I stared blankly at the wall in front of me, knowing that I had no giant armored brother to give me a leg up, nor automail to move any barbed wire with. I could hear the shouting from Al's fight with Barry on the other side of the stone barrier, and decided that the time for stealth was gone. Ed could be fighting Envy and who knew what the 'butterfly effect a la Stephanie' had done with the situation. Whipping out a piece of chalk I had only just taken to carrying around with me I sketched out a well-practiced circle. line-line-curve-line-careful-volatile-precise-angle It formed near effortlessly and I worried for a second at how easily explosives came to me. This circle was just like Scars, an abrupt stop at the deconstruction phase of transmutation resulting in a violent reaction, only I funneled it through stone in this case, rather than human tissue. A minor change in the lines of the third quadrant. And some other stuff of course, mainly mentally.

I slammed a hand on the wall, taking a second to stare in awe at the blue lightning-like light that leapt from my creation as well as the feeling of it being channeled through me, not quite used to it yet. For someone who grew up reading Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, Eragon, and fantasy novels of all types, this was closer to magic than I had ever dreamed I would get. It sent a thrill of excitement through me and put a slightly maniacal grin on my face. I ran through the smoke, drawing my weapon and ducking low from habit and training, surveying the situation in front of me. Both Al and Barry had stopped to see what the explosion was all about. I took aim at Barry, glancing over at Al,

"Is everything all right here Alphonse? Where's your brother?"

Barry looked on in confusion, most likely wondering who the hell I was as Alphonse hesitated to answer and I wanted to swear violently. Barry had already sprouted his crap about Al not being real. After a second Al pointed toward the building,

"He went through the vent, I have everything covered here, go help brother."

Wariness surged through me, not quite sure I should leave Al alone with the other armor's poisonous words. Al decided for me,

"Go! Barry says that the others are much worse than him."

I looked at the glowing red of his eye holes and nodded,

"Be careful Al, I better see you in one piece when this is all over with."

That said, I turned and started sketching the circle lines-and-curves-and-more-oomph-the-stone-is-deeper-here fire bloomed at the heart of the circle as my fingers grazed it, exploding inward, taking out a section of the wall. I had been careful, not wanting to take the entire building down, yet. It was easy enough to ignore Al's gasp of surprise. Only hours ago I'd told him I only dabbled. Oops. Worry for another time.

From here I had no idea where Edward was, all the anime had shown was a journey through the vents which I had bypassed in favor of speed. I had paused at three diverging hallways, uncertain where to go when I heard footsteps. I ducked down a bit and inside a door, using the reflection of the glass in the door across the hall to see Envy and Lust walking past the opening to hallway number 3, speaking to one another in lowered voices. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I wasn't particularly worried about it. There was dust everywhere, either just plain dirt or left behind from the disuse of certain corridors. They left tracks through it, very distinctive tracks, a pair of heels right next to flats. I waited and followed them, slowly, being sure to look around corners carefully and make sure that I didn't run into them.

When I had finally made it to the large room where Edward was, Lust had already made her move against the helmet guy's brother. It was watching those nails ruthlessly cleave apart the written representation of a human soul that made me realize that I could die here. They didn't care who I was, they wouldn't see me as a 'sacrifice' or whatever the fuck. I was a nuisance. I might end up as collateral in this fight that wouldn't have killed Ed even if I hadn't interfered. In a world I hadn't already fucked with, that is.

I pushed the fear aside, trying to embrace the military mindset they had tried to sell in boot camp. Good thing I did too, Lust was speaking, low sultry tones falling through the air in a way that radiated danger. I ignored the chills down my spine. Not the time.

"Perhaps our dear sacrifice here is getting to be too much of a problem, perhaps we should just...solve...it."

She brought her fingers up in the prime position to spear Edward and I snapped into action, firing one shot, cleanly through the back of her head. She jerked and fell over, I pointed my weapon at Envy, who had turned to look at me, edging my way around quickly so that I was standing beside Edward.

"Are you alright, Ed? What kind of alchemy was freaky nails over there using for that trick?"

I played my cards carefully, aware of my role as clueless soldier, not supposed to know anything barring the stone's inhumane (oh god terrible pun I'm-so-sorry) ingredients, and the fact that the brothers were looking for it. Come to think of it, the brothers didn't know much about it either at this point. Unless the ripples caused by my arrival went further than I had anticipated. Who knew what they had said to him in the window before I had arrived when they were alone with him?

Edward stared at me blankly,

"Stephanie? What are you doing here?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, not wanting to leave Envy unwatched for even that long. A bullet probably wouldn't kill them but it could sure as hell slow them down while they 'rebooted' or whatever.

"Edward, Ross woke me up hysterical over you boys running somewhere the Lieutenant Colonel had deemed dangerous, as the lowest ranking there and your friend I ran straight here. Literally, I can't drive in this country, so be grateful, and give me a sit-rep."

"...I have no idea what's going on or who these people are."

I resisted the urge to face-palm but felt the anime-style sweatdrop fall anyway. I sighed, repositioning my weapon slightly and cocking my head to the side, not looking away from Envy for a second, Why were they looking at me like that? Curiosity can't be good coming from them, from what Taylor said about them, and I observed in the earlier version, they should be all 'Puny Human you know not what you deal with' by now…

"Please tell me you at least found what you came here for?"

"Ummm, no. She killed him before he could tell me."

"Him? All I saw her stab was a piece of metal."

He shook his head viciously,

"I'll explain later, but-"

Envy twitched and I shot over their shoulder in warning, regretting having to waste bullets but knowing it's what I would do if they were a normal human. (Not to mention the fact that I was ready and willing to potentially take out a human being's ball-and-socket joint as a warning what the fuck was wrong with me-)

"Not recommended palm-tree person. How about YOU explain what's going on here?"

I cranked up the intensity of my glare when they just stared dumbly at me for a few seconds. That had no visible effect until they began walking towards me. My gun was aimed at their forehead, but I wasn't able to pull the trigger. Violet eyes stared through me, and I worried at what they saw. I had never shot someone face to face like this when not purely in self-defense. This was feeling cold-blooded, and I couldn't quite force myself to do it. My hands wanted to shake but I held them steady through sheer force of will as they stalked closer, still jolting slightly when they spoke, scratchy voice ringing through the silence.

"What have we here? Little girl playing soldier? You have a strange feeling about you, something I've never felt before and I've been around a loooong time."

I squinted at them for a second,

"Um, are you trying to flirt or something? Because it's reeeeally not working. You may be doing it wrong."

They scowled, "Of course not, girl. I'm merely wondering what you are."

I raised an eyebrow, "Female."

Which is more than I could say for Envy. No one really knew what 'it' was. I just kinda saw him as male because of the first series, but who knew what was going on with them in this one? I try not to think about it too hard, actually. The other anime dictated male, let's go with that. Not like I had time to ask about their pronouns right now.

There was a crackle of alchemy lightning behind me and I jerked, looking at Lust, who was finally reforming. I did my best not to drop my weapon in shock. Seeing it on screen, and knowing that it was possible in theory is light-years away from seeing it in person. It was a gory sight that would have had me puking my guts out before the stint in investigations. I backed up closer to Ed,

"Okay, this is uncool on so many levels...and slightly cool on others. But I SHOT you! You should not be standing up!"

She smiled grimly at me, walking in a half-circle around us, examining me up and down, but ignoring what I said.

"You were right Envy. There is something different about her. But it's not of consequence. Leave her. Get the pipsqueak out, I'll see about her, and the lab."

Just like that, I was pushed out of their minds. Ignored. That pissed me off.

But anger faded and was replaced by fear. They were going to kill me. Explode the building, after leaving me nothing but a corpse, an empty shell of everything I used to be, still inside it. I didn't even need to be here in the first place, but I had come, and now I was going to die. My legs shook slightly and I could barely hear Ed ranting about being called a pipsqueak over the pounding of my own heart. I was frozen in place, but Lust was advancing toward me. I heard Edward fall behind me. Envy carried Edward off, probably to drop him right in front of the military, just like in the show. I was going to die.

Lust approached closer, smiling seductively. I am going to die. She walked closer still, holding her fingers up, lengthening them slowly. I staggered back, barely finding my legs long enough to manage a few steps before I faltered again. My breathing was spotty, I was seeing two things at once. The words, all my wonderful words that I had been storing for my entire life were flashing before me, and around me, I looked desperately for something to save me. I am going to die. Lust must have seen my eyes darting around because her smile became a smirk.

"There's no escape for you girl. I almost pity you, dying so young, but you're not even that pretty, so I suppose that it isn't too tragic then."

Her hand raised, pointing at me, and my life flashed before my eyes. Literally. My little talent let me look at every last one of my loved ones before I met my end. I was apologizing to Hughes' image before me when one of her ultimate spears met my gut.

/./

I'm sure you guys know the drill by now, please comment (:))
~TimeLordOfPie