And now, without further distraction, we move directly to the final part of the Alchemy Exam! Enjoy, everyone!
Chapter Nine: The Alchemy Exam: Part Three
"I'm not gonna do it!"
"Yes, you are."
"YOU CAN'T MAKE ME, ELRIC!"
"You came this far, you're not turning back right now."
Meg groaned. "Are they always like this?" she asked Al.
"Well, my brother would usually be yelling back," he replied. "I'm surprised that he's keeping his cool. And Kayla, you are gonna take the performance part, like it or not."
"But, I don't wanna..." Kay's eyes filled with tears as she looked up at her friends, hoping to the gods that the puppy-dog-eyes look would work.
Unfortunately, it didn't. "Kay-san," Noodle said, "why do you want to give up like this after you have most of the exam already done with?"
" 'Cuz I know that I-"
"Oh, shut up already, Hamilton," Ed snapped at her."We've heard your whining for the past few hours, and the test is almost over. You've performed in front of a lot of people before; why is it stopping you now?" He crossed his arms and waited for another sad excuse.
Flashback to 2000. . .
"Kayla, sweetie, you'll do fine," Mrs. Hamilton said to her daughter with a smile.
Young Kay looked down at the alto saxophone around her neck and then back up at her mother."B-but, I'm nervous, mom. This is my first concert, and I have a solo!"
"Don't worry about it. Me, your father, and both of your grandmas are out there in the audience, and we'll be cheering you on."
"But, what if I mess up?"
"Keep playing. It's not like someone's gonna start booing if you make one squeak. Just keep playing and you'll forget all about it."
A smile spread across the young girl's face. "Thanks, mom. . .Um, do you think Grandpa will be watching me perform from heaven?"
Mrs. Hamilton laughed sweetly. "Sweetheart, he's got a front-row seat. Now, I better get out in the audience, and you better find where your seat is before your teacher gets up to his pedestal."
"Okay." Just as she was about to skip away, she quickly turned around and waved at her mother. She then ran off into the crowd of fourth- and fifth-graders, and made her way up to the stage.
Kay sighed. "I guess you're right, Ed. I'll go out and perform like a good little girl." She smirked. "But. . ." Pushing her friend onto his backside, she ran down the hall, yelling back, "Last one there's a pipsqueak!"
Growling, Ed stood up and ran after her. "DON'T SAY PIPSQUEAK!"
And, shrugging their shoulders, the rest ran out after them, out the doors to the parade grounds. As they walked down the stairs, two men walked across their path. The first one had short blonde hair and was puffing on a fresh cigarette. The other had short black hair, glasses, and yellow eyes, and seemed to be humming the song "My Girl". Both turned to the crowd of people.
"Well, if it isn't Ed Elric and his friends," the black-haired man said.
"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and Lieutenant Havoc," Ed identified them. "What's up?"
"Didn't Hughes die?" Elly whispered to Meg and Kay.
"Yeah, he did," Meg said. "What the F.?"
"Just going out to see the performances." Havoc replied to Ed's question. "So, are you and your 'posse' gonna watch it with us?"
"Not really," Cris said. "We have three people who are gonna try to get into the military." She pointed to the three girls behind her. "This is Meghan, Elly, and Kayla." She pointed to them as she introduced them.
Hughes walked over to Kay and looked at her suspiciously. After a minute, he smiled and started laughing. "So, are you the fanart girl?"
"Is that what I'm called now? Fanart girl?"
"Yeah, obviously! I saw your little doodles. And so did Roy; you should've seen the look on his face!"
"That was actually a bit of a daring move there, Hamilton," said Havoc. "It's a good thing the Fuhrer has a sense of humor. Otherwise, who knows what would happen?"
"What, is Mustang that much of a snitch?" Meg asked.
"Not exactly; he just wants to make sure that no one stands in his way. And, technically, if the Fuhrer doesn't do anything about it, he won't get along with that person very much. So, just consider yourself hated, Kayla."
"Wow. Don't I feel proud," Kay said in a sarcastic tone. "Who else does he hate, by the way?"
"Full Metal and Black Dragon. The two goofballs standing behind you." Kay could hear Ed and Cris start snickering.
"Tell him the feeling's mutual," Cris said.
"Yeah, we figured. He makes enemies pretty quick, doesn't he?"
"Exactly," Hughes agreed. "Well, we had better go. I'm technically one of the judges." He stepped a bit closer to Ed and Cris, and his voice lowered to a whisper. "And, from what I heard, he's in such a good mood today, you two can sit with the judges, too, if you wanted."
"What?" Ed's and Cris's jaws dropped at the uttering of the last bit of information. "The Fuhrer's in that good of a mood!"
"I guess. But you two can't betotallyin favor of your friends if he asks for your opinion. Besides, he knows they're gonna most likely be accepted to join."
"We heard that!" the three exclaimed.
"Yeah, I figured. He said that your backgrounds and interview material were all in check, and your writing portions were, from what I heard, excellent."
Meg stepped forward and raised an eyebrow. "And. . .you know all of this stuff that the Fuhrer said how?"
"Hughes is the master of eavesdropping, " Havoc replied with a grin after another puff on his cigarette.
"Shut up, lieutenant," Hughes grumbled. "C'mon, we better go." The two then began to walk away, but with a quick glace at the four odd ones in the back.
"Aren't those guys a band?" Havoc quietly asked his friend.
"Yeah, I think. I saw them at the Brits Awards a few years back. They look different."
As the two walked out of sight, the others just stood there, completely shocked.
"Well, that was interesting," Elly commented.
"I concure, my friend," Meg agreed.
"What does 'concure' mean?" Al seriously looked beyond confused, but, then again, he was always confused about something.
"Shut up, Al," everyone else snapped at him. The young blonde boy's only response was a rolling of the eyes.
"Actually, what does 'concure' mean?" Cris asked.
While Ed smacked himself in the forehead, Kay just said, "Meg, why don't you explain."
"I'd be delighted," the young girl said. " 'Concure' means to agree."
"Ohhh. . .what does-"
"Cris-san, please do not tell us you are that dull," Noodle groaned.
Cris laughed. "No, I'm not, though some people think I am."
"At least ya not as bad as face-ache ova' 'ere," said Murdoc.
2D laughed some more. "Yeah, at least ya not as bad as-'EY!"
"Took ya long enough." The Satanist crossed his arms and grinned at the singer's sudden act of stupidity. He had quite a bit of them, but Murdoc never got tired of laughing his ass off at them, either in a mocking way, or just out of pity for the pathetic guy.
"Can you believe me and Ed are two of the judges?" Cris asked her friends as they continued down to theparade grounds.
Stopping dead in his tracks, Ed groaned as soon as his eyes locked onto the tent-shaded area where some of the other judges were sitting. "Well, you're not gonna believe where you and I are sitting either, Cris." He pointed to the tent, where there were two empty seats. And the person sitting in the seat next to them were. . . Mustang!
Cris immediately noticed this and produced a groan of her own. "You've got to be kidding me, dude! I don't wanna sit next to him!"
"And neither do I, Cris. So, one of us is gonna have to take one for the team and at least try to sit by Mustang without murdering him right in front of the Fuhrer."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. So. . . you'll take one for the team, Ed."
"What?"
"You never said I had to sit next to him, so you're gonna do it." And with that, Cris turned around and walked towards the tent, leaving Ed shocked and a bit pissed off.
"I can't believe her," he sighed. "Every single time, I end up taking one for the team. Never her."
"Hey, you married her, man," Russel pointed out."Gotta live with the consequences of bein' the one who does all the stuff you don't wanna do."
"Thanks for the supportive words, Russ. I'll see you guys later." Ed then sulked off after Cris, going slowly to subtract time off of the overall time he had to spend sitting next to one of the people that he hated the most on the face of the earth. Why is it always me, he mentally whined.
"Hmm...I wonder," Kay began, smirking, "what would happen if any Yaoi fangirls saw Ed sitting by Mustang."
Al rolled his eyes. "Kayla, you need to keep your voice down. You know what happens when Ed hears someone talking about him; he loses his-"
"I HEARD THAT, HAMILTON!"
"-temper. It's alright, Ed! Just keep walking!" Luckily, Ed turned back around and continued walking, but was now cursing out Kay under his breath.
"Short fuse," Kay murmered. This time, Al turned and glared at her, giving her the message to shut up.
"Kayla! Hey, Kayla!"
Kay turned around and smiled when she saw the person calling her name. It was a girl, about two or three inches taller than Kay, with dark eyes and dark-brown, shoulder-length hair. She was wearing a Good Charlotte T-shirt and long jeans torn at the knees. It was Kay's friend from school, Brenna.
"Hey, Brenna," Kay greeted her.
"Hey, Kay-WHOA!" Brenna suddenly tripped after stepping wrong and fell down the stairs, grunting as she hit each step, and finally the ground as she landed at Kay's and the others' feet. Kay, Murdoc, and Al had to hold in the laughter as she finally let out a loud groan of pain.
"So," Kay knelt down to Brenna's level, "enjoy your trip?"
"Fuck you," Brenna said as she stood up and brushed some dirt off of her shirt. Kay stood up with her. "I'm just here for the performances, and to find Cris and Ed. Have you seenthem at all? I want to sit near 'em."
"Trust me, no, you don't. They're right there." She pointed to the two blondes sitting under the tent, who were sending each other death glares, and Mustang, who was watching them with a raised eyebrow and a "what-the-hell" look on his face.
"Ouch. That's not good. Feel sorry for Ed; always takes one for the team."
"Did he use that speech around you, too?"
"Nope. He's usually the one who makes the sacrifices around that relationship."
Kay laughed. "Good thing Al takes the hit in ours."
"HEY!" Al yelled. "Says who?"
"Says me." Kay stuck her tongue out at Al. "Live with the burden, blondey."
"Okay, I better go and get myself somewhere clear to stand before more people form around the grounds, okay?" The two girls noticed more and more crowds of people forming.
"Okay. Guess I'll see you later, 'k?"
"Yup. Bye!" And with that, Brenna ran off, almost tripping as she turned a right around a large crowd of people.
"Clutz," Elly laughed.
"Yeah," Al agreed. "Oh, and Kay, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Alphonse. What's up?"
Reaching into his pocket, Al pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. "Can you give this to Mustang after the testing's over?"
"Um, sure." Kay looked down at the envelope, then back up at her boyfriend. "What exactly is it?"
"Let's just say that it'll help you pass the test." The blonde smiled and winked.
Meg saw this and shook her finger at him."You sneak! So, girls, you think we should get on the field and get ready for the perfomance?"
"No?" Kay squeaked.
Groaning impatiently, Meg and Elly each grabbed one of Kay's arms and pulled her through the crowds towards the field. "Come on," both said, as Kay, to no avail, struggled to get free, while her five other friends watched and laughed at her misery.
"Ya 'fink she's gonna spaz out the second she gets out there?"2D asked, shoving his thin hands in his pants pockets.
"Hmmm...yeah," Alanswered with a laugh.
"Kay, you okay?"
"What do you think, asshole?"
"Sorry. Geez..."
Meg, Kay, Elly, and about ten other young alchemists were now standing in the middle of a huge arena on the parade grounds. And, guess what, Kay was now even more scared, now that she was ten seconds away from taking the final part of the Alchemy Exam. And what does she do when she's scared? Why, get angry and piss off everyone else, that's what!
"Be nice, Kaykay," Meg scolded her friend. "You know I don't like cursing."
"Yeah? And you should know that I hate stuff like this!"
"Spaz."
"SHUT UP, ELOUISE!"
"I was kidding! Calm down!"
"Okay, ladies and gentlemen," someone said on a loudspeaker. Everyone on the field turned around and looked to see who it was. It was none other than King Bradley, the Fuhrer, holding a microphone and standing up underneath the tent, somewhat of a friendly smile on his face, which was pretty usual for him. "If...you'll turn back around, " he continued, laughing due to the fact that people were shocked to see him, "you'll see the field you are going to use to show me and a few other judges what you have learned during your own training as a new alchemist. We are ready to begin, so if you would all take a deep breath, relax, and recollect your plans on what you're doing, we can start."
"Well, here we go." As soon as everyone turned back around, Elly was one of the first to run forward, making her way to a pretty deep pool of water. Taking a piece of chalk out of her skirt pocket, she drew a Transmutation Circle near the water and placed her hands down upon it. As it started to glow, the water started violently bubbling, until finally, ahuge column of water bursted out into the air, swirling a bit in the air. Keeping her hands on the Circle, Elly made the column of water run along the ground, and out of the pit it was originally in. About ten feet of itrose off the ground and formed something. A head. A snake head.Opening its "jaws" andhissing at the other alchemists on the field, it slithered aroundand in between them, making one, a young lady, faint in the process. It finally went back into the ditch and collapsed, making a pool of water again.
After watchingher friend, Meg and Kay looked at each other, nodded, and went to work on their acts. Meg pulleda stick out of chalk out of her pocket and did the same as Elly, except near a short tree. The Circle glowed, and everntually, within seconds, the branches on the tree sprouted hundreds of flowers: roses, lilacs, lilies, orchids, and many more, forming a gorgeous rainbow-colored bouquet. Vines even traveled down the tree and started to quickly bury into the ground. One of them made a little "Bugs Bunny dirt trail" and grew out of the ground near where another person was turning some large boulders into what looked like a statue, spiraling around it over and over again. That was when suddenly, the statue collaspsed onto the ground in a heap of dust. Meg giggled at this, but seemed disappointed, as this wasn't what she wanted the flower plant to; she had lost a bit of control.
And then, there was one. . .
Taking a deep breath, Kay closed her eyes and exhaled strongly, fusing her thoughts together, trying desperately not to forget what she was going to do. Just do what you rehearsed, she thought.
Suddenly smirking, she turned around and looked over at the tent, where Ed, Cris, and the other judges were watching. But, her attention at the momentwas turned towards-
"Yo, Mustang!" she yelled out. "Mind providin' me with a little fire?" She pointed over to a bush.
Hearing his name and the request called out, he produced a smirk of his own and stood up, extending his arm out in the direction of the bush, but stopped. He looked at the Fuhrer, who, surprisingly, nodded at him to proceed. That was all the permission he needed, as he snapped his ignition-cloth-glove-covered fingers and set the bush ablaze.
Kay looked back at the flames. That was all she needed. Walking closer to it, she clapped her hands together and knelt down, placing them on the ground two inches away from the fire. It suddenly turned bluish, and the smoke billowing from it swirled and turned darker, a portion of it sinking to the ground. Turning around, Kay watched it take on the form of a creature. About the size of a dog. But larger. It was a wolf, its eyes glowing like the blue fire behind it.
Kay then stood up and whistled. The smoke wolf walked over to her and sat down at her feet. Reaching into her pocket, the young girl pulled out the envelope Al had given her earlier and handed it to the wolf, who sniffed it, and grabbed it in between its jaws. "Go give it to Mustang, boy," she coaxed it. Nodding a bit, the creature turned tail and ran off towards the tent, but softened to a walk as it reached ten feet away from it. It sat at the Flame Alchemist's feet and placed the parcel onto his lap, then got up and galloped off, . Mustang looked down at it, astounded, and took it in his hands, ripping it open as the smoke beast jumped into the air and disappeared into the fire, which, within a few seconds, mysteriously burned out! He opened it, read it, gasped, and quickly placed it in his uniform pocket.
Five minutes later, the performances had come to an end, and the "contestants" turned around for their evaluation from the judges. Seeing this, Bradley quickly said "One minute, please," on the mic and spoke with the other judges. Elly, Meg, and Kay had already walked over to each other and tightly had their arms locked, their stomachs a bit queasy and excited.
Finally, after what seemed like a year, Bradley stood up, and stepped out onto the field, approaching the alchemists, still holding the microphone in his hand. The crowd around the filed even started cheering as he got closer and closer to them.
"Well, well, well," he began, "what can I say? I've seen quite day today. Some of the best demonstrations of talent I've seen in quite a while for people around your age. And, after careful evaluation, we have a surprising new record of five new State Alchemists."
"This is it!" Meg squealed. "You girls better be prayin'!"
"What do you think we're doin'?" Elly snapped.
"Guys, shut up," Kay snapped at them both.
"For those of you that didn't make it," the Fuhrer continued, "not to worry. You all did quite a fantastic job, and new testing will be done a few months from now. For those of you who did make it, though, congradulations, and you'll receive your certificates as soon as we re-enter the building. Still, let's have a round of applause for these young Alchemists." Bradley then walked back towards the tent.
The crowd started to roar wildly. A few contestants even ran off the field to beat the Fuhrer inside. But Kay, Elly, and Meg remained on the field. This was too much to take in like this. Now they needed to wait inside to see who made it and who didn't.
Turning, Kay saw Ed and Cris runnign towards her from the tent, obviously happy. She was about to run towards them when she felt someone strongly hug her from the side. Looking down, she saw it was little Noodle, looking up at her with a smile on her face. "Kayla-san, I am so proud of you and your friends," she said happily. (Author's Note: Yes, looking down. Noodle may be about a month older than Kay, but she is still a bit short.)
"Thanks Noods," Kay said, playfully ruffling up the young Japanese's girl's hair a bit. "It means a lot that you came to watch us."
"We wouldn't miss it for the world, li'l girl," Russel said from behind her. After Noodle letting go, Kay turned and saw her other three band friends.
"That. . .was bloody amazin'," 2D said. " 'Ow could ya 'free do stuff like that?"
Kay just shrugged. "Talent, skill, intelligence, I dunno."
"Okay, don' get cocky there, love," Murdoc said. "You an' ya friend were pretty good out there, though."
"Oh my God," Elly gasped. "Muds just complimented someone. This day's getting weirder and weirder."
"Hehehehe-shaddup, ya li'l emo chick."
"Don't listen to Elly," Meg said. She then pretended to curtsy. "Thank you very much for the compliment, Murdoc."
"Yeah, wotever."
"Hey, guys," Kay suddenly said, "wasn't Al with you?"
2D shrugged his shoulders, but then looked over Kay's shoulder. "Um, Kayla-love, turn around."
Kay did as she was told, to see Al standing behind her, who seemed to be holding something behind his back. "That was quite a display out there," he said. "I'm proud of you."
"Thanks, Al. But Elly and Meg did tons better than me; I was about to goof up and lose it completely."
"Well, even if that's the case, I still think you did really well, and-" he relealed what was behind his back: a bouquet of red and black roses "-I think you deserve this." He handed the bouquet to her.
Kay just looked down at the roses, then back up at Al and smiled. "Oh, you're so sweet!" she squealed. Then, smirking, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. All Al did was close his eyes, wrap his arms around her waist,and kiss her back.
"Hey, get a room!" Cris yelled.
Breaking away for a second, Kay turned and looked over at her friend. "Well, unless you have something to say that's more interesting to me than kissing my boyfriend, leave me alone to kiss him."
"Actually," Ed said, "I think I have that something right here." He held out three envelopes, each of the three girls' names on one of them. "The Fuhrer thought that you three deserved to see your new State Alchemist names."
Meg gasped. "You mean. . .?"
"Yup. You three are three of the five new State Alchemists."
The girls gasped. This was a bit of a shock. How could all three of them make it into the military? Well, they didn't ask questions; instead, they each grabbed the envelope with their name on it, each somewhat heavy from something metal at the bottom (meaning the pocket watches),and opened them, pullingout the certificate inside.
Meg read hers first. "I guess I'm the Bliss Alchemist now," she said, a small smile on her face. "Heh, it's suits me."
Elly was next. ". . .I am the Pure Emotion Alchemist. . .wait a sec. Don't you receive your name based on the Alchemy you use?"
"Eh, guess not anymore," Ed replied. "Just be glad he didn't call you the Emo Alchemist."
"Dude, shut up. Kay, what's yours?"
Kay looked down at her certificate. "I'm. . .the Nightmare Alchemist? Now that's cool!"
"Heh. It's true. Ya are a bit of a nightmare, love," Murdoc laughed. His smart-alleck comment earned him a smack in the back of the head from Russel. "OW! What did I do?"
"Be nice, man," the drummer scolded him.
"Wow, Muds," Kay said. "You never learn when to shut up, do you?"
"I wouldn't be talkin', if I were you."
Meanwhile. . .
Brenna, who was standing out in the middle of a crowd, was trying desperately to get through and get her friends' attentions. But, to no avail. Everyone around her wasn't speaking loudly, but it seemed Kay wouldn't respond, no matter how loud she was.
"Kayla!"
No response. . .
"KAYLA!"
Still no response. . .
"KAYLA HAMILTON!"
Still no response. . .
Finally, Brenna just growled and gave up. "Y'KNOW WHAT? FUCK YOU; I'M GOIN' TO TACO BELL!" She then walked off in a huff.
Colonel Mustang and the Fuhrer made their way down the hall of the military headquarters, still thinking about the interesting performances and a bit confused about one of them.
"Sir, how was that Hamilton girl able to use Alchemy without a Circle?" Mustang asked. "Do you think she's connected with Black Dragon and Full Metal in ways other than their friendship?"
"I wouldn't worry so much about it, Colonel," Bradley replied, remaining cool and collected. "She probably is gifted like them, but that just means better Alchemists in the military."
"I'm aware of that, but I just can't help but be curious."
"I'm sure you are, as I am. But, you just need to remain calm; this new recruit can be of some assistance to us and our work."
"I guess you're right." The two turned a corner and entered an even larger hall.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to fetch some things from my office."The Fuhrer opened the door to a large room and was about to step inside, until he said, "Give the other two recruits their envelopes." He then entered the room, and the Colonel continued down the hall.
Turning from the door, Bradley looked up to see what looked like a figure, sitting on his windowsill. The light from outside was bright so he couldn't see its figures, but, nonetheless, he knew who it was.
"So," the figure said in a bit of a coy tone, "she can perform Alchemy without a Circle as well?"
"I told you not to enter my office, you snake," Bradley snapped. "What if someone sees you?"
The figure hopped off the sill and stood up straight. "And, who'd be alive to tell the tale, . . .Pride?"
"Well, you'd wrap me up in something I don't feel like handling at the moment,. . .Envy."
"Eh, go cry me a river, boss boy." Envy glared at him with his infamous smirk.
"I will, as soon as you let me know what gender you are."
"Shut up! Why do you always have to bring that up? Does it really make that much of a difference?"
"Hmmm. . .yes."
Envy smirked again. "Well, at least I can stay this cute forever. You have to age like every other pathetic human on this planet."
"Which I am fully aware of, but at least I know what I am."
A growl escaped the green-haired Homunculus's throat. "Give it a rest already. Anyway, I must go. Me and the others need to keep a close watch on that girl. She's more valuable to us now than ever before."
Well, I finally got this chapter out! YAY! Oh, and it might take a while for the next one to come out, 'cuz I won't have time. . . . . I'M GOING TO MYRTLE BEACH, BABY!Now, THAT's fun; just riding in a car for thirteen frickin' hours. I feel sorry for my friend who's going to Georgia by car, though. (Love ya, Megs) Please review; I know it doesn't make much sense, but I really love getting reviews, and I'll only write more if I get more. Please, don't let me down!