AN: Hi all, thanks a lot for the reviews! Niw I feel I must reply to a few people!
Psychotic Manifestation: Wow, a flame. I feel kind of complete now. I finally got a flame, not that I'm proud, but I'm kind of glad you did. You pointed out good points and whatnot. I don't know if you're still reading this. I hope you are but I found you were right on the whole 'Xing' and 'Chinese' thing. I fixed it, and it was my mistake I apologize. The good news is I'm done adding people. I know, there were a lot of OC characters, but you'll see that not all of them are really the main characters have to be known. Lots of them are just there to make it seem more realistic. It would be kind of weird for only like 2 or 3 people to be the only inhabitants of a whole town. That's why I put more characters in it. Sorry that you don't really like it now. I thought that if Roy and Riza were in it it would still be FMA and not original. It does switch back to Hughes and the others later if that makes you feel better. Usually I do all I can to fix problems the readers have with the fic, but since having all the characters is kind of a big thing I can't really fix it. I'm sorry; I did fix the Xing thing for you. I hope you feel a little better and I'm sorry again that you don't think it's good anymore.
charriXD and rizahawkeye21: I reread the last chapter after reading your reviews, and was all, "Wow, they do sneer a lot." Sweat drops. I'm really glad you pointed that out, and I didn't notice it before, maybe because it takes longer to write then to read. It seemed more spaced out when I wrote it I guess. But I fixed that for the two of you. I went back and changed a lot of the 'sneered's to other things. I hope you're happy now, and I'm sorry I used the same word 1,000 times over… it kind of bashed the whole chapter into the ground XD.
Ok guys! Good news and bad news! Good news, no more characters! Yes! I am done adding characters! Yes, there will be extras later, but they are just that group of people who gathers around every fight and never seems to do anything, you know what I'm taking about. The bad news… I have pushed myself in to a corner. Sweat drops. Doing four fights (soon to be five) at once won't be that easy, so if I seem to linger away from one group for awhile, don't kill me! Also, it may seem like this building goes on forever, you know in those old cartoons, when one character is chasing another character and the hallway never seems to end? Well, it may be like that if I have one character come barreling toward another. I may leave him/her running for awhile while I go back and talk about the other groups, if that comes into play I apologize! Like I said, four different groups aren't easy to do, combine that with I've never done this before and you see my problem. Just bare with me!
The Way to a Man's Heart Isn't by Crushing His Ego Chapter 33: At Times the Dark can be Deadlier then the Gunshot
Grimm just smirked. Her eyes still shown like ice, not even the flames could melt the coldness in her heart.
Riza glanced at the wall behind her, and then her attention quickly went back to the teen in front of her.
She flashed an evil grin as she swung her katana at Riza again. "My blade wants to make your acquaintance."
Riza's eyes widened, she ducked and rolled to the right quickly, her black boots sliding on the floor, but she kept her balance. Once she saw Grimm's side was unprotected she lunged forward. "Errr…" a growl escaped her lips as her arms wrapped around Grimm's thin waist and she pushed the brown haired teen backwards. If I can get her on the floor, then I can get her gun. Riza thought as she as pushed the girl back.
"Why you!" Grimm snarled as her back hit the floor, Riza on top of her. She quickly raised her arm up, her sword still in her grasp.
Riza was about to grab Grimm's wrists and force her arms against the floor when she saw the katana out of the corner of her eye. "EH!" She was quickly forced off Grimm when she saw the sword coming toward her. The blade flashed as to flew over Grimm's chest. If Riza hadn't of avoided the attack her arms would have been cut off. But before Riza jumped away she swiped Grimm's black pistol from the holster at her side. Got it! A satisfied expression appeared on the military dog's face as she clutched the gun in her hand.
Grimm quickly got up and charged after her. "Get back here!" she snapped as Riza ran back farther in the room, trying to 'capture the high ground' as some fighting experts called it.
Jackal scoffed as he watched Roy gasp for breath and begin to regain himself. He'll be able to fight again soon. This is ridiculous. Both the dogs would have been dead along time ago if he and the others were allowed in the fight. "Errrr…." he growled fiercely and ran out into the battle, not caring about Lex for the moment.
Reina glanced up when she heard Jackal roar. "AHHHHH!" the small girl screamed when she saw the muscle man barreling toward them.
"Eh!" Sayo's eyes widened as she turned to run, but was quickly cut off by the fight taking place behind them by Grimm and Riza.
Bang! Bang! Sayo watched Riza fire at Grimm, missing in the dark.
"Muw…" Kiro said quietly as she and Kiari watched from the side of the room, hidden in the dark shadows and crevasses.
Riza's attention was diverted to Jackal. She saw him heading for the two girls, but there was little she could do about it. When she tried to fire Grimm's sword always stopped her attack, either the blade knocked the barrel away from its target, or she had to use it to block an attack. What do I do? She cursed to herself. She had to help the kids, but she had to fight Grimm, too. There was no way she could do both.
It got very chilly in the building as the last of the fire went out and the sound of pouring rain was heard outside. The thunder roared and lighting flashed. The world around them became bright, but went dim suddenly as the lightening faded; then it remained dark until the next bolt appeared. Lucky for them, this wouldn't last long and dawn would approach in an hour or so.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Reina shrieked again as Jackal raced toward her. She quickly grasped Roy's injured arm and screamed.
Roy opened his eyes when he felt Reina yanking on him. Then Sayo ran to Roy's side.
"Wake up, wake up!" Sayo cried as she put her small hands on Roy's chest and shook him back and forth, brining him back to conciseness.
"Reina, watch out!" Kenny yelled as he held on to Hell's Fire's arm.
"Let go!" Hell's Fire snapped and tried to jerk him off, but to no avail. The thunder boomed again, Jackal's angry face lit up for a moment as the lightening flashed.
"No, you let go!" Jazz snapped back as she tried to push Hell's Fire's arm off her. This didn't faze Hell's Fire at all. She held Jazz's small body to her chest tightly.
Jackal smirked as he came upon Reina. "GAHHHHHHHH!" she screamed bloody murder as Jackal grabbed her red shirt and tried to pull her away from Roy, "AHHHHHHHH! NOOOOO!" she shrieked again as she clung to Roy's arm. Sayo sat next to her. Her lime green eyes widened as she shook Roy harder, desperate to get him to wake up.
Shadow sneered and cursed himself as he grabbed at his back, trying to reach Tommy and force him off.
"Ha ha!" Tommy said with a laugh as he jumped around on Shadow's back, evading all teen's attempts. "Too slow! You can't get me, na, na!" the boy teased as he stuck out his tongue.
"Grrrr…" Shadow growled as his yellow eyes saw glimpses of Tommy's squirmy body.
"What's wrong?" the rug rat asked as he stood proudly on his back, doing this lifted some of the weight off Shadow.
I've got you now. Shadow smirked when he realized Tommy was standing on him. He was about to lift his upper boy up, throwing Tommy off like a wild horse in a rodeo, but before he could…
"Ha!" Tommy chimed and jumped up, he pulled his legs to his chest, like he was about to do a cannon ball into a pool.
"Auuuuhhhh!" Shadow gasped as all the air was forced out if his chest as the boy's butt came down on his spine.
Blare smiled, he was about to laugh, but was cut sort as Shadow thrashed his limbs around. "Gahhhh!" he shouted as he tried to maintain his hold on the teen's jerking legs. His small body being thrown back and forth as Shadow shook viciously.
Riza dodged another one of Grimm's attacks. "Sir!" she shouted as the blade flashed with the lightening. Her amber eyes narrowed as they went from Roy and then back to Grimm.
She fired again, the sound of the gunshot was nothing compared to the loud thunder. Grimm didn't even have to dodge; the Lieutenant was way off from firing blindly in the dark.
"Would you fight already?" Grimm spat. She was getting sick of Riza doing nothing but dodging her blows.
Riza just glared back at her. The storm made things a lot harder, it was almost impossible to see in the dark, the flash of the katana's blade and the lightening was the only thing that cut through the cold darkness.
The third man jeered as he watched the teens struggle. He was about to step in when he noticed Saff reading. He sneered again and walked over to her. "Hey!" he snapped.
"Uh… yes?" Saff asked as she looked up at him, a confused expression on her face.
Vis looked over at them when he heard the third man snap. A sweat drop appeared on the side of his sliver head, "How do you read that in the dark?"
"Uh…" Saff stared back at them, "It's easy!" she said excitedly as she held one hand in the air.
Ice and Lex still watched the battles taking place in the room. They didn't seem to notice the new quarrel taking place. Either they didn't see it, or they didn't care. Lex was disappointed in Jackal, but he didn't do anything at that moment. He'd make sure Jackal paid for it later.
The third man growled angrily, "Why don't you go out there and help your friends?" he retorted.
"Uh…" Saff looked questionably at him again. "Because I don't want too," she replied somewhat shyly.
The third man's face became furious as his fists clenched with rage.
"What are you doing?" Vis asked as he watched the third man approach Saff, pouring rain shown behind them as they stood in front of the entrance.
The young teen watched him; her brown eyes became wide and fearful, unsure of what he was about to do to her.
"The library is closed," the third man said coldly as he grabbed the spine of her book. He pulled hard on it. She still stared at him, her eyes still big and watery, he tugged, but she wouldn't release her grip on the front of the book.
"AHHHHHHHHHH! YOU BRAT!" Hell's Fire shouted. Everyone's attention quickly went to Hell's Fire. "Errrr…." she cursed as she rubbed her hand over her free arm, Jazz still in her grasp and Kenny still clinging to her. The lightening flashed, revealing a large red spot with a few indentations in Hell's Fire's pale skin.
Jazz smirked, Kenny laughed a bit.
"Grreeeerrr…" She growled again. "You bit me you little brat!"
"Yesh!" Jazz answered proudly with a big grin.
"Hm…" the third man growled as his attention was quickly set back on Saff. When he noticed she wasn't watching his he pulled hard on the book, pulling it out of her grasp.
"HEY!" Saff snapped as she looked at the third man with a deadly glare.
"Now get out there," he spat and pointed to the battlefield.
"Uooooooooooohhhhhhrrrrr…." The girl puffed, rage overcame her face. She lunged at the third gangster.
"WHAT THE?" he was overcome by confusion and surprise as he turned his back on Saff, getting his face away incase she tried to scratch him. He'd had several girlfriends that scratched his face, using their fingernails as weapons. "HEY!" he shouted in a shocked tone as Saff landed on his back, her arms and legs wrapped around his stick-like form.
"GIVE ME BACK MY BOOK!" she snapped as she reached over his shoulders and grabbed for her beloved book, her arms flaying like mad as he pulled it away from her every time.
"Heh…. what a mess this is," Vis said with a half smile. "GIVE ME!" he heard Saff say as she continued her assault.
"Master!" Reina cried out as she still clung to Roy's arm. Her back was aching and tears were steaming down her dirty face. Jackal had hit her on the back a few times, trying to force her to release her grip on the Lieutenant Colonel. She didn't let go, Roy's arm stung and bled more as she pulled and jerked it around, the pain also helped in brining him to conciseness.
"Uh…" he opened his eyes sleepily as his mind began healing itself. He glanced up as Reina's scream cut through the room.
A relieved expression overcame Sayo's face when she saw Roy was waking up. "GET UP!" she shouted a she pulled on him, trying to get him in a sitting position.
He blinked a few times, trying to get his eyes as well as his mind to come into focus.
"HELP!" Reina shouted. Roy's mind snapped back into reality when he felt Reina tugging on his arm and he found out what was going on.
"Let go, brat!" Jackal scoffed as he pulled on Reina.
"NO!" Reina retorted.
Roy glared up at Jackal, his eyes back to the normal dark shade they once were. He quickly sat up and grabbed Reina with his free hand, pulling her to his side.
"Oh, so you're awake?" Jackal asked as he glared at Roy. He smirked and released Reina's shirt from his grasp.
"Yeah, did you miss me?" Roy asked with his trademark smirk. Reina fell back to the floor. She quickly scampered under Roy's wounded arm, clinging to his side.
"No," Jackal replied, "But my fist did!" he shouted as he sent his fist flying, its destination was Roy's face.
Roy smirked again. He lifted his free hand up calmly and snapped his fingers. A flame appeared, but it wasn't nearly as big as he had expected. It quickly disappeared, leaving him defenseless. "Eh?" he looked at the red lining on his glove in confusion.
"Heh," Jackal said somewhat comically, it didn't take much for him to dodge the small flame. It was about the size of the flame on a candle. He could have even blown it out if he wanted.
"What the heck was that?" Reina spat with disappointment, still clinging to his side.
"Uh…" Sayo just stared, her lime green eyes blinked in confusion as she sat next to them.
Roy sat in wonder for a moment.
"Sir, look outside!" Riza yelled from the other end of the room.
"What?" Roy asked as he turned to look outside, in his disabled state of mind he hadn't noticed it had started storming. "Oh…" he said his voice full of irritation.
"What's wrong? Did you lose your nerve?" Jackal asked with a smirk as he came in for another punch.
"No," the dog snapped as he blocked Jackal's blow with his good arm and got to his feet, Reina slid down his side and hit the floor with a thud.
"Awwww…" she whined as she stared up at him, "That's was comfy."
Roy glanced down at her, then back at Jackal.
"What's wrong then?" Jackal asked.
"The dampness in the air," Roy replied bitterly. He then lunged at Jackal, he tried to punch him with his good arm, but Jackal blocked it. Once Roy saw Jackal was busy blocking his punch, he brought his leg up quickly, jabbing his knee into his opponent's stomach.
"Grrraaaaahhhh…" Jackal gasped as the air was forced out of his chest, spit flew out of his mouth and his gray eyes widened. Roy then punched him in the face, knocking him backwards and to the ground.
Grimm flashed an evil grin again. Riza was pinned against the back wall. "Nowhere to run," she said coldly as she swung her sword at the trapped dog.
"We'll see," Riza replied and ducked quickly. Before Grimm could stop it, the blade went into the wall behind them.
"What?" Grimm sneered as her blade lodged itself in the planks. She pulled back hard, but couldn't free the sword.
Riza jumped out from under Grimm quickly and dashed away from her. Then she turned her body and aimed the black pistol at Grimm. Riza cursed in the darkness as she tried to aim. She was finally able to shoot without being interrupted by Grimm's katana, but she couldn't see. I can't see her in the dark. She scoffed to herself, her teeth clenching in frustration, waiting for the lightening to light the room up again.
"GIVE IT!" Saff roared as she hit the third man in the back of the head with her fist.
"Ow!" he snapped, but still held onto the book.
The two cats glanced at each other. "Mwu?" Kiro asked.
Kiari stared back at the white cat, knowing full well how she could help. She just needed to wait for the right moment. Which appeared to be right now. The gray and black cat casually walked over to a corner of the room where she knew the floor was weak. "Nya!" her meow rang out.
"Huh?" the third man asked, Kiari had gotten his, Vis', and Saff's attention.
"What was that?" Vis asked as he looked over in the cat's direction.
"Errr…" the third man growled. He handed the book back to Saff, not caring about her anymore.
"AH!" she said with excitement and victory. A big grin appeared on her face as she snatched the book out of his hand and held it to her chest tightly. Her grin then stretched from ear to ear as she nuzzled her precious pages.
"Nya…" Kiari said again as her green eyes flashed with the lightening. Then Kiro got in on it. She followed Kiari's lead and sat next to the gray and black cat, her red eyes flashed as well.
"Muw!" she said as the men walked toward them.
"What was that?" Vis asked curiously as the two men walked toward the area where the cats' eyes had flashed.
"Nya!" Kiari said, somewhat furiously.
"Beh…" the third man spat as he stepped closer. It didn't take long, once Vis stood next to him they began to hear the floor cracking under them.
"Huh?" they said in unison as they glanced down at the floor. The cracking got louder as the wood gave way below them in a flash, smoke appeared everywhere. Their bodies fell down and hit the floor with a thud before they could even guess what was going on.
"Muw…" Kiro said again, they could hear the two men moaning from the floor below them.
"Nya, nya!" Kiari replied as she walked out to the hole, in the usual casual cat fashion, and looked down the hole. Her green cat eyes could see perfectly in the dark. "…nya…" she said when she saw the men laying on their backs at the bottom, covered in dust.
"Hey…" Saff said in a loud whiny voice as she flipped through the pages, "you lost my page."
Reina laughed a little, "They got catted!"
Sayo sat a little ways away from her, she didn't notice the cats. She was too busy watching Roy and Jackal.
"Errrrr…. why you…" Jackal jeered as he glared up at Roy. Their faces flashing with the lightening. Jackal's face was enraged, but Roy's was cool and calm.
"I would suggest you give up," the Lieutenant Colonel said coolly, "unless you want to get hurt."
Jackal sneered, trying to figure out what to do. He scooted back a bit, trying to create some distance between himself and Roy.
"He-" Shadow was about to call out to Jackal, but was once again stopped by Tommy.
"What did I tell you?" the boy scolded.
Shadow growled irritatedly, but quickly focused on Jackal. He saw the men just a few feet in front of him. He was going to tell Jackal about the sais right behind him, but Jackal found something better.
"Huh?" the muscular man asked as his fingers touched some cold metal just behind him. He moved his hand, tracing the object with his fingers, not turning to look at it. That might give him away; he wanted to trick his enemy. "Heh," his disgusted expression turned to a smirk when he found it was Riza's pistol.
"Well?" Roy asked as the lightening boomed again. "Are you going to give up?"
"Yeah, give up you meanie!" Reina said and stuck out her tongue, she was now standing in front of Sayo, clinging to Roy's pant leg.
Jackal didn't reply. The lightening flashed; Roy saw the smirk on his face. His face became serious as he immediately jumped to the left, knowing Jackal was going to try and attack him.
"Eh!" Reina cried out in surprised as she felt Roy's sudden movement, she had been leaning on him, his moving caused her to lose her balance and fall on the floor.
Roy disappeared along with the flash of light. "I've got you now!" Jackal pulled the gun out fast firing blindly into the dark.
Bang!
"AH!-" Sayo gasped as her eyes widened. She suddenly felt a mind numbing pain overcome her body as she was hit in the left side of her stomach.
"Huh?" Reina asked as she looked over at Sayo. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Sayo didn't answer, her lime eyes rolled back into her head and she fell face down on the floor.
"SAYO!" Reina screamed as she rushed to her side. Roy quickly turned to the girls. Reina was shaking Sayo violently, but the little dark haired girl didn't respond at all.
Jackal jeered, disgust plastered on his face when he learned he had missed. Roy lunged forward and before Jackal could react. He grabbed the large man's fist, pointing the gun to the ceiling and away from everyone around.
Bang! The gun fired as the two men struggled.
Bang! Bang! The gun continued to fire as Roy tried to wrestle Jackal to the ground. Once he got him there he'd be able to force his arms to the floor, holding Jackal still, much like what Riza was trying to do to Grimm earlier.
"SAYO!" Reina cried again, but she still didn't respond. The thunder boomed loudly again.
Riza ran to Reina's side. Grimm wasn't following her for the moment; she was still struggling with her sword. "What's wrong?" Riza asked as she picked up Sayo's limp body and turned her over, laying her on her lap. The seven year old girl lay unconscious in her arms. "What happened to her?" She asked as she looked over at Reina, Roy and Jackal still fighting behind them. She heard strange gurgling noising when Sayo tried to breathe.
"I dunno," Reina replied as she watched the military dog shake Sayo, trying to walk her up. "Master was fighting Jazz's dad and she just fell down."
Riza's eyes widened when she moved her hand over Sayo's chest and felt a warm wet substance consuming the front of her shirt. She knew it was blood, but she wasn't about to tell Reina that Jackal's gunshot has pierced the girl's flesh "Lieutenant Colonel!" she yelled and turned to look behind her. Roy had successfully pinned Jackal to the floor.
He glanced back at her, still forcing Jackal's arms to the floor. The rampaging man fought back with a vengeance, but Roy managed to hold him down. It wasn't the easiest job in the world, but he managed.
"Sir, we need to get out of here now!" Riza said her voice stern and serious.
Roy nodded. Easier said then done. He thought as he turned back to Jackal.
AN: So what did you think? More cliffhangers, lol. I hope it still made sense even with all the switching between fights!