FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST PART XV:

The Rage of a Caring Brother

"Al! NO! Don't do this! You don't know what you're up against!"

Lieutenant Harris simply grinned as he looked at my brother, who was still poised in the same ready position he had been in before.

"You would be wise to listen to your brother, Alphonse Elric. We wouldn't want something bad to happen to his "widdle bwutha", now would we?"

Al stood there, unfazed.

"You... You think you can just terrorize people, and not suffer any consequences! You're no lieutenant! You're a MONSTER! I WON'T back down!"

Harris' expression suddenly changed from that of a sneer to one of pure disgust and hatred.

"Well then, prepare to share the SAME FATE AS YOUR BROTHER!"

Harris charged at Al, his sword aimed straight for his heart, and slashed down with a force I could tell was greater than what he used against me.

"SHING!"

I grimaced. That was the sound of sword slashing through metal, and I was afraid to look. I didn't want to see my brother's "body" lying on the ground, the seal broken because of a single swipe...

"You'll have to do better than that, you fiend..."

I looked up. There was no body lying on the ground. There was no smile on Harris' face. In fact, it was more of a surprised look.

"YOU...HOW COULD YOU?... my sword was created for the specific purpose of SLASHING through STEEL!"

"That's just it, Harris! I'm not made of steel anymore!"

I started laughing. I had never expected Al to think of such a clever plan so quickly!

"HA! Nice one, Al! Even I hadn't thought of doing that!

Lieutenant Harris, completely oblivious to what had happened, turned to me.

"What do you mean, you useless punk!"

"Listen up then, numbskull! It's not that your sword wasn't sharp enough, your MIND wasn't sharp enough! While you were duking it out with me, Al used that opportunity to draw a transmutation circle on his hand! He then used it to change his armor's COMPONENTS to something heavier, harder, and stronger than steel! Something your petty SWORD couldn't go through!"

"WHAT! You cheaters! I oughta..."

Harris never got the last bit out. By the time he turned back, Al had socked him in the face with a punch no ordinary man could take and keep standing after. Harris flew backwards, landing near the woman Al had calmed down, and immediately fell unconscious. The woman then proceeded to smack the crap out of him with the basket of clothes she had gathered.

I looked at Al.

"Al... I... I mean.. thanks."

"No problem brother," he said as he gathered up my automail limbs. "Now we need to find a way to get you back to HQ... We need to tell Mustang that we succeeded, and no one else was hurt!"

"Peh, I don't want you carrying me. You've done enough. HEY MISS!"

The woman stopped smacking Harris long enough to look over at us.

"I'm sorry to ask, but could you give us a ride to Central Headquarters? We kinda have a person we need to inform about this incident."

The woman nodded.

"Of course...Mr... Elric, is it? I can't thank you enough for what you did. I'm just...glad...glad that no one was killed. Let me get my car and I'll take you two right away!"

As she headed off, I looked up at Al.

"Al, I'm sorry that you went through that. I should have been more careful..."

"It's okay, Ed. You had no idea how strong he was. Neither of us did. Besides, now you can yell at Mustang for sending us after a bunch of perverts!"

We both laughed, and after collecting our thought for a minute, we got in the car that pulled up next to us, and headed back to HQ.

END OF PART XV

Coming Soon:

FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST PART XVI:

A Bone to Pick with Mustang

"NOW LISTEN HERE, YOU!..."