The light was blinding as Ed used to Philosopher's stone to transmute Al's metal body for his real one. All was going according to plan and then just before everything went black an agonizing scream was heard echoing throughout the halls of the whole building. The General and all of his subordinates couldn't see a thing for a while because of all of the smoke but then as the smoke cleared, they saw the most wonderful yet horrifying scene they had ever laid their eyes on. There in the center of the transmutation circled laid Alphonse Elric with a fully flesh body while on the outside of the circle Edward Elric was laying, unmoving, in a pool of blood; his own blood. He was missing his left arm and right leg.

He had already lost his other limbs in a similar fashion; alchemy or more precisely human transmutation, the most forbidden type of alchemy there is.

There father left them when they were very young and then their mother died leaving them alone before they were even 8 years old. They decided to try and bring her back, but everything had a price. In order to gain something you have to give something in exchange, this is Equivalent Exchange, the first law of alchemy. They paid a heavy price for their actions, both of them did. Al lost his body and Ed lost his left leg.

Then Ed gave up his right arm in order to return to the gate and bring Al's soul back and attach it to a suit of armor. After that Ed got automail limbs and both of them trained themselves in self-defense and alchemy. Ed was the older of the two being 3 yeas older then Al. Ed saw that Al could no longer do anything that was even remotely human. He hated seeing his brother like this and even though Al didn't complain even once, Ed could tell that he didn't like being in the armor even a little bit.

He blamed himself for what happened to his brother and made a promise to him that he would get his brother's body back no matter the cost. And that is what got them into their current situation. Ed became part of the military, the youngest state alchemist that the world had ever received, and earned the name the Fullmetal Alchemist because of his metal limbs.

Now here they were in trouble again only this time no one could help them if they screwed up. Everyone rushed to the boys. Roy raced to Edward while the others went to check on Alphonse Elric. Roy went to the boy's side and checked for a pulse, he found a very, very faint one. Ed's skin was covered in sweat and his skin was becoming pale, his heartbeat was irregular and his breath was coming out it gasps. Roy was about to call for Havoc to go and call for Winry when a hand reached up and grabbed his collar, pulling his face down to where it was nearly touched Ed's face.

"Is Alphonse ok?" a very hoarse whisper asked. It was coarse, and it held a tone of hope, desperation, agony, and pure pain.

He looked down at the boy who had never once showed pain in his life in front of others. The boy in front of him was the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric. His eyes were closed, not squeezed just closed, one could have mistaken him for asleep if it hadn't been for the pool of blood he was laying in, and his usually radiant, golden hair was drenched in blood and of course the missing limbs. He could tell from just the form of the boy that he was in pain.

"Yes he's got the body of a normal 14 year old Ed." Was all he could say.

Roy kept his voice at a whisper for fear of it giving off how weak he felt right now. Ed sighed and then hissed in pain. Roy picked up the boy and Furey picked up Al and they all rushed out of the place. None of them knew how they had gotten there. They all knew Ed had something to do with it though.

When they got on the outside they were looking at the country side of Rizenbool, Ed's hometown and the town where all of their suffering began. They ran as fast as they could to the Rockbell's estate. Old lady Pinako told the Colonel to lay Ed on the table and then leave while Winry took Al and put him upstairs.

Everyone was on the edge of their seats waiting to see what would happen to the brothers. It wasn't long before another agonized and pained scream broke the silence. Everyone flinched and covered their ears from the sound. The owner of the scream was Edward.

Everyone knew and loved Edward, even those he fought respected him, and it hurt his friends to hear him in pain. Even Roy, the mighty flame alchemist, the biggest womanizer in Central, was holding his hands over his ears while fighting back tears.

"Is brother going to be alright?" a small voice asked. Everyone turned to look at the stair case and saw a small boy standing in front of them.

He was almost identical to Ed. His hair was just a shade darker and his eyes were also just a shade darker as well. He was shorter and had no metal limbs. The boy in front of them was Alphonse Elric. Roy walked over to the boy and pulled him into a one armed hug.

"I don't know Al, I don't know." And in truth he didn't know.

The first time this happened it was suppose to take at least 3 years to adjust to the automail yet Ed had done it in only 1 year. He didn't know if Ed would be that lucky this time. He had been lucky in the past, no matter what happened he always made it but this time Roy feared he might not be so lucky this time. Al cried into his adoptive father-figure's shirt, praying, hoping, that his beloved brother would make it through this operation. Everyone had their fingers crossed and their heads bowed in a silent plea that by the grace of God that Ed would be spared this time.