Chapter 12

I had never been in a place where there were so many lights.  The inner city of Amistris was so bright and lively that if I didn’t know any better, I wouldn’t have been able to tell it was night.  There were people everywhere, walking, getting coffee, talking on cell phones, shopping, laughing, all of them were wonderfully oblivious to me.  I wove my way through the crowded night streets, hyper aware of everything around me.
Being this close to so many strange people made me nervous, any one of them could be an Alchemist.  I was constantly scanning for the best way to escape if I was attacked, subconsciously weighing myself against anyone who looked my way.  It may seem paranoid, but I was so uncomfortable here, I couldn’t help it.  The smells and sounds of the city were overwhelming as well.
There were TV’s in shop windows, broadcasting various late shows, peoples conversations, not quite clear enough to make out, the smells of coffee and fast food was everywhere.  Not to mention that I wasn’t at all familiar with this place, I had virtually no idea where the hell I was.  My insecurities only increased when I passed an Alchemy Academy.  It was closed for the night, but the sight of it still made my skin crawl.

I hurried past it, trying to sort out what I needed for my impending journey over the rise of panic that was welling up inside me.  Not thinking clearly, I blindly stumbled down a darkened side-alley.  I leaned against the inside wall, catching my breath.  There were very few places as large or as advanced as Amistris, of this I was sure.
I glanced down the alley I had just stopped in, not really expecting anyone to be there.  But to my surprise, I saw some blonde kid with one arm being cornered by a really big, scary looking guy.  There were bits of metal everywhere, and I could have sworn I saw what was left of a suit of armor lying scattered on the ground.  Armor in a city like this just seemed plain weird.

“…Back in town you told me you lost your older brother, died in Ishbal, right?” The short blonde kid with one arm was saying to the big, scary-looking guy, who, from the looks of things, must be Ishbalan.

“Correct Fullmetal, he was killed by a State Alchemist” the Ishbalan said, contempt dripping from his voice.  I could tell right away that I didn’t like this guy.

“Well, I’m the oldest brother, so take my life and go.  That’s an equivalent exchange don’t you think?” the blonde kid said from where he sat on the ground.  He looked sad, yet angry at the same time.  I found that I could read him like a book; his golden eyes gave everything away.

“No, what are you talking about brother? You just said yourself; a life doesn’t equal a life.” A worried voice echoed from somewhere in the alley, but I couldn’t pinpoint it’s source.  As far as I could tell, neither the Ishbalan nor the blonde kid had spoken.  The hairs on the back of my neck rose as I shrunk farther into the shadows, with all the weird stuff that had happened to me recently, I wasn’t totally against the idea of disembodied spirits.

“You stay out of this Al, I’m doing what’s fair!” The blonde kid cried desperately, turning to face the remains of the suit of armor I had seen earlier, “He’s not a State Alchemist, I should be enough.”  He said, turning a pleading look at the Ishbalan standing over him.  I was overly confused now.
There was no way anyone could be inside that suit of armor; one side of it had been completely blown apart.  It was blatantly obvious that no one was inside, yet the blonde kid had been talking to it.  Maybe the voice from earlier had come from there as well.

“I promise before god I won’t hurt your brother,” The Ishbalan said, staring coldly down at the blonde kid, “But you should listen to him Fullmetal, your life for another is not a fair exchange.  There is nothing in this world that could equal the loss of my brother and my people, nothing will make it easier to bear.”  I felt a surge of anger at this remark; I was definitely getting bad vibes from this guy.

“Really, then why are you murdering all these people?” the blonde kid asked, smirking up at the Ishbalan.  This earned him a hateful glare as the Ishbalan put a hand to the blonde kids head.  It was then that I caught a glimpse of what was tattooed on the Ishbalan’s arm, and everything clicked into place.
This guy was the killer called Scar, he was running amuck in all the Alchemy towns, and killing off all the State Alchemists he could.  I only knew who he was because the Felidae colonies on earth saw him as some kind of idol.  Anyone who killed Alchemists was a hero to Chimeras everywhere.  But I hadn’t anticipated the famous Alchemist killer to be an Alchemist as well, and there was no mistaking the intricate design of the complex transmutation circle tattooed on this guy’s right arm.  I t was then that the disembodied, echoing voice cried out again.

“Brother what are you doing, get away from him.  Brother, run, we’re all we’ve got remember, we’re all we’ve got!” I wasn’t sure, but I was guessing that the suit of armor was alive somehow.  And from the way his voice shook, I could guess that he was afraid, “I don’t want this, No!”
Maybe it was the sound of that scared, painful cry that made me do it.  Maybe it was my own instinct, the memory of how I couldn’t protect Nauri when she needed me, but I was suddenly racing forward at an inhuman speed as the Ishbalan guy’s arm started to glow.  
I let out a vicious snarl as I pounced at Scar, digging my claws into his shoulder.  The weight of my impact pushing him back a good ten feet, and causing him to back away from the blonde kid.  Why I was saving an Alchemist, I really had no idea.  Alchemists were my enemies, yet here I was protecting one.  My mind started getting fuzzy as the smell of blood washed over me.
Scar reached back, trying to pry me off.  I quickly jumped away, not wanting to find out what that arm of his could do.  I bared my fangs, linking up with my ‘Poison Fangs’ Vye and my ‘Rabbit’ Vye at the same time, and charging towards him on all fours.  When I was only a few feet away from him, I jumped up, doing a back flip about seven feet above his head and landing in between him and the blonde kid on the ground.

“You will pay for getting in the way of God’s will!” Scar yelled at me, holding his bleeding shoulder where I had attacked him.

“God’s a myth, aren’t you a little old to believe in fairy tales?” I asked, scorn lacing my voice.  I stared evenly at him, but still conscious of what the blonde kid was doing behind me.  He was an Alchemist after all.
Scar let out a scream of rage and lunged, reaching towards me with his right arm.  I quickly jumped out of the way, eight feet straight up, and came down on his upper arm.  But he had pulled away at the last minute and landed a punch in my stomach that knocked me backwards.  I stumbled against the wall of the alley, trying to regain focus on a world that was getting increasingly fuzzy.  I barely noticed as Scar came closer and closer, aiming a punch at my head.  I ducked just in time as the wall where I had been exploded with the force of his Alchemy.
I quickly did several jumps back to put some distance between him and me.  Weighing my options for escape and victory.  He suddenly ran at me, a murderous look in his eye, and I immediately dropped my link with the ‘Poison Fangs’ Pin.  Instead I quickly forged a bond with my ‘Sheep’Pin and his fist went right through me.  His eyes widened in surprise, and I heard several gasps from behind me.  I hastily dropped my link with the Pin to become solid again, and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to his stomach.  He went flying back, landing in the street outside the alleyway.
I straightened up as he struggled to his feet, watching triumphantly.  My good mood didn’t last long though.  Almost as soon as he had regained his balance, military vehicles started surrounding the alley.  I instinctively backed up, dropping my link with both my Pins as well, subconsciously weighing their numbers against just me, I felt cornered without a squad to back me up.  I didn’t realize how far I had backed up into the alley till I tripped over the armor I had seen earlier, the one armed kid had crawled up beside it.

“Get away from him!” the blonde kid yelled, trying to take a swipe at me with his left arm.  As he let go of what was left of his right arm, I couldn’t help but notice that it wasn’t real.  It had probably once been automail.
I scooted back even further, avoiding his pitiful attempt at an attack.  Watching his wide, golden eyes flash between panic and concern.  He looked very helpless sitting there with just one arm.

“Brother, don’t be mean, she did just save us you know” the echoing voice from the armor replied.  I turned to look at it and was surprised when it mimicked my action.  But I was sure that there was no one inside!

“Don’t be stupid Al, she’s probably working for the Homunculus, she’s not human,” the blonde kid yelled, his voice cracking in apprehension.

“I-,” I was about to retort when I felt a wave of heat from behind me.  I turned to see some old guy approaching me, little red stone in hand.  How long had he been here? I hadn’t noticed him at all.
I got into a crouch and hissed threateningly, the blonde kid was no threat in his condition, if this guy was an Alchemist as well, I could be in trouble.  Just as I was about to attack him, there was an explosion from behind me.  I took a quick glance back and saw that Scar must have escaped; there was a huge cloud of dust hovering over a giant hole in the street.  Great.  Turning back to the approaching old guy, I readied myself to fight him off.

“Dr. Marcoh? Don’t you have any sense? You should be long gone by now” the blonde kids voice sounded from my left.  I wasn’t really paying attention though, the little red stone that Dr. Marcoh was holding was giving off some weird nauseating heat waves that, apparently, only I could feel.

“You, you’re not human.  What are you? Are you really a Homunculus?” he asked, ignoring the short blonde kid.  I was only half interested in what he was saying; the red stone he was holding was making me feel weak and nauseous.  My sight was getting fuzzy as he moved towards me.  My ‘fight or flight’ reflexes kicked in and I gave a halfhearted growl.  I bared my fangs, not really feeling up to fighting him, but having nowhere to run to.
He must have felt threatened because he threw the stone he was holding at me.  Its presence had made me sluggish and I couldn’t avoid it as it hit the exposed skin on my shoulder.  I hissed in pain as it turned from a red stone into a red liquid on contact, splashing all over my right shoulder and down my back.  I clutched at my shoulder as searing pain shot through me.  I felt like my entire shoulder was on fire, and it just kept getting worse, like a knife being driven into me very slowly.
I let out a snarl of pain as my sight went blurry.  I couldn’t focus on anything, but I saw a lot of blue moving in my direction through the haze of pain obscuring my vision.  My instinct said run, so I did.  I ran blindly down the alley, away from the muffled footsteps following me.  All I could think about as panic and pain swept through me was that I had to escape.  I vaguely recognized an opening to my left and ran through it.  My natural speed and endurance gave me an edge over my pursuers, but I was weak from whatever Dr. Marcoh had thrown at me, and I could still hear footsteps behind me.
I’m not sure where or how far I ran, but I distinctly remember the footsteps behind me getting farther and farther away, along with the fiery pain in my shoulder getting worse and worse.  I had no idea where I was going, so when I ended up accidentally running into a dead end, I wasn’t surprised.  I looked up, trying to find a way to escape before whoever was after me caught up, and saw a vent in the side of the building I was leaning against.  I quickly scrambled up the wall and forced my way inside, still conscious enough to close it behind me.  I vaguely remember the muffled sound of confused voices from outside before I blacked out.