towerofanimus | All together now!

Entry tags:

All together now!

Characters: Edward Elric and YOU.
Setting: Room 2-06, Hallways, Floor 3, Foor 1, and Floor 14.
Format: Either is fine! I'll follow you.
Summary: Group A is beginning to feel the effects of the experiment.
Warnings: Ed and all warnings that come with him.

A. » Room 2-06 // 9:00 AM

[Ed woke promptly at 9:00 AM. Exactly 9:00 and not one second later, but he wasn't really that concerned about the time. For one he didn't remember going to sleep at all. The last thing he could remember was walking down the stairs and then... nothing. But that wasn't all. On the nightstand by his bed there was a note.

He shot up and reached for it, swinging his legs over the side of the bed as he unfolded it. Ed had to read it over a couple of times, he wanted to think that he'd just read it wrong, but that wasn't the case. His hands clenched and shook, crinkling paper and his stomach started twisting itself into knots.]

... Experiment? What the hell is this?

B. » Floor Three // Morning

[He decided to skip breakfast and head straight to the library. Ed wasn't hungry in the slightest. He pulled some books off the shelves and carried them over to a table, plopping them down on top of it as he took a seat. Maybe some reading will help take his mind off of things for a little bit.]

C. » Floor One // Afternoon

[Eventually his stomach decided to remind him that he hadn't eaten anything all day and this was COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE SO YOU GET YOUR ASS DOWNSTAIRS AND EAT RIGHT NOW SIR. Which is what he was doing.

Well, at least there was more than just ice cream.]

D. » Floor Fourteen // Evening

[Ed's flipping through the selection of movies with a frown. Honestly, he really did not understand the appeal of most of it. He'd watched a few out of lack of anything else to do, but it was all so incredibly predictable. Maybe he'd be able to find something that didn't suck for once.]

E. » Dormitory Halls & Tower Halls // Pick a time.

[Just walking. Maybe he's headed to the dorms or the library? Who knows. You can ask him though!]

[

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[fuck, fuck... this little shit has some tricks up his sleeve, is that it?

if he thinks that's going to be enough to off-put him, then he's got another thing coming. for Abel?

IS THE SMARTEST, CLEARLY. HE AIN'T AFRAID OF NO ~~GHOST~~ ALCHEMY.]

Alchemy. Is that what you call it?

[he lifts a hand, gesturing him to come.]

I didn't realize you were pitifully unintelligent and a coward. But I can see why you'd get sick of blocking my fist with your face and try to take the easy way out.

Shut up.

[Yep, and he's got a lot more where that came from.

... ABEL Y U SO STUPID? YOU INSULT HIS INTELLIGENCE AND CALL HIM A COWARD? OH HELL TO THE NO. He really, really, REALLY wants to just go and beat the shit out of him, but ED GETS WHY THEY'RE GETTING SHOCKED AND HE'D LIKE IT TO STOP, OK. He will not rise to this bait. Will nooooooooot. ]

I can't tell if you're completely stupid or a masochist, but try to fucking think about this for a second. We've been shocked twice. Both times it happened when we started to fight. If we keep at this it's going to happen again.

Are you already going to let them have their way?

[he takes a little step forward, something more vehement in his eyes. this has reached a sore spot -- and has to do with far more than subjugation in the Tower to him.]

Are you going to flinch when the master raises his hand to scold you? Where is your backbone?! If you let them break you, you're worthless and you deserve to lay down and die like the dog they will make you.

So either lay your fucking fist down, or finish what you started, you little shit! Are you a dog, or are you a man?!

... You really are an idiot.

[Once more he brings his hands together and touches his arm. That bright flash of blue returns and when it fades, the blade is gone. He's not playing these games. Not the tower's and definitely not Abel's.]

There are other ways to get back at them that don't require someone getting hurt. Don't get me wrong, I would love to beat the shit out of you, but I don't want this fucking tower doing that for me. I can handle you myself without their interference. The only reason you should get hurt is because my fist is in your face. I always finish I what I start and I won't let them fuck with me, or you, or anyone else in this fucking tower like this.

This isn't letting them win. This isn't me rolling over and playing dead because they tell me to. This is finding another way.

[He smiles a little]

Yeah, you seem like the outdoorsy type. I grew up in the country, I never thought I'd miss it so much.

[--this... just... irritates him further. so much further, his hands tightening slowly into fists. his muscles are coiled so hard they ache.]

You're... so stupid.

We're guinea pigs. Tools. Is the prospect new to you, vermin? You're not used to being the one behind the bars of the cage, are you?

It doesn't matter whether you overcome this. Even if we find a way to make this stop... there will just be something else. Waiting for some kind of-- victory is fruitless.

Your kind is disgusting and they're all the same. You treat each other like dirt -- like pawns. You claim superiority over each other and everything-- everyone-- else. The fact that those here don't even bother to hide their true colors is, frankly, an improvement.

[he tugs at the collar around his neck.]

Either you show them the hand doesn't stop you and follow your own will, or you might as well have no will at all. Give them enough time, give them any sign they have domain over you -- and you've already lost.

No, it's not new. I've been used, I've been taken advantage of, I've been exploited and pushed around, I've had things that I wanted, wanted more than anything, dangled in front of my face only to have them ripped away in an instant, and I've had the lives of my family threatened in order to get me to behave and do what they wanted me to do.

Do you know what I am back home? I'm in the military. Joined when I was twelve and became the youngest state alchemist in Amestrian history. You know what people call state alchemists? They call us dogs of the military. They treat us well, fund our research, give us whatever we need. Then they scratch us behind the ears and send us off to war to slaughter thousands on command. Know what else they call us? Human weapons because in the end that's all we are to the military -- weapons, tools to be used "for the good of the country"

It was my choice to be there, I knew the risks, but I suck it up and do my best to deal with it and keep moving. There are things I want to do. Promises I made that I fully intend to keep and I'm not going to let them stop me. If I wanted to I could have just left, could have gone ahead doing whatever I wanted to spite them all. But doing that would mean that people would get hurt, it would be tossing my friends and family aside and letting them die to save my own ass, because I was too fucking stubborn to give up what I wanted.

There are ways to get what I want without getting people hurt in the process, it just takes patience, careful planning, and a little bit of fucking common sense and courage to do the right thing. I'm not trying to use anyone, I'm not claiming that I'm better than anyone or anything, I'm just doing what I have to do.

Overcoming them, overcoming this matters. I'm going to find a way to get home and I'm going to do it without anyone getting hurt because of my stubborn pride. Getting past this is all that matters. I still have things to do back home. I have something else I need to overcome and I won't stop moving until I make that happen.

Maybe whatever "your kind" is is different. Maybe to you none of that matters, maybe it's not important. If everything is all sunshine and rainbows between "your kind", good for you. It's nice to know that somewhere people know what decency is, but this is my reality. This is what I deal with every damn day.

So please, by all means, give up and let them take advantage of you, use you, mock you and hurt you. Give up and let them get to you. Give up and stop looking for a way out, go ahead and let them win. You hold on good and tight to that damn pride of yours and see what happens and you can bet your ass that it isn't going to be what you wanted.

For you, nothing. [And he's going to leeeean back in his chair now.]

For me, they make up my body mass and give me energy. If we were back on my world you could use that energy to activate the RideVendor machines and get Candroids.

[just... staring. for like.

FULL BEATS. just, sort've incredulous and stunned... but you can see something changing in his eyes. melting, maybe... or hardening? sharpening.

something burning to so hot a point it's bound to--]

[--snap.

Edward isn't the only one with sharp reflexes or speed at his disposal, it seems -- since he might as well have blinked and there Abel is, in his fucking face and gripping his head so hard bone might creak. he slammed the shitface back into the cafeteria dining table behind them, leaning over and pinning him with a hand holding that metal arm by the wrist down to the table-top.

he could break it if he squeezed. he could break his face, too. do you feel it? barely restrained impulse to kill and he has to be getting shocked but the murder in his eyes has some kind of manic quality behind it that says he really doesn't feel it at all.]

Give up...?

Give up, and allow a human to decide my fate?

[his grip tightens, just... a bit. his voice is quiet, calm. too calm. it's not right.]

You're exactly like them.

You bark on command and console yourself it's for your own selfish reasons that justify becoming cogs in the war machine. You pull the trigger when they tell you. You march when they say march. You look away from the evils you see corrupting you in your midst, because it's easier that way. You rationalize your lack of power... you turn a blind eye and you might briefly regret what you've done, what you see when you allow yourself to look, now and then... but in the long term, what will the pain of what you and yours do is nothing more than an inconvenience until it touches too close to home.

Tell me I'm wrong, human.

Please. Tell me. I'm all ears.

Go on! Tell me.

[Shit! Ed clearly underestimated how fast Abel was, he never saw that coming. He hits the table hard, biting back a pained grunt. His head is pounding, that one stupid spot above his right eye tore open and already started to bleed, his vision strained and blurred, and when the room finally stops spinning and he's able to focus, he sees the rage in that face and Ed feels his stomach twist.

The look in Abel's eyes is terrifying. Ed flinches, his instincts telling him to GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE, but there's nowhere for him to go. Even if there was, he wouldn't have left anyway. Doesn't matter how easy it would be for Abel to kill him, doesn't matter if he broke his face or tore his automail apart. Ed always finishes what he starts. Always. And he was not going to back down.

Ed would be lying if he said he wasn't scared right now. Kind of hard to not fear for your life when someone had barely restrained murder in their eyes, but he would never let Abel see that. He meets that crazed stare and there's nothing in his eyes that would reflect that -- only a fierce determination. There was a fire in those eyes.]

You don't know a fucking thing about me so don't stand there and talk to me like you've got me all figured out. That's not who I am.

You're wrong.

[And he'll leave it at that. He doubts Abel would've let him say much more anyway.]

Edited 2011-11-01 07:03 (UTC)

You're human. Of course I know you...

[human; military; soldier. research... grants... 'alchemy'... it's never any different. mankind is a disease and Edward is just another vermin passing it along, an infestation. a horrible, horrible plague for which there is no cure.

...not yet, anyway.

his left hand tightens over Ed's right wrist -- automail creaking, starting to be compressed under the pressure of his grip.]

I could kill you. Kill you over... and over, and over again. I heard there's sleep paralysis, when you first wake up each time you 'die' here... It's convenient, isn't it? But just to make things interesting, I'd be sure to let you know I was there and wait for the first little twitch that said you were able to move before I killed you. Squashed you like the bug you were.

Your kind can collar mine and each other... they can wage their petty wars and they can kill and rape and steal and wound each other to their own petty ends... but I guarantee you. Mine will be there at the end of all this.

You are only worthwhile to me if you are a tool in getting me back home to my family. And if you hold your fist because there's pain in it for you if you don't... you just remember the food chain. You can feel the pain from them... or you can die as many times as it takes for you to stay dead by my hand, you worthless little...

[CRUNCH of metal.]

...dog.

[Automail's a funny thing. You can't feel anything with it -- not the texture of the walls, the cool surface of a table, the heat from a fire, the warmth of someone's hand when they hold yours -- but at the same time you can still feel everything. Not the texture, not the temperature, but you can still feel pressure and weight. You can still feel it when you slam into a wall, or get shoved to the ground. You can feel the strain when someone pulls you by your arm.

The good thing is, it’s easy to get used to. Recovery was hard, but when that was over it was like you never lost anything to begin with. Your body, for the most part anyway, felt fine. Everything worked the way it should – arm moves up and down, fist clenches, fingers wiggle – no reason for it to feel strange.

Ed could feel the metal straining; hear it creaking in Abel’s grip. The sound of each little crack was near deafening, but somehow he was able to hear every word out of his mouth. Every last fucking word and it made him sick. The sense of dread was nerve wracking, the anger and frustration was begging to flood his mind, and it was getting increasingly difficult to keep the fear out of his eyes.

When automail breaks? You feel it. You notice.

That sickening crunch of metal rings in his ears, shaking him to the core. The look in his eyes, so bright and determined and confident, crumbles in less than a second as fear fought its way to the surface and became wide with horror. Wires broke and snapped and for a second he felt that white hot pain. And suddenly he felt nothing. The nerves that were working just fine moments ago went dead. It wasn’t even numb, there has to be something there for it to feel numb. He felt nothing

It only took a minute for that to change. He starts feeling things again. He feels vulnerable, pathetic, and completely useless, but there’s still that big empty hole where something used to be and even though he knew what it was, it was disorienting as hell.

It all happened in less than a second and a brief strained silence was left in its wake – awkward and stifling and tense. Despite it all, Ed could never leave it at that, he refused to let that be the last word. ]

Squash me like the bug I am, huh?

Do you listen to yourself? The only one here claiming any sort of superiority is you. You’re the one who telling me I’m only a tool for you to use, that I’m worthless otherwise. Funny, because according to what you just said, if that’s all that humans really want, you’re just like me.

I don’t stay my hand because I could get hurt, I do it because I refuse to let anyone else, even assholes who deserve it, get hurt on my behalf.

So let me say it again. I’ll be clearer this time. You’re wrong.

Edited 2011-11-02 04:37 (UTC)

[he opens his mouth to bitterly chuckle, and just lifts the hand from Edward's decimated automail, instead -- curling it around his prey's throat.

hard.

that unhinged rage is inexplicably burning behind a cold and detached mask of vague disgust and apathy, like he wasn't even worth the breath the other boy was taking into his lungs.]

I'm not wrong, little mutt. Even if I use you as a tool, or make you into my own personal little expendable toy for my amusement... I will be different than you.

Because you deserve it.

[fuck. oh fuck that hurts and considering the pained grimace on his face, it's probably really damn easy to see that. oh and just in case you were wondering, breathing just became really, really difficult.

he chokes when he tries to talk -- his voice strained and raspy, but under all of it a strange sort of... sad, bitter resignation. like this is something he's heard before]

W-why? Just because -- [he chokes again, biting back a wince] -- I'm human?

Edited 2011-11-02 07:14 (UTC)

You're finally catching on, aren't you?

[there's a twitch of his own, a wince -- it's getting harder to ignore all those shocks, you see. Edward might be granted reprieve soon by grace of their captors, after all. he's trying his hardest to power through, but the tension in his eyes and strain in his posture suggests even his durability is running it's course.

he draws his hand back from face, keeping the other around his throat... getting ready to knock the fucker out next blow in.]

You people treat us like we're lesser... like we're different than you. But don't you see...? To me, all that is... is a blessing, not a curse.

[and he isn't in denial at all about that, SO DON'T THINK HE IS, JERKWAD!!!!]

Until now, I had... I had no idea you weren't human.

[OH NO DEFINITELY NOT. THIS IS CLEARLY NOT A TOUCHY SUBJECT FOR HIM, THERE'S NOTHING TO DENY OBVIOUSLY.

Oh wait. no. There's a problem with that. BECAUSE HE TOTALLY IS.]

So, please, tell me --

[ooh he's getting kind of dizzy now, but Abel doesn't look like he's fairing too well either]

-- who exactly are you trying to convince? Me or you?

[ahh, Edward, you little... bitch...

there's the slightest widening in blue eyes. in disbelief at his audacity? denial? ruffled pride?

maybe all of the above and a few things more, and... his grip on Ed's throat momentarily loosens a bit in his distracted state--]

I don't fucking believe you!

[fingers clench over his throat, and he's fully prepared to slam his fist right down and into Edward's face to lay him out for the count-- but he ends up smashing knuckles into the table mere centimeters from his head instead to lean. fuck... FUCK, you little... shithead!]

I don't believe you. I don't believe any of you!! Do you think I buy this shit?! ANY of this shit? That you're all oblivious? It makes no sense!

[Ed fully expects to be clocked upside the head and when it doesn't happen he's... surprised to say the least. Not that it's a bad thing because it isn't, not for Ed anyway.]

So don't believe me. Don't believe any of this. You can go on and keep telling yourself that we're all liars if that's what helps you sleep at night. It hurts less that way, right?

But what do I know. I'm only human.

--you said it yourself. You're a military dog.

[he doesn't buy this bullshit about different worlds; he doesn't want to believe that anything here is true. he doesn't want to believe ANY of that -- because if he does, that means the rest of it has some small chance of being valid as well. that their worlds might be destroyed -- or, at least in danger... if of nothing else than being bastardized by whoever stole them.

and that meant Lilith... and Seth, were back there. alone.

alone, without him and Cain.

ah, fuck; his head is throbbing wickedly between these STUPID shocks every time he goes to hit the fucking kid and he's acutely aware of the subtle voice in the back of his head telling him to pull his punches, to behave... be a good boy. why is he fighting? why is he disobeying? ...when has he ever felt the innate urge to behave before?

something is wrong with him. --with them. both of them...

his fingers at Edward's throat are going lax, slowly but surely, even he he remains where he is leaned on knuckles and staring at the pitiable human trapped and at his mercy. even if he's pissed as hell and fighting the shocks... it's just the same mask as ever to veil over and cover fear and betrayal and hurt.]

...You're not one of us. Which... makes you one of them.

Even if... you say you don't know about us, it changes... nothing. It changes nothing.

[Little by little breathing gets easier. The hand at his throat was slowly relaxing it's grip.

Oh. So that's what breathing's like. Now he remembers.

He watches Abel carefully, his eyes never losing their focus. That little spark of determination starts to flicker back to life and alongside it was something else entirely. ... Sympathy, maybe?]

I never expected it to.

[Oh, but Ed knows something just changed. Just a little, barely enough to notice, but the fact that Ed is still conscious is proof enough.]

Edited 2011-11-02 08:49 (UTC)

[ A nod. ]

I grew up in a forest. It's been some time since I was able to go back there.

[fuck you, Ed. >: nothing changed. nothing changed at all. don't look at him that way... you-- jerkoff. you stupid... STUPID THING OKAY.

the younger's gaze might not be losing focus, but Abel's are, until he's finally relenting where he was bodily pinning the other boy -- sliding backward until he'd found himself sitting heavy on the cafeteria stool behind him. fucking... shocks. you lucked out. that's all. it was just the shocks. :|

he leans elbows on knees, face leaned in his hands... STUDIOUSLY IGNORING Edward's entire existence.

or, it seemed that way until he spoke again.]

...You really have no idea?

[about the Red Mars project, the military... with his alchemy and...

could they really be from different worlds?]

I'm not really sure how it works, honestly. It has to do with codes, but that's all I know, really.

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Page 8 of 9

All together now!

ed HOW U DO DIS

with ~MAGIC~

FUCKING WIZARD D:<!!!!

Problem? TROLLOLOLOLOL.

no subject

/keysmashes into infinity

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omg sorry about the thousands of edits fjdksla

no hdu!!!1

Re: no hdu!!!1

no subject

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1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

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no subject

All together now!

ed HOW U DO DIS

with ~*MAGIC*~

FUCKING WIZARD D:<!!!!

Problem? TROLLOLOLOLOL.

no subject

/keysmashes into infinity

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

omg sorry about the thousands of edits fjdksla

no hdu!!!1

Re: no hdu!!!1

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

with ~MAGIC~