Chapter One
A Train of Thought
5 March 1914
"Nice one Al!"
"Thanks Ed."
"You can't defeat me! I have the machines, the technology! I can't be..."
Suddenly, from above, one of the many hanging crates fell, landing square on the back of the maniac mechanic.
"Looks like the crate did all the work for us."
"What do we do now, Ed?"
"Wait, I suppose. The military will have to pick him up some time."
Edward Elric, a boy freshly 15, sat down on the crate. The dizzy man below made a small noise of protest. Edward's companion, Alphonse Elric, chuckled at his older brother's antics.
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"Good work, Fullmetal. In all honesty, I didn't think you could do it." Colonel Mustang didn't look at Edward as he watched the whack-haired mechanic disentangle himself from cords, which he had managed to tangle in under the crate.
"And why would that be?" Edward asked, looking up at the Colonel.
"The machines were much bigger than you." Mustang nodded as the mechanic was cuffed.
Edward raised a fist. "Say that to my face, you god-complex colonel!"
"I believe I just did," Mustang said, "But enough with that, I have another assignment for you."
Edward's shoulders slumped. "Another? Colonel, you'll kill me with all these assignments! Unless that's your goal…?" He eyed the Colonel suspiciously.
"Of course not Fullmetal," Mustang said, in a sort of way that would imply otherwise, "why would it be?" He shook his head. "No, it's just a simple task of security."
"Security?" Edward looked confused.
Mustang sighed. "Due to some…" he paused momentarily, "complaints about the lack of female influence in the military, the Fuhrer is hosting a party to convince the public otherwise."
"How?"
"Specifically," Mustang continued as though Edward hadn't said anything, "a sort of commemoration ceremony, focused on recognizing the female authority."
"That's stupid," Edward scoffed. He looked at Mustang. "And you want me there for security reasons?"
"And onlooker." Mustang smirked. "You can handle that, can't you Fullmetal?"
"Of course I can!" Edward exclaimed indignantly. "I just don't understand the security," he mumbled.
"You already know many people don't like the military," Mustang explained, "A formal affair involving most of the military's personnel would be the perfect place to attempt sabotage, " he frowned, "especially when women are involved."
"What you're saying is women are less suspicious," Edward concluded.
Mustang shrugged. "More or less."
"And we're going to go all the way to Central for this..." Edward already knew the answer.
"Naturally." Mustang glanced at him. "What would make you think otherwise?"
"The fact you're not even stationed in Central, there's a start..." Edward mumbled grumpily.
"Ah, Fullmetal," Mustang laughed, "don't insult me." He clapped Edward on the back. "They need fine alchemists like us," he said. "Besides, I have another party in Central to attend."
"I should have known."
Mustang crossed his arms again. "I figured as we're nearly halfway there, due to our technology friend, we might as well travel straight, eh, Fullmetal?"
"Joy..."
"Lieutenant Havoc." Mustang turned to face a tall man with blond hair and a cigarette.
"Sir!" The young man stood at attention.
"See to it the Elric brothers get the first train out of here to Central," Mustang ordered and smirked at the disappointed and glum expression on Edward's face. "Cheer up, Fullmetal, it's not as bad as you think." Edward didn't answer, rather, he refrained from sticking his tongue out at his superior officer.
"Yes Sir." Jean Havoc saluted and turned to the Elric brothers. "Come one boys," he said, "you've got a train to catch." And grinned.
"Ed?" Alphonse asked as they followed, "Why don't you want to go to Central?"
"More work, that's why," Edward grumped.
"Oh brother…" Alphonse sighed.
"Sir?" Startled, Mustang turned around, stopping mid-step to face Riza Hawkeye. "You do realize what you risk," she said, "sending Fullmetal away now?"
"Lieutenant Hawkeye, I am quite aware." The Colonel resumed course and continued to the large lorry before him; Hawkeye followed dutifully. "But is it really much of a risk?"
"Sir." Her voice was wary.
"Good." Mustang gestured to the stout man helping the mechanic into the back of the truck. "Breda!" he said, "Make sure he doesn't get away too quick. We don't want to loose our loony."
"Loony!" the madman exclaimed. "I'll show you loony!" His head whipped round wildly as he got into the truck. "Where's that kid! I'll kick his keister back to the crib!" He paused suddenly, something occurring to him. "What happened anyway?"
"My good loon," Mustang said as he reached for the door handle. "You've just met the Fullmetal Alchemist." He shut the door, patted the van, and off it drove.
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Alice dashed around the corner, skidding as she did. Plastering her body against the wall, she held her breath. She could hear the angry footsteps running toward her.
"Alice, I'll kill you! Just wait until I catch up!"
"Which you won't," Alice mumbled quietly to herself. She didn't intend to be that slow, or that stupid.
The steps ran past and onward, and slowly Alice started inching her way away from the corner and down the street. As she did, she glanced down at the newspaper stand beside her. A headline caught her eye, written in bold black letters.
ANOTHER MILITARY FALL THROUGH
Very quickly, without the concessioner's notice, she snatched up a local tabloid and tucked it away in her bag. Then, darting as quickly as she could across the street, she ran down another alley, panting hard from the effort, but pleased with herself all the same. After taking several rounding streets, she bolted for the nearest train station in Paumis. All she had to do was hop the first train to Central City and she was home free. By the time they figured out where she was headed, she would be long gone.
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6 March 1914
"Aaaaaaaaah." Edward's mouth was wide open, his tongue flailing about as he emitted sound. He reclined lazily into the back of the train bench.
"Ed, you should really cover your mouth when you yawn," Alphonse scolded. He sat directly across from his brother.
Edward waved a hand dismissively. "Ah, what does it matter? Nobody's looking." He couldn't possibly have known if anyone was or was not, as the train was overcrowded with people, both standing and sitting and no elbow space.
"It's polite Ed and I'm here..." Alphonse said almost dispiritedly.
Edward wanted to stretch his arms, but there was a man standing close by with a nervous expression on his face, as though any more sudden movements might send him falling to the ground. Across from him sat two women, talking vigorously––or at least, one of them talked vigorously, the other sat and listened. "Man, it's really crowded on this train," Edward complained.
Alphonse ceased looking out the window to answer Edward. "Maybe there's a festival?"
"Could be." Edward scrutinized some of the passengers, searching for anything of a clue. "Unless they're all invited to the Colonel's party," he said, turning back to Alphonse with a grin.
"Excuse me, but would you mind keeping your voices down? I'm trying to have a conversation here."
Ed glared across the isle at the large lady.
"Brig, that wasn't very polite," said her friend.
"Sorry, Girtty," the lady continued as though nothing had happened. "What were you saying? Yes, I've seen the papers."
"Brig did you hear a word I just said?"
"Of course, dear." She looked at her nails uncaringly. "I said I have seen the papers."
"I didn't mean, oh never mind." Her friend sighed dejectedly. "Do you think all that's why the train's so full?" she asked at last.
"I couldn't have my own compartment. What do you think?" the lady said harshly, clearly displeased with the whole situation.
"No need to snap." Her friend looked reproachful. "I would never have thought a murder would bring people to a festival, that's all."
Ed and Al's ears perked up.
"Obviously it would," said the lady, her tone full of criticism. "It's publicity. Everyone's interested. That's why it happened. A stunt is what I call it, nothing more. No one is that stupid. Do don't actually think a real murder happened out there, do you?" She scoffed when her friend nodded sincerely. "Well," she said. "It doesn't matter to me. Just as long as the next train is a nice one, I'll be happy." Her friend didn't respond.
At last they reached a station. Much to Edward and Alphonse's dismay, however, it was not a station marked on the route. The conductors voice rang loud over the speakers. "Last stop! All passengers, please clear the train. Thank you for your service!" There was a collective sigh throughout the train as people collected their luggage and exited.
"Now what?" Edward demanded. "I thought we were supposed to go all the way to Central."
Alphonse pointed to the ticket master. "He might know."
They approached the frazzled looking man. When asked, the man did nothing more than sniff irritably and say there were no trains going to Central City from his station. When asked why, he coughed awkwardly and shooed them away, muttering something about "children these days."
"The Kippax has a station," Alphonse said after studding a map located on the station platform. "It's only a few miles north east of here." When he turned around, Edward was staring at a crowd, listening. "Ed?"
"What?" Edward looked up at him. "Sure, we'll head that way." He hesitated before walking forward. "Looks like rain."
"Ed, what murder were they talking about?" Alphonse asked.
"I don't know," Edward said honestly, "Looks like it's somewhere near here though, most of the people are gone." The platform didn't have nearly as many people as there were on the train.
"You don't think it was someone important, do you?" Alphonse asked suddenly. He certainly hoped not.
Edward glanced at the news stand as they passed it. A common topic covered all the front pages. "Nah." He waved a dismissive hand. "If it was, we'd know about it. The Colonel would have told us. It's probably something local; we passed a lot of small towns. The military's probably already taken care of everything, so don't worry about it." Yet he knew it was bigger than all that.