Orange: AARGH! This damned chapter gave me so much freaking trouble! I mean, first of all, I couldn't get more than five minutes at a time to type because I had SO much stupid stuff going on, and then my frickin' muses went on strike, so I was totally out of ideas for EVERYTHING and this chapter really sucks! Damn damn DAMN! -jerks PS2 controller and purposely jumps into a puddle of dark eco over and over again- That's right, DIE, you freaky, green-haired, pointy-eared… freak! And your little orange ferret too!

Mal: Just because you're angry doesn't mean you have to take it out on poor Jak. Leave him alone.

Orange: -sigh- You're right. He's not a freak. He's pretty awesome, especially in the second game. -grins-

Mal: That's right. Now say the disclaimer.

Orange: Aww, not again! But I said it last time!

Mal: Well you have to say it this time too, unless you want a lawsuit on your ass.

Orange: No, I like my ass the way it is, thank you very much. But I still don't want to say it.

Mal: Why won't you say it? It's not like you'll die or something. Other than me killing you for being so damn difficult…

Orange: …I just don't want to, that's all. Stop pestering me, you… you… meanie-butt! -sticks out tongue and runs away-

Mal: Why you-! COME BACK HERE, I'LL CHOP YOUR DAMN TONGUE RIGHT OFF! -chases after with a pair of scissors- AARGH!

Edward: Oo" Oookaaay then… Uh, since they're currently… um… occupied at the moment-

Orange: -wiggles butt- You can't caaatch meee! Nyah nyah nyah nyah! Ahahahaha! -takes off running again-

Mal: GET OVER HERE, BEFORE I SET BLACK HAYATE ON YOU! -runs with scissors-

Black Hayate: Arf?

Orange: Didn't your mom ever tell you to not run with scissors?

Edward: Uh… yeah… Let's just get this over with so I can get out of this loony bin, shall we? Orange doesn't own FullMetal Alchemist. There. Can I go now?

Orange: NO! SAVE MEEE! -smacks into a pole- Owwie…

Edward: I'll take that as a yes. Later, freakazoids! -leaves-

Mal: MUAHAHAHAHA! I have you now! Prepare to taste the blades of my scissors! -trips-AAAH, THE SCISSORS WENT THROUGH MY ARM! Oh, wait, just my shirt… Whew, that was a close one. ;;

Orange: I told you not to run with those things. Someone could get hurt. Namely, you.

Mal: Whatever. Let's just get on with the fic, shall we? This damn author's note has gone on long enough.

Orange: Authoress's note. And yeah, you're right. ON WITH DA FICCY! -nuzzles Black Hayate- Hee hee, puppy so soft…

"WHAT?" Ed bellowed, eyes wide with disbelief. "How the hell can she just disappear? That's not possible! Even with alchemy!"

Al just shook his head. "I don't know. She's gone, though. The noose is still hanging there, but the girl isn't."

Ed looked around, baffled. Everyone was starting to get nervous, and he heard snatches of "alchemy witchcraft" and "demon girl". Ed slowly backed up, away from the jumpy crowd that looked like they could explode with the slightest wrong move. While the panicky audience was busy freaking out and trying to explain the girl's sudden disappearance, nobody noticed the small, cloaked figure slipping through to approach the platform. It quickly and carefully slid the sheathed sword under the cloak, then quietly stole away again, still unnoticed. That is, until it unwittingly ran into the back of Al's armor.

"Oh, I'm so sorry-" Al turned around to apologize, but stopped short when he realized who had bumped into him. The impact had sent the person flying to the ground, the hood falling back and exposing shoulder-length black hair and vivid violet eyes.

Ed had turned around when he'd heard the loud clang! of someone hitting his brother's armor, and his eyes widened in shock. "HEY, YOU-"

The girl quickly leaped to her feet and covered Ed's mouth, trying to get him to shut up so he didn't alert the crowd to her presence. Ed looked indignant at someone actually shushing him, and he tore her hand away. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Just who the hell are you, and how did you manage to disappear like that?"

A few people turned around at Ed's outburst, and they stared in shock at the cloaked figure standing next to him. The girl's eyes widened as she realized she'd been discovered.

"Oh, shit!"

She took off down the street, running as fast as the heavy cloak and clunky sword would allow her. Ed and Al followed after her, Ed still screaming questions and curses at her shrouded back. It took a while for the crowd to entirely grasp what was going on, but when they understood, a few of them started running after the three also.

Once in the town itself, Ed found it to be a veritable maze of alleys and side streets. He paused beside his brother at an intersection of four streets, having managed to lose the girl after tripping over some boxes and landing on his face in the dirt. He sighed and hung his head, but perked up when he heard a faint noise that sounded like a curse coming from an alley close by.

"God dammit, freaking stupid cloak getting stuck on my freaking stupid buckle…"

Curious, Ed tracked the voice to a dead-end alley a few yards away. He turned the corner to see the mysterious disappearing girl struggling with the cloak that had somehow snagged itself onto her belt. She grabbed the sword that sat leaning against the wall of the alley, and angrily stabbed at the cloak until it slipped free of the buckle. She breathed a sigh of relief and slumped against the wall, cloak lying in sad ribbons at her feet.

"Hey, you. You alright?" Ed tentatively said, unsure if the girl would freak out and disappear again, or just try to cut their heads off. He didn't feel like dealing with either one of those choices.

At Ed's voice, the girl's head jerked up, and she looked at him with wide eyes. In a flash of movement that was faster than Ed could follow, the sword was suddenly in her hand and pointing directly at Ed's throat. Well, at least she didn't freak out…

"What the hell do you want with me." She said it as a statement rather than a question, her strange colored eyes staring calmly into Ed's own.

Ed looked down, cross-eyed, at the sword that was threatening to slice his neck. He gulped. One wrong move, and he'd be dead. Even without alchemy, she could kill him faster than he'd be able to react.

"N-nothing," Al interjected, looking fearfully at the blade at his brother's throat. "We just want to help you escape."

The girl glanced at Al, then looked back at Ed. She stared hard into his eyes, as if searching for any sign that they were lying to her. Finally, after a long moment, she decided they were telling the truth and backed away, dropping the sword unceremoniously on the ground and leaning against the wall.

"Let me guess… You also want to know how I managed to disappear like that, am I right?" She hung her head, black hair obscuring her face. Ed nodded, and the girl lifted her head, smiling. "Hmm."

There was a moment of silence, the girl simply leaning against the concrete wall of the alley, and Ed chose this moment to observe her. She was about his height, maybe an inch shorter, around fifteen years of age. Wearing a tank top underneath a strange baggy overshirt that was cut off above her stomach, with the right sleeve attached, the left just a strap on her shoulder, and brown cargo pants. Black gloves, black hair, black boots. She finally looked up, once again staring into Ed's eyes as if reading his thoughts. She had strange violet eyes that seemed to shimmer and change to midnight blue when they caught in the light filtering through the shabby roofs lining the alleyway. She stepped forward, seemed to stagger a bit before regaining her footing, and stuck out a hand.

"William Beck. Call me Will."

"Edward Elric. Call me Ed. This is my little brother, Alphonse, or Al." Ed shook the proffered hand and gestured towards the suit of armor. Will raised an eyebrow and stepped forward so she was directly in front of Al. She looked upwards, Al's head being quite a few feet above her.

"Little brother? He sure is tall for being younger than you are." She rapped on the metal of Al's chestplate. "Hollow, eh? Ah, I get it. You transmuted his soul into the armor. Pretty good job for a guy with an automail arm." She directed this statement over at Ed, who gaped open-mouthed at her.

"How… What… Who…?" He babbled, unable to finish a sentence because of his surprise.

"How did I know?" Will smirked. "Dunno. I just did. I have a knack for knowing things I shouldn't." She grinned widely, then suddenly grimaced as loud noises made their way across the streets to her ears. "Damn, they're coming. We'd better get outta here, unless you want to be hanged for assisting a convicted criminal." She grabbed the sword and slung it around her back, leaving the shredded cloak where it was. "Follow me."

She headed out of the alley and led the two brothers following her into, through, and around countless others, stopping every now and then to see if they'd lost the crowd. After about ten minutes, the voices had faded and there was absolute silence around them.

"Good, I think we lost them," Will muttered, peeking around a corner. "Now, we can head back to home base and hopefully a safe haven from these freaks." She smiled back at Ed, but he noticed her hand shaking lightly, and she seemed tired out. "C'mon."

They threaded their way through a few more streets, before emerging onto the large main road. As they were crossing it, a few people came out of an alley directly in front of them. They stared for a moment, then yelled something back the way they'd come. One of them walked forward a few feet, holding a large wooden rod out in front of him threateningly. Will stared at them for a moment, then her eyes darted around the rest of the street, as if calculating.

"This way, and hurry!" She gestured towards a small alley right next to the one the other people had come out of, and darted into it. Al and Ed followed close behind her, not wanting to get lost in the labyrinth of streets and passageways. More people were following them now, and were running down the alley in pursuit.

After turning the corner, Ed stopped in surprise. "A dead end?" Just great. Now what? They'd be caught by the rabid townspeople, poked with large sticks, and then hung or otherwise tortured or killed. Unless…

"Steps. Transmute some steps. Over the wall, here. Hurry!" Will slapped the wall, staring with wide eyes at Ed. Not waiting a second more (he'd really rather not be poked and/or hung, thank you very much), he clapped his hands together and pressed them to the concrete, quickly transmuting a staircase into the wall. After they'd all climbed up, he clapped his hands again and got rid of the steps so no one could follow them.

Will breathed a sigh of relief, then took off again, this time hopping on the roofs and tops of the walls. Ed and Al followed after, trying their best to keep their balance and not trip or fall off. Al was having quite a time with staying on the roof, because his armor wasn't exactly as maneuverable as Will was. Finally, after almost tripping and falling to their deaths about fifteen hundred times, they got to a huge, menacing, granite wall. It rose about fifty feet above their heads, and Ed stared up at it in wonder, shielding his eyes from the glare of the desert sun.

"This is the outer protective wall that encircles the entire city," Will said, gliding a hand over the smooth stone surface. "We make it over this, and we're safe. Home base is just on the other side." She turned to Ed and stared at him expectantly. "Do it again."

Ed looked at her, puzzled. "Do what?"

"Transmute it, or something. I dunno, just do it fast so we can get through before we're discovered."

Ed frowned. "Why can't you do it? You can disappear, I'm guessing you're good at regular alchemy too."

Will looked down, scuffing the toe of her boot on the roof they were standing on. "I can't right now."

"And why not?"

"I'm too tired."

Ed glared at her. "Too tired? What an excuse. You just don't want to do it, is that right?"

Will glared right back, managing to look just as intimidating as Ed did. "Disappearing takes a lot of energy, dumbass. And after all that running we did, I'm almost completely drained. I'm amazed I've made it this far without collapsing." She crossed her arms over her chest, staring expectantly at Ed. "So just transmute the damn thing before I push you off this roof."

Ed was about to reply with a snide comment, but Al interrupted him. "I'll just do it, or we'll never get out of here." He looked pointedly at Ed, then proceeded to draw a transmutation circle on the wall and transmute a hole through it. Will thanked him, then jumped through, landing softly in the sand on the other side. Ed landed next to her a moment later, followed closely by Al. After Al had transmuted the wall to its original state, Ed stood up and surveyed the spot they had landed in.

Sand, sand, and more sand. It was a desert, after all. What exactly did Will expect to find out here? There was nothing at all that even resembled a house or 'home base', as she had called it.

Ed was surprised when Will stood up, dusted herself off, and began tramping through the sand in some random direction.

"Hey, where are you going?"

Will stopped and looked back. "I already told you. Home base. Come on."

"But…" Ed looked around questioningly. "…There's nothing out here."

"We keep it well hidden, away from prying eyes." She winked, and continued walking. Not wanting to be left behind, Ed and Al quickly trudged after her.

About fifteen minutes later, just when Ed was about to throw a fit for being dragged all the way out into the desert when there was obviously nothing of interest there, a dark object loomed its way into view. Another five minutes of walking took them straight up to it.

It was a gigantic rock jutting out of the sand, about as large as a house, dirty brown and dusty. There was a small opening in the side, covered by a threadbare blanket that matched the rock perfectly. Will stopped in front of the opening, throwing her arms wide and smiling as bright as the sun.

"Welcome to our humble abode," she announced, then stepped forward and ducked underneath the door flap.

Ed went next, curious as to what a cave cut into the side of a rock would look like on the inside. He only got a brief look at dirt-stone floors and a hammock hanging on the wall, however, because once he was inside, what looked like a large saucepan came swooping down, hitting him square in the forehead.

He collapsed to the ground, unconscious, and a boy standing just inside the door bent over him, gripping the pan guiltily.

"Oopsie."

Whoo! Actually, I changed my mind. I kind of like this chapter. Especially the end. xD

And I apologize for the insanely long authoress's notes. Just let me say that there are going to be like a zillion more. So thanks a ton for putting up with them. -

And don't forget to REVIEW! Reviews are fun. They make me happy. And if I'm happy, I get ideas. And if I get ideas, I can write the next chapter. You want a next chapter, right?

Oh, and just in case you're sadistic or something and don't want me to be happy, how about a bribe? All reviewers get… cookies? No, that's been done too many times… How about… CYBERCHOCOLATE! Yeah, 'cause everybody loves chocolate! So reviewers get cyberchocolate. Bet you're all just running to that review button now, huh?