A/N: Thanks for the last drabble's reviews; this one is in continuity with all the drabbles except 3, and 5-7. Specifically, this one helps lead to the events in drabble 9.

Disclaimer: This is getting old--I have no legal claim on Fullmetal Alchemist.

Drabble 20: Rumble in The Big House

"Al, where are they?" I didn't have to specify who 'they' were, just dodge another blast from that damned Dante; armor boy was still occupied with her own band of chimeras, although a lot less talkative than mine, and not nearly as pleasant.

"Martel and Dorchet and Roah must still be in the forest with my brother and those 2 other Homunculi; we were separated, but I thought they'd be here by now--"

"Why here?" Didn't mean to snap, but I've grown to learn that's the only form of talking that can be done in the middle of a really nasty fight; old hag throws pillar, I slam it back toward her, she slams it back, I roll out of the way, will not be caught in that ridiculous pattern--

"Those Homunculi mentioned Dante's home as if it was really important--" SNAP! and there went the last of the chimera's necks; Alphonse was scarily efficient, but in an impressive way. Damn it, attentioned wavered, freakin' large fist materialized out of the floor, strikes me back hard and far away, almost off the balcony. Through slitted eyes, I see the kid run toward me, metal clanking even louder, and my eyes widen considerably as the old hag's alchemic fist punches him back too...right above an array I hadn't even noticed until now.

Things are going quickly, the array's starting to glow directly below the place where Al's blood seal is, Dante's new face is illuminated, I'm running like hell; come on, come on, come on, come on--YES! But just barely; I only manage to pull armor boy away to preserve that vital blood seal...the same cannot be said of his lower half, which is nothing more than molecules dispersed on the atmosphere now, the array's blast still firing for a full second more before finally dying and fading away into blankness. The old hag looks so pissed, I'd laugh if I wasn't once again running like hell, holding Alphonse above me...not to the side, that'd be too difficult--

"GREED!" I'm still amazed at how Dante always manages to keep that same screeching volume with any new set of lungs she steals. But never mind that--have to get out NOW; Al's not safe, but the kid has to be kept safe though, so no fighting, just a hellish race to the door...or window, or whatever's convenient. Knock down stuff while I go, major stuff, like supporting pillars and such, anything to get in the old hag's way, buy us some time...that strategy's worked before, why shouldn't it now? Sure, it's been over a century, but still--Izumi? Shit, it is her, heading down one of the trails outside, what's she doing here--wait, Alphonse obviously. Perfect.

"HELP!" Caught a little off guard by armor boy shouting the same thing as me, but no matter, Izumi has our attention. Sure, we're probably no more than a blur passing through a window to her eyes, but she'll get the plea, and come. I'd like to have her take a Alphonse and go, while I tangled with Dante again, but I seriously doubt she could run with armor in her arms, even if it was half-sized; may have to settle for Izumi distracting the old hag while I took the kid to his brother to be fixed--an alchemic tentacle ropes around my legs, a gasp from armor boy as I begin to lose my balance, not even bothering on trying to stop my fall, focusing instead on tossing him to his teacher, not expecting her to catch him but to guard him when he landed. I lose sight of Al, no time to even brace myself for the fall, but turns out there's no fall, but something worse; another freakin' tentacle springs out, catches my neck, and I needn't have bothered unsheathing my dark claws...they're also tentacle-bound, although not pinned to my body, but stretched out to their breaking point, and I lazily wonder if Dante's going to rip them out of their sockets. No, she settles for the neck, cleanly snapping it, but she's so damn specific and nit-picky, I'm still conscious, but wavering. Stupid human bones, too weak and healing's gonna be a real slow bitch...

But--o.k., darkness is really coming closer now--but the old hag seems so pissed at me, she'll probably--really, uncomfortably close--leave the others alone, and they'll have time to be safe for a bit--Martel's yelling, she's here, but there's nothing to say, nothing at all, I can't--

A reminder of one of the reasons for why I left Dante: to kick the annoying habit of getting knocked unconscious.

A/N: Meh, I figured that if Al came across an apparent Lyra vs. Greed, he'd instinctively take Greed's side...then of course, his decision would be solid if apparent Lyra--Dante, of course--started attacking him too; feh, I'm just a sucker for Al-Greed friendship. Anyway, you'll find out what happens to Greed next in another drabble...but not the next one; sorry.

P.S. That reference to Ed with the chimeras fighting Lust and Gluttony...he just ran into the whole crew during that cabin, and Al made a move, or something like that, then chaos erupted...details on that will be in another drabble too, one that will arrive eventually.