FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST PART XIII:
The Hidden Leader
At the moment, Al and I were looking pretty pathetic. What had originally begun as a chase after a bunch of perverts now had us at gunpoint.
I looked over at Al, who had started walking towards the terrified woman. An idea struck my mind, and I turned towards the 2 alchemists.
"HEY! YOU GUYS! I have a proposition for ya!"
The other alchemists walked closer, and the apparent leader of the 2 stepped forward. His face was mostly cloaked behind a bandana, making him impossible to identify.
"Yeah, and what would that be?"
"Just hear me out. You guys look pretty agile, and me? Well, I'm short. So how about we have ourselves a little duel? You know, between alchemists? If you win, you can do whatever you want, but if I win, you have to turn yourselves in..."
I then pointed to Al, who was trying in vain to calm the woman down.
"He'll make sure of it."
The 2 alchemists conversed briefly, then turned back to me, and the leader spoke again.
"Sounds like fun, shrimp, but there's one small thing you need to know..."
The leader then signaled to the 3 gunners above, who hopped down and changed their guns to dozens of shurikens, handing them off to 2 specifically skilled alchemists of the group.
"WAIT! you mean all five of you are alchemists!"
"Not only that, punk, but if you face one of us, you face ALL of us! GET HIM, BOYS!"
The two alchemists (excluding the leader) who didn't have shurikens started running towards me, going in separate directions. They then went to walls opposite each other, ran up them, and leapt over, crossing in mid-air as they landed behind me.
"WE HAVE YOU NOW, BRAT!"
"Not a chance!"
Just as they grabbed for me, I did a short back flip, landed behind them, and smashed their heads together, causing them to fall to the ground, unconscious.
Upon seeing all this, the two alchemists with shurikens began hurling them rapid-fire at me as I ran towards them. As i passed them, some of the shurikens stuck to the wall, which i then ran back to, and I used them to run up the wall and leap off. As I sailed over one of the leader's henchmen, I grabbed his raised arms, hurling him into the other minion and knocking them both into the wall. I landed in front of the leader, who began clapping and laughing mildly.
"Good show, Elric! You are much more skilled than I first expected."
He then drew a sword, and grinned.
"Now, watch what truly skilled alchemists can do!"
He held one of his hands so it faced the lamps that surrounded us, hanging from the posts at the corner.
"TRANSFER!"
The flames in the lamps suddenly all went out, and in an instant his sword blazed with a bright orange flame, the only main source of light now.
"You have gone too far to be allowed to survive! PREPARE TO DIE, EDWARD ELRIC!"
He then took off his bandana, and almost immediately AL began to yell.
"ED! I recognize that face! It's...LIEUTENANT HARRIS!"
END OF PART XIII
COMING SOON:
FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST PART XIV:
The Leader Exposed!
Do not expect to ever breathe again after today, Elric! You shall die at MY hands!