Alrighty, another chapter out and about!
yeah... not really... I feel like it's sorta rushed, ya'know? :/ Ehh, whatever. Enjoy!
STORY START
This morning, I woke up a bit later than I was supposed to. Well, I guess that was an understatement.
"Hurry up! We're going to miss the train!"Meas exclaimed as we hurriedly got out of the Taxi-Truck-Thing again, and onto the station. It was pretty small, considering it was heading towards Central.
But beside that fact, we had to hurry. And hurry fast.
Hughes and I rushed towards the train, going as fast as we could. It wasn't really that hard to maneuver since nobody was in our way (except for a midget and some tin can), so we were able to get beside the dark-Mahogany train just as the Conductor yelled his infamous "All Aboard!"
I hunched over and caught my breath for a moment. I was afraid I wasn't going to make it. Though, suddenly, I heard gears creak and iron squeal. Oh joy...
The whistle blew at a deafening high note, signaling that the train was departing. I began to run again as it pulled out of the station. Hughes was on that little platform on the back, waving at me anxiously, urging me to run faster. I turned my head, though, when I heard that scratchy sound, the one where metal hits something hard. Turns out, Pipsqueak and Tin Can decided that this was their train, too. I huffed to myself and looked forward again, seeing the train's back end begin to recede even farther away. I guess this was my chance...
And then, I jumped. I guess it all went in slo-mo, since Short Stuff and Mr. Trash Can jumped with me. Although, I was a bit further ahead than them, so I landed right beside Hughes, my knees on the ground (since I had planed on landing in a crouch. But the train was moving so fast at the time, I slipped from my pose), while they just barely got a foot each on while holding onto the side rails. We were all breathing heavily, for we had had a bit of anxiety. It's pretty hard to jump on an already-moving train, ya'know?
Maes laughed and patted my back harshly. I dunno if it was for relief, or if it was punishment for trying to catch my breath before. But whatever. He led us into the train cars, where the three of us sat in one booth while Maes went to go and phone a "Friend" of his. I'm pretty sure it was someone from the military, but I didn't bother to ask.
I guess the three of us just sat there, in complete silence. Of course, I couldn't move to another cart, since all the others were taken. So I sighed and looked out the winder, one hand tugging on my hood while the other was supporting my chin. And then, it happened.
My stomach growled.
I could feel myself heating up from the neck upwards, but I tried to ignore the fact that I didn't get any breakfast. Hopefully, they hadn't noticed...
Suddenly, I felt their eyes on me, boring through my Spinal Cord (or what was left of it) and into my brain, sending shock waves of uneasiness to my body. I slowly turned to the two, just to see the blonde trying not to laugh and Mr. Tin Suit holding out some kind of biscuit.
While glaring at the shorty, I took the biscuit into my hands slowly and ate a chunk, savoring it. It was freshly baked and warm, so I gladly devoured it (though, I tried not to scare off the two with my masculine eating habits).
Half-Pint took one, too, and ate a bite before talking."So, umm... who are you?"
I cleared my throat with a grunt, not answering. As Blondie waited in silence, the armored man spoke up.
"Uhh, hi! I'm Alphonse Elric, and this is my older brother, Edward. Nice to meet you."I arched an eyebrow (though they couldn't see) and shook Alphonse's hand. I woulda' thought it would be a bit heavier... and his voice should be that much lower. But whatever. Not my problem.
"Well, are you going to introduce yourself, or what?"Edward asked, crossing his arms. I just shook my head again. He sighed and rolled his eyes as a little girl peeked over our seats. Edward himself didn't notice, but apparently, the younger of the two did. Alphonse laughed a little bit and waved at the girl, as I simply ignored her existence. The little girl seemed a bit scared and went back to her own business, making Alphonse groan lightly and hunch over in a depressed manner.
"Brother, am I scary?"He asked his elder brother. For someone that tall, he seemed pretty sensitive.
Edward leaned forward slightly."Please, you're kindness in a can." I couldn't help but laugh at that (to myself, of course).
My hood slightly twitched as I heard the little girl whisper to her mother."Look, Mom, he's strange."She stated.
"Strange?"Alphonse asked in a whimper.
"That's not nice, Merin."I deducted that this was the little pint's mother."You shouldn't say things like that."
Edward showed a forced smile, eyebrows cast downward and lips open.
"But look at him! He must like armor a lot to wear it everywhere, even on a train!"
At this, Edward hunched down some, determination on his face. He stood up and turned, eyes closed, and put an hand on the booth's seat.
"Do you think he gets hot?"
Though, when Edward opened his eyes and saw all the other people staring at him, he sweat-dropped and brought both his hands up."Nothing to see here, folks! Nope, nothing out of the ordinary!"He exclaimed while slowly inching back into his seat. Alphonse seemed even more depressed than before. Edward then gave a nervous laugh as even more looked over at him."Jeez, Al, no-one told me we had a ticket to the Normalcy Express!"
Though, then, the little girl came up again, laughing and waving. Edward looked over his shoulder, grinned, and looked back at his brother. "See, Al? She's not scared, she likes you, right?" He turned back to the girl, who nodded happily. But then, apparently, her eyes found something.
I was somewhat interested by now, so I watched as it went on. Edward followed the little girl's gaze, only to see his sleeve pushed up a bit. Of course, I followed too, and saw nothing but sunlight reflecting off and into my eyes. So, now, I was temporarily blind. All I heard was "Cooler than skin, huh?" and the girl nod again.
What'd he mean by that? As I rubbed my eyes back to normal, I heard the mother say "Alright Merin, you've bothered them enough. " and the two brothers laugh. Oh well. Doesn't matter to me about what happened.
I watched as we passed water. It was a beautiful sight, all the blues and greens mixed in with sunlight. The train's whistle blew a few times, making my sensitive ears ring (but in that good way). The three of us sat in silence on our burgundy seats, all staring out the window, taking in the view. I don't remember views like this, after my Aunt and Uncle ran away. Huh... I wonder where they are...
But then again, why should I care? They left me on the streets, without one thought of my well being. They don't deserve my worry. But, suddenly, the beautiful view vanished as we entered a tunnel. Alphonse and Edward groaned, but I just sat there. I didn't mind the darkness of the world outside. I never had, really. But, just a minute later, our view came back to us, showing a multitude of blues and greens of the sea. Not long after, the door opened to show an (somewhat) older man. He scanned the cart thoroughly. The whole time, my eyes stayed on his. A train worker, maybe?
His gaze drifted to our cart, and onto Alphonse. He seemed to jerk back, holding one of his hands horizontal in front of him. And then he whispered to himself, I suppose thinking nobody could hear.
"Major breach."
Oh joy. Just so incredibly joyous. I sighed to myself, turning slightly towards the window, and banged my forehead on it loudly. I'm sure I got looks, many looks, but I ignored.
I heard the cart door close, and continued my banging. And afterward, I barely heard the door open again and that guy run over to our booth. Sighing, once again, I turned and looked at his form with the other two.
"Right, there is some others with him!"He stated, looking at Edward and I."And one of them are small..."
Just a second later, Edward had jumped up from his laying position, flailing his arms and feet wildly and screaming bloody murder."WHO'RE YOU CALLIN' A RUNT SO TINY HE CAN ONLY BE SEEN BY A MAGNIFYING GLASS, YOU JERK?"
I pulled my hood down lower. I already had a headache from the banging, and now this. The older guy backed up, holding his arms up in a defensive position."Relax, kid! The Colonel said it, I was just repeating-"
The Colonel? I sat up fully now, watching as the scene unfolded. But it wasn't the scene that I thought it was. Instead, some guys had pulled guns on the old dude and the old dude pulled a gun on one of 'em. Yay. My eyes widened, along with Edward's and Alphonse's. He was cornered...
As the old guy lowered his defenses a small bit, the guy behind him hit the back of his head with the hilt of his pistol, knocking him out and on the floor. Most of the people on the cart (including me) stood up. The others gasped, while I just growled to myself.
The one with the lighter brown hair turned his back to us, towards the front of the car, and spoke;"No heroes today. Everybody shut up and get your hands over your heads. Or say hello to a bullet."
Edward, Alphonse, and I exchanged glances. Well, more like Edward and Alphonse did while I just looked at them. Then, the three of us put our hands up.
I could already hear gunshots in the other carts. I guess we just have to hope nobody's been killed yet. Just barely, I could hear a Machine Gun going off. Well, that was a good sign. Like, not.
While all this was happening, the darker-brown haired guy began to search for weapons and such on the passengers. But then, the lighter-brown haired guy (Let's call them Bob and Larry, 'kay?) spotted us. Larry saw what Bob was looking at, which just happened to be the three of us. Or, more specifically, Alphonse. Bob took the lead, Larry right behind him, and walked up to us, guns in hand.
"Brother?" Alphonse asked, fear in his childish, almost hollow voice.
Hollow...
"Don't worry." Edward replied back.
"Helmet, take it off."Bob commanded. Suddenly, Edward gasped and pointed behind Bob and Larry.
"LOOK!"
Well, it worked. A millisecond later, Edward jumped up and kneed Larry in the face.
"Bad idea-"Bob started, raising his pistol. But he was shot down (pun intended) with one hit on the head by Alphonse's fist.
As Bob and Larry laid on the floor, the two brothers smiled at one another triumphantly.
"You dumb kid, what are we supposed to do now?" On of the passengers asked. I looked at him, eyes narrowed. "Don't you think they'll notice if two of their men have gone missing? And what's gonna happen to us then?" The guy had a point.
"They'll want retribution."Another said.
"We would've been safe if we had just cooperated and got to central."The first said.
"That's right."
"What were you thinking?"
Alphonse turned to his older brother."What do we do next?"
"Didn't plan that far..."Edward replied. I sighed. Just like men.
Suddenly, Larry turned and pointed his gun at Marin and her mother. Moving quickly, I jumped over the both and landed on Larry's arm with my feet, one on his wrist, the other on his forearm. Doing this, his arm fell downward while making his aim shoot up, missing the two.
Edward quickly took Larry's gun away from him, looking at the two girls."Are you guys okay?"
The mother opened her eyes from her previous shock, and looked at us."Yeah."She replied meekly.
Edward sighed in relief and looked at me."Thanks for that. But, you know, it wasn't really needed. Alphonse coulda' got him."
Now that just made me mad. Just plain mad. Just like a man...
But, aside that, we all looked towards the front, at the door. We had to move.
I got off of Larry (but not after a swift kick to the head) and walked towards the front, ignoring the two brothers behind me.
"It's alright. Your Big Brothers will take care of this somehow, okay?"
Just ignore me, not like I'm special in any way, not like I just didn't save some people. Ugh, whatever.
"We better get started, Al."Edward said to his brother, I suppose facing me, who was still walking.
"Right."
"Wait! Over here." I turned to my left, then down, watching as that old man came out from under a booth.
Once he was out in the isle, I helped set him up and began to untie the ropes bound on him. Edward and Alphonse walked up to us as I tried to get a not out. It was pretty tight, more than I would've liked.
"How embarrassing... Who are you guys? Freelancers?" He asked, just as I got the tie out and loosened the rope some.
"Just two old-fashioned Alchemist. And some girl."
I cleared my throat. The three of them looked at me, who had just stood up and faced them."I think you mean three old-fashioned Alchemist." My voice was scratchy, as I hadn't spoke in such a long time. Well, you know, tow days. Maybe three. But you get my point."Names Bailey Vinez."
"Huh. You don't say..." The guy stood and dusted himself off."Well, I'm Falman, State Warrant Officer."
Oh... see, now it made sense.
"A soldier, huh?"Edward asked."You don't look like one..."
At this, Falman laughed."Yes, well, there's a reason for that. We've got a special passenger on board. You know, the front car kind."
"So that's why these thugs are here, huh?"I murmured. Falman simply nodded.
Edward grimaced."And they decided to bring us down with 'em."
Again with the ignoring... I swear, I feel just like a stray...
Edward looked at his brother from over his shoulder. "Al, I'm going up top, to throw a surprise party. You go with him from below."
Alphonse straightened up."Uh... yeah. Okay."
Edward then turned to me."You stay with Alphonse, alright... uhh..."
"Bailey."I replied. I cleared my throat again."And there is no way you'll be keepin' me down here. I'm goin' up top, with you."
"What? But you'll get hurt!"
I anime-veined."I"m not some preppy biddy*, you idiot. I am actually trained in Silver Alchemy, like my Grandfather, and can easily wipe your tiny ass off of Amestris** and into Xing*** as we know it."
And so, the chaos commences.
Edward and I climbed the ladder up to the top of the carts. Edward had a bump on his head and I'm sure I had plenty of bruises, but that's aside the point.
The sight was beautiful, you know. Miles of bright cerulean sea, and in the distance, rocky, snow-covered mountains. And the train was going fast. Maybe a little too fast.
Suddenly, my hood blew backwards, making my hair flow everywhere. I gasped and quickly stuffed my hair, and soon my full head, into the cotton-ish hood. Edward looked behind him, wondering what was wrong. I took one hand from my cloaked face and waved it dramatically.
"Nothing! Nothing! Just keep going!"I yelled over the harsh wind. He rolled his eyes and turned back, making me sigh in relief. Maybe this wasn't a good idea...
We began to walk slowly over the carts as the train started scaling a cliff. It was hard walking like this, wind going against you, on hand holding my hood. Yeah. Not fun. Especially when I saw that tree branch ahead.
"DUCK!"
I followed Edward's order, but apparently, he didn't. He got hit, full force, by the tree. He fell back, just missing me by an inch. I watched him as he flew by almost, and also how he was heading towards the edge. Acting quickly, I grabbed his right wrist, but it sort failed, as I got dragged with him. All I saw was black, gray, brown, red, and then some purple as we fell off the edge.
Wait... purple?
Suddenly, I wasn't falling anymore. Instead, there was some hard behind me, supporting me. Looking up, I found the one and only...
Maes Hughes.
"You know, there's a real art to train walking."He stated smugly."I'm shocked you got this far."I smiled.
"Thanks, I guess..."Edward replied. Oh... Maes had caught him, too...
Damn...
"I'm Major Hughes. But Bailey here already knows that." I nodded slightly."Anyways, you're Edward Elric, right?"
"Yeah. That's right."Edward replied. How'd Maes know that?
"Mustang told me about you."Hughes said."I'm an old friend of his."
Mustang? As in the Lieutenant Colonel Mustang? Was this half-pint a to-be State Alchemist, too...?
"Lieutenant Colonel?" Well, yup. I guess so. Joy.
"Yep."Maes replied, looking up at the ladder in front of him, in which he was holding onto."Always bragging bout that promotion, too... C'mon, you two. We had better work as a team."
Maes helped us to the front-most carts, where the idiots where. Now, all we had to do was think up a plan...
Or just wing it, like Edward, who had leaned over the side, peeking through a window. But I suppose it worked, since he came back up and motioned for us to to go through the other side.
At first, he wanted Maes to go first. But Hughes declined swiftly, motioning to me. Edward seemed confused. God, I didn't have time for this. I quickly swooped my feet through on the opposite side, kicking on guy down as he said "Hey, what's the matter?" and pinned him, right before bashing the top of my head to the back of his. Well, he was done...
"What the-"The other crony was taken out as Edward jumped in from the opposite window, kicking him to the ground, similar to the way I had just done. Though, Maes jumped in behind me and threw some kind of dagger into the guy's shoulder, leaving one of the worker men to punch his face in.
"Well... that went well..." I remarked. Maes nodded and headed towards the front with me as Edward began to climb the nearest ladder. A minute later, I heard a gunshot. Hughes stuck his head out of a nearby window, looking back at Edward.
"Hey, you okay?"He asked, right before a bullet almost hit his head. I quickly pulled him back by his shirt, falling to the ground by his quick movement.
But then, I heard that sound. The sound of electricity. No, a Transmutation. Guess he was an Alchemist. I hurriedly got up and looked out the opposite window, only to see a canon ball hit the retard that was shooting at us.
"Oh, man! That was smooth!"Maes said from behind me. Then, some other guy looked out, squishing me to the back, and, quite frankly, suffocating me.
"Hey, you!" He yelled."Don't mess with that tinder! It's the life of this train!"
"Right, sorry!"Edward replied back, over the wind. And then, I could just barely see that face.
Well, it's official.
I'm screwed.
Maes and I hurried to the cart behind us, hoping to find the leader of all this crap and finish him off.
But, you know, why was the floor so wet?
Anyways, Hughes and I stood beside a sliding door silently. He slowly began to open it, preparing on of his daggers.
"Just look on the bright side, Bald."He said to the bulk man, who was also wet. Why do I have the feeling Smudget is the one who did this (keep in mind, I wasn't able to see what happened)?"You probably needed a shower."
I laughed at that, though I tried not to. It was pretty obvious they guy hadn't bathed in a while.
Suddenly, this "Bald" turned towards us, and his eyes landed on me. Hughes grunted and threw his dagger, but Bald just blocked it with his... arm? And then shot bullets?
Maes quickly shut the door, trying to keep safe from the bullets. Or was he trying to save me from the bullets? Well, either way, Maes was wounded. And I was mad.
"What's the matter?"Bald asked."Don't like my company?"I lowered my head, looking at my cloaked feet."Before I finish off the general, I'll take care of you."
I quickly stepped in front of Hughes, making his pained face turn to shock. I then suddenly flung the door open, my arm working on it's own.
"THROUGH MY DEAD BODY, YOU OVERGROWN HEIFER!"I screamed, punching him in the face, and, quite possibly, making him swallowing a tooth or two. He stumbled back some, before spitting out blood and glaring at me, all with a smirk on his face.
"Well, then. Guess I'll just have to make you dead, huh?"He threw his left arm at me, and I bet back into the quickest thing I could think of. A Back-bend. I then latched my feet onto his hand, which I could now see was actually a Machine Gun, crossing them as if it was a monkey bar.
"This man, right there, is the only man who has showed me compassion in the last four years! Do you think I'll just let you take his life? 'Cause if you do, I swear, you're freakin' delusional!"Again, Bald just smirked, and then even laughed.
"I don't think some puny kid like you can do anything to a big guy like me!"He quickly flung his arm around, throwing me off and making me hit the wall, similar to the way he did, but harder.
"You wanna bet?"
Suddenly, Edward jumped in, about to smash his face in. But then, they both got caught, arm to arm. And...
Automail to Automail...
And that's when everything blurred, and soon, turned into a complete tunnel or midnight black. Great, I'm dead.
I felt myself moving again. In the same way I was moving before, and with that same smell, too. But it was mixed with some kin of led. Some kind of blood...
I quickly jerked up, eyes wide, as I saw I was in Central Station, being carried by Maes.
"Well, I see somebody's awake!"He exclaimed, smiling brightly. But I ignored that.
"H-ehy! Y-you're arm! Is it alright?"I asked hurriedly as he stood me up. I was a bit unbalanced, but I managed to stand. I looked at his right shoulder, to see it covered by his uniform.
"Nah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it. Oh, hey, Roy's here."He said, pointing behind me. I turned around, to see three Military officers, one of them with black hair and in the front. I figured this was the Lt. Colonel. He seemed to be talking to Bald, who was tied up, with a smug look on his face.
And then, what happened next completely surprised me. Bald had cut the ropes holding him and attacked Mustang. Though, Hughes didn't seem very worried when I looked at him. And the Lt. Colonel didn't either. He just lifted his gloved hand, and snapped his fingers.
Red bolts surrounded Bald, and then crimson fireworks seemed to spark and explode, almost like a bomb. I was amazed. It was so beautiful, yet so destructive... at the same time! Talk about your daily Pyromaniac...
My cloak swished furiously in the waves of air that followed from the massive explosion. Well, not massive, but yeah. Big.
"That flame! It's awesome!"Edward said. Oh, he's here. With his brother. Huh. Just shows you how badly I fail at noticing things right in front of me.
Bald was burnt to a crisp, and that's downsizing it.
"I controlled myself."Mustang said."The damage to your skin isn't nearly as bad as it feels. You can call me Roy Mustang. Or just Lieutenant Colonel. Hell, you can call me The Flame Alchemist. Whatever you do, you'll remember the pain."
Well, he seems nice.
"So he's Mustang..."Edward stated, before suddenly running up to him. Oh, joy.
"Brother?"Alphonse asked, reaching for him.
"Hey!"Edward yelled, standing in front of "The Flame Alchemist" himself."You knew. That's why you made us take this train. You put us at risk on purpose!"
"C'mon, Ed, you think I've got the whole world on strings?"Mustang asked, very smug, if I do say so myself."Anyway, you should focus on the good news here. The General heard about your exploits saving the train and agreed to make a special exception, letting to take the State Alchemist Exams. You're going to be the talk of the military, along with Bailey there."
"Exception?"I asked, walking up."But you always said I could take it! Oh, and he suddenly gets to take it, too!"I pointed a finger at the smunchkin beside me. I mean, sure, I was an inch shorter, but at least I was the right height for my age!
"It was the only reason we came!"Edward exclaimed."And why her? She'll die in battle! Hell, she got knocked out in the first five minutes!"
"Stop being so sexist, you retard! Or do I have to teach you another lesson? And, might I remind you, I only got bruises from our last fight, while you actually got a lump on your head!"
"Be realistic, you two. The state's never let a kid take a Military Exam before. But..."He hunched down some, to our eye level."I guess luck's on your side. Good thing you took that earlier train, don'tcha think?"
I lowered my hand and huffed to myself. I hate smart-asses.
Mustang walked up to Ed (it's easier to say that than 'Edward' all the time, ya'know), putting a hand on his shoulder."Whether or not you take the test is still up to you guys. I'm not trying to run your life."
I grunted and turned to is walking figure."What, you think we're going to go back now, when we've already done this shit, just to figure out we just now got accepted? Wow, you must be a real dim Lieutenant Colonel to think that!"
Mustang turned back to me and smirked.
"You may not want to talk to your future boss that way, then."
"Like I care."
Now, he just laughed.
"That's exactly the willpower and ignorance we need..."
I began to walk away from the station swiftly, trying to just... get away, I guess...
Ignorant my ass...
OI! OI!
HEY LOOK, LOOK! A BUTTON! A SHINY BUTTON!
OH, WHAT'S THIS? REVIEW? SURE!