Sparks ignited creating a sharp lance of flames as Mustang clicked his fingers; hitting their mark the flames exploded upon impact.

As the smoke cleared standing amidst it the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric. He wore a giant grin as he wiped away the blood that trickled down his chin from his mouth. "Heh, is that all you got Mustang?!" he clapped his palms together, placing his left hand along his right arm creating a sharp blade from his auto-mail.

"Brother! Don't do anything reckless!" Alphonse's voice was heard from the side lines causing Ed to look in the direction of his younger brother.

"Don't worry Al! I've got this one!" As Ed turned to face Mustang once more he was hit again with a shower of flames, raising his auto-mail arm to defend himself he was knocked back forcing him to dig his heels into the ground to stop himself from falling over backwards.

"Fullmetal, never take your eyes off the enemy." Mustang strangely wore a rather serious expression that wasn't natural for the Colonel.

"Humph…"

As he righted himself he started at a run towards Mustang with a feral look in his eyes; the young alchemist advanced as he ducked, dodged and flipped every shower of flames that was sent his way. Finally Ed ducked from the last lancing flame, clapped his palms together and punched the ground with both palms flat and instantly a giant concrete fist plummeted towards Roy.

Raising his arms in defense the concrete fist slammed into the Colonel sending him flying backwards "Umph! Damn… I give you that one Fullmetal but the next one is mine!" Mustang stood, idly flicking dust off his uniform before clicking his fingers once again to send another lance of nearly white hot flame at Edward who, with a grin and a bow, cart wheeled out the line of fire. "Hey Colonel? I thought you were a War Hero?!" Edward quipped back, sending projectiles of his own from the earth around them towards Mustang; a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth "Well I guess I was wrong!"

Dodging the last of Edwards missiles, Mustang clicked both sets of fingers as he arched his arms, this time sending a tidal wave of flames towards the Fullmetal Alchemist; seeing this coming Ed leapt into the air just missing the scorching flames and came plummeting down for a hammer kick. The sound of Mustang's deflection of the golden eyed boy's attack was dull and eerie making everything else seem terribly silent; at this moment it was like the whole world had slowed as Ed and Mustang were frozen in place. Eventually time started to run as normal as Edward used the momentum from Mustang's arm to launch himself away from the Colonel; "Okay, I take that back, you're pretty good then!" he landed with a thud and stayed in place as his breath became haggard, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Another tip Fullmetal, don't ever underestimate you're opponent."

When looking at both Alchemists there was a major difference because the way Edward's shirt was torn revealing his entire auto-mail arm, his forehead was bleeding and he looked completely beaten down; Mustang on the other hand was very composed, his uniform still showed signs of dust and debris but that was no concern at the present time. It seemed the odds were stacked against the young Edward Elric but he wasn't going to give up so easily, especially when he was up against the Colonel; both opponents stood there facing off against each other, having no idea what the other person would do until it was too late.

Breaking the silence the older Elric clapped his palms together and a portal appeared at his feet as a sharp-edged pole arm ascended from it; effortlessly he took it in his auto-mailed arm giving it a few fancy swings to show off his skill and finally advanced again towards the Flame Alchemist.

"It's time I got you to stop acting so casual!" Ed bellowed as he tore towards Roy with the sharp-edged pole arm aimed straight for his chest; the Colonel's posture shifted as he prepared for the attack.

Seconds later Edward lunged at Mustang which followed by an explosion of flames creating more thick smoke; as it cleared Ed was up against the Colonel, side wards on with the weapon pointed forward and from many of the spectators view it looked as if he had hit his mark. When the smoke was completely dispersed it was revealed that he had missed; as they were both frozen in place Mustang took the initiative and slapped Edward across the back of the head sending him hurdling forward.

"Hey! That was a cheap shot!"

Ed gained his balance and threateningly pointed his weapon towards the Colonel; and only then was it visible that Ed hadn't missed at all because Mustang's uniform was now torn diagonally across his chest, which was slowly reddening. The War hero dropped to his knees and grunted "Argh" he paused and looked down at his chest "I wasn't the only one giving the cheap shots" although he was wounded, the Colonel still had a smile on his face.

Edward started laughing "What's so funny?!" It didn't take much to change the Flame Alchemist's mood. "The fact that I intended for that to happen" he paused and pointed to Mustang's right gloved hand which was stained red with his blood "That, is what you call a cheap shot!" Ed wore a giant grin as he watched the Colonel realise that he had sliced through his glove rendering it useless; but not only was it a precise cut he'd also been able to render his left glove also useless because during the explosion the young Alchemist had forced Mustang to use both hands to defend himself.

"Well now, I'm impressed Fullmetal" Mustang rose slowly wincing at the pain from his wound

"I should pay attention to my own tips, like never underestimate such a pip-squeak!" He added, a wicked grin across his dust covered face.

Ed on the other hand was fuming and his entire face turned red- in a motion that looked like a kettle boiling rapidly- as he started flailing his arms around, shouting indistinctive insult gradually growing in volume .

"I'M NOT A PIP-SQUEAK!" He roared as he threw the spear like a javelin, soaring towards Mustang whose expression immediately turned serious; as it looked like the Colonel wasn't going to move in time, the pole suddenly burst into flames and ash, landing in a gently smoking pile just inches from Mustangs once shiny boots. Edward's jaw hit the floor in shock. "…but...but….I trashed…your…gloves.." His expression tensed as the cogs in his brain started to turn (How did he do that?!)

"You really think that ripping my gloves was going to stop me Fullmetal?

Mustang grinned as he held up his right hand. Smudged roughly in his own blood, in the torn opening of his glove was a transmutation circle, and between his once white covered finger tips was a silver lighter.

"Well I'll be damned" he chuckled as he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. Clapped his hands and launched another giant concrete fist towards Mustang, who thanks to his injuries, didn't quite dodge in time. The colonel skidded across the ground, before halting on his back, lims sprawled around, breathing heavily.

"That's what you get for making fun of my size!" Ed wailed whilst Roy started to raise to a kneeling position.

Before the smoke could clear and Mustang could right himself Edward leapt into the air, putting all his weight behind one booted foot, ready for the final strike when

WHAM!

'Fullmetal' hit metal with a loud clang, which sent him falling backwards.

As Ed fell to the ground he looked up and saw his younger brother's steel form towering over him with his arms spread out, standing in between him and Mustang

"That's enough brother… You two have done enough damage for one day!" "The blonde haired boy got to his feet, ready to clap his hands together "But, I was about to kick his smug faced ass!"

"Brother…please" Al pleaded, despite the helmet atop the hollow body, concern appeared across the younger Elric's face.

Edward sighed, "Fine" locking eyes with his brother, knowing he was right. "We had better help the old man up" He waved his hands towards the medical team that had been standing by the sidelines. Both Elric brothers helped the Colonel on to a gurney, despite his protests, before jumping on to one himself. As they wheeled them away towards the medical wing, Havoc, Breda, Fulman and Hawkeye in tow, a high pitched shrill echoed around the rubble.

"ED! YOU BETTER NOT HAVE WRECKED MY AUTO-MAIL!" The colour drained from Edward's face. "Oh hi Winry, when did you get here?" Ed's voice broke just as she finally reached him and started pulling and yanking on his arm, keeping in step with the gurney. "Hmm, well they do say there's a first for everything Edward Elric… " as she lay the amazingly undamaged arm down ."Just don't worry me like that!" Winry's cheeks became slightly flushed as she finished the sentence making Alphonse and Havoc snicker, which in turn made Edward blush.

The young alchemist was released from hospital in a matter of hours, but was told to stay put in his assigned quarters with Al; Winry tagged along wanting to make sure he didn't do anything else that was considered reckless.

"Hey Al?" Alphonse turned to his sibling "Yes brother?"

Letting out a sigh he asked "Did you think I was going to win…?" the clang of armour sounded as Al crossed the room to Ed and Winry who was tweaking and cleaning his leg "Of course" he said, somehow seeming like he smiled.

Winry butted in by saying "The question that needs to be asked is, why in the world would you do something so stupid?" Ed laughed and leant his head back on the sofa "You care that much do you Winry?" he paused to look at her, making her cheeks turn red

"Hmm… I did it because I wanted to show I'm not just a 'pip-squeak' and that I really am tough enough to take on the best; and besides Al stopped the fight, there's no need to dwell on the past" this time turning to Alphonse "right Al?" Al's stocky build shook as he nodded "Right!" Ed kept his eyes on the ceiling as he recited his teacher's words in just a whisper "Alchemy is the science of understanding the flow of matter and its laws; the process of comprehension, deconstruction, and reconstruction. The world flows too. It must also follow laws. Everything circulates… Even death is a part of that circulation. You must accept the flow." Ed closed his eyes and the room fell into a comfortable silence, filled with thoughts of the things to come.