Song: MUAHAHAHAHAHA!
Jen: Dude what?
Song: I JUST SUCCEEDED IN KILLING LE COLONEL! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!
Roy: Ow… what just happened?
Song: I killed you.
Roy: Yeah… Right…
Ed: Dang it Song! Can't you do that again?
Al: Brother! You're being evil again!
Kou: Al, let him. It's for your own good. Right shorty?
Song and Ed: WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT S/HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW HER/HIS OWN NAME BECAUSE THEY ARE SO SMALL THAT THEIR BRAINS AREN'T SERIOUSLY BIG ENOUGH TO HOLD EVEN THAT LITTLE INFORMATION?
Song: KOU YOU ARE DEAD! YOU ARE SO, SO, SO DEAD!
Kou: *deadpan* Calm down Song, I didn't say that! *Glares with Ultimate Glare of Doom ™*
Song: *Glares back with Ultimate Death Glare of Doom™*
Kou: *Turns up a notch*
Song: *Turns up a notch*
(And they repeat that until Song calms down somewhat and suddenly burst into laughter when she looked at something. Kou looks too and smirks)
Greed: What?
Jen and Jo: *Looks and also bursts into laughter*
Ed and Al: *Looks and also laughs*
Riza and Roy: *Also Laughs*
Greed: Why is everyone laughing…*Looks and laughs*
Envy: What? *Looks and sees a palm tree, deadpans and growls*
Jen: Heehee, sorry, oh, is this another omake?
Envy: NOOOOOOO!
Song: *Remembers what happened last time* Totally knew you would say that.
Jen: Whatever. Let's start~
Ed: I don't wanna fight that creepy dude that looks like Song!
Song *Offended*: WHAT? That is so not me!
Jen: Gah, let's just start already. Come on people, you won't die. No actually some of you probably will.
Everyone: *immediately turn gaze onto Jen*
Jen: Um… Okay… STOP STARING AT ME! *Le awesome wheel kick at the people surrounding her (dude, people, I've learned three and a half years of Tae Kwon Do and one year of Kung Fu. I'm practically a black belt but got delayed by a trip to China.), Song and Kou epically dodge*
Ed: Kou, you were right Jen can be more violent than Song… Ow…
Jen: *quickly skips off* See ya peeps!
Jo:*Groan* why must you have crazy stuff in the author's notes…Kou, whatever you do, don't kill me for what is in this chapter. And on to the STORY!
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or anything related to it. I just own this story and the OCs (Or rather, Jen and I own the OCs and story.)
Chapter 7: Enter the Negative Feelings: War, Destruction, Neglect, Regret, Sorrow, and Vengeance
Ed looked up desperately. There seemed to be no way to defeat War. The nimble Song-look-alike was extremely strong and fast. For the last few minutes Ed felt like a tiny mouse being played with by a huge cat. Clutching a slash mark on his side that was dripping blood, Ed rolled out of the way as War send another cascade of spikes at him, grazing his left cheek.
'War, with such a gentle appearance yet such a dangerous nature.' The young-looking girl stared almost a bit sadly at Ed. "I don't like to fight… But I had been ordered to kill you."
'That's a surprise, looks like she doesn't want to fight… And someone is her boss… like the homunculi…' Ed turned to a high pitched noise. Song?
Song used all her energy to let off a sound wave she was sure could reach Ed. 'Ed, War is my look-alike, maybe she can be immobilized by being close to me.'
Ed twitched as he received Song's message. Having someone intrude your mind did not feel good. Gritting his teeth, he used the last of his energy to charge at War, catching her by surprise, and knocked her towards the direction of Song's voice and a fire Kou was able to make. War dug her feet into the ground and stopped sliding as Song struggled forward, pushed back by some unknown forces. War turned to Ed as he fell to the ground.
Something within Song snapped. She clapped her hands together and shoved it onto the ground without alchemy circles, surprising everyone except Kou. A bright light flashed as everyone (again, except Kou) flung themselves onto the ground and covered their ears as Song let out an extremely high sound wave, knocking down War and the forces that kept Song back. Ed took this chance, and crushed War with alchemy. Then the others started to appear, released from being mere ghosts in the background. It was silent as everyone (and again, except Kou, but he's just looking at Song with slight amusement) stared at Song.
Huffing slightly, Song clapped her hands together and put them on Ed's shoulders, instantly healing him.
"You did human transmutation?"
"Heck, like a billion times already."
Everyone dropped to the ground anime-style. "We're serious!"
"So am I." Song looked at them earnestly in the eye. "I did do a lot of human transmutation. Sad for Kou though."
They all turned to stare at Kou, who scowled. "Tell you later."
"What was the 'price'?"
"A mistake I made, long time ago." Song's voice was flat as she gave the same answer she always gave when people ask about her powers or her past. Everyone sighed as they began to fade again, and Al pouted. "Oh no…"
"Yo Al!"
The blonde turned around in slow motion at the familiar voice. He saw a boy, about one year older than him, with golden hair and eyes, coming towards him. Walking slowly the boy tilted his head—and his antenna.
"Brother?"
"What?"
"I… thought… you're with the others…"
"That's Ed."
"Wha—?"
The Ed-look-alike grinned lopsidedly, just like Ed, "Say hi to Destruction!"
Al was able to dodge a lot of Destruction's attacks, though his similarity to Ed forced him to not attack him.
Song restrained Ed running forward as Al again narrowly dodged Destruction's alchemy. "No use, he can't see or hear you. Stay back." She murmured softly. The invisible barrier had come back, and now they were forced to sit and watch.
After a while Al was tiring out rapidly. He was able to avoid major damage by choosing to dodge the attacks.
The boy realized he couldn't last longer.
He felt a bit of his younger self roll in as he shouted to Ed. "Hey Brother! If I die tell everyone I was proud to have such a short older brother, it makes me feel better!"
Ed, Song, and Destruction yelled at once, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT EVEN IN HIS/HER FINAL MOMENTS EVERYONE WILL THINK S/HE IS STILL ALIVE AND WELL BECAUSE THAT SINCE THEY ARE SO SMALL THEIR DYING SCREAMS ARE TOO SMALL FOR EVEN KOU TO HEAR?"
That gave Al an idea. "Brother, admit it, you are very, very microscopic!"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO MICROSCOPIC THAT YOU ARE COMPLETELY IGNORING HIM/HER BECAUSE S/HE IS SO SMALL THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THEY EXISTED!"
The blonde took this chance to imagine he was having an all-out war with Ed. "Well you are so small that I didn't even know Mother gave birth to you! I had a brother?"
Song calmed down as the plan dawned on her. Ed and Destruction completely exploded with rage as the Ed side of Destruction took over. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT EVEN THOUGH MOTHER GAVE BIRTH TO HIM SHE STILL DOESN'T KNOW SHE HAD AN OLDER CHILD BECAUSE HE IS SO SMALL IT DIDN'T EVEN TAKE TIME FOR HIM TO DEVELOP IN HER WOMB!"
Al closed his eyes and imagined Ed about to punch him, then he ducked and side-kicked Destruction. With his strength renewed, Al dodged and attacked, no longer afraid to hit the Ed-look-alike.
For some reason Destruction vanished before al could deliver the final blow. As he watched the others appear, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.
"Who… Did… You… Just… Call… AN ITTY-BITTY FLEA SIZED SHRIMP SO SMALL THAT YOU DIDN'T EVEN TURN AROUND TO MY TAP BECAUSE I AM SO SMALL YOU DIDN'T FEEL IT HUH AL?"
AL ran off wailing as Ed chased him full-force. "I DIDN'T SAY THAT BROTHER!"
Kou turned towards Riza. "I have a feeling this is your turn."
"It probably is." Riza watched the others slowly fade away and placed her hands on a pair of rifles. Turning around, she was suddenly pulled into a flashback.
"Father, can you help me fix this?" A small, five-year-old girl crept slowly into a study room.
"Not now, I am almost done with my studies."
"But Father, you promised you can help me fix this after a small while!"
The man sighed. "Later, child, later."
A sad look replaced the girl's previous happy look, and she turned around, holding a broken toy along with her broken promise.
Riza pulled back from the vision as she felt another one call to her. She felt her skills useless against these mental torment.
"So you have been Neglected." A sinister voice murmured, "Then this will be easy."
The others were surprised at the lack of action. Riza was just standing there as a dark shadow crept up on her.
"WATCH OUT LT. HAWKEYE!"
Colonel's warning was lost as Riza dodged at the last moment, getting a spear through her shoulder. Then the war started. Pulling out her twin rifles, Riza managed to get a shot at the dark shadowy thing before it vanished—only to appear behind her!
Ducking at the last moment, the sword only took out a few strands of blonde hair. Turning around, Riza instinctively kicked out at the shadow, catching it in the midriff before it vanished again.
After Kou bandaged Riza's shoulder wound they waited for the next opponent to appear. Al looked at Song. "So… can you tell us about your past?"
Song smiled mirthlessly. "Tell you if you live long enough to get out of here." She looked at the others fading and added, "Not that you might want to know, Ed and Al."
"So." She turned around to face her opponent. The fight is a bit… too easy…? Hm…
"Hey."
Song looked at the figure that just spoke. Pale blue eyes with seemingly no pupils stared back at her. His pale golden hair was short and messy, a wide grin was pasted on his friendly face and he had a broadsword slung over his back.
"…Leaf…?"
"After what happened there, you might as well know my name."
"…" Song shrugged. "I don't know you."
"Yes you do."
"No I don't."
"You were born in the same place as Leaf."
"No I wasn't. I was born in Amestris."
The person scoffed slightly. "You birthmark is right here." Suddenly lunging forward, the person swiped something out of her eyes, dodging back, Song was able to prevent damage to her eyes, but the person succeeded in pulling out… a pair of colored contacts.
Roy was surprised. "A Salkarian?"
Ed looked at him. "A who?"
"A Salkarian. Inhabitants on Salkara, Island of the Emerald Eye, home to the Altar of Fate."
"But… I thought none of them have ever been outside of their home? After all, every time someone tried to go to Salkara, they never come back."
"Song is… from the Island of the Emerald Eye…? How?"
Kou interrupted, "You will have to see soon."
Song sighed. "Golly, if you had to do that, might as well asked nicely."
"…And you'd refuse?"
"Yeah."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…Awkward moments."
"?"
"I said, awkward moments."
"…?...!"
"Yeah…"
"…"
"So…"
"?"
"Are… you supposed to kill me right now?"
"… Dunno really."
"… Yeah… weird."
"You don't say…"
"So… What?"
"Dunno."
"Tea?"
"…I don't like tea."
"Then what happens now?"
"I… seriously… don't… know…"
"Huh?"
"Er, yeah."
"At least tell me your name?"
"Regret."
"… Yeah…"
"So…?"
"This is weird. Why aren't I killing you right now?"
"I… don't… know…"
"Huh, alright… didn't the evil peoples tell you?"
"No…."
"But you should have known from watching the others? This is weird."
"… Tea?"
"I thought you said you didn't like tea."
"I mean apple cinnamon tea. You know, the kind that Leaf likes?"
"Well… Don't know. Depends on you really. I like tea."
"Milk or sugar?"
"Is it poisoned?"
"…No…? I don't think so."
"…Do you know anything?"
"Um… not really?"
Song sighed at the conversation. "Okay… I suppose. I'll get the pastries."
The others were surprised when Song got some pastries and sat down with Regret and started chatting and having tea.
"WHAT. THE. HELL?"
Kou shrugged. "Well, Song's always like that… She likes tea… Don't be so surprised."
The others were shocked enough to explode.
"So, about this whole 'I don't know what I am supposed to do right now' thing."
"…Yeah?"
"What do you think you should do?"
"…Um… Not… Sure… Might do something wrong and stuff."
"Oh, I see."
"So you think that the riddle in the newspaper can help you?"
"I didn't say that. But maybe. You see it's not hard to solve but I just didn't have much time lately to look it over."
"Oh, okay."
"And then again, maybe the result won't be as good as I think it will be, and then what? We are out of clues."
"Er, try solving the riddle first… It might lead to something else."
"Good point, so we got cleared on that point, what to talk about now?"
"Hm, I think your friends might be surprised at the lack of action."
Song smiled. "Yeah, oh well. So, let's move onto global warming. Due to over pollution the world is kinda heating up, and that's not good for the environment so I think some actions should be done."
"Hm… like what?"
"Like… maybe take some action? First we need to find the source of the pollution and find a way to stop it. But to do that we need to know why that kind of pollution is taking place and for what cause it's for. Then we need to find a way to substitute it with an eco-friendly way. Then viola! It's done. But that will take a long time, however with some savings it won't take much money."
"Hm, well you're smart."
"I suppose I am. Now, to analyze what pollution is harming the world…"
Al stood on tippy-toes to see what Song was talking about. Ed was taking a nap while Kou made some arrows and a quiver for his bow. Colonel was reading a book while Lt. Hawkeye was checking her guns. In short, everyone was waiting for something to do.
"Eh, we ran out of tea."
"Yeah… what do we do now, Song?"
"Get more tea?"
"I don't have any more."
"Um… would you like some cider or cordial? Here, try all of them."
"Ooh! This one is too fizzy, just gone down my nose!"
"That's why you drink slowly."
"Pass the butter, will you?"
"What's the magic word?"
"Abracadabra?"
Song face-palmed. "Try again, it starts with 'p' and is six letters."
"Polish? Police? Pollen?"
"Ugh… Never mind…"
"Okay thanks. Buttered croissants, yay!"
"What to talk about now?"
"Um… Uh… Eh… How about let's play Twenty Questions?"
"…Huh?"
"I'll ask you something and then you can ask me something."
"Alright…?"
"How old are you?"
"…15. You?"
"84690 years old."
"… WHAT?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
"… Nothing…!"
"Hm, okay. Where did you come from? Oh never mind, Salkara."
"Amestris."
"No, Salkara."
Song frowned at Regret. "I was born in Amestris, alright? I don't know who you are talking about."
"Rose?"
"I'm not her. My name is Song and I am born in Amestris. Okay? I have no idea who Rose is. Unless you mean the Rose Ed and Al know."
"… So you aren't taking you're past seriously."
Song smiled mirthlessly. "Not nearly enough."
The others rose to a thundering crack, and they found Song had opened a portal, sending Regret away.
They rushed over to her.
"What the hell happened?"
"Why were you having tea?"
"What did you talk about?"
"Where is he now?"
"Who are you?"
There was silence at Ed's simple question.
Song stared at him (easy for her because of her height, don't tell her I said that though, I don't wanna die. XD). "My name is Song. Da?*"
They stepped back as they began to fade, leaving Kou in the clearing, along with their troubled thoughts at Song's hidden secrets.
Kou groaned. "Sigh…why me?"
A female voice answered him. "'Cuz that's how life works?"
The teen rolled his eyes. "Like I care what Life thinks. Life officially screwed me over like 10 times already, if you don't count the minor stuff. …Then again, Death's not much better." He muttered the last part to himself.
A girl stepped into the clearing. She looked the same age as Kou and had golden hair in a ponytail that reached her mid-back. Her bright green eyes were sparkling and she had a small grin on her face. "Hey there, long time no see."
Kou blinked. "I'm afraid you've got the wrong person here. I never met you before."
"Oh really? Did you forget already?"
"Nope. I'm simply stating that even if you look like my friend, you are not her. Therefore, I do not know you."
"I suppose you're right. I am Sorrow. Pleasure to meetcha."
"…I'm afraid the feeling is far from mutual."
The alchemists all turned to Song.
"Do you know who she is?" Ed asked, seeing as the girl was the most knowledgeable about Kou out of all of them.
"Nope. He never told me about his past before we met." She titled her head. "But…maybe Lightning-Head would know?"
Al looked confused. "Who's Lighting-Head?"
Just then a boy ran into the clearing, immediately gaining a ghost-like appearance like the rest of them. He had wild yellow hair, lighter than Ed's from what they saw as well as gray eyes. He wore a gray long-sleeved shirt with a yellow t-shirt on top as gray jeans, and a pair of gray and white headphones was slung casually around his neck, the wire leading to one of his pockets.
"What the hell?" He turned to Song.
"Song, what in the Nine Hells of the Reikai** is going on?"
"Obviously, Kou's fighting the physical manifestation of Sorrow. Just as obviously, his cursing has rubbed off on you."
"…screw being a ghost-thingy, I'm gonna help."
"You can't."
"Well damn. Ah, well screw that, Life's caused us enough problems already. It owes us at least 10 favors. Or at least, it owes Kou that much."
Ed blinked. "That's what he said. Anyways, who the hell are you?"
"Me?" he blinked. "Oh yeah, you never met me. I'm Laxis, AKA one of Kou's oldest friends and the only one here who knows the majority of his life. Which I will tell you. Eventually. If Kou doesn't kill me for saying that. Anyways, let's see how this turns out…"
Currently the two in the clearing were having a staring contest. One that Kou was winning, as expected. The girl finally sighed, giving up as she said simply, "Twenty Questions?"
"…Why do all of you ask that? Or at least why are you saying the same thing as Song and Regret?"
"Because I want to."
"…Fine. You wouldn't stop pestering me anyways… Sigh…"
"I'll start. Who are you?"
"You should know that. I'm Kou. Koruto Ikuda, the Shadow Alchemist; the person Life owes at least 10 favors and Death owes at least 4. I'm someone you shouldn't piss off. Now my turn: Why her?"
"You mean why I took her form? The same reason Regret took the form of Leaf, or War took the form of Song, or Destruction took the form of Ed, or why Neglect dug up Riza's memories of being neglected. Because you know us. You recognize us. And that makes it easier to kill. My turn: Why do you still wear contacts? Your vision's better than the average human by at least 1.5 times."
Kou froze for a moment. He sighed, pulling off the colored plastic (is that what contacts are made of? I wear them, but I'm not sure…) and blinking once. "Happy? If you must know, the questions I get about my eyes are very annoying. Now I have a deal: if I can survive the next five questions without revealing more than 3 facts about myself, I get to blast you to the next Millennium. Do you accept?"
A smirk. "Of course."
"Wait…Kou's eyes are gold? But only people form Xerxes do, like Father, Brother, and I!" Al exclaimed.
Laxis shook his head. "Not gold. Amber. There's a difference, and besides, Kou wasn't even born in Amestris."
"Eh?"
"Then where was he born?"
"How should I know? Rule Number 2: Don't pry into Kou's Personal life. He'll kill you without a second thought."
"Who's form did I take?"
"You took the form of someone I knew. That information is redundant; therefore I have not given out one of the three facts. Four more tries. Do I get to send you wherever if I win?"
"Sure, why not. It's not like you'll win. Why did Song's human transmutation give you trouble?"
Kou frowned. "Because my right eye…can see Truth, so it gives me a headache when people do human transmutation. It's very annoying. Right now he's singing the retarded Barney Song. One fact has been given. Two to go. Three more tries. Did you know you suck?"
"Nope, I thought I rocked! Why's Laxis here, any—"
"How should I know? Two more tries~." Kou uncharacteristically grinned while poking his tongue out at her.
"Dunno, and that's cheating! When did you meet Laxis and the girl I'm imitating?"
"Sometime when I was a kid. One try left, and you still have to reveal two facts. Are planning on pissing me off?"
"Hell yes." Sorrow took a deep breath and let it out. "You do know it was your fault?"
Something snapped in Kou at that simple question. He looked up with a growl in his throat. His visible eye was once again blood red, even though his contacts were obviously out, and his eyes looked just like a cat's. He took a deep breath before smiling in a way that could have fooled any living creature around into thinking he was not about to kill someone. Rather, he looked like he was going out for a walk on a perfect day with his friends. That is, if he was someone who actually smiled that's what he would look like. It was creepy.
The smile melted into a sadistic smirk as he clapped his hands and slammed them into the physical manifestation of sorrow, shocking all of them but Song and Laxis.
As the girl was surrounded by blue sparks slowly started to disintegrate, Kou looked at her. "To answer your question…yes."
He gave her a two-fingered salute. "See ya in Hell. Not that I believe in it anyways."
And Sorrow was on a one-way trip to see Truth.
Meanwhile, the Colonel blinked. "We have a Salkarian and the survivor of the Lakuna Tribe? What?"
Laxis sighed. "Apparently so, sir. Though it shouldn't be so surprising."
Riza frowned. "Sir, what are you talking about?"
"The Lakuna Tribe, a tribe famous for their eyes. The tribe member's eyes would become catlike and black when they were angered. It's been a century since blood red eye appeared. Some military officials from the country the tribe lived in were sent to kill them and capture the one with those eyes. That person…must have been Kou."
Said person nodded. Then, everyone once again started to fade as the Colonel turned to face his opponent. Until he realized who it was.
"Hughes?"
"Hey Roy! Did I show you my newest pictures of Elicia? Isn't she adorable? Don't you think?"
"What? Aren't you…dead?"
"Oh I am, aren't I? Well, then again…I'm not Hughes. I'm Vengeance."
Roy frowned. 'Of course it can't be Hughes, Envy killed him…but how can I fight someone that looks and acts just like my best friend?'
He was startled out of his thoughts when a bullet flew past his face. Vengeance stood there, pistol in hand. "Ready to fight, Roy?"
"Don't call me that; you're not Hughes!" Mustang continued to dodge the bullets as his mind raced. 'This reminds of the time Envy pretended to be Hughes to try to kill me…that's it! Just because he looks like my best friend doesn't mean he is my best friend. All he's doing is tarnishing the name of the dead. And I won't forgive him for that.'
The Colonel glared at his best friend's lookalike. "Just because you look like him…"
A snap of the fingers.
"Doesn't mean you are him."
And a burning fireball was in the place Vengeance just stood.
After healing the Popcorn, the small group took a while to rest.
'It's all too easy.' Song murmured to Kou in the back of his head.
'We will see.' Came his cryptic reply.
"Where's Winry?" Ed looked around.
Al sighed. "At least we defeated those creepy people and the Grunts."
They froze to a loud crack and turned around to find rows and rows of endless waves of Grunts, along with the reborn Negative Feelings.
"Oh hell, now they got way more."
"See, I told you that Life was a master at screwing people over!"
*Da is Russian for yes. Jen is into Hetalia for now so yeah.
**Reikai=Spirit World.
DUN DUN DUN DUN ! Jo isn't the only one good at cliff hangers! Sorry for the super late update, you see, I was very busy in the past few weeks, first I had to go to Denver, then Japan, and then Beijing, China, and now I am going to Fuzhou. Ugh. AH well, what will happen next? ;)
…Just so you know, this is Jo here now. And just so you know, Jen made me write Kou and the Popcorn's fights. So if they suck…I blame my inability to write action. My brother can. I can't. (But I can focus more on the character themselves, something my brother can't do. So if my brother, Jen, and I were to combine, we would make the greatest writer EVER. Sadly though ,this story is still terribly OOC due to the fact that I can't really talk to Jen everyday like I can to my brother, and my brother hates anime.)
Song: Who's you're fav character in this story? Review and tell us!
Jen: SEE HOW EVIL SHE IS? She's secretly asking for more reviews!
Kou: I thought you liked reviews? Besides, that's not evil, it's sneaky.
Jo: Of course! But flames will be used to make my own personal Hellhole where I can dump idiots like Ro.
Russa: Hi peoplez, I'm from another story.
Jen: Oh hi Russia, Y U here?
Russa: To tell readers to read Hetalia. I'm from Jen's fanfic in Hetalia.
Jen: And…?
Russa: Oh yeah, and 'Da' is Russian for 'yes'. HEY SONG YOU STOLE MY PHRASE! *EMITS EVIL AURA*
Song: Oh ho hurr for the dreaded evil aura. And yes I stole you're phrase. MUAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!
Jen: Russa… You should know… Song's more evil than you… You can't scare her…
Russa: Oh damn.
Jo: *is feeling left out* Sigh. You know what? I'm not even gonna try to make this less random…
Kou: *is happy to be left out. Or is he? Can't tell* Agreed.
So, see ya next time!