Okay!
Next chapter. Yaaay.
Sorry I got this out as late as I did, guys. Last month, I accidentally deleted four entire pages of this chapter. And, in all honesty, I didn't want to write it again. (Shifty Eyes.)
9.15 was my birthday! So, I am now sixteen years of age. Teehee.
JUST LIKE LAST YEAR, I went to AWA! XD It was a lot of fun. I cosplayed(Naruto's Tobi again~). And now it's Halloween. xD
The Lovely Daaaarlings!
Dragon of Twilight: Hehe. X3 Definitely, R.I.P. Maes Hughes.
Hyourin-kusabana: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. I know, that episode was horrible. DX
AnimeFanGirl167: Wow, that IS quick! I haven't really gotten into the new anime yet. I'm waiting for dubbed to come out(I don't have the greatest eyes so I don't like straining them with subbed anime)... I can't believe he dies in episode seven. DX
Kaijukote: Mhm! Everyone loved Maes Hughes... Sniff, Sniff.
Lawlz at the Zelda reference! I can promise you now that she won't be with Envy. o.o That's mortifying.
Samantha Hawkins: Yes, w00t definitely! Scar is epicness.
Oh? I see... Hm, I may insert a bit of Al/Hannah. I'm still not sure, really..
Riley H.: I think it's safe to say everyone hates it! Dx
As much as I love killing my OC's, Hannah isn't dead. Yet. XP
yumiXjaganshi: Lawlz, that is Mustang's job, I agree!
Mwahahaha, I'm just evil like that.
I may have not updated as soon as any of us wanted to, sorry.. XD
Lani99: That's what's so sad about it too! He didn't even suspect that last blow. T.T
Poor pedestrian! XO
Envy killed Hughes~
o.o You did a class report on my story? (That is like the BEST thing I've ever heard. Ever.)
LEGASP! WHY SHAN'T I EAT COOKIE AND DRINK SODA AT THE SAME TIME?! (Shan't. Teehee.)
Someone: Thanks! XD
xWeaselxWolfx: Hiii. It totally does! Maes was one of the best characters. I cried so hard. Dx
Want To Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha!
I do NOT own FullMetal Alchemist. It belongs to their rightful owners of Rumiko Takahashi and FUNimation... Wait.
It IS Rumiko Takahashi, right?
Oh. Oops. FMA belongs to HIROMU ARAKAWA and FUNIMATION.. (o.o Why the hell did Rumiko Takahashi come to mind?)
Anyway. I own Riley and Co. Teehee, Co...
Chapter Twenty-Three:
Coincidences.
This sucks.
I had been searching for Hannah all day. My feet hurt, it was way too hot, and I had nothing with me but my clothes and the daggers. So, I had headed back to HQ.
Reaching the building, I walked in to see Mustang, Hawkeye, and Maria Ross. "And now where are they?" Roy asked firmly.
"A trip," Maria Ross replied, "They're searching for a different method to restore their bodies. They'll contact us when they're ready, Colonel, Sir. Sorry."
Mustang glared and shouted, "I'm asking where they went!"
Maria Ross paused, a bit wary of Mustang. I sighed; He wasn't in a good mood, and I didn't blame him really. Maria Ross sighed, looking down as she tried to think of an answer. "Colonel!" Hawkeye exclaimed. The three of us looked over to see her pointing to the map on the wall. "Look here," She said.
Mustang walked over to the map, and looked at it closer to see Rush Valley circled. Suddenly, the door slammed against the wall as it swung open. I yelped in surprise as I spun around to see two people standing there; A black haired woman and a much taller, much bigger short haired man. "Take me to the Elrics, right now!" The woman shouted.
On instinct, Riza grasped at her gun. Mustang's face was priceless; A mixture of annoyance, surprise, and disturbance. I stood in my spot still, just a bit more pale. And confused. Maria Ross was the first to speak up, "They're gone."
"Where are they?!" Mystery Woman replied.
Maria Ross once more looked intimidated, "Um, just who- Who are you?"
"Hey," I heard a deep voice say. I looked over to see the man grab the map. Mystery Woman looked over at him and saw the same as us.
"Huh," She started before giving him the thumbs up, "Good job honey! Let's go." They then left as if they hadn't just barged into a room of military officers.
Heh. I liked her already, and I didn't even know her name.
So, obviously, I took off after them. "Hey! Wait!" I shouted, running toward them.
The couple stopped, and the woman looked over her shoulder at me, "Yeah, what do you want?"
"Who are you two?" I asked.
"Who are you?" She replied instantly.
Sighing, I stood calmer, walking toward them. Even though I had the urge to reply with 'I asked you first', I knew it was precaution measures. And I had no intentions of harm, so why not go ahead and answer what she wanted? If she was a major threat to Ed and Al, I doubt she would have acted as she already had. "Riley Mauler. I'm a friend and traveling buddy of Ed and Al's," I replied.
"Then why aren't you with them?" She asked, raising a brow.
"I have to go home to Dublith for a while," I replied, "Now who are you?"
"You live in Dublith as well?" The man asked. As well..? Wait. Didn't Ed tell the others he was going to Dublith to see his teacher? So that means..
I blinked in surprise, "Oh! You're they're teacher, aren't you?"
The woman paused, but nodded, "How'd you know about that?"
"I remember Ed telling a couple officers he was going to visit his teacher in Dublith," I mentioned.
They looked confused. "The Elrics aren't in Dublith," The woman said firmly, almost menacingly.
I sighed, "I said 'telling'. I didn't say they were planning on going. They're not, actually..."
Her eyes narrowed as she placed her hands on her hips, turning to face me fully. "You know where the Elrics really are?"
I paused, before nodding. "Yes. You're on the right track, they're going to Rush Valley. You shouldn't miss them if you leave now."
She let out a simple hum in response and the two turned, walking off again. She paused and turned back, "What did you say your name was again?"
"Riley Mauler..," I replied.
The woman nodded, "Izumi Curtis." I paused, and nodded in response. She gave me a small "once-over", and turned, leaving. I was about to head back into the hospital room to tell Mustang I would be off, when I heard Izumi shout, "What are you waiting for?!"
I jumped, yelping a bit as I spun around, looking back at her. "Wh-What do you mean?"
"You're coming with us." Hold the phone! I wasn't going anywher-
She glared, towering over me with this aura that pretty much said, 'Don't Disobey'.
-Anywhere without them! Ehehe...
. . .
The train roared in our ears as Izumi, Sig and I sat in our booth. I was looking out the train window at the scenery as they sat still and silent. Since neither of them were providing me much entertainment(Even Edo provided some amusement by allowing me to insult him on a day-to-day basis!), I resorted to counting the telephone poles that flew by.
It was a lot easier than trees. Plus it took my mind off of Maes, and that's what I really needed at the moment.
"So you're a dog?" Izumi asked.
I wasn't sure if she was talking to me, so I looked over to see her staring me down with her arms crossed. I nodded, "Mhm."
She looked back ahead as she asked, "How long?"
I counted it up in my head and replied with, "About three years."
"Why did you join so young?" Sig asked.
A pause in thought came, and then I shrugged. "I was a journalist for them originally, and Mustang offered me a position under his unit..."
"I see," Izumi replied courtly. "So you're a dog by choice..."
My brow twitched at being called a dog. "Not all military officials are bad, you know!"
Suddenly, Izumi seemed to get big. Really, really big. Bigger than Sig, kind of big. She glared down at me. "What?" She asked sharply.
I slowly nodded. "They aren't all bad! They're people too, just doing their jobs!"
"They hunt and kill people for their own greedy reasons!" She shouted, leaning to me.
I leaned right back as I shouted, "The Furher has greedy reasons, the military officials are just being loyal because they're supposed to be! The military has a lot of good men!"
"I'm sure they're good by the dirty standards they've set for themselves, but not by society's standards!"
"And what society are you talking about? The society the military goes after is the criminal part of it!"
"What about Ishbal then?!"
Sig had a huge bead of sweat rolling down his forehead dully.
. . .
I sighed as I stood behind Izumi and Sig. They were showing a picture of Ed and Al to a civilian standing in front of his shop. Izumi and I had continued arguing about the military the entire train ride. I felt bad for Sig, but with everything that came out of her mouth, I had one more thing to reply with; And visa versa apparently.
I looked around Rush Valley, and paled when I saw someone familiar.
Al.
"GO! Run!" I mouthed to him, waving him off. He looked confused, until he noticed Sig and Izumi. His 'eyes' widened and he nodded at me before turning to run away.
Here's the thing. Al = Metal + Running = Loud.
Izumi turned around quickly when she heard Al, and then waved, "Oi! You!" Sig turned as well and then the three of us made our way over to Al, as my brow twitched at our horrible attempt at stealth.
"Have you seen these two?" Izumi asked, holding up the picture to him.
"Oh... Um... Y-Yes ma'am," Al said, rubbing the back of his neck. I glared at him; Couldn't he just lie to her this one time?
. . .
"Brother! You'll never guess who's here!" Al shouted, rushing in.
I followed him, to see the inside of a small room. The walls were red, and there was a loveseat across from the door, in navy green. Ed blinked when he saw me. "Riley?"
I waved a bit, "Not me.." Ed was about to reply, when Sig came from behind me. Ed leaned back in his position on the couch, paling. Winry looked over, and I noticed a bit of a blush on her cheeks.
Blush..?
What the hell went on in while I was gone?!
"Ed, do you know this guy?" She asked, looking over at said boy.
He began to turn blue, "Yeah. And that means..." He trailed off and jumped off the couch, running to the window.
"Um, Ed, I wouldn't do that..," I mumbled when I saw him opening the window. Apparently he didn't hear me(Or was ignoring me, as usual), because he darted out the window.
..Only to be kicked in the face by Izumi. He flew back toward Winry and me, landing on his head and flipping onto his stomach. As painful as it sounded, it looked kind of fun, actually.
"And just where do you think you're going, Ed?" Izumi asked as she climbed in from the window. She sighed, "You've always been so predictable."
Ed looked up, wide eyed and gray-ish in the face. "H-Hello, Teacher.. W-What are you doing here?"
"That's your teacher..?" Winry asked, looking up at Izumi, "But that means she's.."
"An Alchemist," Ed finished for her. "Taught us everything we know."
I sighed, and headed outside the room, squeezing past Sig. I felt a bit claustrophobic at the moment. Just as I headed outside, Izumi shouted, "Where is Alphonse?!"
Sitting down against the wall, I looked around at the town. This sucked. I couldn't get Maes off my mind. If only I had gone with him. And, Hannah. If I hadn't lied to her in the first place, she wouldn't have left and.. And who knows what. She could be dead for all I know! Just like M-
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" I sat up straighter, looking over my shoulder into the window of the room to see Al being thrown into the floor by Izumi. Guess she figured it out.
I sighed again, slouching. It was bad enough Maes was dead and Hannah was missing. But now I have to deal with Izumi too? And Winry? The two people that hate me most in the world. What a party.
. . .
I looked out the window of the booth in the train, beside Winry. Ed and Al sat across from us, tied together. Izumi had done it, along with taking Ed's pocket watch. "Are you sure you two will be alright?" Winry asked, looking over at them in worry.
"Yeah.. We just didn't expect her to come looking for us," Al mumbled out in reply.
I shrugged, "Expect the unexpected, right?"
Ed sighed, "Well I can't exactly say I'm comfortable like this. And it looks like we're headed directly for Dublith too."
Dublith... Hopefully Hannah was there. Maybe. I doubted it. I shook my head. I needed to get my mind off of it. Here I was, on a train. I couldn't do anything right now. But where was she? Was she hurt?
Sighing, I stood from my booth. Ed blinked, looking up at me. "Riley?" He mumbled, sounding a bit worried.
I paused, looking down at him. Smiling a bit, I shrugged, "Just going to get some fresh air." He didn't respond as I left the booth. To the left of me, a long table was placed, Izumi and Sig eating. How'd they get that in here? Shrugging to myself, I walked to the right of me. I passed the first train cart, coming out onto the train Gauge.
Wind rushed by, and the sound of the train blared. It was nice to get some wind after all this. I continued standing there for a while, when I barely made out the sound of the door across from me opening. Looking over, I fell silent.
H... Hannah?!
Hannah's eyes were wide as she stood there in the doorway. "Riley..!" She exclaimed, smiling wide.
"EH?!" I shouted as I lost my footing, stumbling over. Her brow twitched as she ran forward, grabbing my arms. And so, I ended up in possibly the most uncomfortable position ever. Because there I was, my arms on one side of the Gauge, my feet tangled in the railing on the other side.
She sighed, glaring at me, "And here I thought you'd be saving me!"
I grinned. "Just get me off this, will you?"
. . .
"So.. What are you doing here?" I asked, sitting in a booth, across from Hannah.
She blinked, gaining an "Oh yeah!" expression, "M-Mr. Hughes!"
Pausing, I glanced away and nodded, "Yeah. I know. I found him at the phone booth.. And your bag."
She looked down at her lap sadly. "I... The thing that killed Maes.."
I blinked, "Thing..?"
"I don't know," She shook her head, "She.. She changed. Maria Ross, first.. Then.. Then Maes' wife.." She covered her mouth, shaking her head more, "I don't know."
My eyes narrowed. Changing shape? That wasn't normal, obviously. More like a Homunculus thing. But which? It wasn't Lust, I know. Or Gluttony. How many were there to begin with?
Envy came to mind. Come to think of it, I didn't know much about him. "Did he change shape again, Hannah?"
She nodded. "It changed to this.. This person. Long hair.. Black clothing. I thought it was a girl, but it's voice-"
"Sounded like a man on helium?" I asked, a straight face on.
She grinned nervously, nodding, "I guess."
Then that settles it. It was Envy. Sighing, I asked, "What happened with you, though? I thought he took you or something."
"He was going to... After he changed, he spotted me.. I took off running. I went to a hotel to stay in. This morning, I went to the bank and took some money out of your account for a train ticket-"
"You took money out of my account?!" I exclaimed, wide eyed. Great, my best friend's a thief! And here I was feeling guilty!
She nodded, unphased. "I had no money, since I dropped my bag. I wasn't going to steal!"
My brow continuously twitched, glaring at Hannah. "I think that term applies in this situation, Hannah," I muttered out.
Wait a minute... How'd she even know how to get my money out of my account?!
. . .
"Let's move out, Al!" Ed exclaimed from the doorway of our booth. Hannah and I were just entering the cart as he took off out of the booth. My brow rose as I amusedly watched his state watch get thrown into his face. It stuck there as Ed fell to his back.
Hannah's eyes widened as she held her hands to her chest in worry. And fear. "W-What..?"
I smirked, shrugging, "Long story."
"Brother!" Al shouted, rushing out of the booth and bending down to check on Ed. He looked to his left and froze at the sight of Izumi and Sig, both glaring them down.
"W-Who are they?" Hannah asked.
I explained it to her as we got closer. "All that work, and you still haven't learned a thing. Have you, boys?" Izumi asked, glaring at them.
"You two alright?" Hannah mumbled to them.
Ed, looking dizzy, laughed a bit, "Oh, hey... You're back..."
. . .
"So much for our escape plan..," Al mumbled. He and Ed were both shivering as they walked far behind Izumi and the others. I walked beside them, glaring at the back of Hannah's head, my arms crossed.
Izumi got along a little too well with Hannah and Winry. Kiss-asses.
"Che. And this is what I get for coming to Hannah's rescue..," I muttered under my breath. Okay, so maybe I was a little exaggerative. But still, Hannah didn't have to be all buddy-buddy with Izumi. Or with Winry, for that matter.
"What?" Ed asked, looking over at me.
"Oooh, nothing!" I exclaimed, laughing as I waved him off.
He shook his head, looking back to the road, "I get chills just thinking about what she's going to do to us now."
"Yeah..," Al nodded in agreement.
We reached a house, fencing around it save for the opening to the door. A girl from the house ran toward Izumi to greet her. Izumi smiled as the two engaged in idle, small talk. I blinked, taking a break from glaring at Hannah so I could look around. "What is it, Riley?" Hannah asked, looking over at me.
"We're close to the doujo.. I think I'm going to go ahead and head over there to get my stuff fixed," I replied.
Ed and Al looked over. "Doujo?" Al asked in curiosity.
I nodded at him, "I'll tell you later."
"Want me to tag along?" Hannah asked.
I pouted, glaring at her, "Oh, no, don't stop sucking up on my account."
"I don't know what you're talking about," She muttered, looking away 'innocently'.
Ed looked up at me, hopeful eyed. "Want me to tag along?"
With a dull expression, I looked over at him. When I saw the puppy dog eyes, I blushed a bit and quickly looked away, "Hell no."
His brow twitched, "Why not?!"
"Izumi already doesn't like me. I'm not saving you," I shrugged casually, before walking off.
"H-Hey! TRAITOR! Is this how you treat the FullMetal Alchemist?!"
Be Responsible. Don't Flame and Drive! Rawr.