route_1065 | And The Walls Came Tumbling Down

[Is that...? It is. It's Wrath, the Homunculus child Archer had been so determined to get his hands on for about five minutes before he discovered Kimbley!]

You look lost. Have you just arrived here?

[He's smirking as usual, though it sounds like Archer is actually trying to be helpful. This is never a good sign.]

_{[One Homunculus child, delivered RIGHT TO YOUR DOORSTEP! How convenient! He doesn't even have any meddling Elric brothers following him around to throw any monkey wrenches into the works. This is clearly Archer's lucky day.]

[Wrath was standing there, intently trying to pry the Pokeball open without much luck (the fact that there's a really obvious BUTTON to push on it hasn't quite dawned on him yet), but at the sound of Archer's voice, he whips around.]

[You know that thing that Studio Ghibli characters do when they're alarmed? That hair-frizz thing?]

[Yeah. That happens.]

[He remembers you.]}

--nnno.

No. I'm not-- I'm not lost.

_{[Shoulders hunching, he takes a slow, slinking step back-- like a stray dog that just spotted an animal control van rounding the corner. As justified as his wariness is, the body language still pretty much screams I'M A LYING LIAR WHO LIES in giant neon letters, so his claim is about as believable as if he'd said the sky was green.]}

Oh really?

[Oh come on, even he can see through that and he's not exactly the best at picking up on social cues!]

I've been here for quite some time and I haven't seen you around. There's no need to lie.

[Judging from the kid's reaction, he definitely remembers Archer. This is... probably not ideal, honestly, but it's kind of hilarious.]

_{[If he weren't such a pale little thing standing there in the snow, his face might have reddened in frustration at Archer's total lack of belief.]

[But the way his fists clench and teeth grit probably displays his feelings on the matter just fine.]}

I'm not lying!

What do you want?

_{[He remembers the table. He remembers being strapped down and surrounded by people with sharp, scary-looking things in their hands. And he does not want to wind up there again. So he fixes what he hopes is a fearsome scowl on his face and continues to back away, glaring hotly up at the colonel.]}

[Hmm, this could get problematic if Wrath decides to attack him. It's one of those weird weekends, so Wrath will have his alchemy and all Archer has is... a bunch of Pokémon.]

I was merely offering to show you around. There's no need to get so upset.

[...That smirk is really not helping things any, is it...?]

_{[All kinds of problematic. It's sheer luck so far that Wrath was so blindsided by SUDDENLY AN ARCHER that it doesn't seem to have occurred to him that fighting is an option. After all, the last time he'd encountered the colonel, he'd been practically helpless.]

[It's only a matter of time, though. His hackles are up-- quite literally, actually, with all that bristling hair. And no, the smirk is SUPER UNHELPFUL.]}

Why would you want to show me around?

Y-... you just want to cut me open!

You stay away from me, or I'll-- I'll smash your head!

_{[Did... did that sound threatening enough? ... Yeah. Yeah, having your head smashed is pretty scary. He decides it's a good threat and that he is pretty great at threatening people.]}

I have no interest in cutting you open.

[Well, not here, at least. There's no point in trying to figure out how the Homunculi work or why Wrath can use alchemy. Archer isn't going to be returning to Amestris, after all.]

If you would prefer to be left to your own devices, I'll leave you alone.

[He holds his hands up in surrender, but that smirk never vanishes.]

_{[It's the SMIRK that does it. Back in Amestris, Wrath wouldn't have hesitated to turn tail and go bounding away-- or straight-up attack, secure in the knowledge that his cohorts wouldn't be long in arriving to back him up and collectively smack that smirk right off of the human's big dumb mouth.]

[But this place is strange, and that cocky look on the colonel's face is both infuriating and worrying. It makes Wrath feel like Archer knows something he doesn't. Or a LOT of somethings, more likely-- he had said he'd been here awhile. Wherever 'here' was.]}

Yeah, you'd better leave me alone!

_{[It's time for a menacing step forward, to, you know, declare his boundaries. So he goes ahead and does that, baring his sharky teeth and holding that Pokeball aloft like a rock intended to be thrown. It's pretty hard-- maybe he can transmute it into a blade.]}

If we fight, I'll win, so you if you know what's good for you--!

[Wrath, please don't accidentally transmute your Pokémon...]

That is interesting; I wonder who would win, a Homunculus or a psychic?

[He calls out only one Pokémon, an Alakazam. The Pokémon looks bored, but Archer doesn't seem to notice (or care).]

If you try to attack me, I'll have Alekhine stop you. He's capable of more than just fighting, you know. He could easily rearrange your mind - he can do anything from stop you from moving to erasing your memories, so I wouldn't mess with him if I were you.

Of course you are Wrath and I doubt mere words will keep you from thinking things through sensibly.

[Archer no, don't provoke a child into attacking a Pokémon what are you doing.]

_{[.... HE... HE MIGHT ACCIDENTALLY TRANSMUTE HIS POKEMON.]

[But he holds off, listening warily-- a psychic? What? He's never heard of anything like tha-- OH HOLY WHAT]

[At the flash of light and ensuing appearance of the Alakazam, Wrath springs back in a big, exaggerated leap, like some kind of demented backwards grasshopper. Did-- did Archer just transmute a chimera out of nowhere? He isn't even supposed to have alchemy! Where did that come from, the snow? WHAT JUST HAPPENED.]

[But his alarm fades quickly into scowling once more. How dare you accuse him of not thinking things through! WHY, HE OUGHTA...]

[He looks the 'chimera' up and down, scrutinizing. It doesn't look so tough. Those long limbs look physically frail, and the long trailing whiskers hanging from its snout would be convenient for yanking and throwing. The things Archer said it could do are awfully worrying, but...]}

You're bluffing, chimeras can't do stuff like that!

_{[Not that he's an expert but he's pretty sure, okay? Which is why, predictably, his next move is to leap at the closest tree and use a low-hanging, springy branch as a point to launch himself at the Alakazam. NOPE. NOT THINKING THINGS THROUGH SENSIBLY AT ALL.]}

And The Walls Came Tumbling Down

I'M SO SORRY

oh my god DON'T APOLOGIZE NEVER APOLOGIZE

this is beautiful already

I AGREE

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