Chapter 2: State Alchemists

-Clark's perspective-

I was shocked by the sudden flash that emitted from the gun barrel. I tried to react but was too slow to have dodged. Fortunately, the bullet whizzed by my head, giving me an overall sensation of relief. A sudden cry of pain came from the direction the bullet was shot. I glanced over to see a knife with a unique transmutation circle lodged in the arm of the robber. Its times like these I was glad I had Espen on my side. I shot a thankful glance towards my ally, we both nodded. Maybe I was the moronic one, for underestimating these criminals so easily. Well it wasn't going to happen again. I directed my full attention towards the shooter and his gang. I brought down my hand onto the floor to begin a transmutation.

-Espen's perspective-

Had I not thrown my knife at the crook, Clark would have a bullet going through his neck, so I'll chalk that up as 'he owes me.' He touched the train floor in front of him and a flash of blue light pierced the air. The metal floor of the train began to warp, so I had taken it as a sign to leap out of area of effect and climb over the seats, charging the gunmen. Multiple pillars flew towards the gunmen, the leader had enough common sense to jump into a seat beside him, but the others were knocked on their asses, with broken ribs I'm sure. If Clark kept up the assault, he may thin the train floor out and fall through; I figured he knew this.

"Ugh...Clark?"

"I know, I know. We should finish this up close."

As usual we were on the same page. I jumped onto one seat and began stepping on each seat on the way towards the criminals. Knives in hand, it wasn't safe for me to use my form of alchemy here, with the civilians in the cart behind us. Clark had taken similar action, but had instead ran up some of the warped metal he used to launch the pillars. He was known as the Forge Alchemist for a reason. His root was straight to the point; he was in mid-range within seconds. I wasn't far behind him, I was faster overall, he just had the quickest route. As Clark hopped off the pillars he rolled behind a nearby seat as the gunmen unloaded their chambers into a few rows of seating. Luckily Clark was able to crawl underneath the seats before sending a ripple towards the thugs through the cart floor with another transmutation. While Clark was under fire I managed to tag two of the attackers with my throwing knives. When the time was right, Clark rolled into the isle and shot up to charge the first thug in his path.

The first thug Clark had made contact with jabbed him repeatedly, which was a somewhat funny sight because Clark brushed it off like a champ. Clark grounded him easy enough with a right cross, some body shots, and an uppercut that knocked him down. One of the four goons to the right of Clark was cocking his arm back with the idea of sucker punching him, which was idiotic of him because I had already made it across the train cart, and I was right on top of him.

I slashed his left arm with the blade in my right hand before crouching and spinning around to cut his left calf with my left handed blade, followed by a simple leg sweep that forced him to the cold train floor. I threw the knife from my right hand into the foot of the thug the furthest right of me, and side kicked the thug closest to me into him as well. Clark was on the last one, giving him a left jab, and a right hook while closing the distance for a knee to the abdomen. The last thug had fallen to the ground, but shoveled a switchblade out of his trench coat pocket and lunged at Clark. I kicked his legs out from underneath him while Clark simultaneously clotheslined him. We were both a little winded.

"I warned them..." Clark claimed, almost with a tone of pity.

"That you did. You can't reason with some people though."

"As much as I hate it, that's true." He agreed.

"I think now would be a good time to..." I managed to say before being interrupted. Movement from a few seats behind Clark caught my eye. The leader, whom I had forgotten, jumped onto Clark's back and began to strangle him.

"Clark, hold still!" I prepped my blade. Clark eyes widened and I could tell he wasn't enthused about my plan. I heard a faint response, wheezing from Clark's direction.

"Screw...that!" Clark decided to jump backward with all of his weight forcing him and the gunman both downward, knocking the air out of the thug's lungs. He broke the gunman's grip and threw several elbows backward into his ribs.

Clark turned over and punched him before standing up, "Stay down, last warning." Clark threatened.

"What I was going to say was that we should restrain them." I persisted. "Seems reasonable."

He shackled the other goons using chains he made with basic alchemy. Before he could chain the last gunman, the one who lead the robbery, the thug lunged for a fallen gun. Before he could pull the trigger, Clark grabbed the revolver and began a transmutation. I covered my eyes with the fold of my arm, before looking up and seeing what had happened. The gun had become fused to the crook leader's hand on a molecular level.

"How many times do I have to warn people?" Clark said. I could tell he felt guilty about what he had done, but he had no choice. I tried to break the silence, "So as I was saying before you nodded off..." He stared at me with a face of curiosity and confusion. "Wanna play cards?" I grinned because I was eager to see his reaction. "Really? Right now?" He asked, to which I replied, "Why not?". "Alright, sure. Though we should probably tell everyone its safe first."

-Clark's Perspective-

"The passengers fled to a separate cart, Bishop and I engaged the gunmen, and apprehended them. There were no casualties, however, the gunmen received minor injuries. Thats all sir.." I reported to my superior, as the thugs were dragged off the train. After the whole incident was over, authorities delayed the train ride for a few hours once we reached another station so they can retrieve the criminals and finish preparations for the next scheduled transit. Once Espen and I exited the cart we were approached by member of the state military with a considerably higher rank, and was ordered to report to him, Admiral Brubaker Wallace. He is a towering 6'9", lightly tan complexion, has grey eyes, a clean shaven head, a grey beard that resembles steel wool, and appears to be in his 50's. His hands were riddled with scars, and he was fairly muscular for his age.

"You should have apprehended them without using your alchemy, Major." He lectured.

"Sir, I mean no disrespect, but-" "What kind of soldier claims to mean no disrespect, yet interrupts his superior?" I was blindsided by such a question. "Now you don't want to speak?" Wallace berated.

"Permission to speak sir?" I requested, which he responded with a stern, "Speak!" "I'm merely a certified state alchemist, I have not received standard training as it is not required. I am not..."

"A soldier, Major? Of course you're not a soldier. A soldier would have been prepared to thwart a few gun toting punks while maintaining a tactical advantage. I've trained real soldiers, and they're worth ten of you. If I had my way, all state alchemists would receive proper training before being ranked as a major. I myself joined the state military as nothing more than a private before participating in state alchemist examinations. Who ordered you to board these trains?" The Admiral spoke demandingly.

"My superior officer in East City. He received a letter from Second Lt. Fuery stating the Fürher himself requested that Bishop and I be transferred to and stationed in Central Command. So we boarded the train scheduled to arrive at Central City." I informed the Admiral.

"Heh. Why the Fürher would request incompetent boy scouts such as yourselves, I'll never know. Dismissed!" Wallace shouted.

I walked over to Espen to tell him how the report had gone. "What was his problem?" Espen asked.

"So you heard. Its US. We were his problem. Me especially."

"How so?" He said curiously.

"Because 'he has trained soldiers worth ten of me'."

"Wow. What a hard ass." Espen said, while his face looked as if he tasted something bitter. Before we could complain more, we were interrupted by the sound of a train horn screeching.

"Now or never." I said before we began running alongside the now moving train.

[End]