Chapter 1: Hold It In
The young man lay in the hospital bed. He knew that he was dying. He weakly reached for a nurse at his bedside. He told her his last words:
"Tell my brother, that I love him."
"WHAT THE FUCK!" A voice yelled from the hallway.
Colonel Roy Mustang rubbed his temples and prepared himself for a barrage of insults. The door was kicked open violently and an extremely irritated Edward Elric followed.
"I don't see why you didn't expect this earlier, Fullmetal," the Colonel said pressing his fingertips together.
"What do you mean? Expect you to be a totally heartless bastard?" Ed snarled, his eyes bristling.
"You're one to talk. You aren't exactly the sentimental type, so don't talk to me about heartlessness."
"I don't tear families apart!" Ed said indignantly, his arms springing out to his sides.
"It's only a week. That's hardly tearing your family apart." The Colonel said with an unsympathetic look.
"Says you. You are just jealous that I've completed my goals and you are still some stuffed up colonel with a superiority complex." Ed responded with a smug look.
"Well, I am your superior. You do remember that this is an order, don't you?"
"Fuck orders. You know that I'm quitting the military after this year, don't you?"
"That doesn't change the fact that you have to follow orders now. I don't want any more complaints. Quit being a little kid."
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A HALF-PINT WHINY LITTLE MIDGET!?!?" Ed yelled, pounding his hands on the top of Colonel Mustang's desk.
"I don't want to continue arguing about this. And yes, you are acting like a child." He said with a small smirk of satisfaction.
"I don't want to hear that from you, Colonel Shit. Even if you are an old man doesn't mean you know everything. Stop looking down on me."
"That's a little difficult to do considering how short you are."
"WHO THE HELL IS TOO SHORT TO SEE OVER YOUR DESK!?!?"
"Well I would normally say that you would be tall enough to see over my desk, but with all this paperwork…" The Colonel looked around his desk with mock dismay.
"I can take care of that. Want me to call Hawkeye to help you?"
"That won't be necessary." Mustang told him as a hasty reply. "If certain subordinates would just do as they were told instead of blowing things up, all this paperwork wouldn't occur in the first place."
"Don't blame me for your laziness, old man."
"It's called having more important things to do than paperwork."
"Like setting up dates? I'm glad you know how to schedule them without them bumping into each other. That would be awkward for you, wouldn't it?"
"At least I have a social life."
"I have a social life!"
"Spending time with your brother does not count."
"It totally does! Why the hell wouldn't it? He's a person, isn't he?"
"That's right. He is a person. That means he can take care of himself and you can go on a mission for a week, doesn't it?" Mustang said with a small smirk of triumph.
"He's only had his body for a month! You can't expect me to NOT look after him, do you?"
"Winry is perfectly capable of taking care of him."
"Whatever. Where the hell are you sending me this time?" Ed muttered the last part, finally giving in.
"Chokton. The briefing should be in this folder." Mustang nudged one of the manila folders on his desk.
"Humph," was all the reply that was given as Ed shuffled through the papers. "Whatever." Ed began to walk towards the door.
"I want a report when you come back, Fullmetal."
"And I want a pony. You do realize that they both have the same chance of becoming reality, don't you?" And with that, Ed stepped outside.
Mustang watched Ed go with a sigh, not knowing that he would be the last one to talk to the Fullmetal Alchemist.
"We're losing one, sir."
"Report!"
"It's in a Mod Alche-dimension, sir."
"Damnit! Get me what you can on this one; I think we're going to lose it."
"Yes, sir."
"I've got a hook on some surveillance-info. Apparently the strongest dwell in a military state, most employed by it."
"Ok, get me some scanners."
"Sir, we've got one on the chart."
"Ok. Dimension status?"
"Quickly deteriorating, sir. Less than 20% perception."
"Ok, we need to lock-on to the one you've found, hurry."
"Got it, sir."
"Ok we'll need to transfer, now."
"Dimension has 10% perception."
"Starting transfer."
"5% Perception."
"Transfer complete."
"Dimension has vanished."
Ed had found himself in some interesting situations. Passing out and coming to in a completely white room was new. Well, passing out was a loose term, because he didn't really know what had happened. One moment he was leaving Mustang's office and then everything had seemed to freeze. Everything had started to slip away and then he remembered being in this strange room.
The fact that it was completely white wasn't what made it interesting. The fact that it had no entrances to speak of was. Ed would admit that with alchemy it would be possible to completely seal someone in a room, but he couldn't see the point of sealing an alchemist in a room that was alchemically sealed.
He saw the point, when he looked at the walls and couldn't discern what exactly they were made of. He decided that he could just try pulling out any random elements one at a time and see if he was removing part of the wall. He was about to attempt this when cracks appeared in a wall in a door-like shape, and it opened.
Several men in white coats approached him while a woman in extremely strange clothing followed them. She was wearing a dark blue long sleeve shirt with a bright green smock over it; while on her legs were a pair of strangely proportioned pants.
Ed took a defensive stance and gave a warning glare to the two approaching men. He was sure that they would try and grab him, but they simple stood about 6 feet away and looked to the woman who seemed to be talking to herself, quietly.
"What the hell is going on?!" Ed asked the woman (She seemed to be in charge).
"Hello. Welcome to the Inter-Dimensionary Control Facility. My name is Hanried Ferriunman." She said with a smile.
"Welcome to the what?!? Where the hell is this?" Ed demanded. He looked her up and down and decided that her only defining feature was her bright red hair that was bordering on orange.
"We regret to inform you that your home is no longer accessible, and that you were spared to live here on planet Tan." She said with a small look of pity.
"What? My home? What do you mean?" Ed said in continued distress.
"All will be explained in due time. For now, we will need some personal information from you."
"The hell with that! I'm not telling you shit."
"I'm sorry about this, but it's necessary." She said with another almost-sorry look.
One of the men walked up to Ed and before he could clap pressed a small device to his neck. Ed's eyes fluttered closed as the other man stepped forward to catch his falling form. The man grunted under his weight as the other man helped him drag Ed out of the room and onto a gurney they had waiting in an all white hallway.
"Traveler number 58 was hostile and seems to be quite young in age." The woman murmured into her headset.
"It's alright; we got a good enough reading from that one. He should prove to be useful." Said the voice from the woman's ear.
"I hope you are right, Dimitri."
The next time that Ed woke up, he knew that he had definitely lost consciousness this time. Those damn bastards in white coats! He looked up to see where he was and all he saw was more white. He sat up and realized he was in another cell, of sorts. The difference was that he was not alone. There were several other people in the room, all looking as confused as he felt.
One was a man, about 40 who kept pacing back and forth, muttering. He had light brown hair that was molded into all sorts of shapes. Whether this was on purpose or not, Ed had no clue. He was wearing some fairly nondescript brown and grey clothes with black shoes.
There was another man in the room. He had no hair whatsoever, not even eyebrows. He was wearing a motley of colors and so many odd layers that it was impossible to figure out what his body was like underneath his clothes. He was simply sitting, leaning against one of the walls and running his hands over his bald scalp.
The last and perhaps most interesting person in the room was an old woman. She was sitting in the center of the room cross-legged with her eyes closed. She had her face pointed upwards and her grey locks twisted down her back. She was wearing a black shroud and looked entirely at peace.
Ed got up and said, "Hey, what's going on? Who are you guys? Do you know where we are?"
The man who was pacing stopped and stared at him for a minute and then continued his previous pattern. The man against the wall showed no reaction whatsoever. The woman in the middle of the room seemed to also show no reaction until he heard her speak.
"None of us know anything, little boy." She said to him, without opening her eyes.
"Who the hell are you calling little!" Ed said between his teeth and held up a fist.
"I don't need this from you, youngling." She said with a sigh.
At this point in time the wall opened just like before and the same woman appeared. "I know you all have a lot of questions, but if you all will just cooperate we can sort things out fairly quickly, don't you think?" she said brightly.
Ed just grunted and watched the other inhabitants of the room slowly become more alert. The two people sitting stood up, and the man who was pacing frantically stopped and looked at the woman almost fearfully.
"W...What's going…..on?" he said anxiously.
"It'll all be explained soon. If you all will just follow me." She said and with that she gestured towards the entrance.
For a second, it seemed like no one would move, but the old woman stepped forward and went through the opening. Ed wasn't afraid and for now he decided he would cooperate. He wanted to find out what the hell was going on and he didn't think they were going to harm him for some reason.
This thought puzzled him. Why would they go to the trouble of kidnapping him, if it wasn't for unfriendly reasons? Unless these weren't the people who took him? Or they needed his help or something? Ed wasn't sure how much he could trust these people considering he had no idea what their motives were but believe it or not he didn't attack anyone for no reason. Not to mention he had no idea where he was.
He stepped out of the white room into a brightly lit white hallway. The other two men had followed him and in the hallway there were several men in white coats waiting to escort them. They continued down the hallway and around a few corners. They didn't encounter anyone else until they reached a set of double doors. The doors opened to reveal a strange room with a few rows of seating. In front of them was a large screen and Ed guessed it was some sort of theater.
They encouraged Ed and the others to sit down. Ed's assumption was proven correct when the screen began to light up. On the screen appeared a friendly looking man in a strange brown suit. He was sitting in a white room and began speaking:
"Hello, my name is Gregoris. I am sure that you are confused, but let me assure you that you are quite safe here and that we mean you no harm. We regret to inform you that your home dimension no longer exists. We are so sorry for your loss. We would like to welcome you to planet Tan. We have spared you so that you may live here on our peaceful planet. This dimension has far surpassed many others in the fields of inter-dimensional travel. As a result we have dedicated resources to the Inter-Dimensionary Control Program. This program is devoted to saving as many dimensions as we can from non-existence and preserving the cultures and talents of other dimensions. You have been selected as a special representative of your home to stay here on this world and help contribute to the universe's beacon of society. You will all be welcomed into society and we hope that you collaborate with us to make the universe a better place for all."
The screen flickered off and the lights flickered on. The man who had been pacing sat there looking on the verge of tears. The hairless man was looking at his palms stunned as if he had just watched his whole world slip through his own fingers. The old woman was sitting there with a resigned look on her face, but Ed could see the tightness in her face around her eyes and in the corners of her mouth. Ed stood up and addressed the red-haired woman:
"That's fucking BULL-CRAP. My whole life did not just disappear. You expect us to believe that? Why the fuck would dimensions just disappear like that? How does this happen? How did you get us here in the first place? Every reaction has an equal cause. How the fuck is a dimension disappearing equivalent exchange-"
"I know that you have many questions, but for now you need to get settled in your new home. To do this we will need to ask you some questions and run some tests. Then you will be settled into a temporary living unit with a host. Please cooperate. We will not hesitate to keep you in solitary confinement if you prove to be a threat." She looked pointedly at Ed during the last part of her little speech.
Ed just glared but decided on the inside that he would cooperate. It wasn't something he would normally do, but on the inside he was frightened. But only a little, really….
Who the hell was he kidding? He was scared shitless, but there was no way in hell they were going to know that. For now he had to keep it together before thinking about the true meaning of her words. His whole world? His life? Al? Winry? Gone?... 'No no no…stop thinking about it!' Ed thought to himself. He needed to keep calm. He followed the woman and her cronies out of the room into the hallway again. He decidedly ignored the other dimensionally-relocated people walking behind him. He had his own problems to deal with, he wasn't about to feel sorry for anyone else.
A man with golden blonde hair leaned back in a chair. His golden eyes fixed themselves onto the screen before him. A slow smile found its way onto his face.
Hey, this is my second story. I have some big ideas planned for this one!
Can you guess who the "man with golden hair" is??
Better yet, the man who died at the beginning??
I don't know if those are that hard to figure out, but I promise that things will get even more interesting.
Please review.