Working hard today people! My fourth fanfic so far and I swear there's no stopping this chick!! After working on my Naruto fic for so long I guess I needed a change to help it along. You can get a little bored working on the same thing for, like, ever. I hope you guys like it!!

Disclaimer of Ultimate Awesomeness: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters (but I own the older version of Edward though. Mine, all mine.)

"iii" speech

iii thought

Chapter 1: So It Begins Again

Everything was going according to a silent routine in Central. After the fall of Fuhrer King Bradley and the Philosopher's Stone incident, things were back to where they'd always been. well, sort of. Edward and Alphonse Elric had gone back to their usual lives, Ed going where he was sent by General Roy Mustang, Al at his heels like the faithful little brother that he was. Winry and Rose stayed in their old hometown of Rizembul (is that how it's spelled? If not I'm sorry. Is that even the right town?), since Rose still needed some time to recover from the Philosopher's Stone incident in Liore. Hawkeye and the rest of the gang had resumed their duties under Mustang, the new order of government under the council making everything run smoother than before King Bradley's constant means of waging war on everybody regardless of any possible discretion that may or may not have existed in the first place. After the disappearance of Dante and the sealing or destruction of the Homunculus, the likelihood of it all happening again was already proving unlikely. Wrath, on the other hand, had yet to show himself in any fashion but was otherwise keeping a low profile and totally avoiding the one reason he was Homunculi in the first place: Ed and Al's teacher Izumi. Of Scar, they had yet to receive word and had yet to make an appearance against state alchemist.

Come to think of it… the two Elric brothers are currently in Central under Mustang's orders to investigate a number of strange happenings that had already occurred under the cover of nightfall. Edward Elric, age 17 to 18, stood tall (actually tall, not pipsqueak tall, natural height people), his blonde hair braided as it usually was over golden eyes and long red jacket. Al, standing close by (in the flesh, not metal), short brown hair as a tail of his own fluttering slightly in the early evening wind, him being the natural height of a teenager 15 to 16 years of age. The two stood on a cobblestone street corner, waiting for a soldier on the scene to explain the goings on of the situation. "Well it seems Mr. Elric that several people have been abducted varying in age and occupation."

"Age and occupation? Explain captain." Mustang barked from where he stood, his temper had been suffering from a fairly short fuse lately and this case wasn't helping.

Startled by the general's angry words, the poor soldier fumbled with the papers, trying to organize himself a little better. "Umm… well sir it seems that the abducted is a arms specialist, a baker, 9 year old child and various others of a mixture of other occupations. Even some soldiers, and possibly alchemists-."

"Alchemists? And soldiers? Who would just randomly pick up a bunch of civilians and then target military personnel?" Mustang said to himself. He'd faced some odd cases in the past before the fall of King Bradley, but not as odd as this one. Turning to look upon his young cohort, he asked, "Any ideas Ed?"

"None yet. Only that whoever's behind this doesn't really have an initial pattern or style of doing things. Whatever this guy's planning is beyond me. If you ask me, I think it's just some psycho nutcase kidnapping people just for the hell of it." The teenager responded with a shrug, a look of deep thought marring his features. Mustang couldn't help but smirk and say, "Uh huh. Well it seems the Elric prodigy is short on brains wouldn't you say? And to think he used to be short in height."

A vein popped onto Ed's head as he glared angrily at his military superior, Al preparing to intervene if things got out of hand. "I'm just as stumped as you on this one asshole and if you make a wisecrack out of that, I'll give you a real good reason to get stuck in the hospital." He growled, stabbing an accusing finger in Mustang's direction. Al looked confused, as Mustang's smirk became a thoughtful frown. Why didn't he explode like he used to? Is he sick or something?

"Hey Ed, are you okay? You're not acting like yourself." Roy queried, not helping to look concerned at the blonde man. The vein appeared again as he rounded on the man again, causing Al to tense again, sweat dropping despite himself and his position. Ed, on the other hand, stepped a little more into the light, his face more visible in the fading light. Bags under his eyes could be seen in the golden sun, showing the teenager had lately been lacking the needed sleep. "I'm fine thank you but right know my brother and I have work to do." Ed sneered, the anger boiling his blood and giving his tired eyes a nasty glint to them. Roy was taken aback at the boy's actions. Something wasn't right and obviously Al knew nothing about. Everyone knew by heart that Alphonse wasn't one to tell lies and speaking the truth no matter what didn't exactly label him as a tattletale either. Just honest in every aspect of anything he does. Honest Al. one could definitely say he's the new age Honest Abe. The Flame Alchemist scowled in frustration as Ed turned away to speak with other officers, asking questions and getting details, following pointed fingers and looking at drawn layouts of the scene. Roy ignored this annoying banter until something one of the soldiers said came into interest. "Lieutenant!"

Jumping in astonishment to the sudden loud command sent in his immediate direction, the man jumped and saluted nervously at the general. "Uh yes sir?"

"Repeat what you just said just now. What were you and your fellow officer just discussing?" he growled in aggravation, his short fuse growing shorter.

"Uh well you see sir, we were simply discussing what the neighbor had reported to have witnessed some time prior to the actual abduction." The man said, his voice shaky as though trying to stay in character and not loose his nerve. Riza and others gathered to hear the new information, even Ed was stubbornly straining to overhear anything that could give them a particular lead. The man tried to remain calm under pressure of the growing number of people gathering to hear him, with an effort to hold his own he continued. "According to what the neighbors at that house there," he said pointing at the house on the left across the street, "the neighbors' wife has reported to have witnessed the residence's dog acting strangely for the past two days."

"The dog? How the hell is that helpful to the investigation lieutenant?" Roy nearly yelled, threatening to blow a casket should this conversation get anymore pointless and wasteful as he thought it was. "Well you see sir, according to her, the dog had an unusual sneezing fit not three days ago before it disappeared down that street there," the man continued as he pointed again, this time at the street that traveled west, failing to continue as the top of a hill brought it to a halt. At least what could be seen anyway. "and she said that she didn't see the dog until last night around 7: 30 in the evening, just as the sun was going down. She said that it'd been walking strangely, as though it had an unseen wound or some sort of itch it couldn't scratch. It entered the house after it scratched and whined at the door. But it wasn't until close to sometime this morning that she noticed the front door was open and decided to see what would be the reason for it to be open at such an hour. Upon coming onto the scene she searched the house as best she could only to find all but one occupant was absent, the furniture overturned and nearly everything in the house broken."

"And who exactly was the only occupant the moment the neighbor came to investigate?"

"Oddly enough, it was the dog sir." The man said, sounding just as confused as Mustang on the matter. Why would all but the dog still be in the house, the door wide open, and the neighbors never hear or see anything pertaining to break in or struggle against the person responsible? And how could such destruction be caused with the neighbors not even aware that something was wrong? "Again with the dog lieutenant? How does the dog fit into all this?"

"Well sir the dog is at a local vet's office for severe abdominal and stomach wounds, extreme blood loss and damaged paws." He said handing over the report. It was true. The photos and medical records were proof enough. The damage was horrifying enough for even cool and collected Riza to look a little green at the damage the dog had sustained. Whatever had happened in that house, the dog had something to do with it. But how? And how did the dog get to be in such a state without anyone hearing any sound of distress the creature may have made? "anything else lieutenant?"

"It seems sir that this isn't the first case of animal related injury. From the last number of abductions, several different cats, various dogs, even mice were reported to have sustained the same wounds that the dog of this residence were reported to have been known to have pets or various visits from local animal life. What also bothers me is that in each case, as well as this one, a door or window was wide open everything was overturned or destroyed in some way or other… and there are no signs of forced entry."

"No forced entry? That's impossible unless the kidnapper was well known to these people--."

"We already looked into that sir! And no one has been reported for odd behavior or change in habit. The others and myself have looked everything over and over but no matter what we try, we get nothing. No criminals or otherwise have shown and suspicious or disorderly conduct in the past four months! Whoever is doing this is very professional in their business and in why they attack animals is beyond even us sir."

Things were getting too strange. Ed managed to grab the pictures to examine them more closely, making sure Al didn't see them. He wasn't exactly ready for such images just yet, sure he'd seen things like it some worse than most, but discretion was best for his younger brother. Looking at the blood splatter and the wounds themselves, he noticed something that almost made him drop the papers and send them flying. Something was wrong in these pictures, how could even the biggest dumb ass not notice a clue this big? Ed's face must've said it all, his hand shaking, making the papers flap slightly. "Ed? Are you okay?"

"Roy. Come look at this." His voice was almost dead. And very serious. Astonished at the use of his name, he chose not to question and came forward, taking the pictures back. He looked them over, his brow furrowed in confusion. "What am I looking at here Ed?"

"The wounds on the dog. Something is different about them."

Confused, Roy's brain wasn't registering just what could be wrong with the photos. The dog's wounds are wrong? How could--? The thought broke off as the epiphany quite literally slapped him in the face. "Are you really suggesting that--?"

"That I am Mustang. That I am. These aren't usual defensive wounds. There's nothing defensive about them. Something didn't attack the dog… something came out of the dog."

People gasped in horror. How could something come out of a dog? How did it get in the dog in the first place? Not waiting for any answers Ed continued. "Whatever is taking these people is using animals as a means to enter the houses, take the occupants by surprise then somehow take them to wherever it is that the thing has planned. Whoever or whatever is taking these people isn't normal."

"Do you think it might be a Homunculus? Is it possible for a whole new one to suddenly pop up like this?"

"Highly unlikely. Either that or we could be facing a whole new type of homunculus entirely. I can't tell for sure but whatever it is, its intention is obvious."

"Obvious? How so Ed?" Riza asked, a look of confusion marring her emotionless features. What could Ed be trying to point out? "Why would they just take people out of random? Why not chose a specific type of target? Like a girl with certain features or men with identical backgrounds? (The most predictable serial killer pattern.) He, she, or it could easily choose between hundreds upon thousands of targets with the same thing in common with one another, whether they know of it or not. Instead this person or thing chooses targets at random, as though not caring who they catch or kill to do what they intend to do. Maybe this thing doesn't actually want them alive at all."

"Are you suggesting that who or whatever this thing might be is actually trying to create homunculi? But why would they? Why do that when they could suffer from Equivalent exchange like you did?" Fury realized his mistake a little too late as Ed turned slowly in his direction, looking extremely irritated. "Uh sorry. I forgot."

Sighing and shaking his head, Ed just waved it away. "It's okay. I'm used to it. But that may not be the point. These people could be just looking for good test subjects for homunculi or chimeras."

"You think there are people out there willing to go that far?" Havoc stammered nervously, his glasses tilting to the side on his face. Ed just rubbed his chin, eyes averted in deep thought. "I don't know just yet but it's possible that's what may be in motion, then again it could be another psycho killer who plants explosives in live animals and house pets before coming into the house somehow and abducting the occupants." he would've said more if not for the odd shadow catching his eye, a strange figure standing on the far side of the street, kneeling down as thought examining something on the ground. It wore what looked to be a long winter's jacket; even though it was in the middle of fall and the air was growing chilly it was still a bit odd to be wearing something that big. The jacket was dark in color, accompanied by a dark cap and pants, possibly dark gloves considering the fact that the boy was having trouble spotting the figure's hands regardless of his angle. One of its arms extended to touch the ground, a finger wiping something up before bringing it up to its face, gazing down at its own appendage with almost scientific scrutiny before straightening up to look left, right, all around and then walk away, trying to be as casual as possible. Unfortunately whoever or whatever it was didn't seem to notice that he/she/it now had a large group of blue garbed observers across the street, some curious, other confused and few suspicious. Black eyes narrowed as Mustang watched the figure grow smaller and smaller, nodding to the boys to follow it as it left, making arrangements of his own to back them up. Hawkeye predictably protested, demanding to go with them since she seemed to have more common sense than him. Leaving Armstrong in charge of the investigation and such, the four were soon on their way down the street, literally jogging to catch up with their supposed suspect. Mustang could only curse under his breath when they found their target almost out of sight, the Elrics thankfully not far behind.

Turning and twisting through the calm streets of Central the figure seemed to know exactly where he was going and why. No one really noticed the man, or woman, or whatever it was that passed their homes so nonchalantly, closely followed by a pair of teenagers and two military officers. If he/she/it really noticed that it was being followed, it gave no sign, simply following man's unwritten laws of public courteousness and any other rule depicting proper municipal conduct. But other than such orderly actions taking place, the figure still seemed to act in a fairly odd manner: avoiding large groups of people, politely waving to those who waved at him but didn't bother to stop and converse further as well as somehow successfully ignoring ecstatic children just scavenging for someone older than them to play with. Though the figure did pause to watch the children run off somewhere, tilting his/her head as though confused before shrugging and walking on. In other words, so far who or whatever it was wasn't acting hostile in any fashion. At least, not yet anyway. Somewhere in the midst of their long walk, the figure seemed to stop and abruptly turn his/her head to somewhere to his/her right before walking a bit faster than before, as though hurrying to get somewhere and fast.

He/she/it's stride had lengthened and was proving to be hard to keep up with, crossing streets and moving swiftly past people, disregarding all means of politeness now that it seemed the figure was on a mission from who knew where. The figure only hesitated when someone got in his way or a car needed to pass before jogging a bit until deeming it necessary to start walking again. All signs of inhabitants started to fade as they followed the figure to what appeared to be the outskirts of Central, all four of them practically running since the man/woman had picked up the pace. Something about the air didn't feel right as they almost lost sight of the dark figure several times before spotting him again, somehow starting to outrace them in the maze of streets and alleyways. It didn't seem all that long before the figure finally, and quite literally, busted down a door to an old apartment building and stomping inside, his/her shoes making flat thuds on the old wooden floors.

Pulling out her gun and with their hands ready, the four cautiously entered the building, not surprised to find the place empty and completely blanketed with dust, mold and grime. Wood creaked in protest to their feet weighting down on it but stubbornly remained firm enough to walk on and investigate the place further. They didn't have to go far before hearing voices raised in undeniable fury and disgust, another only seeming to laugh and hiss back in amusement. Coming across the door to the basement they could make out the conversation quite clearly: "—I don't know just what you sick creeps are thinking but coming here of all places and doing what you're doing is just sick and vile as always. What do you hope to accomplish?"

"And why would I tell you? You sniveling lap dog of your precious leader who slips from the world more and more every day—" the other voice hissed slyly, a devious smile seeming to accompany the voice before it was cut off by what they suspected was their pursued, unleashing endless rage.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SPEAK OF HIM! I'LL CUT OUT YOUR TONGUE!! ROAR!!" running could be heard as a blade clanged against another, both seeming to grunt from the impact before more sounds of metal on metal reached their ears. The second voice seemed to hiss something else amidst the noise before being drowned out by another roar of rage and even more clatter resounded off the hollow walls as the first seemed to pick up the pace a bit. Not wanting to wait another second Riza led the way down the stairs, gun in hand and ready for action as always with Mustang right on her heels, the Elric brothers not far behind. Darkness was soon held back by dim light intensified by sparks flying, the clash of metal blades ringing in the air. What they found wasn't something they expected at all: two figures fighting armed to the teeth in front of a swirling vortex of blues, whites and grays which seemed to swirl in midair in an almost sleepy manner. One of the figures they knew to be their 'suspect' but the other was still a mystery to them as they could only watch while the fight became even more heated than before. The 'suspect' suddenly flipped away from a gut-slicing swipe, quickly moving to their side before turning at Riza with an almost desperate voice. "Shoot him! I'll go in for the kill!"

Blinking at the man but not daring question the order, she brought the weapon to eye level and fired, getting the other figure in the shoulders and head. Only problem was that the thing was still moving, rushing forward despite the hits it took to take them all down. But the 'suspect' didn't seem to be in the mood to allow this, rushing forward himself with his own blade shining in the unnatural light. One could swear that it happened faster than fast, the blade shooting forward into the thing's chest, blood spewing out from behind it as they were both sent flying back toward the strange vortex that took up most of the back wall. It screeched despite its condition as they both soared toward the unknown, one of the creature's arms stretching beyond normal lengths to reach forward and grab the one person no one expected it to: Alphonse was suddenly pulled along for the ride, eyes wide in fear and astonishment as the poor boy called his brother's name. "EDWARD!!"

"AL!" the older teen screamed, gloved hands reaching forth to grab at his brother in the hopes of his worst nightmare to not come true for the second time in his life, desperately gripping clothe and limb as he dug his heels into the floor. The rope like arm pulled taught as the pair hit the vortex's surface, making it ripple like pond water as it swallowed them both, the arm the only thing poking out as Al continued to fly toward it no matter what his brother tried to prevent it. Ed barely heard Mustang's shouts and Riza's gun going off behind him as he used ever fiber of his being to hold onto his brother. Though he tried to keep a solid grip on his sibling, Ed was horrified to find that the other boy's sleeve was ripping. By the time it tore completely, it was too late for the blonde to do much except scream his brother's name and grab at empty air. Falling onto his face Ed scrambled to get up and give chase, ignoring Mustang's yells for him to stop and Riza moving forward to stop him but it still wasn't enough to make him not go through himself, leaping forward into the lazy twirl of the strange portal that stood wide open.

--On The Other Side Of Central, A Good Hour Before—

Scar had been wandering for almost three months after the event in Liore, not knowing if he'd succeeded or if he'd failed in creating the Philosopher's Stone thanks to Alphonse and his armor body, resenting the fact that the tattoos on his arm had yet to fade, let alone cease to exist. Dressed in his yellow trench coat and sunglasses to cover his eyes as he walked through the streets of Central, he couldn't help but shiver as a cool breeze passed him by, making him curse the weather under his breath as he turned a corner to find a large group of military personnel moving around, in and out of a house on a street corner. Freezing on the spot and hoping to Ishbala that they wouldn't see him, he saw two very familiar people amidst it all: Edward Elric who was surprisingly taller and Roy Mustang who seemed to have a eye patch for some unknown reason. The third person was beyond any recognition that came to mind, wondering just who the boy was as he stood fairly close to Edward as he spoke to Mustang about something on the papers he seemed to be holding. Then they seemed to notice something on the far side of the street, seeming to eye who or whatever it was with suspicion. Looking over himself without being noticed he couldn't help but blink in surprise: it was just a civilian dressed in winter gear, long coat and some engineers' cap and all, kneeling on the ground as though to examine something up close, using one of his gloved hands to wipe something up and bring it up to his face for a better look. Still a bit puzzled about what made this figure so untrustworthy, Scar made sure he couldn't be seen before lowering his glasses to get a better look himself. He could only blink in astonishment at what he saw: the man had straightened up to walk away, looking around to be sure he hadn't been spotted and then turned to walk up the road in the most nonchalant manner the Ishbalan had ever witnessed.

He was surprised further when Ed and the other boy jogged to fall in step with the man, keeping their distance as Mustang stayed back long enough to give out orders before following himself with Hawkeye right behind him. Curious and not wanting to be left in the dark of things, the Ishbalan adjusted his glasses again to cover his eyes as he made a move of his own to make chase. He had to run a bit himself to keep up with them, also surprised and confused on why on the pursued suddenly stopped before practically bolting away without turning around to see if he was being followed or not as he weaved his way past people and things to come to a screeching halt in front of an old apartment building door which he didn't hesitate to break down and stomp inside. Scar kept his distance as the four others moved to follow the first man into the rickety building. He couldn't help but jump at the sound of muffled shouting and gunshots, making him run forward and see it all with his own eyes what the commotion was about. The Ishbalan couldn't have come in at a worse time: the one he learned then and there was Alphonse, the walking armor now flesh and blood being pulled in by the unnaturally stretched arm of an odd figure already flying back into the lethargic spin of an otherworldly vortex with a sword in its chest and holes in its head, mouth wide open with an infuriated screech as both were sent plummeting toward the oddly colored unknown. Ed was desperately trying to prevent his brother's second disappearance as Mustang and Riza run forward to try and lend a hand themselves, Riza shooting a few more holes into the thing's limb as it vanished into the vortex's calm surface, Al's sleeve tearing, the younger boy flying back with a terrified scream, the arm continuing to disappear as Ed fell over before jumping up again to run after his still screaming sibling who's eyes were wide with fear of the worst to come, his voice cut off as he was swallowed up by the portal's watery surface. It all seemed to happen in slow motion for them all, Ed literally leaping forward with desperate hands, a fearful face and determined eyes, Mustang and Riza trying to stop him but still too far behind to do much except shout in protest; and Scar finally finding the will to move forward and follow the boys through whatever hell awaited them all.

Mustang and Riza could only slow in shock as Scar, the alchemist serial killer, passed them both in the race after Ed and Al, looking forward as he sprinted ahead as didn't dare slow down as he yelled behind him. "You can arrest me later Mustang! But for now I have favors to return with these two! I promise you I'll do my best to help them return home!" he said no more as he made the jump and broke the portal's surface for the fourth time that day.

By the gods I'm good! And a killer cliffy to match! Woot!! It took me a while but by heaven's clouds I finally finished chapter 1! To think I'd never get around to posting it too! Yeah, yeah I know I'm being lazy and all but my brains on the fritz again and chapter 7 of my second Aurora Borealis story's taking forever to finish. To be truthful, what I may have to do to finish it is really going to break my heart considering what's been happening in the past few chapters. Ugh I'm falling to pieces just thinking about it! Okay I'll stop rambling… damn I'm pathetic .

Wow. No notes today! Oh crap I just jinxed myself again didn't I? Dammit! And to think I'd be free from it all. Keep goin' on like this and I'll be in some serious shit for sure! Oh well, that's life for ya. Filled with nothin' but crap to throw at ya.

Next! Coming next time on 'Fullmetal Dimensions':

Chapter 2: Busted Beyond Belief

Scar's in for the ride of his life as he once again follows the Elrics on a whole new adventure into the dangerous unknown beyond all expectations, or imaginations. What exactly lies ahead for the troublesome trio and will Ed and Scar need to team up to get Al back from the creature that is? Just wait and see in:

Chapter 2: Busted Beyond Belief!!