Warning: big long plot-hole rant of an A/N ahead...

Have you guys ever thought about how much the details of Ed and Al's escape to the Rockbells' just don't make sense? Piecing together every version of FMA, whether it's the manga, BH, or 03, and there's still no real explanation as to what happened between them waking up from the transmutation and showing up at the Rockbells'. In the manga we see small snippets of it. During the event itself, we see Ed tourniquet his own leg (nevermind where he got bandages, cause that makes total sense), transmute the armor, and pass out when the Truth starts taking his arm. Somewhere else we see Al waking up, Ed sprawled against the wall and all bloody, and Ed saying all he could get was Al's soul. Somewhere else, we see Al at the Rockbells' door begging for help and Winry and Pinako being horrified (and Ed seemingly still being conscious, because that also makes total sense?) The 2003 anime shows a very similar set of events to the manga (surprisingly). BH actually cuts out most of it, except for the part during the actual transmutation (but there's no brotherly conversation or showing up at the Rockbells shown on screen this time).

So here's where the two (or sort of three) big points of confusion lie: the aforementioned Ed bandaging up his own leg, the fact that in the manga and 03, when they show up at the Rockbells, Ed also has his arm bandaged all the sudden, and (less importantly) the fact that Ed still seems to be conscious the entire time.

Point one: how the heck did Ed get supplies to tie up his leg? It's clearly drawn (and in the anime, colored) like bandages. Where'd he get that? You can't tell me he just happened to have some nearby when they obviously weren't expecting anything to go wrong. But whatever, I'll just headcanon tweak it so he used a piece of Al's clothes as makeshift bandages. That's plausible, right?

Point two: Ed shows up at the Rockbells' with his arm bandaged. It's clearly shown in 03 (and i think the manga, though I couldn't remember exactly where the scene was to check) that when Al woke up, Ed's grip was the only thing slowing the blood flow from his arm. He didn't have either the time or energy to tourniquet that wound like he did with his leg, yet by the time they get to the Rockbells', it's tied off. The only explanation? Al had to have done it...But when? I really tried my best to make it work as plausibly as possible, but it still doesn't make complete sense...

Point three: this one is really just a personal nitpick and less of a real plot hole, but I cannot believe Ed stayed conscious after losing that much blood. It's already always been a stretch to me that he was able to tell Al all about his trade with Truth (so I headcanon tweaked it to be less coherent of a conversation), but you cannot tell me mans lost two limbs and was awake for all of it. Whenever I think about this scenario, I'm always thinking of the movie Soul Surfer (which is also a true story). In it, Bethany is totally catatonic when she loses her arm, and ultimately ends up losing consciousness from shock and blood loss. And yes, I know FMA is a fictional world with magic and people survive ridiculous things all the time, but DANG IT, they're still humans and I want them to follow human logic! *screams and flails*

...Anyway, all of this is to say that the transmutation scene is heartbreaking and gut-wrenching and peak cinema...but it's also messy and frustrating when you really think about it and I wish there was a clear, full interpretation of it that makes sense and fills in all the gaps in the story...And I've spent waaaay too much time thinking about it and trying to make it work in my mind and I really need to get a life. Rant over.

Ch 21: Near death experience

Rated T for gore

Characters: Alphonse, sort of Edward

Timeline: BH/Manga

Notes: tbh I kinda just want to get to some stuff a few prompts down the list, so I decided to basically rehash a brief scene from chapter 10 of Simple Things…but longer. Basically, in that story, I wrote a short spiel of Al remembering what it was like when he very first woke up in the armor, and I thought it'd be fun to flesh that out, cause you can never go wrong with the elrics traumatic backstory XD. Except I'm not doing it from his POV cause you guys are probably sick of that lol (is first person actually really despised or was the comment section I saw that in just really biased?) Anyway enjoy. Warnings again for some…really gory descriptions *nervous laughter*

Alphonse had no idea what had happened. It was all so fast; one moment, they were there with their hands pressed to the circle, and the next…chaos. There was so much light and noise, he couldn't focus on any one thing. Well, except for Edward, that was. He remembered screaming for his brother, trying so hard to get to him while some otherworldly force sucked him the opposite way. He remembered hearing Ed cry out for him, too, his hand outstretched in desperation. He remembered losing all control, as if his body was being stripped away from him. He remembered the tips of their fingers touching before the light and noise swallowed him whole. He thought that was it. He thought he was a goner.

Until he jolted awake again.

He was staring at the basement ceiling. It was dark, the only light filtering in from the stairs to the main level. A faint haze floated in the air, and Al tried to figure out what had happened. How could he be back here, looking at this familiar ceiling, when he'd been sucked into the alchemical vortex they'd made?

That was when he realized how numb he felt. No…that wasn't the right word…it wasn't quite numbness, it didn't really feel like…like anything at all. Logically, he knew he was laying on his back on the floor, but he couldn't feel the floor underneath him. Had he been paralyzed? Maybe, but shouldn't he be able to feel something? At the very least, his lungs taking in air, or his heart pounding in his chest, or even his eyes moving. But there was nothing.

What was happening?

Unable to make sense of what he was feeling, he decided to focus on what he could comprehend. The ceiling…the darkness…the sound of labored breathing.

…Breathing.

He could hear breathing! But it wasn't his…it was somewhere in front of him.

…Edward!

It had to be. His brother was here, too, and he was alive. Alphonse sat upright, surprised to find he could. He scanned the dimly lit room, his line of sight peculiarly elevated. That was when he saw him: his older brother, leaned half against the wall and surrounded by something dark and shiny. Al looked a moment longer, trying to figure out what the slowly spreading substance was…and then it clicked.

Blood.

Terrified, Alphonse reflexively jumped back, only for the sound of crashing metal to accompany his movement. It was so loud and so sudden, and it terrified him even more. That was when he reached out his hands toward his brother—except they weren't his hands. Two massive metal-plated arms ending in leather gloves stretched out ahead of him, and he was absolutely primal with fear. The metal arms responded to his desire to move, and he realized that somehow, impossibly, they belonged to him. He cried out, hearing what was undeniably his voice, but with an echoey, metallic quality. Those arms…they looked like one of those suits of armor their father kept in the basement. But how?! Unless he was…inside one of the armor sets somehow. But why?! And why was there so much blood?

…Something really, really bad had happened.

Alphonse looked at Ed again. It seemed the older boy had also heard the crash when Al jumped back; Ed's eyes had opened halfway and he was looking at Al, breathing even heavier than before.

"A…Aaaa…" Ed's voice was strained and high-pitched in distress, but it was clear he was trying to say his brother's name. "T-tried…but…th' exchange… C-couldn' save…'m so…so…s-sorry…"

Still horrified and unable to comprehend what was going on, Al shifted forward, solely focused on his clearly gravely injured brother. As he got closer, he finally realized where all the blood was coming from. Ed's left hand was clutched onto his right shoulder—and that was it. There was no right arm there, just a steady outflow of blood leaking onto the floor and pooling around his legs. His legs…his legs! Three-fourths of the way down his upper left leg, there was a blood-soaked piece of clothing tied around it, and then nothing. Alphonse could barely comprehend what he was looking at. This wasn't just some simple injury; his brother was missing two entire limbs.

His brother was dying.

This realization hit Al like a train, and he suddenly found himself frozen. Edward was quite literally dying right in front of him—and fast. His entire body was shaking uncontrollably, his eyes filled with unimaginable pain and sorrow. He opened his mouth to speak again, but he was losing the battle now, going completely into shock. Al watched as the last bit of consciousness left his eyes and he slumped to the floor. His hand's grip on his shoulder slipped, and with no pressure to staunch it, the blood flowed faster, spilling his precious lifesource onto the floor.

That was when Al snapped into action. He leapt forward, operating purely on the need to save Ed's life. Bandages…something to stop the blood… Al clambered to his feet, feeling monstrously tall, and frantically dashed for the only other room in the basement: a small mish mash of storage and utilities—and a stash of emergency supplies Mom had collected when the war broke out. Al tore apart the room, hitting nearly every old piece of furniture and stack of boxes in his wake, until he found the box of medical supplies. Not knowing what to do, he grabbed a big roll of bandages and crashed back into the main room, dropping by Ed's side. Al haphazardly wound the gauze around his brother's chest, over his clothes and all, and tied it as tightly as he could. Then he switched to Ed's leg, where the temporary clothing-tourniquet Ed himself had tied was coming undone. He pulled it off, trying not to look too long at the raw meat and bone of Edward's leg that was now visible. It was horrific, the absolute mutilation of his brother's body, and Al was sure that if he still had feeling in his own body, he would have vomited by now from the sight and stress. It was really solidifying the unfathomable conclusion that, somehow, he had become one of his father's suits of armor. As it was, he was still completely and utterly panicked, because he didn't know what was going on, but he had yet to experience one physical reaction to his terror.

With Ed's wounds tied off, Al frantically gathered his brother into his too-big arms, fighting against his panicked thoughts to figure out what to do. I need help…we need help…

That was when he remembered what they'd been doing here in the first place. They were bringing Mom back! Yes, he needed her—he needed her so badly.

"Mom! Mom, help!" Al cried, too desperate to think that, if his mother was here, she would have already been helping. He just needed someone, because he was freaking ten years old, and he couldn't do this on his own. Al turned around, searching for his mom—and that was when he saw it.

He couldn't even tell what it was. Something vaguely human, but so horrifyingly not. "M-Mom…?" Al whimpered, squeezing Ed's body against his own. The thing was in the center of the circle, right where they'd put all their ingredients…but it looked nothing like the beautiful, fair-skinned, brown-haired Trisha Elric. Its gangly limbs were bent backwards at the joints, half-formed organs spilling from its open chest and thick, black blood splattered around its form. Alphonse couldn't move; all he could do was stare at the malformed face, at its hollow, dead eyes and gaping mouth and long black hair.

What…what have we done? This is…this isn't right. How could alchemy have done this? How could this have gone so wrong?

Al wasn't sure how long he'd been frozen there, staring at the remains of what was supposed to be his mother. He probably would have been there all night…if Ed hadn't broken him out of his shock.

A deep, shuddering gasp broke into Al's petrified state, and he recognized it for what it was—his brother. His brother, still cradled tightly in his arms, still getting closer and closer to the clutches of death with each passing second. Al's own arms were slick with his brother's blood now, and that was all it took to snap him back to reality. There was nothing he could do for his mother…but as long as he was breathing, there was still a chance for Ed.

Granny…I have to get to Granny. Granny was a doctor; she could save Ed. She had to be able to save Ed. With this revelation, Al banged up the stairs, forcing his giant, unfeeling body forward as fast as he possibly could. Out the front door, into the pouring rain, and toward the Rockbells. He was absolutely manic, his mind focused on one thing, and one thing only: getting his beloved older brother to help. Any other thoughts…and he wouldn't be able to make it.

So he ran, the rain splattering against his body and the sound of rattling, crashing metal being all he could hear.

Please don't die, Brother…don't die…I need you…

Almost half of this thing's word count came from my author's note...that's both hilarious and sad. Anyway, till next chapter