And on to the next chapter! But first, a small surprise; take a look!(pulls on cord to reveal a huge picture of a dog behind her)MY PUPPY, WHO TURNED FOUR THIS YEAR! ISN'T HE ADORABLE?
Random People:(yell angrily and start throwing stuff at her)
(picture is hit by something and starts falling forward)
Me:(turns around; screams) Aah! Don't fall on mommy! ROCKY! (picture falls on her)Sorry! Anyway, let's just get back to the story!
Chapter 7: Alchemy
It was now January. Two months had passed since the death of Kay's family, but she did a great jobsupporting herself without getting a job. Gorillaz had gone a while after New Years Eve, but they promised they'd be back soon. They said that Russel had taken a break from his taxidermy to build something that would enable them to visit anytime of the day. Kay thought they were building a plane or something like that, but I'm getting off topic.
It was aFriday afternoon after school, and Al was spending his time teaching three of his friends how to perform Alchemy out in Kay's backyard.
"Okay," he began. "So far, all you three have been doing is drawing Transmutation Circles. Don't you want to try actual Alchemy out?"
"I want to try doing Alchemy without a Circle, just like Ed," Kay spoke up in an impatient child-like voice.
While Kay was complaining, Elly finished drawing a Circle in chalk, with some sand in the middle,and placed her hands down on the ground. It then started to glow and soon resulted in a small figurine of a cat being formed from the sand.
"Ooh, I'm good," she bragged. "You happy now, Alphonse?"
Meg had heard Al, too. After drawing her Circle and placing her hands down on it, it began to glow, and several roses began to grow out of the ground.
"We kinda know what we're doing, dude," she said. "Why don't you show Kayla how to do Alchemy without a Circle while we experiment a bit with them?"
"But I'm still experimenting on doing it without them,andI'm still not that good."
"Wait! I got an idea!" Kay got up from her place on the grass, walked over to a pile of large rocks by the side of her house, and picked up a heavy sharp one and brought it back over. She then handed it to Al. "Throw this at me, and I'll see if I can repel it."
Al looked at her, then at the large rock in his hands. "You sure? What if you don't repel it?"
"I'll duck. I have pretty fast reflexes, so have a little faith in me."
"I don't want you to get hurt." Al put the rock down on the ground. "But, I have a better idea." He pointed past Kay at several metal pipes that were sticking out of the dirt. "Transmute one of those pipes into something. It'll involve less pain."
Kay sighed. "Fine. I'll turn one into a sword, how about that?" Walking over to one of the pipes and taking a deep breath, Kay clapped her hands together and grasped the pipe. Surprisingly, it began to glow, small lightning bolts sparking off of it. Kay pulled it out of the ground to discover that now, it was in the shape of a katana sword.
"Whoa..."she said. "That was awesome!"
Meg and Elly began clapping and cheering. Al just stood there dumbfounded.
"That was amazing," he gasped. "How could she get it on her first try?"
"I don't know," Meg replied, "but I wanna try it now!"
"Me first, me first!" Elly protested.
Both ran over, clapped their hands, and placed their hands on a separate pipe. Elly had formed a machete, and Meg was able to form a cane in the shape of a snake.
Al smacked himself in the forehead. "Guess you don't need me anymore. I'm leavin'." He started walking away.
"Al." Kay chased after him and pulled him back. "C'mon, you're not leaving; you're standing right next to me."
"Oh, lucky me."
"Do you see that?" Meg whispered to Elly. "What I don't get is why, after she was asked out on a real date, is she still not his girlfriend?"
"Hell if I know, Meg," Elly replied. "Maybe we should leave these two alone for a while."
"I got you. Hey, guys," Meg started yelling at her friends, "me and Elly are gonna go back in the house; we need to talk to Noodle for a minute!"
"We'll be back," Elly added. "Don't worry."
As both girls walked back towards Kay's house, Kay just sighed heavily. "But, Noodle's back at Kong Studios. Do they think we're idiots or something?"
"Huh?"
"Nevermind, Al. I'm drawing." Sitting down and picking some chalk up, Kay started to draw a butterfly on the short grass.
"Suckish butterfly you're drawin'," Al mocked her.
"What, like you've mastered the technique of butterfly art, you little pansy?"
"Don't call me a pansy."
"I just did, Alphonse Elric." Kay stood up and looked right into his eyes. "Got a problem with it?"
"Don't try to act tough and rise above me. You'll only fall back down."
The next thing Al did was totally unthinkable. His arms started to wrap around Kay's waist, and Kay remained completely frozen. Until a small smirk formed on her face.
"I know you want to kiss me," she purred. "Just go ahead and do it."
Al began to smirk, too. "With pleasure, you eager beaver." His lips finally pressed against hers. Kay just wrapped her arms around his neck and allowed him to deepen the kiss. They stayed like that for a long time...
...until they heard a high-pitched scream, and had to pull away.
"What the hell was that?" Kay asked, feeling a bit awkward. She kept her arms around his neck, and Al kept his around her waist.
"I don't know, but whatever it is, I'll kill the person who let out that scream." He finally pulled away from Kay completely, and both began to walk towards the house, when 2D ran screaming out of Murdoc's Winnebago...wait a second...MURDOC'S WINNEBAGO?
"How did that thing get back here?" Now Kay was totally confused.
"Like I can help you with that one?"
"Kayla-love!" 2D yelled, running up to the two. "Ya gotta 'elp me!" He then hid behind Kay. "Muds is gonna kill me!"
"Uh, why? And how are you back here in New York?"
A pissed-off Murdoc then stepped out of the Winnebago and started walking towards the three.
"Alright, where is 'e?"
Kay took a side-step, and 2D wasn't quick enough to move with her. Then again, Murdoc could see his spiky blue hair over Kay's shoulder.
"Muds, why is he hiding from you?" Al asked the Satanist.
" 'E ruined my chance at some fangirls, that's why 'e's runnin'."
"Uh, question: how the hell are you back here in New York?"
"I'll show ya after I beat that dullard to a pulp."
"Nope, you're showing me now!"
Murdoc sighed and gave in. "Fine. C'mon." The three then walked to the side of the Winnebago, with 2D cowering close behind.Murdoc then squatted down on his haunches, and the others did the same.
"Take a look under 'er," he told them. "You'll notice summink rather different."
Shrugging, Kay got on her kneesand looked underneath the RV. Squinting her eyes to get a better look, she saw something...lime green in color that looked like a flattened engine attached to it.
"Well, the color's ugly," she commented, "but what the fuck is it?"
"When I told ya that Russ was workin' on summink that could take us all back to the States anytime we wanted, 'e made that li'l beauty. We can travel between 'ere and the UK within jus' a few minutes."
"Is that even possible?"
"Who cares?"
"But, why would you come back here?" Al asked."I thought you didn't like it here."
"I don' really, but Noods, 'D, an' Russ all wanted to, an' I'd be dead if I didn't."
"But, you're, like, the leader of the band. Wouldn't your voice matter more than theirs?"
"Yeah, like they're really gonna listen to what I 'ave t' say. An' now that I've shown ya what I need to, move outta the way."
"Sure, dude." The two then stepped back, and the singer and the bassist ran off.
"They never get along, do they?" Kay asked.
"GET BACK 'ERE, FACE-ACHE! I'LL TEACH YA NOT T' MESS WIT' MY FANGIRLS!"
"According to that scream, I guess not," Al replied.
"Uh, Alphonse?"
"Yeah?"
"Are we, um, a couple now, since we...kissed?"
"I thought we were a couple already."
"Okaaay...nevermind. I wonder where Elly and Meg are."
"Did you ever get the feeling that we were being watched?"
"No. Why?"
"They're in your room looking out the window."
"I'll kill them." But, just as Kay was about to run into the house, Al grabbed the back of her shirt and prevented her from going any further.
"You're not goin' anywhere, kid. Right now, we gotta go and catch those two band geeks and keep them from killing each other."
"Eh, I don't really care, as long as they don't actually die." Kay then walked away the second after Al let her go free.
"Guess you don't want to know something about you that you don't actually know!"
Confused yet eager to hear, Kay turned around. "I'm all ears, Elric."
"The next Alchemy exams are scheduled on Saturday in two weeks, and I signed you and those other twoup!"
Kay's jaw dropped. How could he do this to her? She barely even knew Alchemy, and Al had just waltzed right up to the registration table and signed her up!
"Why? I don't know a lot of Alchemy!"
"Well, the next one is in a few months. You really want to wait that long?"
"Well, duh! The more practice, the better prepared I am to take the fuckin' exam!"
"You'll be fine. I'll help train you like I helped my brother; don't worry so much."
"Kinda hard not to worry, you dumbass!"
"Calm down. You're in good hands. If, Ed, and Cris can't get you and your friends prepared by the time of the exam, who can?"
Two weeks later; Thursday night...
It was Thursday. Less than two days before the big exam, and after receiving some shocking news, Kay and the others were more nervous then ever before.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT WE HAVE TO PERFORM OUR SKILLS IN FRONT OF THE FUHRER!" the three yelled at Al.
"What, you guys didn't know?" Al fought back. "After the interview and the written part of the exam, you have to impress the Fuhrer and a few others with your Alchemy skills before becoming a State Alchemist."
"But, we haven't even practiced a routine or anything," Meg panicked, "and, technically, I'm deathly afraid of judges; I panic like crazy when I'm under that type of pressure!"(Author's Note to Aberrant Bliss: I know you don't really get that nervous; bear with me on this, okay?)
"I just hope I can pass the exam without making a fool of myself," Elly said, "especially with that part during the interview when you have to sit down on that three-legged chair. I suck at balancing myself."
"What about the performance, Elly?" Kay asked her.
"Eh, I've been working on something in my free time for the hell of it."
"What are you doing?" Al asked.
"A bit of water magic. I'll turn it into a huge snake."
"And, did your parents see you practice this?"
Elly laughed. "Yes, and they're even more afraid of me now."
"They don't know what Alchemy is, do they?" Kay started laughing.
"No. They probably think I'm doing witchcraft or something."
"Well," Kay continued, "if my parents saw me doing that, they'd think I was a minion of the devil or something. Still, I need to think of something to do."
"Well, what kind of Alchemy do you enjoy doing?" Al asked.
"Stuff with fire and darkness."
"I got a plan. Set a fire and transmute something out of the smoke."
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"A wolf."
Kay scoffed. "You really have an overactive imagination, Alphonse."
"What? Cris was able to transmute a dragon, so, you can do a wolf."
Groaning hopelessly, Kay then fell back against her large pillow she was laying on. "I'm gonna humiliate myself, I just know it!"