situated in the somewhat cramped space. There was enough room to fit two people of their size, but it was going to be a tight squeeze once Annora managed to force herself in the cupboard as well.
Once she had extracted a promise from Katie to do exactly what she said, the teen dashed over to the counter opposite from the supply closet and snatched up an alcohol burner and butane lighter from what looked like the setup for some experiment. Unfortunately for her, when she was drawing her arm back with the two precious objects clutched tightly in her hand, the bulky leather sleeve of her letterman's jacket snagged on the lip of a large glass beaker and sent it tumbling onto the tiled floor. The beaker fell to the floor with a tremendous crash that seemed to Annora loud enough to wake the dead, shattering into dozens of razor-sharp fragments.
"Shit," Annora muttered before she bolted over towards the cabinet, clutching her prizes close to her chest, before she scrambled inside next to Katie and shut the door firmly behind her.
"Annora, what are you doing?" Katie began, only to have her friend hold up a hand to silence her in the dim gloom of the supply cabinet.
"Katie, just keep quiet and watch me," she whispered hoarsely as she leaned forward and put her eye to the crack between the two doors. There was a heavy silence for a few brief moments before the sound of someone running up to the classroom door reached their ears, and Annora automatically tensed up as the door opened, and Envy walked in, followed closely by Lust and Gluttony.
"Envy, there's nothing here," the female homunculus stated tersely as she quickly scanned the room, and found nothing that caught her interest. The green-haired Sin scowled as he shot Lust a dirty look over his shoulder before he turned around and crouched in front of the shattered beaker that Annora had accidentally knocked over.
"I'm pretty sure that I heard something break around here, and this is the only room with anything broken in it," he retorted scathingly. "That bitch and her stupid little friend have to be around here somewhere, I'm sure of it."
Lust heaved an exasperated sigh before she fixed the older homunculus with an intense stare. "And just what is it with your obsession of finding this girl? Ever since we passed through the Gate into this other world, that's been all you've talked about."
"Well first of all, she travels with the Fullmetal Pipsqueak, and his tin can of a brother!" Envy spat, his amethyst eyes narrowed hatefully as he stalked towards the back of the room, having spotted the door that lead into the classroom next door. "And secondly, she's gotten away with mocking me for the last time. No one ever talks to me that way and gets away with it!"
"And you're positive that this obsession of yours isn't motivated by something other than hatred?"
Annora twitched slightly at the implications of this statement, and fought back the urge to make a loud retching noise, knowing that her and Katie's lives depended on their ability to remain silent. The androgynous Sin had no such restrictions as he froze in his tracks before he spun around to face Lust, his face twisted into a perverse mask of loathing.
"Just what the fuck do you mean by that?!" he all but shrieked in rage, murder shining in his slitted pupils as he glared at the sole female in the group. Lust didn't even look the least bit phased as she calmly examined her nails, seemingly checking underneath them for dirt or other lodged bits of debris.
"What I mean is that you're acting more like an obsessed stalker than someone hell-bent on revenge," the buxom woman stated bluntly without even looking up at Envy. "For all we know, this world could have hundreds of items that could benefit the Master, and yet you're more focused on killing some puny speck of a human girl just because she took a few blows at your ego."
Envy turned a rather interesting shade of puce as he glared daggers at Lust, looking as though he would like nothing more than to wring her neck.
"Shut up, just shut up!" he spat furiously. "I told you that I'm going to kill that little bitch, and that's all there is to it!!"
Lust arched a delicate eyebrow sharply as she opened her mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by Gluttony.
"It smells funny in here," the tubby homunculus whined as he sniffed at the air. Envy and Lust both froze at this statement before they too started sniffing at the air. It was then that Annora decided that it was probably prudent to get the hell out of there, and kicked the cabinet door open with a resounding 'crash' before she grabbed Katie's hand and proceeded to haul ass out of the chemistry lab.
"What the-?!" Envy began, too stunned by the girls sudden appearance to make sense of what had just happened. Annora didn't give him a chance to finish his thoughts as she paused in the doorway with the alcohol burner in one hand, and the butane lighter in the other.
"Go to hell!" she snarled as she lit the wick to the alcohol burner before she lobbed it directly at the trio of homunculi, whirling around and slamming the door shut behind her.
There was dead silence in the lab for a few seconds as she and Katie both pressed themselves up against the wall on either side of the door, only to be broken by the loud crash of the alcohol burner smashing on the floor in the room.
"Where's the 'kaboom'? There was supposed to be an earth-shattering 'kaboom'!" Katie said suddenly as she looked over at her friend, her tone indicating that she was joking. Annora opened her mouth to say something, only to be interrupted by an ominous-sounding 'fwoom' from behind them before the science lab exploded. The classroom door blew off its hinges as a large cloud of flames burst from the lab, and and sent it flying into the wall across the hall, where it crumpled before falling to the ground with a loud clatter.
Both teens gaped at the sight as the flames withdrew back into the classroom, having lost their fuel source, before they looked back at each other. Katie was doing a decent impression of a goldfish as she gaped at Annora, who looked sheepish as she shrugged hesitantly.
"There it is."
It was right about then that the sprinklers went off in the room, soaking the interior and dousing any flames that may have been inside.
"You just blew up the chemistry lab!" Katie accused, finally recovering the use of her voice as she stared incredulously at her friend. Annora gave a nervous laugh before she looked into the charred remains of the science lab, wrinkling her nose slightly when an odd and disturbing odor reached her nose. She really hoped that it wasn't the smell of burnt flesh…
"Yeah, and your point would be…?" she asked offhandedly as she scanned the burnt wreckage for any sign of Envy and his cohorts. There was no way in hell that she was going to set foot in that room until she was absolutely certain that the three homunculi were dead.
"Well, I always thought that you'd have to actually take chemistry before you blew something up," the dark-haired girl muttered. Annora gave a derisive snort at this before she glanced over at the shorter girl out of the corner of her eye.
"Katie, I am in chemistry," she stated dryly as she rolled her eyes upwards as though praying for divine guidance. "Do us both a favor, and don't tell my teacher, ever. She'll never let me near a Bunsen burner again if she knew that I used one like a Molotov cocktail."
"And just how much is the omission of this information worth?"
"Don't even go there, Kate. I've got a hell of a lot more blackmail material on you than you do on me."
Katie frowned as she looked back over at the classroom, and an odd look crossed her face as she moved to stand over next to Annora.
"I know we should probably run, but my morbid curiosity prevents such…" the bespectacled girl mumbled. The other teen shot her a sardonic look before she shook her head and sighed.
"You're impossible," Annora muttered as she reached up and ran a hand through her bangs. However, she froze in mid-motion when she caught sight of some movement in the room out of the corner of her eye. The teenager silently started praying fervently that she was either hallucinating, or imagining things, before she looked over at the spot where she had last seen the three homunculi. A shocked gasp tore from her throat as she jerked backwards suddenly, watching with wide eyes in horror as the charred remains of Envy, Lust, and Gluttony slowly started to re-form right before her eyes.
"Oh shit," she whispered hoarsely as she stared at the slowly-growing lumps. Katie immediately looked over at what she was staring at, and let out a loud yelp as she too drew back.
"Okay, curiosity satisfied! Time to go!" she insisted frantically. Annora needed no further urging as she grabbed her friend by the front of her jacket and bolted down the hall, heading for the staircase leading up to the second story like the hounds of hell were baying at her heels.
Now was the time for them to start panicking and find an adult.
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"Well here you go," Officer Jackson said as he pulled up in front of Redford High before he twisted around in his seat to look at the two boys. "Next time, try not to run out in front of moving cars like that, okay kid? The next person might not have as good a set of brakes as I do."
"Yeah, yeah, thanks for the advice," Ed muttered as he got out of the car, soon followed by Alphonse as the younger Elric squirmed out of the small confines of the cop car, before he dropped his voice down to a low whisper. "Wiseass."
"Brother!" Al said reprovingly as he shot his older sibling a dirty look. Ed shrugged and muttered something under his breath as he turned away from the possessed suit of armor and started towards the front doors to the school. Al rolled his eyes upwards as he let out a sigh and followed the alchemist, before he let out a poorly repressed snicker when he noticed that Ed was still holding Twilight close to his chest. For someone who claimed not to like pets of any kind, he sure was being awfully protective of the young collie.
Officer Jackson had just pulled away when the two boys approached the front entrance to the school, only to be startled out of their wits when a loud alarm suddenly went off.
"What the hell?!" Ed snarled as he looked around them, and almost got run over by two teachers hustling a group of teenagers out of the front door, casting wary glances over their shoulders as they did so. The Fullmetal Alchemist opened his mouth to ask just what exactly was going on, when the loudspeaker crackled to life behind the two boys, startling both of them.
"ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS. PLEASE PROCEED TO EITHER THE CLOSEST EXIT, OR CLASSROOM. THIS IS A LOCKDOWN. REPEAT; THIS IS A LOCKDOWN, NOT A DRILL. ALL TEACHERS, LOCK YOUR DOORS AND KEEP YOUR STUDENTS AWAY FROM THE WINDOWS OR DOORS. WE HAVE INTRUDERS ON CAMPUS, AND THEY ARE ARMED."
The blood drained out of Ed's face as he looked over at Alphonse, who also looked nervous, his red eyes wide.
"You don't think…?" the older Elric began hesitantly as he stared at his brother. Al shook his head slightly as he stared at the entrance of the front office.
"It's not possible… at least I don't think so."
That was when the gunshots coming from the other side of the school started.
Both boys exchanged startled looks before they bolted off in the direction of the noise, completely ignoring the teacher yelling at them to come back and evacuate with the rest of the students.
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"Move, move, move, move, move, move, move!" Annora insisted frantically as she practically dragged Katie along behind her, the two of them giving new meaning to the phrase 'hauling ass' as they bolted down the abandoned corridors of the second story of their high school. The fire alarm had just been shut off, so the sixteen-year old assumed that the teachers had realized that it wasn't to alert the faculty about a fire.
Now, if the cops would just show up and give the three deranged homunculi currently after them a nice serving of hot lead, then everything would be just perfect.
Annora didn't even pause when they approached the door leading to the outside balcony that wrapped around two of the school walls, giving access to the outside classrooms positioned on the side of the building. Instead, she just kicked them open before they ran out into the frigid afternoon air, not caring about the loud 'boom' created by the heavy metal doors hitting the brick walls that shattered the deadly silence behind them. The homunculi already knew where they were anyways, so there was pretty much no use in trying to hide their position.
Growling a series of highly inappropriate curses under her breath, the teenager pulled her friend along behind her as they dashed towards the corner up ahead of them, silently praying that they would make it to the outside stairwell, and hopefully ditch their pursuers for a few precious moments. If they could pull it off, then they might stand a chance of reaching the other students being evacuated out into the parking lot, and vanish into the crowd.
Well, that was Annora's plan at least. The only reason she and Katie hadn't split up was because of the small fact that the dark-haired girl was absolutely convinced that she could talk 'Envy-kun' around and persuade the androgynous homunculus to spare them.
Hah, like that was ever going to happen. There wasn't a doubt in Annora's mind that Envy would kill her the second he got a chance, just to pay her back for all of the humiliation that she had put him through. And he'd probably kill Katie too just to spite her. Why Katie was completely incapable of seeing this, no matter how many times she explained this to her friend, was completely beyond the sixteen-year old.
Obsession really does know no bounds.
Annora shook her head and growled out an annoyed curse as they whipped around the corner, only to collide headlong with one of the school security guards. The two girls fell together into a tangled heap, with the older man stumbling backwards from the brunette knocking him off balance.
"Shit," Annora groaned as she slowly disentangled herself from Katie, and looked up at the blonde-haired man watching them with a bit of surprise. "Oh… hey Officer Kane. I think we've got a problem."
"I noticed," the older man responded dryly as he reached down and helped the two girls to their feet, his gray eyes widening slightly when he noticed the sudden look of fear on the taller girl's face. "Annora, what's wrong?"
"Besides three homicidal nutjobs out after us?" she asked as she scrambled to her feet, dragging Katie up after her, a slightly high-pitched note of panic in her voice. "Other than that, everything's just perfect."
Officer Kane immediately became the very picture of alertness as he promptly seized both girls by their arms and shoved them behind him, assuming a defensive stance as he pulled out his service pistol. He was one of the few security guards on campus that were actually cops, and thus authorized to carry a gun on school grounds.
"You two stay behind me, and be ready to run," he ordered sharply as he put his finger up to the safety, ready to release it at a moment's notice. It was a good thing that he did, seeing as Lust and Gluttony rounded the corner almost right after that, although the two homunculi came to a stop almost immediately as the campus cop leveled his gun at the two Sins and removed the safety.
"Alright you two, hands up where I can see them, now!" Kane barked out as he placed his finger on the trigger and glared at the homunculi. "Don't even think about moving. Yeah, I'm talking to you, lady."
Lust arched a delicate eyebrow as she sent the campus cop a dismissive glance, before a slow smile crossed her face as she brought her hand up and apparently examined her fingernails with a bored expression.
"I hate rude men," she stated simply as she looked up at Officer Kane. Annora winced slightly when she caught the barely audible sound of the older man grinding his teeth in an attempt to retain a firm grip on his temper.
"Lady, I said hands up in the air, now."
"If you say so," Lust said with a slight smirk, and with that statement brought her hand up and extended her nails so that one of the tips pressed lightly against the police officer's neck.
"Holy mother of…" the man began, the blood draining from his face slightly as he stared at the creature, who up until a few seconds ago he had thought to be nothing more than a human being. Lust cocked an eyebrow as she smiled coyly at the police officer.
"What's wrong? I thought you told me to not even think about moving."
"Go to hell!!" Kane snapped as he fired off several shots, imbedding two in Lust's skull, and the rest all in the upper area of her chest. The homunculus slumped backwards, her body almost coming to rest on the cold concrete of the walkway before electric-blue lightning started to flash around the wounds and the destroyed tissue regenerated right in front of the three humans' eyes.
Annora swore quietly under her breath as she shoved Katie behind her, getting ready to do something incredibly stupid, before Kane looked back over his shoulder at them, his expression stern.
"Both of you, run, now!" he snapped. "I'll hold them off!"
"But-"
"I said run!" Kane ordered as he snapped off another few shots at Lust to keep her down. "You kids just get the hell out of here, and I'll deal with the rest."
Before Annora could protest in any way, shape, or form, Katie grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her away forcefully, ducking around the corner while pulling the struggling girl along behind her. The dark-haired girl managed to drag her friend back inside the building before Annora let out a low snarl of irritation and roughly snatched her hand away.
"Katie, what the hell was that for?!" she demanded, taking a step back as she openly glared daggers at her friend.
"I just saved your butt!" the bespectacled girl snapped back, her greenish eyes narrowed slightly. "If we hadn't left, if those are the real thing like you say they are, Lust and Gluttony probably would have killed us both!"
"So you let them kill Officer Kane instead?! Oh yes, that's real brave! Katie, we just left a man to die because we know what the hell we're up against and he doesn't!!"
"And what would have happened if we hadn't run, hmm? We'd probably be dead right along with him!" Katie retorted. "Although maybe that's what you want, so you can be with your brother again."
Annora's eyes widened before she swiftly reached out and slapped her friend soundly across the face, brown eyes narrowed into a disgusted glare.
"Don't you ever say that again!" the teen growled angrily, although her voice was shaking slightly. "You have no idea what the hell you're talking about!! Katie, we are in very real danger here, and if we fuck up, everyone who is even remotely connected to us is going to either wind up hurt, or dead. We're dealing with the homunculi here, the real thing, not just some people in costumes, or some stupid characters from a comic book in black and white on a page. These… things are real, and they're after us… me in particular. This is not a game. People could die because of us if we don't do something, and fast."
Katie gawked openly at Annora, her eyes wide in disbelief, just as a frantic voice interrupted their conversation.
"What are you two doing out here?! You're supposed to be in a classroom or out in the parking lot!" a teacher hissed worriedly as she held the library door open a crack. "Don't you two know that there are criminals on campus?! Quick, get in here now!"
Annora turned around to face the woman, and winced slightly when she realized that it was her chem teacher who was currently giving her the stink eye while frantically motioning her to get her ass over there. If she disobeyed the woman now, she knew that she was going to catch hell for it later. Muttering a few choice obscenities under her breath, the sixteen-year old grabbed the sleeve of Katie's jacket and dragged her friend along with her as she stormed over to the library door and went inside.
Mrs. Robins waited until the two girls were safely inside the library before she shut and locked the door behind them, ushering the teenagers towards one of the back rooms.
"Once you two get in there, you need to make sure that you stay away from the door just in case the intruders on campus somehow manage to get inside the building," the science teacher muttered seriously. "We're in complete lockdown mode right now, and they won't let us out until the police catch the intruders."
Annora and Katie exchanged worried looks at this piece of information before the brunette turned to face her teacher, her expression grave.
"Umm, Mrs. Robins? The outside doors aren't locked. Katie and I just came in from outside."
Mrs. Robins went white at this statement, and opened her mouth to say something when she was interrupted by someone standing behind her.
"Annora, is that you?"
The teenager froze, her eyes widening slightly in surprise as she took a step sideways and stared incredulously at the boy standing in her teacher's shadow.
"Edward?"
Katie looked like she was torn between squealing loudly, and acting like a complete fangirl in general, or passing out from the shock of seeing the Fullmetal Alchemist standing there in her high school library. Annora was just in shock, her mind trying to process just how exactly her friend was here, while Mrs. Robins looked in between the two teens oddly.
"Annora, do you know this young man?" she asked gently as she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. Annora managed to nod numbly before a weak smile crossed her face.
"Holy shit Ed, you're here," she muttered incredulously as she reached up and ran a hand through her bangs nervously. "How in the hell did you manage that one?"
Ed shrugged as he managed to give a slightly sheepish grin. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me. I'm pretty sure that my explanation is way weirder than yours," Annora drawled dryly as she crossed her arms over her chest before she smirked smugly at the blonde-haired boy. "Now let's hear it."
"Hear what?"
"You admit that I was right, and you were wrong."
Ed frowned slightly as he arched an eyebrow. "That I was wrong about what?"
Annora gave him a look that promised a massive smack-down of epic proportions once they were in a less serious situation before she let out an annoyed sigh and began to massage the bridge of her nose.
"Never mind," she muttered exasperatedly before she shot the boy a curious look. "So, tell me, how did you end up here in the library?"
"This lady dragged me in here when she saw me out in the hall," the blonde explained sourly as he jerked a thumb meaningfully over in Mrs. Robins' direction. "Said something about a bunch of criminals or something like that and that I could get hurt."
The teenager bit down on her lip to keep from laughing at her friend's annoyed tone. She had no idea how he was here, but she was glad that he had somehow ended up in this world. Before further speculations could be made, however, Katie recovered from her stupor and promptly enveloped the alchemist in a bone-crushing hug.
"Holycrap, it'sreallyyouandIcan'tbelieveitandhtisisthegreatestdayofmylifebecauseIfinallygettomeettherealEdwardElric!!!" she babbled excitedly, practically vibrating from enthusiasm. Ed looked as though he had just been force-fed a lemon as he tried to extract himself from the obsessed girl's grasp, while Annora tried not to snicker. Now that they were safe, she was going to enjoy watching Katie getting her ass handed to her.
That was, until the alchemist said something that unraveled her world by the very seams.
"Haven't you hugged me enough today, you obsessed little freak?!" Ed hissed angrily as he forced his hands under Katie's arms, and for one split second Annora saw his round pupils turn into catlike slits.
"Katie, duck!" she roared frantically as she jerked a spare textbook off of the counter behind her and swung straight at Ed's face. Surprisingly, Katie did as she was told, and Annora nailed the person posing as Edward Elric right in the face, sending him falling flat on his ass with the raised print from the American History textbook title engraved into his now very red face.
Katie managed to sputter several incomplete sounds before she was finally able to make herself understood, and when she did, she sounded as though she thought Annora had just committed one of the worst sins imaginable.
"Annora, why did you-?"
"Katie, get away from him, now," Annora growled, her eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare as she hefted up the textbook again for another good whack incase she need to. "That thing is not Edward Elric."
'Ed' chuckled darkly as he looked up at her, an unnerving glint in his eyes as he stared at the teen.
"Clever little bitch," he spat distastefully, his golden eyes still cat-like. "What gave me away?"
"The real Ed doesn't look like a cat-eyed freak," the brown-eyed teen shot back, her tone scornful as she stood protectively in front of Katie and the rest of the students watching her, unsure as to what was going on. "And your dumb-ass little comment about Katie hugging you. The only person that she jumped today was Envy… and oh, what a coincidence, he's a shapeshifter! Not to mention the fact that Ed's never called me a bitch. Other things, yes, but a bitch? Sorry to disappoint, but no that one hasn't happened yet."
Envy scowled as he stood up, Ed's form falling away to reveal his true one underneath, ignoring the collective gasps that came from the teachers and students watching the exchange, before he smirked ferally at Annora.
"So, it looks like you're gonna have to actually fight me this time instead of running away like a little coward," he taunted as he cast a sly glance over at a group of freshmen, and Annora immediately put herself in between them and the homunculus.
"You touch them, you die," she hissed darkly. Envy blinked once in surprise before he threw back his head and let out a bone-chilling laugh. Even the teachers cringed at the sound, somehow knowing that they were up against something far from human.
"Heh, you beat me? If some puny human brat can defeat me, then I'm God!" Envy chortled nastily. Annora arched an eyebrow as she watched the homunculus with detached interest.
"If God is even half as fugly as you, then I don't wanna go to heaven," she retorted as she rolled her eyes upwards. Envy stopped snickering as he fixed her with a serious look, the same kind of smirk that you give a bug right before you step on it twitching about his mouth.
"Do you honestly think that you can stop me, you stupid human brat?" the Sin asked mockingly, his lavender eyes glinting with untold malevolence. "You just don't get it, do you? I'm the one with the power here, not you."
Dead silence permeated the library for several seconds as the two combatants' glared daggers at each other before all hell broke loose.
"No, you're the one who doesn't get, you asshole!!!" Annora snarled, her brown eyes practically blazing with fury. She'd had more than enough, thank you very much, and she was going to let this bastard know it. Screw the consequences, she didn't care anymore! "This is not your world. Alchemy, homunculi, the Philosopher's Stone… none of that exists here!! Hell, you're not even real!!!" the teenager spat as she jabbed finger accusingly at the homunculi's chest, forcing him to take few steps back out into the main part of the library in order to stay out of prodding range. "You and your psychotic friends are nothing more than characters in some stupid Japanese comic book, black and white images printed in ink on sheets of paper. Don't you get it, jackass? YOU'RE A FUCKING WORK OF FICTION, THE BY-PRODUCT OF A HUMAN WOMAN'S IMAGINATION!!! EVERYTHING THAT YOU KNOW, HELL, EVEN YOUR OWN MEMORIES AND PERSONALITY, ARE FAKE!!!"
Envy stared wide-eyed at Annora as she shrieked this last part, surprised at the girl's vehemence. The teenage girl stood there, her chest heaving from exertion after having shouted out all of the frustration that had been building up inside her for the past few months, before she took a deep, calming breath, and fixed the homunculus with an icy glare.
"Now I'm going to tell you this one more time; get the hell out of my town," she hissed, venom dripping from her words. "Go the hell back to Amestris, and stay there. This is my world, and you don't belong here."
The green-haired Sin looked at the irate teenager for a few moments, clearly unnerved, before an impassive expression crossed his face.
"And what if I don't feel like leaving?" Envy asked, a cold note to his words. Annora snorted rudely as she crossed her arms over her chest and sent him a filthy look.
"Then you're probably going to end up hidden in some government lab being poked and prodded at for the rest of your life, which could be quite a long time," she drawled nastily before her expression brightened. "Actually, I wouldn't really have a problem with that one. I might even ask them to send pictures."
"You're one sadistic little bitch."
"It takes one to know one, faggot."
"Has anyone ever told you that you're a pain?"
Annora smirked coyly at the Sin as she planted her hands on her hips. "Life is pain, retard. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something."
To her surprise, Envy sneered at her as he crossed his arms in front of his scrawny chest.
"Oh, really now?" he asked nastily as he bared his pointed teeth in an unnerving grin. Annora felt the first hint of fear as she realized that, in spite of how snarky and intelligent that Princess Bride quote had sounded in her head, to Envy it had probably sounded like an invitation to kick her ass.
"Ah, fuck," she groaned as she fell into one of the stances that Alphonse had taught her. She was in so much trouble, and there was no way that Ed or Al was going to just magically drop in and help save her sorry ass.
Damn her and her big mouth.
Envy darted forward, and easily caught the punch that Annora tried to throw at his face, before he reached forward and grabbed a fistful of her jacket and sweater.
"Well then, if life is pain, then why don't I do you a favor and release you from it?" the androgynous homunculus asked with a knowing smirk as he pulled Annora up close to his face, deranged glee shining in his eyes.
"Go to hell!" Annora snarled defiantly, baring her teeth in a clearly threatening gesture as she glared daggers at Envy. The homunculus didn't appear frightened by the useless motion as he gave her a condescending sneer and hefted her up in the air.
"Actually, I think you'll be visiting there first," he taunted before he flung the teenager full-force at the plate-glass window leading out into the tiled hallway. "Enjoy eternity, bitch!"
Annora almost bit clear through her lip as her back collided painfully with the glass, feeling the supposedly bullet-proof glass shattering all around her, as well as the wire mesh imbedded within it give way behind her, before she went flying out into the hallway. The sixteen-year old did gasp out an obscenity as her spine casually dented the brick wall on the other side of the hallway before she fell to the floor in a shower of shattered glass and twisted metal wire, her entire body one massive throbbing lump of pain.
If this wasn't Hell, then it came pretty damn close, because she was almost positive that eternal torment couldn't get much worse.
While Annora tried her damndest to keep from blacking out from the pain, she noticed through her rapidly tunneling vision a pair of thick-soled boots come running down the hallway before coming to a stop right in front of her. The pair of armored feet running alongside him almost completely escaped her notice, were it not for the obscenely loud clanging sound that they produced.
A loud roaring noise filled the teen's ears as the individual wearing boots crouched down in front of her, preventing Annora from hearing anything except wordless muttering. It was then that the person reached down and gently drew Annora up into a sitting position, moving his knee so that it was behind her back and she could lean back up against it.
It was then that Annora Thomas looked up into the concerned golden eyes of Edward Elric, and was completely incapable of saying anything even remotely sarcastic.
"Jeez Annora," the Fullmetal Alchemist joked with a forced smile on his face, "can't you even stay out of trouble for one day?"
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Finally, I finished it!!! Huzzah! I kicked the evil writer's block's ass!!
Sorry for the long-ass wait people, but school, family, and the inability to make the scene fall together got in my way. And then, lo and behold, it finally fell into place for me!!
Thank you God!!!
And now for some more important matters. In November, someone stole several chapters from my story, and I was alerted to this by a reviewer. It has been taken care of, and the person knows exactly who they are if they're reading this. You don't need to flame them, or anything like that, which is why I'm not saying their name. However, I would really, really, REALLY appreciate it if all of you guys would keep an eye out for that kind of stuff and let me know when you find something that looks suspicious. And I mean for all of my stories, not just 'What One May Never See'.
And, as a warning for any of you fatheads who might think to steal any of my stories, I will hunt you down, I will find your thieving ass, and I will not be a very pleasant person to deal with once I do get my hands on you. I tend to be very nasty when I'm pissed off, just ask either one of my brothers.
Anyways, thanks to
Kuchaki, mOOfins-of-dOOM, AlienaCooper, Giant-flying-radish-of-doom, sunshineemomix, Dontmezwitme, tatewaki2000, HAERTOFAVAMPYRE, Squeaker-Dee, TheWinchesterAngel, OctoberTalisman, Khait Khepri, Zilo Sugarpill, Malaloba, Damarikomu, emeraldcyclone, tiggeranddash, Phantom SunsSong, A.C.E.-Samma, Dimly, KageArai, HeeHeeHee01, Sahweet, AnimeFallingstar, Eryn Goddess of Chaos, MyDarkSideHasAWayOfHerOwn, 13Lulu's, , agent000, Dragon of Twilight
Thanks for reviewing!!! Sorry for the lack of personal responses, but I'm tired, and there are a ton of reviews for this chapter.