Yay, action!
She just threw me out of the window. I repeat: she picked me up (I had to be at least one hundred pounds!) and through me through her recently destroyed window. I could have sworn I heard the broken glass and sharp wood fragments whistle as I passed through them. But that wasn't what I should be worried about, cause here comes the ground!
"Gah!" Instinctively, I crossed my arms over my chest and slammed them to the ground just as my body hit, diffusing as much force as I could, and then quickly curled into a back role when that wasn't enough. I tumbled twice before completely losing control and skidding the last couple yards.
When I finally came to rest, I shakily sat up from my sprawl and found that I had been thrown at least fifteen yards from the front of the house. Was everyone in this world a superhuman freak!? If I hadn't broken my fall, that crazy bitch could have killed me!
Izumi wasn't done with me yet. "AAAAAAAAGH!" I screamed in a pitiful voice as, almost faster than I could believe was possible, Izumi jumped through her window and flipped over, a kick coming down towards my unsuspecting head like an axe. In an insane spike of adrenaline, I rolled out of the way, only to witness her strike leave a sizable dent where my head had been.
I back peddled desperately, but not fast enough. Izumi grabbed my head by my hair and slammed me into the nearby tree, effectively pinning me. "What makes you think I want to train another kid Alchemist, just so they can go disgrace my teachings by joining the military?!" She growled in my ear. Unable to respond, my face pressed painfully into the bark of the tree, I did the only thing I could think of. I quickly hooked my leg around her leading one and slammed my elbow back. Surprised, Izumi dodged my elbow but stumbled as her foot was trapped by my weight. Her stumble was all I needed. With one eye closed because of the blood streaming down from a cut on my brow, I did a move instinctively that I had practiced a thousand times in my other life, although never in a real fight. I used the tree as leverage and launched forward, my right palm facing downward and my thumb extended, and went straight for her throat.
Izumi saw me coming a mile away. With her center of gravity going backward, she slammed her foot to the ground and twisted her torso. My arm went right over her head and her fist gouged into my midsection and slammed me on my back in the dirt. I laid gasping in pain, and waited for my breath and my eye site to return. I struggled to move quickly, fearing another blow. Never in my decade of training had I experienced a battle so intense and real. This was no sparring match, Izumi really seemed out to kill me! This was why Alphonse was so skilled. Izumi did not hold back. She was no instructor trying to make money and afraid of lawsuits. With her, you either learned or you died.
When I finally regained my senses she was standing over me with her arms crossed and a fierce expression on her face. Her long body cast a shadow over me and the sun haloed behind her head. She looked like some kind of righteous avenging angel, and I was the poor sinning fool that was going to be smited.
"If this is the result of my training, the absolute butchery of my teachings, then I will never train another Alchemist again. You're out of luck kid. Find your easy fix elsewhere." With that she turned her back on me and walked away.
What….No! I grabbed onto her black pant leg and she kicked out. Senses regained, I rolled out of the way and struggled to my feet. "Wait! You don't understand!"
"Like Hell I don't!" She whipped around again and started to punch me. Left, right, jab, hook. I desperately windmilled my arms and diverted them, but even glancing blows made my bones vibrate painfully, as if I was being hit with sledgehammers. "You are just going to take my teachings and mess with the natural order of the world. I won't have it!" With that she delivered a powerful hook to my head. I just barely had time to throw my arm up over my face before she sent me sprawling again.
"Please!" I gasped, my ears ringing and my head spinning, "I don't want to learn Alchemy!" Izumi paused and I desperately started babbling. "Alphonse is so strong, I need to get my body back, I can't keep up if I'm weak! I need to get back, please teach me to fight!" When she just stared at me stoically, I felt tears brim in my eyes. I slammed my fist into the ground in defeat. "Please," I whispered, "I just want to get back to my baby…"
Izumi's breath hitched. She crouched before me and gripped my shoulders, looking deeply into my eyes. "What do you mean?"
"I was pregnant," I whispered. Izumi froze. She looked stricken. "I was five months pregnant when I was taken from my body. I don't know if it's still alive out there somewhere, or if I perished. Please, Master Izumi, please help me get home. If there is any chance my baby somehow survived, I have to take it."
Izumi stood abruptly and then turned away. I began to start begging again when she finally spoke. "I do not know any traditional form of Martial Arts," she said.
"I don't need you to," I answered immediately, hope surging forwards. I already had enough years of traditional training under my belt. What I needed was to learn to fight for real, and to learn the limits of this new world and my new body.
"What makes you think I can teach you anything? You are already skilled."
"You beat me," I retorted. "I'm sure you could tell. I have never been in a real fight. If you hadn't been holding back," and it hurt me to say this, because of course she had, "you would have easily killed me. I need to get stronger. If I am going to be able to keep up with those insanely strong kids, I need to be better."
Silence fell between us. My heart pounded in my throat and I was afraid I would have a seizure before she would give her answer. Abruptly she spoke. "What would you have named your baby?"
I bit my lip and wondered what this had to do with anything, but it seemed vitally important to Izumi that I answer. "I didn't know at the time what gender it would be…" I started, "but the child I had been dreaming of for months had been a beautiful little girl. She would have had her daddy's black hair and her grandfather's green eyes. She would have had my mother's long nose and my small hands. I would have named her Alyssa."
Slowly Izumi turned back around directed her black eyes to where I was still kneeling on the ground. "I won't train you."
My stomach plummeted through my body and into the earth. She wouldn't…No! Just as quickly anger rose within me like the sick acid of nausea, and I opened my mouth to scream 'why!'
Before I could say anything, Izumi lifted her hand in a placating gesture. "I will not train you, because I am not qualified. My entire style is based off fighting with Alchemy, and you are not an Alchemist. You are already skilled and the only thing I could do for you is beat you to a pulp over and over again. What you need is to bring the skills you already have to the next level. I can't teach you, but I can introduce you to someone who can."
FMAFMAFMAFMAFMAFMAFMAFMAFMA
The Plaid Skirt was a small pub on the edge of town. It used to be a place where young women would serve drinks to a loyal customer base. It used to be a very successful business where most everyone would visit every Friday and Saturday and enjoy drinks long into the night. That is, until the Roaring Bull opened across town. Where The Plaid Skirt was homey and warm, the Roaring Bull was lively and exciting. Where the small pub was traditionally built with wood slats and old beer signs, the Roaring Bull was a marvel of modern architecture. And so, as was the nature of such things, it was a Saturday night, and the only occupant of the bar with a pathetically blinking open sign was the bartender, snoring away behind the counter.
That is, until the door slammed open with an ear splitting crack. "Orkan!"
Orkan the bartender snorted in alarm and snapped to attention. Oh no. He knew that voice. That dreaded voice that always brought him trouble every time it graced his ears. He slowly looked up at the door and sure enough there was–
"I-Izumi! What a pleasant surprise," the middle aged man stammered, even as he reached under the bar to grip his baston. He knew better than to be unarmed around this unpredictable woman. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Cut the crap, Orkan, and pour me a drink." Izumi stalked into his bar like the tempest she was, and sat heavily on a barstool. A kid walked in behind her and Orkan observed him curiously as he made Izumi her usual. The kid was short, probably around age ten, with blonde hair and striking green eyes. There was a large abrasion over his eye and he moved gingerly, as if someone had beaten the hell out of him. Orkan shifted his attention back to Izumi as he slammed her drink in front of her. Izumi threw it back in two big gulps.
"Alright, out with it," Orkan stroked his short gray beard and glared with bright blue eyes.
"Whatever do you mean," Izumi retorted innocently.
Orkan snorted in disbelief. "The only reason you ever come out here is if you want something, and we both know it. So out with it."
Izumi sighed dramatically, "Oh, Orkan, I'm hurt. Can't you just trust that I came out here to visit an old friend?" Orkan lifted a brow and did not react to her theatrics. Izumi's face became serious. "Oh, alright. I need you to train someone."
"The kid?" Orkan's eyes flickered to the only other occupant in the room and gave him a fierce glare. The boy did not look away.
"Yes," Izumi said, "He's already trained in several Martial Arts."
"Is he any good?"
"I tested him myself." Orkan hummed to himself. If Izumi said the kid was good, then he believed her. But it had been several years since the old man had taken on a student, and he didn't feel all that bothered to take on another one. Still…
"What's in it for me?" He may have been an old, decrepit bastard, but he was an opportunistic one.
Izumi grinned, her canines showing menacingly. She clapped her hands and slammed them to the floor. Instantly, in a great flash of blue light, the old wooden shingling became beautiful polished wood, the old bar signs became good as new, and the old, damaged furniture transformed into comfortable modern furnishings.
Orkan dropped the glass he had been washing with a rag and it shattered on the newly polished floors. His mouth opened in shock. He gulped. Damned Alchemists always flaunting their unnatural powers everywhere just to get what they wanted!
"Boy," Orkan barked. The kid jumped to attention from his own gaping at the incredible transmutation. "Get your shit to the bedroom upstairs. We start at dawn."
Ha! Weren't expecting that were you? From what I can tell of the brief episodes of the Elric's training, Izumi's method of Martial Arts training was to have the boys come at her a bunch of times until they finally got past her defenses. Now, she is a very formidable opponent, and it worked really well for Ed and Al as beginners, but she was also training them to fight with Alchemy at the same time. I just don't see her having the battle tactics experience to teach someone who has no interest in Alchemy and would not have it as a backup. So off Alex goes to a hand-to-hand battle tactics expert!
Yes, Master Orkan (I chose a German name since Amestris is based off Germany. It means 'hurricane' and I got it off a 'Cool German Names for Pets' website! Hehe.) is another OC. Sorry, but I needed him! No worries you'll get to like him.
For those of you that are interested, all of the fighting techniques I mentioned are real! The rear chokehold escape and the open-hand punch to the throat are Tae Kwon Do techniques and the way Alex broke his fall, Izumi's kick, and the windmill/sticky-hand technique Alex used to divert Izumi's punches are from Kung Fu. And a baston is a wooden stick used as a weapon.
Thanks everyone for sending your love! Please review!