Fullmetal Kingdom ~ Chapter 58

Chapter 58: The Gunslinger

Kairi yelled at the Trickmaster, "HEY, TWIGGY, BEND YER HEAD OVER HERE AND TAKE A GANDER AT A SITTING DUCK!" The Trickmaster looked and saw its real target, so it raised its burning mallet and swung downwards...

(KRA-KOOM)

The Golem delivered a massive blow, but to its surprise, the gun-slinging girl avoided it's attack! Kairi then said, "You may need your eyes checked..." Kairi pulled out her gun and shot two more eyes! As the creature screamed in pain, Kairi smirked, "I shot two eyes earlier, and then you grew eight more. Now that I shot another set, I'd say you've got six left!"

Though Kairi had the upper hand, the Trickmaster none the less swung its club and knocked her away! Kairi was quick to get back on her feet, then she looked at Donald and the Elric Brothers and said, "When it tries to crush me, you guys use the water to cool its clubs down!" The Trickmaster then tried to squish Kairi with its feet, but she dodged the attack by rolling away...then knocking into Sora!

Kairi shook off her dizziness to find herself on Sora, who was just as nervous as she was! "A-are you alright?" Sora asked, Kairi blushed and replied, "FINE! ...I'm just...just fine-" Before Kairi finished, Sora saw the Trickmaster bringing down it's burning mallet, so the Keyblade Master held Kairi tightly and said, "HOLD ON!" Sora quickly rolled out of the way, but the Trickmaster just kept throwing down its mallets, trying to burn/crush its target!

While the Keybearer was rolling for his life, Kairi (who was still in his arms) thought to herself, My head might be getting dizzy, but this is a dream come true! I could just fall into a coma right now on his chest and stay this way forever. Kairi sighed happily as Sora continued to dodge the Trickmaster's attacks.

"GEEZ, THIS THING WON'T STOP UNTIL WE'RE CREPS!" After dodge-rolling from another crushing blow, Sora asked Donald and the Elrics, "Are you going to get the water-works working or not?" Donald nodded, "ONE SUMMER VACATION COMING RIGHT UP!" The Trickmaster threw it's mallet down, and to its surprise, its mallet was doused in water. So it tried to light it's mallet with the other one, but to its dismay-

(SPLASH)

Its other mallet was soaking with water.

Sora waved at his friends, "GOOD JOB GUYS-…uh, Kairi, you can let go." Kairi noticed she was still holding onto Sora, so she grinned and let’s go while the two stood up. "(giggle) uh...I was just...well..." Before Kairi could apologize, the Trickmaster swung its club like a baseball bat and tried to bat Kairi away! Sora noticed the attack coming, "LOOK OUT!" So he pushed his childhood friend out of the way and took the blow!

Kairi watched as Sora was knocked away and into a building! Kairi ran to him and examined his body, "He's bleeding badly...again! He just got out of the hospital and he's bleeding again!" Kairi trembled as she had no way of helping her friend. Then Goofy came to her after waking up from the Trickmaster's attack. He looked at Sora and said to Kairi, "Naw, it’s OK mam, Sora's been through worse. He just needs a bit of re-bandaging, and he'll be A-OK in the morning-…mam?" Kairi was walking towards the Trickmaster with a grim look. She turned towards Goofy and said, "Watch over my man, dog...I'll finish this." Goofy asked, "Mam, you should let us deal with this! That thing's dangerous, and if you get hit-"

"I SAID WATCH OVER MY MAN!!!"

Goofy just turned to Sora and tended to his wounds while Kairi started reloading her guns.

She kept walking towards the Trickmaster until it noticed she was approaching. Despite its clubs not having a single bit of fire on them, the Trickmaster still had the intention of smashing the gunslinger. Kairi then said, "You can't imagine the fury building up inside of me. I know you're a Golem, and you can't understand how it feels to lose something precious, and the sad thing is you'll never get the chance...since I'm going to kill you."

(BANG)

The Trickmaster screamed as its sixth eye was shot, then Kairi said, "I'll be counting down the seconds you have left...Five."

(BANG)

"Four."

Another eye bit the dust as the Golem creature drops its clubs to cradle its eye-sockets. Kairi then shot another bullet at the Trickmaster, but this one exploded and unleashed a large amount of water all over the Trickmaster's body.

"Three."

Angered, the Trickmaster reached out to the girl as she pointed her gun at it. Just before it could grab her, Kairi pulled the trigger.

"Two."

The next bullet unleashed a massive blanket of instant freezing ice! And since the Trickmaster was soaking wet, the ice easily froze its entire form! The Trickmaster couldn't move its arms, legs, ANYTHING! So Kairi explained, "You've just become a giant Popsicle, courtesy of my freezing bullet, the Shiva. The bullet's name is based off a goddess whose heart grew colder than ice when her lover, Shivar, passed on to the next world, the Afterlife. As a result of her frozen heart, her kiss became all the more deadly…so deadly, she gave it a name…-the Diamond Dust."

(BANG)

Kairi then shot one last bullet through the Golem's frozen body, killing it instantly. The Trickmaster's body was then shattered into thousands of frozen pieces. Kairi then turned around and walked away while saying, "She never found a man who survived the kiss…"

Everyone watched as Kairi walked away from what remained of the stretchy menace, and ran to Sora's side. "How's he doing?" Kairi asked Goofy, who smiled and said, "Well he's not dead, and thank Heavens for that. It took only 4 bandages to cover his wounds, which is good because the number of bruises Sora usually had were about 9 or 7, just to cover the small wounds. But he's OK mam, nothing to worry about. In fact, I think he'll be back on his feet in no time-"

"Ugh, why is there a Band-Aid on my eye?"

"SORA!" Kairi hugged her friend tightly as he took the Band-Aid off his eye. Sora tried to calm Kairi down, "Yes, I'm fine! Now could you let me go?" Kairi complied and released him, "...sorry." The two blushed as they looked at each other, and then they looked away.

"Nice shooting, Kairi! That was amazing!" Alphonse said as he, Donald and Ed came to her, Sora, and Goofy. Kairi shook Al's hand, "No, YOU were amazing! If it wasn't for your advice, Sora would've never known that we were once friends. Though his memory is a bit scrambled, I'm still happy that he acknowledges me as his ally. Thank you Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric, thank y-"

"WAIT A DAMN MINUTE LADY, THAT'S MY TITLE AND MY NAME!!!"

Kairi noticed the real Ed coming in front of her and said, "What? You're not Ed, HE IS!" Ed replied, "No he's not! I AM! I AM EDWARD ELRIC!" Kairi then said, "You're probably the younger brother, Alphonse. And I'll tell you something else, being jealous of your older brother isn't a rewarding feeling, it's a feeling that makes you feel like a jerk!" Ed countered, "THIS big guy is my younger brother! Get it? He's Alphonse Elric! I'm Edward Elric! GET YOUR BROTHERS RIGHT!"

Al scratched the back of his head and said, "I-it's true Kairi, I'm his younger brother." Kairi felt confused, so she asked, "WHA?! B-but you're a tank! You're big enough to be the older brother! Why is this guy your older brother? He's-" Sora stopped Kairi before she finished, "Kairi, if there's any advice I can give you as a friend, then take these two words to heart: walk away."

Kairi looked at Ed and said, "...You're the real one, huh?" Ed nodded, "Real as those guns. Which reminds me, who gave you the right to use them?" Kairi asked, "Why should it matter? I saved you." Ed laughed, "Yeah, with named bullets! One of which used a power similar to the duck's abilities (Donald: "Hey, it's Donald, got it? DONALD!!"). Just who are you, and what kind of weapon unleashes a snow storm?"

Kairi smirked, "Didn't you hear 'tall-dark-and metal' over here? I'm Kairi, Kairi...Maylight, and I'm a childhood friend of Sora's!" Ed looked at Sora and asked, "Is she telling the truth?" Sora replied, "...well...alright Ed, I don't really know. I can't remember much of my past." Ed asked, "You do remember your time at that Assassin-Orphanage, right?" Sora explained, "I do...but...before that..." Al guessed what Sora was going to say, "You have no memory of your entire childhood." Sora nervously nodded, making Kairi ask, "...Do you still have the charm?"

Sora was startled by Kairi's question, "? H-how did you-?" Ed then asked, "What charm? Sora didn't have anything on him but his clothes and his freak-sword." Sora explained, "...Kairi...I gave it to Riku to keep until I returned to the Orphanage." Kairi was surprised, "RIKU? You saw Riku? Why didn't you tell-" Sora asked, "Wait a minute, HOW DO YOU KNOW RIKU?!"

Kairi was unsure how to answer Sora's question, so she said to him, "...that charm...I made it." Sora felt surprised, so he told her, "Kairi...I don't know how you know him...but you should know that he's-"

"So this is where you've been!"

Lust ran to Kairi and hugged her. She then introduced herself, "Well, you must be the Elric Brothers! It's a pleasure to meet you two, my sister and I have been your BIGGEST fans! Kairi's such a lucky girl to have met her heroes, even their bodyguard is a legend! Oh! Where are my manners, I am Solaris, Kairi's big sis."

Sora crossed his arms, "Yeah, we've already met."

Lust looked at Sora as he glared at her. She then said, "Now, now, Sora. That's no way to make friends...or find them." Sora asked, "What are you talking about?" Lust explained, "Havoc just spilled the beans on our recent date. I have two words that might interest you if you're still so eager to find your so-called friends." Sora had no intention of listening to the woman that badmouthed him and his friends from the Orphanage, but he had no choice. "...I still want to find them. Please, tell me Solaris."

Lust smiled and said to him, "...Destiny...Islands..." Sora was shocked, so he asked, "My home...back in Aerugo?" Lust nodded, "That is the location of the Elrics' target, Tim Marcoh. And when I heard Jeanie say the words 'Destiny' and 'Islands', I seem to recall a survivor living there, trying to fix the damage. Who knows, it might be one of your friends."

Sora smiled and said, "Solaris, 'Thank-You' are two words I usually use for someone who ISN'T my enemy. Earlier in the hospital, you were heartless, telling me that Y. O. U. T. H. Assassins have no hearts, no feelings, and no friends. Because of what you said, I almost felt lost and pathetic! But spending time with one of them made me remember why I'm searching for them." Lust guessed, "Because you're all alone, and you'll do anything to fulfill your pathetic ego?"

Sora then pulled out the golden Thalassa Shell Tidus gave him.

"-Because you don't know them, I know them for them, and they know me...for me. My memories with them may have been dull, but they shared ideas with me, even secrets and laughter. You're right about how we were trained to kill, but we were still there for each other, and THAT counts as something! This golden shell is proof that deep down, we're all human, and my friends are closer than you think." Sora then smiled warmly at Kairi, who blushed and said, "...thank you."

Lust sneered, "Believe what you want, little boy. But don't be surprised if it turns out to be Riku."

Sora held his anger back, and watched as Lust and Kairi walked away. Sora then said to himself, "Whether it's him or not, I'm still going to save them." Ed then asked, "So...you still aren't convinced that Riku's a traitor?" Sora turned towards Ed and replied, "I'm not. But neither are you. Let's just go back and get some shut-eye."

Ed then said, "Well you know...those two chicks knew something about him that we didn't." Sora asked, "What's your point?" Ed explained, "That those two knew something about your former buddy, that's what, a coincidence? DAMN RIGHT! Those two are playing you, Sora. If two strangers knew his name, and his actions, then there's something wrong!" Sora shook his head and headed back to the Hotel.

"LISTEN TO ME!"

Sora stopped instantly as Ed grabbed his shoulder. "I know it's hard to accept, and I know you don't agree with everything I say, but just for once, see my point! Kairi might not be a childhood friend, and Solaris might be pulling your strings! They could be luring you into a trap!"

Sora pushed Ed away and said, "I CAN HANDLE IT!! And besides, why should YOU care? You're looking for Marcoh, remember? He might know how to get your bodies back! You're NOT looking for my friends, you're NOT helping me learn who I am, and you're NOT getting involved! I was picked by Mustang to look after you and protect you! He DIDN'T pick me to get you involved with MY problems! SO JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!"

Sora walked away, leaving Donald, Goofy, and the Elrics wondering about Sora's recent outburst...

End of Chapter 58