Chapter 5: Onward to London and Reward! Part 2
(Boom! Boom! Boom!)
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The next morning they got up nice and not very early, and after a cup of free coffee (the cheap-ass soldier was too scared of Izumi to charge them) they bundled up, and set out.
Miles was waiting for them at the main gate. They exchanged light greetings and were met with surprising news.
"The general wants to see you before you leave." Ed blinked in surprise.
"I thought she became part of the Führer's inner circle? Why is she here?"
"She came back last night to oversee the admission of the latest puppet from Central," Miles said sullenly. "They're to be her replacement, so the Führer asked that she show him around personally."
"I wonder why," Al said thoughtfully. "That doesn't seem very smart for him to do-"
"It's so the soldiers here don't undermine his authority," Izumi cut in, "If she pretends to treat him with respect, the rest will take the hint and do the same. She's trying to keep the order here as much as possible, so the place won't become another Loir."
The brothers saddened at the mention of Lior, knowing that it was partly their fault. Izumi put her hands on their shoulders.
"What happened there shouldn't happen here as long as the soldiers do not let Central totally take over." Miles nodded at this, and right about then, General Armstrong walked up.
"Hello Alphonse, Winry, Fullmetal shrimp. Who is this?"
Izumi lifted her head, staring directly into the eyes of the general. The two's gaze were locked for a second, and finally the staring match ended as Armstrong said "I see the shrimp was not wrong when he talked about you."
Izumi chuckled. "Shrimp…Nice, very nice. Now, seeing as we need to leave, can the stare downs wait? We have a train to catch."
The general straightened, "Yes, I know. That's what I wanted to talk about. Now, listen carefully," Ed and Al turned to face her.
"You not to under any circumstances say anything about our military, or our borders to anyone in London. Drachma knows of us, hopefully they do not. Regard anyone besides your contacts as an enemy, and even with them, do not trust them until they have earned it. If we get any sudden invasions, and you have not done something beforehand to warn us about it, I will tell any and all survivors to shoot you if you return without showing signs of torture. Got that?"
"Yes sir," said Ed, already knowing this.
"Then you get to where you need to be."
Miles saluted, and Ed hesitantly followed suit. General Armstrong turned and left. Izumi immediately burst into laughter. "Hahahaha!! She's just as I expected. Haha! Paranoid for a good reason, and overly firm! That's the most even contest I've had with a human in my entire life. You be sure she isn't killed," Izumi told Miles, with sudden seriousness in her voice. He nodded.
"Lets get you on your train shall we?"
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A car ride, a train, and a lot of hiking later, Ed and his companions finally reached their train to London. They had driven to the border, where they had to take a train to get to the right city, and after much confusion, ended up on the way to London. The ride was as quiet as the one to Briggs. As expected the ride took the whole day, so they decided to sleep as much as possible. Al shook them all awake when he heard the speaker say something about the next stop being Kings Cross London. They arrived in about 15 minutes. They got off the train, and headed into the daylight. Outside they saw many crowds of people.
"What should we do?" asked Winry softly.
"Lets wait here. They'll see Al and come to us. He's kind of hard to miss." Ed replied, remembering his letter. The wait dragged on and on.
Suddenly they heard a cry of, "Over there, I see it!"
"See what?"
"A huge suit of armor just like in the letter."
"Letter, what letter? Sir why are we here?"
"We are here because we are late, Harry."
"What do you mean?"
"Come boy, hurry up, there's no time to lose!"
They Amestrians glanced at each other. When they got a good look at their welcoming party at was a bit of a shock.
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Muahaha! I'm sorry for Izumi's OCC-ness but, I couldn't resist doing that.
It's a cliffy! But kind of an obvious one no? Ed-plosion comes next chapter along with a special appearance by Draco Malfoy!
And by the way, no, the inside jokes will keep coming (but theres only 2 parts of the Onward! chapters)