Stand Up and Walk

Not Dead Yet

"Damn it," Ed scowls. "The Colonel's never gonna let us outta here, is he?"

"We already bought our tickets for Liore, too," you complain.

You can hear Al's pout as he speaks. "Does this mean we're not going?"

"I don't know, Al," Ed says, climbing to his feet from where he sits on the edge of the building. "For now, let's just get this over with, okay?"

...

"I still have too long a life ahead to get rid of these feelings, right? I want to try doing over the things I've left undone. I thought I was running after something carried over from my dreams, yet I'm stumbling into people on this narrow, winding road. It's not like I want to go back to the way things were back then; I'm just searching for the sky I've been losing. Here's hoping you'll understand. Stop making that sad face as though you were a victim. Sins don't end in tears; you have to carry the pain forever. Who am I waiting for in this maze of emotions with no way out in sight? I want to purge myself more simply, as if writing in a blank notebook. What is it I want to escape from? ...Is it reality? It makes me want to scream that we're alive for things to come true. Can you hear me? I can't put up with playing it safe. ...I've got nowhere to go home to! I'm always grateful for kindness; that's why I want to grow stronger (I'm on the way). I even welcome this pain for the things I miss."

—Yui, Again

...

The Freezing Alchemist appraises the dead body coldly. "Water freezes, water boils. Either way, you're just as dead."

Overhead, he sees something glimmer. He has just enough time to leap backward as a spear strikes the spot he was just standing in with enough force to crack the concrete.

"That's alchemy," he mutters, seeing a blue crackle run through it. He looks around quickly, preparing to fight again.

A pair of brown boots step out from the shadows. "What a nasty thing to do," a boy's voice chastises him. The boots are followed by a short boy with golden eyes, blonde hair pulled back in a loose braid, and a long, red jacket.

The Freezing Alchemist grins madly. "You of all people should know that great deeds require great sacrifices," he growls. "Isn't that the law of Equivalent Exchange?"

You step out from behind Ed. "Save your breath, you asshole," you snarl, glaring at him fiercely with your one good eye. Your long red hair dances around your shoulders—both metal and flesh—as you raise your arms in front of you. "The laws of alchemy don't justify murder!" you growl, clapping your hands and slamming them onto the wall beside you.

Several inches worth of brick structure explode into dust with the black crackle of your alchemy, and you gather the motes into to shadowy humanoid figures, which stand by your side.

Beside you, Ed also claps his hands, grabbing onto the spear that stands beside him, transmuting it into a spiked mace. He points it at the man, and you know that there's a cartoon version of his head at the end.

The older alchemist gasps. "No transmutation circles!"

"Oh, wipe the drool off your chin, will you?" you growl at him. Then, in one swift motion, you, Ed, and your two shadowy companions lunge at the man. You pull a little bit of dust off of each of your creations and solidify them, leaving yourself with two small daggers, one in each hand.

Once the older man is sufficiently distracted, Ed shouts out, "Al! Do it now!" The man startles and just has time to fling himself to the ground as Al sends a hard punch to where his head was a moment ago.