Disclaimer: Money doesn't grow on trees, chief! …And that's EXACTLY why I don't own FullMetal Alchemist! –whimpercry-
Chapter Two: An Air of Entitlement
"What?!" Edward cried as he slammed his hands on the edge of Colonel Mustang's desk. The Flame Alchemist gave the blond a stern glare and aligned the papers in his hands.
"I don't like the idea of training little newbies, either," Roy said, his calm tone hinting at aggravation. If he had to put up with some new recruit's questions, he wouldn't last too long. Being Colonel wasn't easy as it was. He did not want to babysit or play teacher, as well. He blinked his dark eyes, wondering if there was a way to get out of it.
As an idea came to mind, he glanced at Ed and made a shooing motion towards the door. "I have a lot of work to do," he said flatly, fingering through the papers he'd just tidied. The FullMetal's left upper cheek twitched twice before he stood and stomped out the door, his face set into an agitated frown.
Al turned to him as he came out of the door. "Brother, what was it that you got so angry about?" he asked. Normally the Colonel didn't make Ed too mad, so it must have been some kind of bad news.
Edward stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down at the floor, glaring at it. He then began to walk outside of the Headquarters as he explained. "Every State Alchemist who has been in the position prior to the upcoming exam has to 'teach' one or two new recruits, as a way to prepare them for military affairs or whatever."
Al stared at his brother, though he would have looked taken aback if he were human. "Why?" he inquired, though he had a pretty good idea.
"Rebels. The Fuhrer wants to up our chances against them." Al sighed and gave a nod of confirmation to his suspicions. Yes, the Rebels. For one reason or another, someone had decided to form a group that was against the government. They were so passionate in their hate for the government that they went as far as killing those in the military, even family or supporters of the government. Who were in the group and where this group was located, the government had no idea.
"…And you're expected to… teach… a new recruit, too?" Alphonse watched Ed's expression become even sourer.
"We don't have time for that. Mustang knows that. But that bastard won't even consider letting me skip out." Edward clenched his fists. "Damn it."
Alphonse sighed again, hoping his elder brother didn't get too riled up. When he did, he tended to take it out on people. And, since they seemed to be taking the long way to the Library, he knew they'd be interacting with at least the librarians. He looked around, noticing the street lamps were starting to come on and the sun was almost set. Well, at least he wouldn't scare any State hopefuls.
Then there was a feminine (but very loud) cry of, "YOU! DUCK NOW!" Then the shot of a gun. The brothers looked at each other and then in the direction of the noises, starting to run in that direction. A bright flash of light and a scream of surprise broke the peace of the evening and the two alchemist brothers' paces escalated.
Edward made a sharp turn into an alleyway, nearly falling over from the suddenness of it. But the move led him closer to the brawl, so he didn't complain. He stopped short a few feet away from the other end of the alley as a stream of water jetted by. Apparently it hit the target, since there was the sound of someone getting punched in the stomach.
Ed, unable to determine if the water alchemist was the victim or attacker, dashed to the front of the alley, Al catching up behind. He peered down the direction in the street that the water had flown to find a brunette girl jogging away from a man in black, his head wrapped in a black cloth so only his eyes could be seen. He had a gun in each hand and was coughing, one hand over his stomach.
The chestnut-haired girl's straight shoulder length locks bounced behind her as she ran over to the direction the water had come from, but Edward did not see an expression of fear on her face. Rather, she seemed angry. "Thanks for that!" she said to the figure standing there, giving an appreciative smile to the person. Ed's miffed expression returned upon seeing who it was.
Standing under the light of a street lamp, the annoying girl flipped her golden brown curls over her shoulder, where they settled at her waist. His eyes narrowed upon seeing that her hands were on her hips, much like they had been earlier. Also like earlier, her eyes were set in a glare at the attacker. Yes, the girl from the library- the one with the air of entitlement. Edward leaned against the alleyway wall, glaring at her in the shadows.
"Brother, shouldn't we help them?" Alphonse whispered, making sure to stay hidden as well. Ed glanced at him briefly before looking back to the oncoming fight. The girl was reaching into her right sleeve now, watching the man get up.
"She needs to learn not to be so damn spoiled. We'll help them in a little bit," he muttered.
The straight-haired girl touched the buckle of her belt, shaped like a transmutation circle. "What's your name, anyway?" she asked the other, though not taking her eyes off the man.
"Erin. Erin Burke," Edward's current object of dislike answered, stepping forward and taking her hand out of her sleeve. He glanced at it, finding no weapon. He figured she must have touched some kind of accessory with a transmutation circle. He rolled his eyes. "Girls."
"Magiere Taylor." The man glanced at the two out of the corner of his eyes and quickly shot up, firing shots at them.
"DIE YOU MILITARY WENCHES!" he cried with a satisfied grin on his face.
Magiere lifted her hand and wind seemed to pick up in front of it, spreading to make a miniature spiraling hurricane that blocked her torso. She then pushed forward and the wind's force stopped the bullets, causing them to fall to the ground. Several lights in the area flickered on in windows.
As Magiere moved to touch her belt again and get out of the way of more bullets, Erin waved her hand in front of her, as if wiping a window quickly. The back of the thick blanket of water she formed hardened into ice. As the bullets began through, they were slowed by the water enough to make them pierce the ice, but get stuck. Her left hand once again slipped into her sleeve, and then wall of water fell to the ground, the ice shattering at her feet.
"Same to you, Rebel scum!" Erin shouted. "You can either turn yourself in or get beaten to a pulp!" Magiere made a short windmill motion with her arm, extended to the side, and then swung her arm across to her other side, a shaft of concentrated wind blowing at the Rebel. He jumped to the side, but his arm was caught in the shaft and was blown back. He gave a howl of pain as his arm blew back a little too far, and he let go of his second gun.
"Alchemists, huh?" the man panted, his arm twitching at his side once the wind had passed. Erin held up her hand to Magiere, signaling for her to wait a moment, and ran toward the guy. He fired bullets at her and she zigzagged here and there as she charged. Now and then she wouldn't be able to get out of the way so she'd merely duck or jump, or she'd use the same water wall trick.
When she was a mere three yards away, she dropped to the ground. The momentum caused her to slide along the icy streets, one leg extended to kick the guy in his leg. But the Rebel was provoked, now, and had every intent to kill her. He planned to shoot her in the heart as she passed under him. When he realized she wasn't going under him, but rather for his leg, he didn't have time to aim for her heart, so he shot her in her extended leg's calf.
Edward heard the distant wail of police cars, but they were too far off to get here soon enough. Magiere blew another blast of wind at him as he aimed, but this just caused him to accidentally pull his trigger more than once. Erin yelped when she heard the bullets fired, and touched underneath her sleeve again. She slapped her hands on the ground and a concrete dome began forming around her.
Ed's eyes widened as he heard two screams before the dome closed up, the two other bullets getting caught in the dome's surface. Damn. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn. He ran forward, clapping his hands together. The ground shot up around the Rebel, forming a jail cell around him.
He merely grinned at the alchemist brothers and Magiere as they ran towards the dome. "Heh heh… my sacrifice will mean the downfall of your stupid government." Al looked over and gasped as he put the gun to his head.
"No, STOP!" the younger Elric cried. The Rebel, however, had already pulled the trigger. Al flinched at the sound of the bullet shattering through the skull. He returned his attention to his brother, however, as a clapping noise sounded.
Ed watched as the dome slowly peeled away, back into the ground where its material belonged. Looking at Erin, he found blood leaking in a steady stream from bullet wounds on her lower back, side, and leg. Damn, he was in trouble. He reached over to shake her unconscious form, when he was pushed onto his rear end.
He looked up to find Magiere glaring at him, her fists clenched at her side. "What's your PROBLEM?!" she shouted, face red and her expression livid. Her arm jerked in the direction of the alley they had been hiding in before returning to her side, and Edward paled. DAMN. "I saw you over there! I had thought you might be some other Rebel or rapist or whatever, but since you didn't do anything, I didn't think twice about you! You're telling me you were standing right there just WATCHING US IN THREAT OF BEING KILLED?!"
Edward's golden eyes narrowed, but when Al put a hand on his shoulder, he realized that was all he could really do. What was he supposed to say? "Oh, well, you guys needed to be taught a lesson for earlier, so I was just going to wait and see if you really needed my help." He didn't think she'd take such a sentence well, and neither would the authorities.
He looked toward the people slowly peeking out of their doors and windows, as well as the police cars approaching. "Look," Ed muttered, peering back at her as he stood. Al reached down and picked up Erin, watching the two.
"Brother…" Al said in a worried tone, looking over to the police cars.
"Can you just keep quiet about this?" Edward asked, his voice restrained as if he was trying to keep from sounding rude.
"And why?" she hissed, leaning over to intensify her glare. "What do Erin and I get in return for her injuries?"
Ed was getting a bit desperate. It wasn't like him to promise people things, since he hated the feeling of having given in. But how would he get out of this? Magiere would tattle to the police. He wouldn't go to jail- he knew that. He was, after all, a State Alchemist, and one well known for his good deeds, to boot. Most likely, he'd lose his position as a State. But he couldn't let that happen. He needed the privileges being a State Alchemist gave him, so he could return he and Al to normal. "I'll… give you anything you want. Money… whatever… you name it…" he stammered, having a hard time getting the words out. He really, really didn't want to do this.
Magiere's expression faded slightly and then went neutral as the police parked and started to get out of their cars. A smirk played on her lips as she parroted, "…Anything?"