Chapter 35: Going South - Part 1

"Everything okay Anya?"

Anya blinked, before turning her head up to look at Becky. The pig-tailed girl was looking at her with a slight frown, her jaw set to the side as the rest of the class were getting out of their seats, 'She's been really quiet the past few days,' Becky thought, and Anya could only blink dumbly before reaching up, wiping her eyes, and sighing.

"I'm okay," she said, nodding her head at Becky.

'She's lying to me.'

"I'm not lying," Anya snapped, and then nearly slapped her forehead, but she then added quickly, "Papa's been super busy and tired, and he hasn't been able to help me on work as much," she then looked away with an exaggerated scowl, "I didn't do well on the last homework sheet, and I'm worried I might get held after class."

'Oh, considering her grades, that makes sense,' Becky didn't stop frowning, but her mouth softened. Anya internally sighed, just glad that Becky hadn't thought to even consider Anya's little outburst. She was so tired and so nervous, but she just couldn't help herself right now. Not with how quickly everything had been going these past few days.

It had all started when Papa had gotten back from the hospital. Anya had almost immediately discovered that Papa had saved Mr. Hughes from Envy. That Papa had thought of Envy by name, and include his ability to change his face and body, was enough to almost get Anya to talk to her Papa about that. Until she had learned that Papa had been more or less trapped by Envy and the rest of the Homon-hom...dark people. That both she and Elicia and Gracia and Papa and Mr. Hughes were in danger of being killed by them.

Mama...well, the Homonculi thought they could kill her.

But she had learned that, and had been a nervous wreck ever since. Especially the first day back to school after it had happened. When she had walked up near Selim, she had nearly screamed, but when Pride had turned his many eyes toward her, she was lucky to hear-

'Too bad Wrath wants you as a hostage. Gutting you would at least be a bit of fun.'

They wouldn't attack her because they wanted Papa to be following orders. They also didn't know she was the "sacrifice" they were looking for. So, she hadn't messed up yet, so Truth wouldn't be mad at her, which was good.

But the Hughes were forced to move only a few days ago. Mama had offered to help, but the movers had been Central Soldiers, who were explicitly told not to allow anyone to get too close to the Hughes. Anya hadn't even been able to say goodbye to Elicia, instead just having to wave at each other through the windows of their house and car. Anya really liked the Hughes, even if Mr. Hughes had been hunting for Papa, and she was going to miss Elicia and Gracia now that they were in that big blocky building.

It got even worse that night, when Anya had felt Envy get inside the Hughes old home. 'To Believe I have to stay in this wretched place and follow that fool around,' he'd thought, as she sensed his presence come up through a tunnel beneath the next door apartment. Maybe he'd come up through the sewer? That was how he'd showed up before.

Envy had been a constant presence, at least when at home. Or, when papa had been home. When Papa had gone off to work on his own while she'd stayed home, Anya could not hear Envy anymore. When Papa had gotten home, Envy had returned. The next time she'd left from the house with Papa, she'd heard him following them, and had been able to see a rat constantly following them. All the while, Envy had constantly been thinking, 'Go ahead you little human, go and make contact with your boss. I'll then get to reach out and snap your neck.'

Since Envy was always following Papa, that meant that Anya was always having to hear his thoughts, which made it harder to concentrate, and harder to sleep. She was doing worse on her worksheets, though Papa hadn't noticed because he looked like he was so tired too. He even seemed sadder when he was looking at Anya, not because of his sheets, but, 'I promised to get you away, but I only managed to trap you again.' Only Mama was doing okay, but she was nervous because Papa seemed so tired. Everything at home was just so stressful this past week, that it was getting exhausting.

"Well," Anya was brought out of her musings by Becky speaking up, "Maybe," and suddenly, her face turned into a large smile, "Maybe you need someone else to help you with your homework," she then pointed at herself, "And, well, I don't mean to brag, but I got a six out of ten on my last Alchemy worksheet," she then huffed up her chest a bit, "I even knew that salt-"

'Helps the crystallization process in alchemic reactions,' Anya repeated dumbly. Part of her really resented knowing all this stuff, but not being able to put it down. Papa and Mama did their best, but they couldn't hide that they were slightly disappointed on her scores in that, and she wished she could use her good scores there to make up for not having strong writing and spelling scores.

"And if you come over to my place," Becky continued, her cheeks getting a bit pinker, "Then you can tell me more about your Dad," Anya blinked for a moment as Becky began to fidget, "You know, profession, work hours, salary, birthday," she stopped, noticing the way Anya was looking at her, "Just to help figure out the best way to make him feel better."

"Suuure," Anya nodded. She'd need to call Mama and Papa...but maybe being out of the house would be better. She could try and see about sleeping away from Envy for a night, and maybe if she wasn't there, Papa could have something less to worry about.

At least, that was what she could hope.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes was shot!?"

"He's okay, he's okay," Maria Ross raised her hands up, as both Edward Elric and Alphonse were leaning over at her. Edward looked as though his eyes were about to bulge out of his skull, half a sandwich nearly falling out of his mouth, while Alphonse...looked exactly the same, but considering everything, even seeing him lean forward like he was was unusual. As the two seemed to lose just a hair of the tension in their bodies, and leaned backward, Maria sighed, and wondered for the thousandth time how she had gotten stuck with this as her job.

They had just arrived in Dublith about fifteen minutes ago, and she had gone to the station's front desk to call in on the Elric brother's successful arrival. She was their guard after all, and she was supposed to report what had been happening on regular intervals so Central did not think the two had been intercepted by Scar. She had been preparing to explain just how Fullmetal and his brother had gone on a warpath chasing a thief around Rush Valley, how somehow they'd gotten stuck helping deliver a baby for one of the town father's, and how Winry Rockbell was now apprenticed in the home of Automail, when she got the message that Maes Hughes had been shot.

'And now I have to explain a classified event to two teenagers,' she sighed to herself, as both the Elric brothers remained agitated.

"Well, like I said, he's out of the hospital now," on hearing that, almost all of the remaining stiffness left Edward, and Alphonse lost any of his lean forward, "He was shot on mission, and while I was not able to get the specifics, the mission has been completed and the target has been neutralized."

"That's...good," Ed had paused for a moment before nodding at that. Ed, for all he was part of the Military, still hadn't quite gotten that yes, being part of it meant that even good people would have to kill. Maria found it somewhat endearing in the boy, though found it disconcerting in the soldier.

"Yes," Maria nodded, "It is good," she then smiled, "He should be available if you go back to Central, and you can get what happened directly from him," Edward nodded at that, though Maria could see that he was mildly disappointed in the lack of concrete details. She then looked over at the clock on the wall, "So, is there a specific time we are going to meet your Master?"

"Oh, right," that Edward's voice broke to a high pitched squeal caused Maria to blink. She turned to Fullmetal, and saw him sweating nervously, "About our Master," he pressed his index fingers, both metal and flesh, together, and hung his head apologetically, "We were thinking, that it might be best if you just hang out here while we go and meet Master."

"What?" Maria stopped, and grit her teeth together, "No way," she had only barely managed to keep up with the boys when they'd been tailing that thief in Rush Valley. She wasn't about to have gone through all that and abandon her post now, "It's my duty to guard you two, especially with Scar still considered on the loose," she didn't need to mention that on some level, she also considered she was there to protect the citizens of Amestris from whatever shenanigans the Elrics took up.

"You really should consider not coming with us," Alphonse said, waving his arms, "Master...Master really doesn't like members of the military," Maria stared at Alphonse, who gulped.

"But," she then pointed at the boy in red, "Edward's a Major."

"I'm gonna die," Edward said piteously, falling to the ground and holding his head in his hands. Alphonse fell to the ground and embraced his elder brother, almost cocooning the short blonde boy with his metal form, "Teacher is going to be so made with us. I won't live to get breakfast tomorrow."

"I really wanted to get a chance to kiss a girl brother," Alphonse added, and for a moment, Maria could swear she saw tears pouring out the sockets of the helmet.

"Oh come on Major Elric," she stood at attention, using all her strength to try and pull the two brothers up, "Don'y you think you both are being dramatic?" the two stared blankly at her, "I'm sure your Teacher will be very understanding about what happened, and will be more than willing to hear you and, and suppo-"

"We're gonna get our heads ripped off Al!"

"I haven't even gotten to hold a girl's hand!"

"I'll be six feet under and Al's body will be turned into a cast iron stove."

"Would you two be quiet," Maria shushed, "You are causing a scene," and indeed, the entire platform of riders were now staring at the boys. Maria then raised her hands, and said, "No need to worry citizens, this is official Military busine-"

"Excuse me."

Maria stopped, turned her head, and saw in confusion a young man standing out from the crowd. He had medium length black hair that came down to the back of his neck, where they met a standard issue, though very well pressed and immaculately taken care of Amestrian Blue uniform. But more than anything else what stood out about him were his eyes. They were wide open, with tiny prinpricks as pupils, and locked directly onto Edward. For a moment, Edward could only stare up at the strange looking young man, before twisting his head in confusion.

"Hey," Edward said, looking over the uniform, and finally nodding when he saw a pair of simple wings on his shoulders, he added, "Major," he then smiled, "Anything I can do ya for?"

"Would," the young man spoke stiltedly, and Maria could only guess he was twenty at most, merely five years older than Edward himself, "You happen to be Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

"Well, I don't mean to brag," Edward began to massage the bottom of his chin in mock thoughtfullness, closing his eyes in faux consideration. Alphonse nearly seemed to fall over, and Maria felt like doing the same, "I am the Fullmetal Alchemist," he then pointed his index finger at the the other young major only a few feet ahead of him, "At your service?"

"Excellent," The young man nodded, though his face did not change from its blank appearance. He then reached into his pocket, and lifted out a silver watch, "My name is Demetrius Desmond, the Encyclopedia Alchemist," He then snapped it back, and placed it back in the exact same pocket. Maria Ross nodded to herself, finally recognizing the alchemist who had originally supplanted Roy Mustang as the youngest to have ever passed when he was fifteen...only to be the beaten one year later when Edward Elric had passed at age twelve, "I am sure you have heard of me."

"Um...," Edward blinked.

"...," Demetrius continued to stand there. Staring directly at Edward. Who had a growing frown and a large bead of sweat flowing down the back of his his head.

"..."

"..."

"What my brother means is," Alphonse stepped forward, attempting to end the awkwardness, "It's great to finally meet the alchemist who helped pave the way for him to take the test at such a young age."

"Wait, I thought that was the Colonel?"

"Brother..."

"No, this makes sense," Demetrius said, his face never wavering, "In fact, it is totally justified," he continued to stare directly into Edward's Golden eyes, "When someone has done what you have done, Edward Elric," he said, and for a second, Maria Ross thought she almost caught a hint of admiration, "There is little place for someone who cannot match up to you. Certainly when you have already surpassed their accomplishment in degrees of magnitude."

Edward continued to stare at older Alchemist, and he honestly seemed somewhat embarrassed by the whole thing. What Demetrius had said made Edward seem quite rude, but he didn't say it in a way that was meant to be an insult. It was as though that was a fact of life. Demetrius then pointed out of the Station.

"Edward Elric," he said plainly, "My next alchemist's assessment is in two months time. As a battle focused alchemist, I am testing and improving my combat style alchemy. You would be an excellent test subject to determine whether my work on the field has proved adequate for the examination."

"Woah, woah, woah," Edward stuck his hands out, attempting to stop the conversation before it moved any further, "Listen, buddy," Demetrius continued to stare blankly at Edward, "I'd love to throw down with you," and considering everything Ross had seen, he probably would, "But right now, I have some other things to attend to, and getting into a fight with a Military Officer in the middle of the street would only make that way more difficult," he then looked over, "Tell you what, I should be back in Central sometime before two months are up, we can fight then, and get you ready fo-"

"The only way to prepare properly is to test my abilities now," Demetrius cut of Edward. That caused a slight bulge on one of the veins of Edward's forehead. However, Edward sighed, before shaking his head, and turning to Al and Maria.

"We're heading out," he then walked past Demetrius, the opposite of the way Demetrius was pointing, "See you later, Dictionary Alchemist."

"...," Demetrius continued to stand there, unmoving. Alphonse looked between Demetrius and his brother, only to quickly rush off behind Edward. Maria gave one last look, Demetrius's blank face not changing, and was about to join them, when suddenly he spoke up once more, "If you wish to avoid fighting, it does appear that you really are a runt."

'Oh no,' Maria flinched.

"Oh No," Alphonse said. Edward had stopped mid stride. Alphonse reached out, grabbing Ed by the shoulder, "Brother, it's not wor-," but Edward turned around, gritting his teeth tightly as he walked past Alphonse, and then past Demetrius, then past Maria, until he arrived at where the Encyclopedia Alchemist was pointing. He then looked back, and waved his hand, and Demetrius walked off the spot towards the shorter teen. Alphonse ran up next to Maria, and looked over at her, "Lieutenant Ross, is there anything you can do to stop this fight?"

"Me?" she asked, "What am I supposed to do?"

"Your older than both of them," Alphonse said. Then he stopped, and sighed, "But as a lower officer, you can't, can you?"

"No," she moaned.

Only a minute later, the two were standing out in a small open lot. No one was using it or even that close around it, but it was out in the open, so not only were the two State Alchemists able to stand there unimpeded, but there was plenty of room for other to watch what was about to happen. Ed and Demetrius stood only a few yards apart from one another, Edward visibly if quietly seething while Demetrius's face was as blank as any time before. Alphonse, as always, looked the exact same in his features, though his posture screamed exasperation. Maria could only share in that. This wasn't that jackass with the overly complicated automail, it was a fellow State Alchemist Edward was about to throw down with.

"Thank you for agreeing to this test," Demetrius said, remaining rigid while placing one of his hands in one of his coat's pockets.

"Shove it," Edward looked over at Alphonse.

A clear sigh came from the suit of armor, which finally raised it's arm up into the air. Then, it brought it down, while a great shout of, "Begin," cut through the air of the lot.

"Take this asshole!" Edward slapped his hands together, and slammed them into the ground. A fist shot out of the ground, a long snaking arm behind it as it careened towards Demetrius's head. Demetrius remained where he was standing, seemingly uncaring about the strike. Just as it was two feet away from his head, he stepped to the right, causing the stone fist to miss his head by less than an inch. The fist continued, until it collied with the wall behind his head. All the while, he kept his right hand inside his coat pocket. Edward growled on seeing the dodge, and yet despite getting under the younger man's skin, Demetrius didn't crack a smirk.

"As expected, you would lead with a long distance strike," he commented, pulling his right hand out of the pocket, and placing it on the arm only a few feet from his head, "Most likely an attempt to coax out what my fighting style is," then, alchemic lighting shone, and suddenly, out of that arm, another fist came and hurtled towards Edward. Maria could see that as this second fist hurtled towards Ed, the remains of the first fist were thinning and disappearing.

Ed's eyes widened, before slamming his hands together, and hitting the ground. A small wall jumped up, and the second fist collided with it, a small crash happening. However, the wall did not budge. As that happened, Demetrius jumped straight into the air, barely even moving his knees to do so, and then running mechanically towards the wall, as though his arms were pistons moving up and down. As he approached the wall, Maria saw his left hand slip strangely from its mechanical motion down beneath the coat along his right side. Part of her worried that Demetrius was about to pull out a weapon, only for no gun to appear, and him to slam his hands down onto the wall when he arrived at it.

SCHUNK

"Yaahh!" Edward suddenly jumped back, when a half dozen spikes suddenly thrust out of the wall he had used to block Demetrius's first attack. Then, he dodged to his side, when Demetrius landed where he had jumped. He then place his left hand down again on the ground, and suddenly more spikes came out of the ground, jetting towards Edward. Edward slapped his hands together, and slammed them into the ground, causing a pilar to shoot up, and send Edward into the sky. However, the pillar was pierced, and crumbled, sending Edward careening wildly into the dirt, only barley managing to roll to his feet.

"Wow," Maria allowed herself to say. She certainly hadn't expected the other alchemist to already get Edward off his spot so easily.

She was about to look over to Alphonse, but Demetrius kept moving forward, trying to refuse Edward a chance to catch his breath. His right hand was covered in the obvious lighting of alchemy, as it hit one of the spike, and suddenly a straight sword of sand stone was in his hand, and charged toward Edward. Ed, in response, raised his own right arm, and used it to catch the blade.

SCHHRRKKK

"Good," Alphose said, "Brother managed to slow him down."

"What?" Maria asked, not willing to pull her eyes away from the fight.

"See," Demetrius pushed down for a moment while Alphonse explained, "Brother realized with how fast Demetrius was using his alchemy, he was going to have to slow him down," however, Edward remained in position, and Demetrius couldn't even cause the automail arm to fall an inch, "So, he let Demetrius get close, and then trust his own body to overpower Demetrius.

"Impressive."

It was another voice. Maria jumped, as did Alphonse from the sound of heavy metal hitting the ground. Standing next to them was a an who appeared somewhere in his early thirties. He was tall, only about half a head shorter than Alphonse himself, though that was perhaps because of some spiky black hair. He had quite a prominent nose, and was in a leather jacket over a tight black shirt that had an extended collar up to his chin. He was looking on at the spectacle, hands in his pockets as he observed the fight.

"Never had any talent for it, but man, alchemy is just fascinating," his grin grew wider, showing sharp teeth, "Man, I'd almost say I'm jealous, but really, I've never understood that. Envy only turns in on itself."

"Who are you?" Alphonse said, his arms out in a martial artists stance. Maria felt the need to reach for her pistol, but stopped herself. This guy could have killed them easily, so no need to provoke something if he clearly thought it wasn't necessary.

And she was proven right when right behind this man walked up another. A brute of a man stood taller than the first one, even taller than Alphonse, with long white hair flowing down his back and into sideburns along his cheeks. He Glared down at Ross, giving a snort as if daring her to try and pull a weapon. That dare was backed up by massive hammer resting along his shoulders. He then looked over at the first man, and said, "Boss, everything good?"

"Sure thing Roa," the sharp toothed man chuckled, gesturing towards the fight, "I was just taking in the show."

"Hmm."

At the mention of the show, Maria turned back, and saw that finally Demetrius was pushing his blade down toward the hand of the automail. With one massive push of his weight, he cut the blade along Edward's metal wrist, before Ed used the momentum to twist away, and get out of the strike. Demetrius had seemed that the only damage he had done was to Edward's Red cloak, as scraps of the fabric floated around the blade. Demetrius pointed the blade at Edward.

"Your physical strength supersedes my estimation," he said, "Certainly considering the differences in our frames," Edward's smirk, for some reason, grew larger than before, "Yet it is clear that when it comes to the use of alchemy in battle, I am more agile."

"Nah, you just had a bit of a knowledge advantage," Edward smirked, "But, well, now that I've had time to think about what you were doing, I can say that this won't last too much longer," he slapped his hands together, and then slammed them into the ground, spikes shooting out of the ground towards Demetrius, "Now get ready you jerk, you aren't gonna last one more minute!"

"Very well," Demetrius pulled his hand out of his left trouser pocket, and hit it into the ground, causing his own set of spikes to go and collide with Edwards. However, just as the two spikes smashed together, Edward's suddenly shattered far more easily. Maria thought at first that Demetrius's attacks were stronger, only to realize that suddenly a dust cloud was now covering where the collision had been. Then, there was more cackling inside the cloud, and then Edward shot out of the dust, hurtling towards his opponent.

Demetrius, seeing the shorter fighter flying towards him, mechanically jumped to the right. As he did so, Edward slapped his hands together. He then collided with the ground, lighting of the alchemic reaction covering the ground, and then, right where Demetrius was about to land, a spike rose out of the ground. It shot right up along Demetrius's back, and then, with a sudden edge on the spike, Maria saw the back of Demetrius's coat split open, and the two halves of the uniform fall to the ground, leaving Demetrius only with a standard cotton undershirt.

Demetrius began to reach for the uniform, only for Edward to shoot forward, an alchemic reaction firing and turning his automail arm into a blade. Demetrius's left hand twisted along his right side, only for the young man's eyes to widen, and suddenly, he was forced to jump backward yet again, eyes locked on Edward Elric.

"Sucks now that you don't have access to your sword huh?" Edward smirked, before pushing forward once more, and then slamming his left foot directly into Demetrius's stomach, sending him tumbling backward, "Especially since you've trained your instincts to use those, without them, your body isn't ready to respond."

"What?" Maria asked, before she looked at Edward reach down, and pull up half of the coat, the right side of it. He reached into one of the inner pockets, and pulled it inside out. On that inside pocket, was the intricate design of a transmutation circle, "That-"

"It's a pretty standard sword circle you got here," he then pulled out another pocket, with another transmutation circle, "And this one is for a massive weight," he smirked, "You've filled all your pockets with transmutation circles for different problems, that way you have an answer to whatever you are facing," his smirk grew, "Like an Encyclopedia."

"FWEEEW!"

Maria didn't need to turn her head when she heard the whistle from the man to her right. This intruder, most likely a criminal considering the giant man serving as his body guard, was clearly impressed with how Edward had figured that out. Not that Maria wasn't but she had come to expect such things from the Fullmetal Alchemist by this point. Though when she gave a quick glance over at the intruder, she saw that he was actually not looking directly at Edward, but rather, at the metal suit of armor on his right.

Demetrius remained as stoic as before, his hands hanging over the pockets on his pants. Maria could guess, against standard pocket placement in an officer's uniform, that Demetrius had gone from anywhere from a dozen to sixteen circles, to perhaps four.

"You know you can give up," Edward said, "You might need to get working pretty quick, if you want to work on fixing up your presentation before your report," Demetrius did not seem to mind the implication before finally, he reached into his back pocket. However, instead of a new set of lighting, he instead...pulled out a small journal. Edward blinked as a small pen came undone from inside the journal, and Demetrius began to write in it, "Uh, hey, wha-"
"Wait while I write this down," Demetrius then began to mumble a few words as he wrote out, "Consider extra straps to maintain integrity of jacket..."

"HEY!" Edward shouted, "Don't ignore me!" he activated his alchemy once more, and sent a pillar directly towards Demetrius. And then, as he had done at first, Demetrius dodged robotically from the attack, moving only a few inches to cause the cylinder of rock to miss and collide with the wall behind him. Demetrius then looked over at Edward...and smiled.

"You must learn to control your temper," he then opened up the book...to show another transmutation circle on it's pages. Demetrius pressed it on cylinder, and the stone began to morph. Suddenly, the stone began to mold with the ground, the long shaft opening up and hollowing out, and by the time the lighting disappeared, Demetrius was standing on a cannon. He stood over a small lever, and gripped it, "Now then, time to move on to phase two of te-"

BZZRRTTT-CRASH!

And another set of lighting shot out from beneath Maria's feet, encircling and running up the gun. Within an instant, the weapon was tumbling to pieces, the whole thing disintegrating, sending the Encyclopedia Alchemist sprawling to the ground. Maria blinked, and turned to her right, and first saw that their intruder and his guard were gone. Only Alphonse was to her immediate right, though somehow a massive piece of paper had been stuffed into his helmet. He had been fighting to pull it out, but once her turned with her, he immeadiatly fell to the ground, his helmet slamming to the dirt.

He was bowing...to a moderately attractive woman. Mid to late thirties, thin frame, pale, almost anemic, skin, but long, black braids sprawled all over her head, with a long white smock falling down to her ankles. On her face was a clear scowl, as she locked her eyes on the figure of Demetrius. He gave her a more calm scowl, though he was more upset than before.

"You dare interfere with Government business?" he shouted, getting to his feet, "You have no rig-"

POW!

A second later, the woman's fist collided with Demetrius's face, and he was hurled back into the nearest wall, causing the wall to crack from his impact. Maria felt her jaw drop as she stared at this rail of a woman demolish a young man in his physical prime. The woman then turned her head towards Edward, who Maria finally saw, had slammed his hands together, and then activated a massive burst of alchemy. Within seconds, the walls, the spikes, the fists, the swords all disappeared, causing the lot to appear as new again. He then looked up, hands shaking at the woman.

"T-t-teacher," he stammered, and Maria only could remember his attitude being this way when he had confronted Miss Rockbell after wrecking his automail, "See, I put it all back together, no one will ever know that this place got messed up," then the woman began to walk towards him, an even, confident stride, "Wa-wa-wait, I-I didn't mea-he-I'm so sorr-"

And then the woman put her shoulders around Ed's head, and let out a sigh, "You still let that temper get the best of you, huh Ed?" she asked, in a mature, and frankly understanding tone. Ed blinked for a second, clearly not expecting this. He then raised up his arms, and wrapped them around the woman, the teacher he had come here to see.

...

"ACK!" and then the woman's arms tightened, and she suddenly threw her hips, and pulled Ed's head into a headlock, "TE-ckllc-teac!"

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!" the woman shouted, "YOU COME HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FIVE GOD DAMN YEARS, AND DO YOU COME SAY HI!?"

She tightened the headlock.

"GAH!"

"NO! YOU START RUNNING OFF AND GETTING INTO A FIGHT WITH A STATE ALCHEMIST!"

She tightened the headlock once more.

"Teacher!" Alphonse had finally taken to his feet, "Please stop!"

"Oh, Alphonse," the woman's voice suddenly became incredibly light and cheery, "Wow, you grew! I'll come give you a hug as soon," she tightened her headlock once more, and Maria could see that Ed's face was becoming red, "Edward and I finish our little discussion on proper deference to one's teacher."

"That-that's okay!" Alphonse waved his hands in deference.

"You are coming over and letting me hug you!"

"Yes Mam!"

Maria could only stare at the scene. Already the world had been becoming so strange for her, but then, in a blink of an eye, it had only become weirder. This woman had thrown around two young men who seemed to be expert combatants...and it wasn't like it was even mildly difficult for her to do. As Edward's face turned from red to blue, his mouth desperately gasping for air, she finally spoke up at the woman, "Excuse me," the woman looked at her, and the glare she received nearly caused Maria to step back, "Um...who are you?"

"Well, dog," Maria felt a hitch at the back of her throat, "My name is Izumi Curtis," she then let go of the headlock, and Edward Elric fell to his knees, hungrily gulping down as much air as he could. The Woman pointed her thumb proudly toward her chest, and with a massive grin, declared.

"I'M A HOUSE WIFE!"