Hey guys! It's Zakuro! Or Captain Obvious! Whichever you prefer!
I'm back from my holiday (another obviousness), where I went on a whole bunch of roller coasters! So fun! Now school's back so BLAH.
I'm updating 'cause you guys asked for it and I'm celebrating the last day of being (insert number of years lived corresponding to somewhere in the early teens)! Wow… I never assumed I'd actually become any older than this… I thought I'd become Hoenheim and just stop aging or something. XD
(WOOT WOOT I GOT A WHOLE BUNCH OF FMA MANGA AND A GIANT PILLOW)
Enough of that. Last reference was caught by LordTicky! Gold star of Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean! This reference is in the omake again. You only need the name of the guy that said it this time...because he says this on many occasions throughout his franchise.
ONWARD!
Of Shooting Guns and Saving Kambei
Roy dealt out a backfist blow to an Aerugonian's head and followed through with the slightest snap of his fingers, blasting at the man's chest and sending him down.
"Eight o'clock!" Hawkeye called out and Roy leant forward to avoid a bullet that hit a man who'd been about to attack his shoulder.
"Thanks!" he called out. He raised his hand. "Six!"
Hawkeye ducked and jumped out of the way as Roy snapped, the flames striking an enemy who had a baton aimed for the woman's head. She gave Roy a nod and continued fighting, her two pistols blazing.
The battle had definitely turned in Kambei's favour now that the Amestrians had entered the fray. They had looked like they were going down when a group of them had come running into the barracks. The force was small, but it was enough to push Kambei over the line. As well as this, every Aergonian soldier who so much as looked in the direction of a certain Amestrian pair was taken down in a matter of seconds.
On the downside, this meant that the two were becoming more of a target with every enemy they brought down. Eventually, the enemy soldiers began to completely ignore their Kambeian opponents and set their focus to taking out Roy and Hawkeye.
The Colonel, caught up in a fight with two large Aerugonians, didn't notice that he was slowly being separated from his partner. After a few moments of trying to come up with an appropriate strategy, Roy shrugged and settled for hitting them both really hard in the face.
He distracted them by reaching out with one hand as if to click, so that when they moved closer to prevent him from loosing any flames he could belt one in the face with his hardest punch and burn the other with his free hand.
He turned around and had a slight heart attack when he didn't see Hawkeye, but spotted her a moment later. He didn't have much time to be relieved however, as she was being ganged up on by a group of Aerugonians.
"Lieutenant!" he called out, but she didn't seem to hear him. She was busy switching the aim of her guns from one man to the next, looking nervous but determined.
Roy was about to head over to her when a muscled arm slipped around his neck in an armbar choke.
"I don't think so," came a rough voice from over his shoulder.
Immediately, Roy dropped his weight and grabbed onto the arm that was blocking his windpipe, turning his neck into the crook of his attacker's elbow to get some air. Then he loosed a vicious elbow strike into the man's ribs, turning as he did it again and again until the choke had loosened considerably. He grabbed the man's wrist and pulled him down so his head was available to crack a backfist into before whacking that same hand into his neck and knocking him to the floor.
He looked for Hawkeye again, spotting her fending off a number of Aerugonians. He fought his way over to her, taking out opponents with both fists and flames alike. She looked anxious as she found herself trapped in a circle of offenders that was at least five rows thick, armed only with her two pistols as the guns on her back were for long range usage.
"Outta the way!" barked Roy as he elbowed one man in the nose, grabbed his baton and used it to smash another man in the head. Once that man fell, he found that he'd broken into the circle and he dashed up to her.
"Are you alright?" he asked, turning around to keep a wary eye on the enemy.
She nodded. "Fine. But there are a lot of them."
"We can handle it," Roy assured her confidently. He slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. "Stay close."
She gave a single nod, seeing his plan. "Back-to-back bullets and flames?"
He nodded back an affirmative.
She swung around to his back, pistols raised.
"Are you ready?" he said to the Aerugonians with a smirk. Checking the Kambeians and Amestrians were all behind the baffled-looking foreigners, Roy's smirk grew to a grin and he gave the infamous call of, "Let's go!"
He snapped, turning in a circle as he did so. Hawkeye followed suit, keeping pressed to his back and firing bullets out to pick out anyone his attacks missed.
The battle was nearly over in moments.
With the Aerugonian forces dwindling, all the Kambeians and Amestrians had to do was round up the remaining enemy soldiers. Most of those unlucky few were wise enough to flee.
Roy stopped flaming when there was no-one left standing in the crowd that had surrounded them earlier. Hawkeye stopped as well, and the two of them took a moment to catch their breath.
Afterwards, Roy looked at her. "To the streets?"
"Yes." She reloaded her guns. "Let's head that way."
Roy and his Lieutenant made their way quickly over to the gate, nodding in acknowledgement to the Kambeian soldiers who called thanks their way.
As they entered the fray in the city streets, Hawkeye tapped him on the shoulder and called, "Should we look for Fullmetal, sir?"
"We'll keep an eye out, but we've got our own fights to win as well," Roy reminded her. "Come on."
The pair fought their way through the crowd, kicking and punching and flaming and shooting in a regular pattern until they found themselves in the thick of the battle. They whirled around each other in a kind of complicated dance, fingers snapping and pulling triggers in quick succession. Anyone who dared face them was taken down before they knew who'd hit them.
As they gradually moved through the battlegrounds by beating down any enemy in their way and sustaining minimal damage, Roy and Hawkeye finally caught a glimpse of the two ever-elusive Elrics.
A blue flash of alchemy, a snatch of red cloak.
"There," Hawkeye said, pointing.
Roy's gaze followed her finger as he clicked and blasted another man away. He spotted Edward facing off against two huge Aerugonians, and Alphonse being ganged up on a little way away.
"Let's give them a hand," Roy decided, changing direction. When a man threw a punch at him, he swiped it aside and whacked his elbow into the offender's face. Hawkeye slipped round and slammed the butt of her pistol into the man's forehead and sent him sprawling.
They fell into a tag team combat plan, using their familiarity with each other's styles as a major advantage. Eventually, they reached the brothers.
"I'll take Fullmetal," Roy said. "You help Alphonse."
"Yes, sir." Hawkeye turned on the men attacking Alphonse and started firing away.
"Lieutenant!" the boy turned armour exclaimed.
The woman continued firing, angrily taking out anyone who came near. When she ran out of ammo, she didn't have time to reload before she was launched into hand-to-hand. She made quick work of beating down three men, Alphonse managing to take out the rest.
"And you'll stay away from him," she warned, snapping more bullets into her gun and pointing it at a man who was about to rise. "If you know what's good for you."
The Aerugonian raised his hands in surrender, backing away. He turned and fled, many of his allies scrambling after him.
"Thanks for the help, Lieutenant," Alphonse said, bowing his head.
"Don't mention it," she responded, smiling a little. She held out a hand. "Team?"
Alphonse shook, nodding firmly. "Team. We can win!"
Meanwhile, Roy had just managed to slip in next to Edward, the pair of them in fighting stances and facing the hulking warriors before themselves.
"I could handle this myself, you know," Edward complained.
"Can't have you hogging the limelight, can I?" Roy retorted, shifting his weight as he calculated a plan of attack.
"Psssh, who'd pay attention if you took centre stage? We all know I'm the crowd favourite."
"I have manners. I am a gentleman. You're a wild little brat."
"You've got a pole up your butt!"
"You're a snot-nosed newbie!"
The attackers had a look of confusion on their faces as the pair bickered, up until both of the Amestrians simultaneously shouted at each other; "Shut up!"
Then the attackers had a look of pain on their faces as they found themselves socked in the gut and kicked in the face, by Roy and Edward respectively.
As both pairs worked to gradually overcome the threats pressing in, they slowly became more and more familiar with their partner's tactics. It was easy to see how the battle had come to Kambei's favour so easily; with Roy, Hawkeye and the Elric brothers on their side, losing would have been a tough task, even without the small boost in numbers thanks to Amestris.
It was going smoothly, right up until—
"Edward, five!" Hawkeye shouted from a short distance away.
The boy barely had time to react, looking over his shoulder at a man near Alphonse who had a small gun trained on him. "Crap!"
His auto-mail was trapped in the hand of another man, so he couldn't move out of the way.
Roy's mind worked the battle out for him. In slow motion, he saw Alphonse bring a fist down on the gunman's head, but there was a flash from the gun and he knew the bullet had been fired.
Reaching out, he grabbed Edward's shoulder and pulled him down sideways. The boy's expression was one of numb shock as he found himself falling to the ground because his opponent had been forced to let go of him.
The world quickly sped up again and Roy felt an empty burning sensation in his shoulder. A few seconds later, it worked itself up to hot agony and he shot a spear of red lightning at the man who'd tried to kill Edward.
He quickly pulled out the pistol from his left hip (thank goodness he'd grabbed that - his right arm was hurting too badly to shoot) and fired at the man's leg just as he was about to stamp down on Edward's ribs.
Once the enemy was on the floor and crawling away, Roy gave himself time to react.
"Dammi—ow!" he growled, shakily fingering the nice new hole in his uniform. Blood had begun to stain the corners of the tear, adding to Roy's list of annoyances.
"Sir!" Hawkeye called as she and Alphonse dropped in beside him to cover him. Alphonse pulled Edward to his feet and the boy immediately went to Roy and snapped at him.
"You should have let me take that!" he snapped. "I could have turned my auto-mail on him!"
"You wouldn't have got it up in time," Roy barked back, his hand still trembling as he inspected the wound. He let out a sigh of relief. "And it's just a graze. That guy's gun was stupidly low-powered, a piece of—"
"Colonel!" Alphonse broke in, censoring everyone's swearwords since 1900. "Can you still fight?"
"Sure," he returned through gritted teeth. "Just not as well."
"We'll cover you," Edward offered, raising his hands in a fighting position.
"Appreciate it," Roy replied. "Don't screw up and let me get killed…"
"Do you trust me?" Edward asked suddenly.
"Do I—Ed, now isn't the time for—"
"Do you trust me?"
"…Yes."
"Then I won't screw up." He held out his fist to Roy, eyes still on the fight.
The man smiled, reaching out with a balled fist to knock his uninjured arm against Edward's. "Alright. Be careful."
"Use this!" Roy started in surprise as a small amount of bandage fell down to him.
"I brought a little with me," Alphonse explained. "We'll keep them back, just tie up the wound!"
Roy raised his eyebrows in pleased surprise as he found himself in the middle of a tight circle. "Thanks."
"Just hurry!" Hawkeye said.
Roy was quick as he unravelled the bandages, binding the graze on his arm and using his teeth to pull it tight. He reached under his jacket and used the spare bandage to wrap around his stomach to cover part of the cut on his side. After he was satisfied he'd stopped both wounds from bleeding, he gave a nod and called out, "Good to go!"
Hawkeye glanced over her shoulder after sending a man down with a vicious chop to his neck. "Good! Get back out here, but don't push yourself!"
The four took up a back-to-back stance, Alphonse facing one side of the battlefield and Roy facing opposite. Hawkeye was to Alphonse's right and Roy's left, facing away from Edward, who flanked the Colonel's injured side.
In this formation, Edward and Hawkeye could both keep an eye on Roy and push him back against Alphonse and into the middle of a protective ring if needs be.
As the group were standing in the near middle of the battlefield, a plaza of some description, they were at a big advantage. All of them had some form of long distance fighting, be it guns or flames or just alchemy. They picked out Aerugonians individually and in clusters, bringing them down in any way they had to. Any time one of them wandered too close, they'd end up with a metal fist in their face or a black military boot in the stomach.
Time wore on, and Roy was unsure how many enemies the group knocked down before a loud voice bellowed over them;
"RETREAT! AERUGONIAN FORCES, RETREAT!"
After a few moments, only the victorious Kambeians, the few Amestrians (including the Elrics, Roy and Hawkeye) and a number Aerugonians who were sprawled on the floor and unable to move remained in the streets.
They looked around for a moment, making sure it was true. Edward and Alphonse shared a high-five and their older counterparts a tired nod.
Kambei had won.
They'd claimed victory in battle to avoid a war.
Roy smiled exhaustedly and leant back against Alphonse. "Well that was tiring. Let's not do it again."
"Are you alright, Colonel?" the boy asked.
"I—ai-thang-mjus-aierd," Roy responded, his words slurring as he broke into a yawn.
"Translation," Edward announced. "'I think I'm just tired'. Not surprising, since you were awake 'til like, three in the morning last night."
Roy cleared his throat as Hawkeye looked his way. "That, in my own defense, saved the city."
Edward clapped his hands. "So we did it? We beat Aerugo?"
"As best we can," Roy told him. "Even though that was only a small army, I doubt they'll be hurrying back here any time soon. And now that they've had a taste of us, I think Amestris is out of the question as well. Speaking of…" He pointed at the cluster of Amestrians being approached by a Kambeian general. "How…?"
"I'd place my bets on Hughes having something to do with that," Hawkeye said. "I contacted him to say mission failed; he must have managed to send reinforcements to help us out in battle."
"So we did it," Alphonse confirmed. "We saved Kambei."
"We did," Roy said reaching up with his left hand to slap the boy in the shoulder. He closed his eyes and smiled, forgetting his worries in favour of focusing on his exhaustion.
"We did."
"You're good to go," the healer said, slapping Roy's uninjured shoulder good-naturedly. "Those should heal well enough, just give it a few weeks. Lucky, the bullet only just missed you."
"Lucky," Roy echoed with a nod. "Thanks for the help."
"Anytime," the man said happily. "We're all indebted to you; you saved the city! Probably the whole country too!"
"Think nothing of it," Roy told him. "Just doing my job."
The Colonel was being treated at a small medical clinic not far from the square where most of the battle had been fought. Edward was somewhere in the clinic, he thought, he just wasn't sure where exactly.
But the boy didn't give him much time to wonder.
"Colonel!" the young alchemist screeched, more or less smashing through the door of the room and stumbling in over it's shattered remains. "Look at this!"
"What?!" Roy jumped up, startled. He searched Edward's body, but was unable to identify any problems with the boy physically. He had bandages wrapped around his forehead and parts of his flesh arm, but that was nothing unusual. He clutched his jackets in one hand and something indistinguishable in the other. He looked urgent, as if his life depended on the news he was about to deliver.
"Look what I got!" he exclaimed, rushing over. His expression was awestruck and nearly captivated as he thumped down next to Roy on the bench and held out his hand.
The Colonel stared exasperatedly, a particularly large droplet of perspiration forming on the back of his head. "It's just…"
"A free dango," Edward stated solemnly, looking amazed. "A doctor gave me a free dango. Let's never go home."
Roy reunited his palm with his forehead as the boy bit a bun off the skewer, humming happily.
"What?" he mumbled around a mouthful of food.
Roy sighed. "Nothing."
The healer chuckled whilst cleaning up the area.
"So," Edward said, swallowing the last tasty morsel of dango. "Shall we head back to the castle? I believe Al and the Lieutenant went to help chase out those Aerugonians. I think they'll be done by now, since you just had to insist they treat everyone else before you."
"Mm." Roy nodded and stood up. He slipped on a spare white shirt the clinic had replaced his torn and bloodied one with, careful not to move his right arm any higher than necessary.
There were bandages wound around his chest and stomach as well, to cover the slice to his side and a cut on the upper shoulder he hadn't even realised he'd received. Edward gave him a hand as he fumbled to maneuver the sleeve into place and then slip his jacket on over the top. An older woman had been kind enough to clean it off and patch it up for him whilst he waited to be treated. He didn't bother to button it up, since it was warm outside and he really couldn't be bothered.
They thanked the healer again and made their way onto the street, where the Aerugonians were being forced towards the edge of the city in clusters at knife and gunpoint.
"The Emperor says he won't lock them up or have them killed, just chased out of Kambei," Edward explained. "He wants them to return to their country alive to tell them not to invade again."
Roy chuckled slightly. "The Emperor's a good man. I'm happy that I met him. He might be able to aide me with…certain plans."
Edward looked curious for a brief second, but he quickly figured that Roy meant his vaguely explained plan to take up a position high in the military.
"Al said he and Hawkeye were going to get their things from the hotel after they'd done their part, and move up to the palace like Kenji said," the boy continued. "He also said they were gonna have another party soon to celebrate or something."
"Hm." Roy looked around, surprised as he spotted a familiar tuft of blonde amongst the dark haired crowds. "Look. There she is; Hawkeye."
"Al's with her too," Edward commented, pointing as Alphonse straightened up after having bent over to do something neither of the pair could see.
A second later, they realised it was to help tie up a group of particularly rowdy Aerugonians. A Kambeian soldier was prodding them along with a sword, looking nervous as they cursed and snarled at him.
The pair of alchemists made their way through the crowds to Hawkeye and Alphonse. Once Alphonse spotted them, he finished with another set of rope handcuffs and walked up to meet them.
"Big brother, Colonel," he greeted. "You're both alright, then? All patched up?"
"I've been better," Roy admitted, pointing at the bandages over his shoulder that were visible under his collar. "But I'm more or less alright. I'm alive, and that's all that really matters, right?"
"Mm, but it would be a hassle if you lost limbs or ended up gravely injured," came a voice from behind. "Sir."
Roy turned slightly, trying not to move his cuts too much. "Lieutenant."
The woman walked over, passing the group of Aerugonians as she approached. "Any grave injuries I ought to know about?" she asked.
"I've got one on my side that needed a bit of work and the graze smarts a little, but I got off light," Roy said. "You?"
"Just bruises," she told him. "They'll fade."
Roy looked at her for a moment, just thinking how lucky he was to have her, and for her to be here and alive.
A slender eyebrow inched upwards on Hawkeye's face as she realised Roy was staring. She caught his gaze for the briefest of seconds, and the look of sad thoughtfulness she saw was enough to remind her very sharply just what she'd been so worried about.
The panic attacks.
"I got hurt too," Edward piped up, feeling left out. He pointed at his forehead. "See? It got scratched again."
Alphonse put his hands on his hips. "That's going to leave a scar if you're not careful with it."
"I think it already did. And I don't care. Scars like that are cool."
"Winry wouldn't approve of that."
"Pssh!" Edward flicked his wrist, but looked a little less sure of himself now. "What do I care what Winry thinks?" he scoffed unconvincingly.
Roy's attention wandered from the group and over Hawkeye's shoulder to the tied-up Aerugonians, who had been left to their own devices as their guard had been called over to another scuffle.
He narrowed his eyes as he noticed one of the Aerugonians acting funny. He was jerking his arm up and down quickly, grimacing as if he were in pain. Roy leant to the side slightly, squinting as tried to make out what the man was doing behind Hawkeye.
He gave a start and a quick burst of adrenaline surged through him.
"Lieutenant, look out!"
The woman's eyes widened as the Aerugonian snapped free of his bonds with the aid of a short knife. Roy snapped into attention, shoving the Lieutenant aside and flashing out a hand to flame.
Before he could, the attacker slashed out, catching his outstretched arm with his knife and slicing the circle in two. He followed up by charging forward into Roy, the Colonel trying to press the blade back by pushing his arm away.
Blood dripped from his hand.
Roy gasped as the man pushed harder, the blade coming dangerously close to his neck. His grip began to weaken and he felt a hot drop of blood fall under his collar.
"Get off him!" came Edward's snarled voice, the boy launching himself around Roy and slamming the attacker to the ground in a brutal tackle.
The Colonel stumbled backwards, pressing his hand to the shallow cut on his throat. He had come very close to losing his life, again.
Alphonse joined his brother, hefting up the Aerugonian by the collar of his uniform. "Now that wasn't very nice," he chided. "If you keep pulling stunts like that, someday you're going to get hurt very badly."
He glanced at Edward, who was rising to his feet and fuming with anger. "Maybe even today."
Roy recovered his composure and took a deep breath. "Just—Just tie him up again," he ordered. "I don't think he'll be much trouble."
"Colonel," Hawkeye muttered under her breath. She raised her voice to snap, "What are you trying to achieve by nearly getting yourself killed all the time?! I'm not that important! Stop throwing yourself in the way of things! You need to live more than I do, so please refrain from this kind of idiocy!"
Roy shied away a little, but mumbled, "Yeah, whatever… I'm an idiot, I know…"
Edward ground his teeth and followed along behind the soldier who was pushing the rogue Aerugonian back into a group.
"You better run, buddy!" he growled. "Or I'll have your ass kicked and mounted above a fireplace!"
Hawkeye sighed. "I guess this means it's back to the clinic with you, then."
Roy inspected his right hand critically. "Oh, it should be fine… I'll just stick a bandage on it or something…"
The woman took one look at his hand and said, "Clinic it is."
Roy sighed and kept pressure on the wound as Hawkeye led the group back through the town, past clusters of people waving enthusiastically and calling out.
Alphonse timidly returned the waves and his elder brother happily sent a mock salute or grin their way. Hawkeye gave a few nods, and Roy mostly smiled tensely as he tried not to stretch any of his wounds. They saw a few Amestrian soldiers in the mix and Roy decided the group sent must have been a small task force made entirely of troops from East City. Hughes must have somehow persuaded the General to send in some men.
They reached the clinic quickly, and Roy found himself pulled down onto the bench. The cut on his neck was shallow and required little more than a plaster and a couple of twists of bandage, but he wasn't so happy with his hand.
Edward got squeamish and had to leave as Roy's hand was injected with a little bit of anaesthetic before they sewed the wound shut.
Roy looked at the tiny slit closely. He held out his numb hand and the healer wrapped a bandage around it.
"What's the smell?" Roy asked curiously. "The bandage smells odd."
"It's been steeped in herbs," the healer explained. "They should help seal the wound without infection and with minimal scarring."
Roy nodded in comprehension and Edward's face peered around the doorframe.
"Done?" the boy asked warily.
Hawkeye gave a nod, beckoning him over.
"Yeah?" he asked, hands in pockets.
"Alphonse and I are going to return to the hotel to retrieve our belongings," she said. "Would you mind escorting the Colonel back to Kin Palace?"
Roy sighed and decided against arguing that he didn't need escorted, since his current position was kind of a contradiction.
"Sure thing," Edward replied with an accepting shrug. "I'll see you at the place soon. Seeya, Al, Hawkeye."
"Bye, brother. See you soon. You too, Colonel."
"We'll be right there. Sir, Edward." Hawkeye dipped her head and Alphonse followed as she moved out of the room.
Edward watched them go before asking, "Good to go, Colonel Wet Match?"
A hand whacked into the back of his head.
"Sorry, still can't feel my hand."
"Ow! That was your good hand!"
"Oh, was it? How silly of me. Here, let me hit you with the other one—"
Edward turned on his heel and stalked towards the exit. "Alright, point taken. You're not completely useless. Now move it."
Giving Roy a couple of last minute words of advice before the Colonel set off, the healer smiled at Edward's antics.
They moved into the streets.
The clinic was in the western part of town, and the quickest way to reach the castle was to follow the river up in a northerly direction until they spotted it. Smoke and embers were still visible in the distance from the almost burnt-out bridge.
The pair walked along the bank of the river, Roy eyeing the water warily. Edward kicked the occasional stone in, and the Colonel felt a little uneasy as each one vanished beneath the surface without a trace.
Something about the river unnerved him.
His intuition was tingling as if something were up, but he hadn't the faintest clue what. He supposed it was being so close to the river without adrenaline racing through him that made him so nervous. If he slipped, he'd be done for. He couldn't swim and Edward couldn't jump in after him with his auto-mail.
He inched away from the water.
Edward started to speak, shrugging a little. "I guess this means the meeting's over then."
"Highly likely," Roy replied, gently folding his arms. "There isn't much else to be done here."
Edward put his hands behind his head, glancing up at the sky. "So what happens now? To the alliance? Does everyone just…go home?"
"It's a little more complicated than that, but for you," Roy nodded. "Yes. All you need to do is go home. We'll just be escorted back to Amestris by that group of men who helped in the battle."
Edward's brow furrowed a little. "And Tyrell? Claudio? What'll happen to them?"
Roy thought for a moment, casting his glance down at the stream of water gushing by. "Claudio will likely be chased back to his country with the rest of his men as soon as they find him. Aerugo will be kicked out of the alliance, but Orato will remain. I happen to know for a fact that the Emperor is very close friends with the King of Orato, and I believe that Tyrell and his country will be safe from Aerugo. With all these other countries backing them, not even Aerugo would attempt an invasion."
Edward looked a little relieved. "And what about Tyrell's father?"
"We can only hope in that regard."
"Speaking of, where is Tyrell now?" Edward asked.
"I sent him down to the military barracks, but I never saw him there," Roy mused. "I assume he kept himself hidden and worked on healing anyone that needed it. He's probably up in the castle by now."
"Mmm…" Edward's lips pulled taught. "What if Claudio's gone after him?"
Roy's mind quickly took this into consideration. "Let's hurry back to the castle then."
They picked up the pace, moving on at a quick walk so as not to further aggravate Roy's injuries.
The man was just starting to feel out of breath when something appeared in the path that forced them both to a halt.
Edward bared his teeth in a snarl, clenching his fists as Roy slowed to a stop with one hand gently gripping his side.
"Hello again, Mustangs," came Claudio's smooth drawl.
AH! RETURN OF THE GUY WHO WAS NOT MEANT TO BE AN ANTAGONIST WHEN I FIRST WROTE HIM HERE BUT GRADUALLY SPAWNED INTO A SUPERVILLAIN! (Though I guess he wasn't gone all that long…)
REVIEW RESPONSES:
Priestess Kazumi Uzumaki: It's okay that you cried for Ed's antenna… Whether or not it's normal is another question entirely… XD
A Small Voice: To answer your questions:
Tyrell was hiding down in the military barracks healing people.
Hughes is not leading the troops personally. How he did it is explained next chapter.
I would love to have Hayate save Ed, but he only entered the story after Hughes…d...d...d… THAT.
As for the lie about the father-son thing… We'll see. XD
Breyannia: I'll try and get those two fighting together if I can...
Victorious-Mind: THAT WILL HAPPEN
Akarri: Glad you like my stuff! I work hard on it!
FlamingFlyingFoxOfDoom: Although that's not quite how the story goes, I hope you'll like it anyway… XD (I should write something with Hoenheim in it someday… But first! ARMSTRONG)
And a few of you mentioned and wanted to know why I was so good with fight scenes. The answer is that I've been doing martial arts since I was about six or seven, so I know how the moves work. I spar about once a week, so fight dynamics come naturally now. Most of the hand-to-hand moves I describe in this chapter are ones I've been taught, but obviously the backflips and stuff that Ed does I derive from studying his fighting style in the manga and anime.
AAAAAANYWAY, we made 500 reviews! How cool is that guys?! Remember that the story would be no-where near as good without your input - I use as many of your ideas as I can. Thanks so much for all the kind words, dudes!
YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!
ZAKURO AWAY! *shoutout to my good friend Toshi who isn't feeling so awesome right now - stay awesome bro!*
OMAKE
Roy's intuition tugged at his insides again. He turned to Edward, who stood a few steps behind him.
Eyes narrowed, he muttered, "My Musty sense is tingling…"
Edward just stared in fed-up bafflement as Roy attached himself to a wall and skittered away with spider-like ease.
"Away to save the day!" he shouted maniacally. "Your friendly neighbourhood Colonel!"
"The hell is going on…?" the boy mumbled to himself.