Yet another story is just begging to unfold for you my readers! And I can't help but oblige to the request in saying: GO ME!! I JUST STARTED MY FOURTH FANFIC!! And I couldn't be happier with myself when it comes down to it. To think I'd never get around to writing this thing! I might end up making it a Scar x Ed, a Roy x Ed, hell just Roy x Riza for the sake of things! Al and Winry might get together… you don't know… and at this point neither do I! But first things first: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or its contents/characters blah, blah, blah and all that jazz. Just read it and tell me what ya think k? Thanks!

Iii thought

"iii" speech

Chapter 2: Busted Beyond Belief

He didn't know if he should open his eyes or let them stay closed. Seeing something horrible wasn't as good as being unable to see anything at all. Unable to keep himself in the dark anymore, Scar let one of his red eyes open a bit only for both of them to snap wide open at what he was seeing: a tunnel consisting of blue, white and grey walls, somehow spinning faster than the lethargic movement he'd seen minutes before. Looking around only to somersault, he found himself floating in midair, speeding almost drastically toward something that he'd yet to see. Thoughts pulling themselves together as he moved his arms to look ahead, he saw something relatively familiar: Ed was also somersaulting, only in a more dizzying manner. Seeing that the boy had yet to establish any basic sense of direction and was looking a little green, he decided to take some action. Letting his arms hang at his sides and bringing his legs together, he found himself almost rocketing in the boy's direction before extending a hand to catch his arm and thus help him correct his position. The young man flinched and nearly jerked out of his grip but he held tight, looking him in the eyes hard enough to reassure him of his intent. A slit frown came onto the pale face but let himself be assisted, blinking as he felt the difference between then and seconds before. Finally the question came a rollin' out of Ed's mouth. "How did you get here and why? I don't remember--."

"That's because I followed you from that house I saw you standing in front of. I felt that the least I could do for what you've done for me on your part was to help you get your brother back. Has he been that way long?" the Ishbalan inquired as Ed just stared at him before turning back to the swirling tunnel ahead and around them before answering almost above a whisper. "A year or two to say the least. We thought you were dead Scar."

The Ishbalan man couldn't help but blink at the last sentence before turning away to look ahead himself, fighting down the fear that dared boil up inside of him. After a while he finally answered as well. "Just a little sand and a few holes in my clothes. Usual things to be sure." He dared to glance at the golden haired boy. "Any ideas on what to do when we get there?"

He smirked as his golden eyes narrowed, never taking them off the tunnel swirling ahead of them. "Nope. None whatsoever. Why? Do you?"

"Humph. Like you Edward Elric, I'm at a loss."

"Then I guess we'll know when we get there."

"Very true. Very true indeed."

The end of the tunnel came a lot faster than they anticipated, a glowing circle that grew larger by the second, their journey coming to a speedy close as the two men hit it and were literally sent flying into the unknown. And flying was right. Blinded by the light at the end, all Ed could see were white dots clouding his vision as he came crashing toward… nothing. Blinking as howling wind brought tears to his eyes, Ed realized why he hadn't landed like he thought he would: he was headed straight toward cold hard dirt that was closing in fast. Worst of all, it was all solid stone, a deep blackish grey that looked like it would hurt if hit hard enough. Quickly moving in midair, he made it to where he'd land on his auto mail arm, closing his eyes again as he awaited the imminent impact. The cloth of his jacket and shirt dulled the sound of metal hitting stone, making him wince at the sound even though it stung his still perfectly fleshy side. He gasped for air as he tried to breath with bruised ribs, his ears barely registering another bodily thud and grunt somewhere to his left. Managing to roll over onto his back, Ed couldn't help but wince and groan. "… Ow…"

"Are you all right Edward?" a monotone voice gasped, sounding a bit worried compared to all the other times the older man had actually spoken to him like another human being. "Nah… I'm just peachy…. What's it look like? Do I look all right to you?" Ed growled as he opened an eye to glare at the man sitting not far from him, staring back with unnaturally red eyes. The Ishbalan decided not to answer as he got to his feet, dusting himself off before looking one way, then the other, an expression of true confusion marring his flawlessly emotionless features. He hadn't expected to see a lot of things, and this definitely was one of 'em: a deserted street, completely devoid of life and light, buildings that were still in some living condition or looked like they'd collapsed if you so much as poked them. Many of the windows were broken but there were no signs of gunfire or explosives to be seen. A few trees, planted in circular holes in the sidewalks, had roots coming up out of the stone surface, followed not far behind by grass and weeds randomly poking out like no tomorrow. The sky was clear with very few clouds, the sun starting to set in the distance, letting off a golden glow that brightened up the grey place but not enough to lose the gloom. No sounds came except the wind howling through, making them shiver from the chill. The leaves were red, orange and yellow while some had already turned brown: early fall from what they could tell. Another odd thing was that the vehicles on the sides of the road were almost everywhere, and were of the strangest designs. None like the cars they were used to seeing, no matter how few people had them.

Ed managed to pick himself up off the ground, actually standing as tall as Scar's shoulder compared to years before, dusting his red jacket off before his mature golden eyes surveyed the abandoned city streets that were within sight range. Not a soul appeared, not even a stray pet peeked out from behind a corner to observe the two new strangers standing on foreign ground. Shadows stretched long and dark, giving the ground a special chill as yet another breeze moaned by, making the fallen leaves scratch against stone and dirt as they floated into the air and along the ground in a display of color and nature's wonders. The two looked left and right, seeing no sign of the offender that took Al, or of the first stranger they'd followed in the first place. Ed couldn't help but feel disoriented and lost, trying hard not to panic as he nearly broke his own neck while looking in almost every direction the three might've disappeared to. As the teen continued to search their immediate area, Scar scanned the buildings that looked a lot like those in Central; only some were more of a discouraging grey rather than the deep rusty red that he was used to seeing in bricks. He also found the tall metal poles ponderous since there were signs with white letters on green backgrounds hanging over the middle of the street, right next to some odd device with three glass things under a yellow metal cover as though to shield them from rain or light. The Ishbalan stared at the strange thing before turning away to snap Ed out of his state of absolute confusion. "I think we should get moving Edward. Standing here scared won't find your brother any faster."

The teen turned on him with a vicious glare, golden eyes flashing harshly as he brought a gloved finger up to stab at the older man. "You think I don't know that? I just don't know where we are is all!" his glare melted to a look of shame as he turned around to stare at the empty streets before them. "And who knows where they went. I don't even know where to begin!"

"We'll find them Edward Elric. I'm sure that man is doing his best to get your brother back for you in our stead." He said, not helping but feel sorry for the boy as the teen only nodded with a sad smile and headed forward onto the street right in front of them, the sun setting off to the right and night sky slowly bleeding into existence on the left, and the swirling vortex glowing dimly behind them as a pair of tired grey eyes watched them with slight interest from somewhere above.

--In Central—

Getting reorganized was one thing, but comprehending that the Elric brothers and the infamous state alchemist killer Scar had once again performed a disappearing act right before his eyes, no wait eye, was truly something else. Not only had they vanished in the same fashion, but in the same direction. If one could count Al's own unintentional means of doing so then one could indeed say that they were once again off elsewhere raising all kinds of hell for people, and for Roy. And the last thing he needed was more boring paperwork to nearly break his hands over while having an extremely well cleaned 9 millimeter held to his head to ensure that all were completed within the set time limit. Mustang couldn't help but hang his head in misery and fear for what the blonde guns woman might do to him were he to shirk his duties more than he should, even on his normal basis. Quickly pulling himself together Mustang surveyed the scene with the one eye he still had no thanks to a certain homunculus aka Pride: soldiers whizzed back and forth, some with boxes or piles of paper work usually in manila folders, Riza standing next him to like any other day in the office. Or on the field for that matter. Armstrong still had yet to report from the latest victim's house and Havoc seemed to be taking his sweet old time coming back from the abandoned apartment building where the vortex was said to still reside.

It wasn't long before the man started to feel a tab bit irritated when usually such things didn't bother him since he was allegedly rumored to be one of the laziest soldiers the armed forces had ever employed. But lucky for him he was the strictest one. When he needed to be. His single black eye swept over everything like that of an eagle's, shifting from side to side lazily as he watched everything flow almost clumsily past him before he decided to look down at his desk. Or at least what could be seen of the damned thing… especially since it was almost completely covered in paper work up to his shoulders were he to sit up straight enough to see over the mini skyscraping sheets that blocked his 'Cyclops' view of everything else around him. Black Hayate, Riza's dog, yelped in pain as someone stepped on his tail while carrying a large pile of papers, thus resulting in paper rain, loud yells and far more stress than the General needed. Ever. The poor man could only sag his shoulders before standing up and slamming his hands on his desk. "What're you waiting for? Get this cleaned up and get back to work!" he roared harshly, making all within the vicinity freeze before scurrying away again, not wanting to face the man's wrath. Flopping back into his chair with a sigh of misery, Mustang couldn't help but feel stupid for what he'd done. More like what I didn't do. And to think they actually let me have this job. He thought to himself as he gently banged his head against the polished mahogany desktop.

The small thuds were unnoticed over the din of people calling and shouting, Black Hayate having long since found a safer place to nap as Riza stopped to stare at Mustang's desk as her acute ears picked up his slight hisses of pain as he continued to punish himself via his own desk. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him, knowing that he had something at work that even he, General Roy Mustang, had yet to notice. Shaking her head, Riza Hawkeye hefted the box in her arms a little better before calmly walking away with the occasional glance back in worry at the one she'd sworn to protect. No matter what the cost.

Just as she was about to turn a corner with her load when a certain oversized muscle wonder (with sparkles to blind), came marching in his pale and blonde glory exclaiming in his triumph about something the higher ranking woman had yet to comprehend. She blinked and managed to say in her monotone voice. "Say again major?"

"My family's brilliance has once again shone through for the Armstrong family for I the oldest descendant have found one of our perpetrators!!" he said again as he struck poses, his muscles and blindingly flawless skin flexed and pulsed as the man continued to ramble on about something or other as Riza noticed that a dark something seemed to be hanging from the larger man's shoulder. It was swinging along with the man's movements, but something told her that the strange thing wasn't exactly taking all this odd activity that well. Many stopped and blinked when the strange mass suddenly grew a head and exclaimed at the giant man. "Are completely daft to the point where you forget who's in your custody man? Now put me down or by the graces of whatever gods you worship I'll hack up me lunch onto your head and slowly gnaw your arm from your BLOODY SHOULDER!!"

The man didn't look like the violent type but he did look woozy enough to try anything to escape someone he definitely didn't like from second one. Sincerely apoligizing in his annoying way, Armstrong finally set the man on the ground where he wobbled until he slumped to the floor against the closest wall, looking like he was about to lose his latest meal. But luckily he managed to hold it down long enough to look around, spot Riza and smirk. "Well Lady Gun, we meet once again. How long has it been? A good hour or two; a half hour perhaps?" he inquired as he rested his capped head against the wall, lazy light grey eyes staring back into hazel. It wasn't long before she set her load down to walk over, pick him up by the front of his jacket and look him right in the eye. "Where's Alphonse Elric?"

"Alphonse? Now that's an interesting name for a lad like that. Sure did fight hard the poor boy. I can be truthful when I say I tried to find them when they passed through but I came back here incase the slippery cadaver of a bastard pulled a fast one on me. I called my comrades to search the other side while I looked here for him--."

"You mean there are more of you? Where? Who are they and who are you? Why are you here?" she growled in her restrained fury as the man started to sweat considerably at her expression. He was 'saved' by the ever familiar Mustang stomping his way onto the scene, his single black eye taking in what was before him: Riza holding up the dark clad stranger from some time before and a confused and disgustingly shirtless Armstrong looking on as the blonde woman unleashed a million questions at said man whose feet were dangling above the floor. Spotting her commanding officer watching her every move, she chose then to let the man down so he could breath a little easier. Just when he thought he was in the clear, the man found himself face to face with an infuriated one eyed man, his single eye ablaze as his voice froze him to the spot. "Where is Alphonse and Edward Elric?"

The man blinked before he seemed to just stare, absolutely unfazed by anything around him as he stared the man in the eye. "You saw the door didn't you? Think about it; use your imagination if you have one. I personally have no idea where or when they could be and why. The boy our nasty friend grabbed may still be together unless the brat was smart enough to actually fight back after I lost track of it. I may still be able to track it but I can tell you I was about to get a good lead when your… employee over there grabbed me and dragged me here to be yelled at by you. Questions?"

All could only stand in a stunned silence at what the man had said, and even when he'd finished they still couldn't believe it to be true. This man had lost track of Al's captor and had no idea where Ed was? Was that even possible? "What do you mean by 'where' and 'when'? And what exactly is that thing in that old basement?"

The stranger sighed as he leaned against the wall, rolling his eyes but decided to keep his temper in check. "I already told you what it was or are you suddenly deaf to my words? What's down there, in that basement, is a door to places that even the wildest of imaginations can't dream up and your friends are now caught over their heads in it with no means of escaping except the way they came. And as I said before, I was looking for the thing but your subordinates here seem very intent on keeping me from doing what I do for a living."

"Do for a living? What do you do exactly? Does that thing have something to do with it?" Mustang inquired, curious now as the man put on a grim expression. "Sir, when it comes down to that… you've no idea just what it is I do."

"Try me."

"No you don't. I'd be going against my own laws in telling you anything else."

"Then at least tell us what's been happening to all the people that have gone missing over these last few weeks! Surely there's something you can tell us!"

Staring back at the one eyed man, the stranger straightened to where he was standing on his own two feet, ignoring the General as he looked to Riza, holding up his cuffed hands. Blinking, the woman released the man of his bounds, watching as he flexed his arms and wrists before turning back to her superior. His almost silvery eyes seemed to search Roy's single orb before he finally sighed, his shoulders slumping while one of his hands reached into one of his coat pockets. People tensed but dared not to stop him as he pulled out a small sheet of plain white paper, which much to their stunned curiosity, he started to fold. A few moments passed before he finally revealed a paper bird, expertly made to where it was almost life-like in appearance. Setting the item down on a nearby windowsill, he opened the window to the early evening air before looking down expectantly at the paper animal. For some reason he seemed to grow frustrated with the thing and barked at it. "Well? Get goin' you silly buzzard! Ain't got all night you know that?"

All could only watch in astonishment as the thing suddenly came to life, moving with invisible legs (since it didn't have any), moving its oddly shaped wings, turning its head back and forth before looking up at the man with nonexistent eyes. The man sighed and calmly flicked the thing out the window, some surprised that it actually panicked as it vanished over the side before coming into view some distance away, soon becoming nothing more than a strange moving dot in the distance. Closing the window the man simply walked away, found a chair and took a seat as though nothing had happened at all while completely ignoring the looks he was getting. "What did you just do?" Riza had to ask in an amazed voice of how the man had made a lifeless thing fly as though a real bird and not some folded up piece of paper.

"I just sent a message to my colleague and superiors of the present situation and considering how fast that little guy was flyin', I'd say we'll get a response within the next… oh… half hour perhaps?" he said coolly, leaning back and crossing his limbs, leaning his head back, pulling his hat over his eyes as though in preparation of sleep.

"But Al may not have that kind of time! How do you--?"

"I just do okay lady? I just do now relax will ya? Before somethin' in that head of yours snaps like a twig." He grumbled in annoyance, shifting in the chair and sighing in obvious fatigue, his breathing already starting to even out despite his location. Some people had already begun to continue their work, sending curious glances in the man's direction as they passed by. But on the other hand, the man seemed to be ignored, somehow blending in perfectly with everything else whether he was aware of it or not. For all they knew, he probably didn't care if they noticed him or not, whether they saw him as someone amazing or just a piece of garbage, one couldn't be sure if he even gave a rat's ass. After only a few minutes or so one could swear his was silently snoring in his chair, his feet seeming to stretch further away from the chair as he snoozed on, not even yet another crash of papers and boxes disturbing his dreamless slumber. Things finally calmed down for the military office, the hands of time slowly ticking away as the man peacefully slumbered on for what seemed like hours. But then this eerily long freeze frame was interrupted by a loud tapping at the window, the man perked up in his chair, using one of his thumbs to lift his hat out of his face and slapped a smirk on his face as he got up and headed toward the window. "Mail's in."

A few blinked out of their sleepy dazes as they watched the man open the window and grab something from out of the dark night air, even though they were only on the second floor. Closing it again the man still smirking, he turned to face them, a box and the paper bird in his hands. He came back toward the row of desks, letting the group of soldiers gather round to inspect the contents of the peculiar package. It was wooden and in fairly good shape but looked as though it'd been dropped a time or two before hand. A copper lock held the thing closed as some sort of insignia on the lid shimmered in the artificial light of the office room. Scowling the man turned to the bird, now a little on the dusty side, and gave it an expectant look. When nothing happened his scowl intensified. "Where's the key you little cheapskate? How the hell am I supposed to open it if I don't have the damn key? Answer me that you oversized, fancifully crumbled post it note!" he hissed in his annoyance, the paper animal seeming to shiver from his words before it flopped over onto its side, revealing it hollow underbelly and a small copper key. The man smiled and quickly grabbed it before anyone else had the chance to snatch it up for him.

"What exactly is in that box and how'd that little thing get it here?" Lieutenant Havoc inquired as he adjusted his glasses, leaning forward to give the paper bird a better look over. But the man just smiled mischievously at the smaller man. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Actually we all would. And how does this item help us find the Elrics and Scar?" Mustang barked in frustration since he'd waited long enough. The stranger was really testing his patience and he wasn't sure he could hold back his fury any longer. But the man just smiled and held up his hands in surrender. "Just let me open it and you'll see. And if you lean any closer to that bird I'm sure it'll take the time to poke your eye out, even if you do have glasses on."

Havoc jumped and quickly bounded away from the paper creation, not wanting to end up like Mustang when it came to vision impairment and having two look-alikes would be just weird in their minds. Everyone else seemed to edge away from the little paper animal as it sat innocently on the desktop, possibly watching them all with nonexistent eyes. The man just smirked at their reaction and preceded to put the key head into the hole in the lock, small gears squeaking in protest to the movement as a small click resounded off the white walls. Hinges creaked as the lid was lifted up, its contents taking on new air while many pairs (and single) eyes peeked over the man's shoulder to observe what was there to be seen. Absolutely nothing. The box was completely devoid of anything solid or considerably useful, that being a device or papers giving instruction on what to do. But the wooden container didn't seem to contain anything but possibly old air, powder or dust. Mustang scowled at the man with a pissed off sneer marring his pale features. "We waited all this time for this?" he hissed in his fury, clenching his fists to keep from getting the man in the jaw. The man just stared and reached into the box and pulled out the bottom panel, revealing a darker, deeper space.

"You so sure about that?" the man said as jaws dropped to the floor in awe of this foreign spectacle and possible illusion. But upon further inspection did they find that even though inside the box was the endless abyss, the bottom upon which the box's legs and opposite surface resided was perfectly normal and intact. Almost as though there was nothing paranormal about the item whatsoever. One of the men picked the box up from the table only to find that nothing about the odd object changed except for its weight which surprised even Armstrong who took a turn holding it only to find it dragging him to the floor. The large man struggled to free his hands only to be surprised further by a brown-gloved hand reached out of the container and ended up palm down on top of the man's shiny baldhead. It wasn't long before the hand added pressure and was soon followed by an arm completely encased in a jacket sleeve. Also with this arm came what was obviously the other hand as both proceeded to protrude from the small container.

Finally a head and shoulders came into existence, sharp as knives eyes flashed as they fell on Armstrong whose hands were still trapped under the box's unusual weight. The new stranger, sporting what looked to be an engineer's hat, brown hair and golden green eyes that simply pierced the soul in a single glance. Said eyes fell on Armstrong who immediately started to sweat from what was amazingly literal terror as the man stared down at him despite both their positions. His face was completely devoid of emotion as his right hand gripped the floor while the other seemed to have been used as a means to get a grip on something solid mere moments before. The man's expression never changing, he placed both hands on the floor and easily brought the box up off the other man's hands and onto the clean tile floor mere inches away. Never saying a thing he gripped the edges of the box and started to pull himself out some more until he finally got himself out below the waist. His dress was that of a storekeeper but yet of someone active like a mechanic or a factory worker, almost as if his rough dark brown jacket and gloved hands weren't proof enough. Pulling his feet out of the box so his boots could make dull thuds on the clean tile, he reached back into the box all the way to the shoulder and started to pull something else out. At first it seemed like he was really struggling with whatever he had his grip on but it wasn't until his arm started to slowly come back out did they know that what he was doing wasn't completely pointless and awkward. With one final pull, whatever what was left came out in one tug, spilling into the room almost like oversized confetti. Another man was sent flying across the room into the wall with a loud thud, two travel bags tossed like rocks crashed into another wall and a corner, nearly getting someone in the head.

The first man from before just watched the scene unwind with an amused smirk while the first man from the box glared at the ceiling from his spot on the floor where he'd fallen backwards in assisting his companion. Raising his hand to help the other up, he just smiled knowingly as the man just rolled to the side and got to his feet himself, dusting himself off in his irritation. The stunned silence was soon broken when the third man of the party finally rose from the floor and stabbed an infuriated finger at the second and yelled in an amazingly childish tone. "BROTHER!! You did that on purpose! Why'd you do that anyway?"

The second man just smirked coolly and turned to the third. "Because I could you dolt, so deal with it. Just feel glad I agreed to bring you along at all. Little brother."

This only seemed to anger the third man further, who to everyone's surprise, looked exactly like the second, only he actually looked pissed as hell. Fierce rage flared in his golden green eyes as he stabbed his finger at his look alike all the more. "That's not the point and you know it you hard ass! Now say you're sorry right now!!"

His twin only smirked and crossed his arms, obviously feeling superior to his opposite standing near the wall. "Why should I? It's not my fault you got stuck on the way here you know. That and we have a job to do so just shut up and suck it up." He growled as he closed the box and lifted it from the floor, turning to face the first man with an annoyed expression marring his smooth features. "So what's so important that you call us here of all places? And at this hour pray tell?"

"Well for one thing I needed some back up that and you two are the best trackers I could think of other than Lazy Dog whom of which I'm sure is busy sleeping by now like he always is." He said with a sigh, his shoulders slumping as the other just looked like he wanted to kill something but only enough to make his eyebrow twitch. "Yeah I think so too. The bum." He seemed to growl as his double circled around the room to collect the bags that'd been so harshly thrown across the room. It wasn't until the twin joined the other two did he notice that they were being watched by a group of very shocked soldiers in blue uniforms, their jaws on the floor before the man grinned like a fool, pointed at them and yelled, "LOOK BROTHER!! PEOPLE!"

"Huh?" was all the man said as he turned with mild interest at the group staring on near the door, tilting his head slightly as though to observe them at a better angle. Turning back to the first man he growled again. "Yo Gayle, what's with the crowd? They look like they've seen a magic trick they can't figure out."

"Technically that's the issue since you guys did come out of a box after all." Gayle shrugged with a shy grin as he turned to the group who still stood by in shock as the first man pointed them out one by one. "Well that's One Eye, Lady Gun and dog, Big Man and Glasses, Cigarette Dude, uh… Snow Head and Red Man." People sweat dropped as he finished the 'introductions' the third man too thrilled with new faces to notice while his more serious double looked like he wanted to strangle the first. The first stranger, or in this case Gayle, just tried to act like he didn't notice the second man's vicious stare as the third man started to stare almost curiously at Black Hayate, who stared back before pawing at him. Curious and insightful, the man let the paw fall into his open hand, lifting it up to his face, twisting it this way and that before blinking and exclaiming almost as loud as possible. "Hayate! Black Hayate doggie! Long lost puppy gone all out military warrior!" jaws dropped as the group stared in astonishment while the man laughed and the dog barked, tail wagging almost in glee.

"How did-? How did he-?" Mustang stammered, as Hawkeye just seemed to be too stunned to say anything.

"I've no idea but he does that sometimes. These two have the innate ability to see through time and space. Evan there can see a bit of the past but can clearly see the future while Ozzy here, next to me mind you, will easily recite a past saying that you said maybe, a few days ago? Plus he has some clairvoyant insight that proves useful now and again. To top things off, they've the second best tracking abilities in my division." Gayle shrugged again as Evan seemed to have started a game of 'patty cake' with Black Hayate and seemed to be oblivious to the happenings around him. Ozzy just shook his head at his twin brother's antics and turned to Mustang, golden green eyes staring almost angrily and dispassionately at him. "You lost that eye to a walking dead man did you not?"

Mustang stiffened as he thought back to his fight with Bradley in the man's own basement, nearly losing his life but managed to lose lots of blood and his eye instead. The man had taken a long time to fall but thanks to his human son and his skull, the homunculus had fallen in a pile of fire and dust after murdering his own kin even though the little boy didn't know any better. Ozzy didn't blink as the jet black haired man stood frozen under his gaze, trying to fight back the pain and memory of what had happened that night and what came afterward, an unseen but desired aftermath of renewal. The man's next words surprised him, instantly shaking him out of Memory Lane's disastrous pull. "We all lose something now and again. We're no different from anyone else. Proves humanity is at its best no?"

Before the general could answer or even think of responding at all, Evan broke into it all with what seemed to be yet another childish exclamation. But when the other two tensed, they could tell what he said was pure business. "Nasty not here. Didn't come back either! Biiiiig trouble yup big trouble you bet."

"Is this what you called on us for? To find one of them who grabbed somebody? How lame is that?" Ozzy growled but was given a good whack over the head by a miffed blonde woman as her eyes burned with hell's fire. "This is a state alchemist we're talking about here. And he's only a teenager. How can you say that? How can you?"

Ozzy just blinked, rubbing his sore head and stared at the gun woman. "A what now? You understand any of that Gayle?"

"Not really. I've only been here a few days and I still don't get the lingo they have around here. Talk about a real mess if you ask me. I don't even know what 'alchemist' has to do with anything just yet."

Before a major argument could explode with pent up frustration and anxiety, Evan's voice broke through it all as he paced in front of one of the windows behind Mustang's desk, looking like he was about to be sick. "Gotta go now. GOTTA GO NOW! Bad, bad, bad, bad, BAD! NOT GOOD!! Bad, bad, bad, really bad, not good at all. Pain, lots of pain here people."

"Pain? Who's in pain Ev? Who's in pain? Where you gettin' the pain thing from? Lead the way man." Gayle said, trying not to sound too panicked. If what the man was picking up was Al's then they just might be in luck of finding him in a not so hot condition. But if it was someone else's then they were back to square one. Obviously Evan didn't feel like answering any questions but seemed to go with the last command, not even hesitating to jump out the already open window, making Ozzy curse and Gayle shout in surprise. He was already a dot in the distance by the time they reached the open window, vanishing around a corner into the night.

Alphonse didn't know where he was anymore and he didn't particularly care, all he knew was that wherever he was wasn't where he wanted to be. Trying to move his aching limbs, he found that movement was still too painful to do, and crying out wasn't much help either since he'd screamed his throat sore in his fear and attempts to free himself of the thing's grasp. Cold stone soothed his burning skin, his ears almost picking up the sounds of his sweat sizzling to cool water on whatever surface he was laying on. He tried to open one of his eyes only to find that they seemed to be glued shut by dirt, sweat and tears of fear, making him almost ashamed of crying in the first place. He was almost an adult and he still couldn't get his act together. Memory finally catching up with him, he started to wonder why he was on the ground and not being dragged around by the creature like a potato sack. Vaguely recalling a few bits and pieces, the boy still couldn't figure out just what had happened after the thing grabbed him in the basement of the old apartment building. But from what he could bring to mind was how his brother had screamed his name and scrambled after him like a shot from a gun, having reached desperately as past pain and fear had clouded his brave sibling's eyes like never seen by him before. At least that he could recall before the day they attempted to bring their mother back from the dead. Wincing at both bodily pain and mental regret, Al wiped his eyes weakly before bracing his gloved hands against the cold, hard ground beneath him, oddly chilling his exposed skin a lot more than he thought it would.

Finally able to open his eyes, though bleary and unfocused, he came to somehow see just why: while some things were being warmed by fading golden light, the reason for his chill was in the very fact that he was in the shade of some tall structure on the side of the street in the middle of a town or city he knew absolutely nothing about. It wasn't the one under Central otherwise when you looked up you'd see an impenetrable layer of rock, not clear skies streaked with dyed clouds slowly moving with unheard winds. Not helping but feel disoriented and confused Al managed to sit up, his whole body aching terribly, his left leg stinging as though burned by some relentless flame. Gripping the limb and opening his now teary eyes, he found that he'd somehow gained an injury he couldn't recall ever getting. Pushing such questions to the back of his mind, his priority now was to somehow get back to wherever he'd come or get help from locals who just might be willing to help him at all. Taking one real good look around for the first time in almost ten minutes, his grey eyes almost popped out of their sockets at how high and sophisticated the buildings were, reaching higher than high, their glass windows shining brightly in the late afternoon sun. Wait… afternoon? If that's true then how long have I been here? Where is here anyway?

Mind abuzz with a million questions, Al instinctively tried running down the street to see if he couldn't find anything familiar. He didn't even get past the second step, pain returning with a vengeance, making him cry out and fall flat on his stomach before he curled around his injured leg while he bit his lip in agony, mind whirling into a hurricane of memories and thoughts becoming nothing more than jumbled images, murmured words and waves of past thoughts all rolled into one nasty package that nearly sent the boy back into oblivion. Forcing his breathing to that of pants rather than gasps, Al let the pain fade before he tried again, this time completely wary of the limb's unexplained condition. Unfortunately he never even got to his feet again when a voice behind him grumbled patiently. "You shouldn't be moving with that leg. Hell, I didn't think you'd be up by now."

Quickly turning in surprise and attempting to crawl away, the grey eyed boy could only look up and see yet another stranger for the third time that day, towering over him as though he were one of the buildings around them. He looked to be in his mid twenties, tall and lean with possibly some muscle hidden away but was otherwise almost stringy looking. Hazel eyes stared calmly down at him, face hidden by clay or porcelain in the shape of a horse, light brown hair falling down the back of his head like a curtain of color to form a small tail. Dressed loosely in what looked to be something close to the blue uniforms he was used to seeing, from Al's view, the man was dressed very much like a soldier; only his uniform was the wrong color. His black boots looked like normal shoes, chocolate brown jacket undone at the collar to show a black undershirt as his hands seemed to be stuffed into two of the many pockets in his light brown and oddly baggy pants. To put things simply, the stranger looked nothing like any soldier he'd ever seen in his life, even if he didn't seem to have any weapons on him at all. Finally finding his voice despite his position the boy finally demanded. "Who- who are you? And how did I get here?"

The man just seemed to raise an eyebrow under his mask and coolly shooting back. "Gee I don't know, I was kinda about to ask you the same thing. But I guess that can wait now can't it?" he kneeled down before the teen, obviously getting a closer look at the boy's leg, who tensed and shifted under the man's intense gaze. "Hmm. You need to get this seen to, but I'm no medic. Has it been like this long boy?"

Bristling slightly at the man's words Al replied anyway. "I don't know. All I know is that I woke up here with my leg exactly as you see it and next thing I know you pop up. Where did you come from anyway? You weren't here a minute ago."

"It's called walking you dolt and this looks pretty deep. Maybe the Lion Lady can take a look at this for us."

"Lion lady?" the boy inquired as the man straightened, stretching his limbs in accordance to their stiffness as he looked down on the teen again. "Yeah that's her nickname but you'll understand when you meet her I guess. She's nice until you piss her off with one thing or another. But I doubt she'd beat the crap out of a guest who's injured no less. You think you can get up?"

"No I don't think so but I can try." He said as he pushed against the ground again, bending his knees and hissed as his left came to life with agony, almost making him fall but was saved when two strong hands gripped his left arm, bringing him up and slinging his arm over his shoulder. Something in the man's voice told him that he was amused somehow. "This ought to work for a few blocks right?"

Al could only stare and blink as the man's eyes seemed to sparkle with mirth, his deep voice echoing from inside the mask as he moved forward, supporting the boy every step of the way. It wasn't until a block or two later that Al really started to feel dizzy and weak, slumping with each step as he tried to keep his eyes open, the sun having already given way to a deep dark blue speckled with white dots. Feeling the man set him down onto the cold ground again, yet another question refused to stay in the back of his mind like the rest of them: what had happened to the thing that'd grabbed him in the first place? Thoughts muggy and drunken, the boy opened his mouth to give the inquiry voice, only to find that once again, he fell into the peaceful darkness of oblivion.

Evan had been running through the winding streets of Central for almost an hour and he still had yet to pinpoint the source of the 'bad pain' that he was so strongly detecting like no tomorrow. It started to worry him that it would abruptly end, making that the end of that. Never reaching a person in agony in time always bothered him, especially when he knew he was closer than close to finding the one plagued by such things as pain or sadness. It just added to the previously existing guilt of his being slow and a failure, unable to complete the job that his odd senses begged him to reverse. He almost skidded on the hard stone street as he took yet another right turn, sweat streaming down his face as he felt himself get closer and closer, making him run harder than he had not ten minutes before. His chest seemed to close within itself, making it feel like he was having an asthma attack but pressed on regardless, not daring let something like that hold him back. Not now, not ever. Blinking sweat and tears of pain away, he saw the sight that his special senses were picking up so strongly: a cart accident where a man was being crushed by his own load of melons, people desperately trying to dig something out. A woman was nearby, being held back by a few neighbors and going completely ballistic, crying and screaming about her son being somewhere in the pile. Dropping down to one knee, Evan struggled to catch his breath before getting back up again, running forward again in time for his brother, Gayle, Mustang, and a few other military personnel came around the corner after him. Hawkeye was about to chase after Evan when a hand grabbed her shoulder, making her turn to meet golden green eyes. "Don't. Let him do it."

"What? Let go of me! Why should we let him?" she barked, staring back at him in confusion, as the man remained eerily cool. "Because he sensed this and the person trapped in there called for him, subconsciously or not. It's his job to find the brat so let him. He just might break your arm if you try to stop him."

Still doubtful at the man's words, the blonde woman just turned back and watched as the man's opposite scaled the large pile of produce and got the attention of a few other people within range, already digging around for the fading life calling out to him. Minutes seemed to become hours but all was well when a shout rose above the din of it all, announcing the find as a small coughing sound rang out, nearly making the woman faint and people to rush forward, lending a hand in freeing the small form. A doctor came forward with his bag to do his duty while others began to clean up the mess that the overturned cart had made. Evan drifted back, looking pleased with himself with a kind smile on his face. "All good?"

"You bet." Evan said, his smile broader than before while his sibling just had the ghost of a smirk gracing his face. The smirk vanished as quickly as it'd come, Ozzy turning to face Mustang. Eerily grim he growled. "Do you have anything we can use to find your missing brat? Anything fairly solid will suffice."

Eye narrowing a little but nodding nonetheless, remembering that Gayle had done the honors of updating the man on their situation in the middle of their goose chase, Mustang pulled out a recent photo of the Elric brothers standing next to each other in full dress and flesh, bone and blood. Except for Ed who still had his fake limbs but he didn't care as long as Al was back in his body again. They could only watch as the man examined the piece of paper, flipping it over time and again, even at odd angles as though trying to find something out of the ordinary. What puzzled them more was when he turned away from it and started to stare at a building closest to them, almost as though he was trying to make it melt on the spot. Slowly turning clockwise Ozzy seemed to observe everything within range, freezing a time or two only to grumble something in annoyance, continuing to turn like before. After a few moments he turned his gaze to the ground, repeating the process, shifting counter-clockwise with his gaze fastened on the stone street and sidewalk in turn. Ozzy finally turned around to face them, shocking all but Gayle and Evan with his oddly glowing eyes of silvery white. "Anything?" Gayle asked, sounding hopeful that the man could produce good news. No such luck.

He shook his head, shutting his eyes before opening them again; his golden green orbs having ceased to glow, his expression grim. "Sorry nothing. Wherever he is it's not in the city, let alone under it. Though very few have characteristics like these, absolutely none of them match this boy at all. That and I doubt the target could've been able to leave the city so quickly with a full-grown teen under his arm like that. Our best bet is this dunce over here." Ozzy said, jerking his thumb at an annoyed twin who snatched the picture out of his hand and whacked the man over the head, ignoring the man's grunt of protest and curses sent his way. Evan's gaze upon the picture lasted a few moments longer, his expression thoughtful with a hand at his chin in contemplation of the basic as well as complex parts of the image. Without a single word he gave a small grunt and started to walk briskly down the street, nearly leaving them all behind as he went.

Ed and Scar weren't exactly having the times of their lives either, especially since they were lost in a city that could've been constructed by gods compared to the structures those of their world were capable of creating. That and they had yet to figure out where their pursued had vanished to with the kidnapped sibling of a certain Elric whose patience was running thin. Predictably it wasn't long until the blond snapped. "WHERE THE HELL ARE WE? WHERE ARE ALL THE PEOPLE AND WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING THAT TOOK MY BROTHER?" he roared as loudly as his throat and lungs could humanly allow, Scar trying to keep his own cool in comparison to Ed. "I'm sorry Edward but I'm just as lost as you are on this one. They could be anywhere by now. As for the locals… I've no idea but that's also one of the questions I'd like to ask too. I don't believe it possible for people to just leave a place like this behind for no reason at all. Also considering the height and majesty of some of these buildings I'd say that this area used to be of great importance for some reason. Now the question right now is: where are all the people who live here or at least work here?"

"Yeah I guess you're right on that count. But that's not the only thing that bugs me right now I mean, what are these strange machines sitting on the sides of the road here? What do they run on and why do none of them look the same?" the teen couldn't help but ponder as he approached one of the cars, looking into its interior through one of the oddly spotless windows on the passenger's side, greatly confused on how strangely it looked and how the machine itself could look so smooth and durable yet so mysterious despite its inability to speak for itself at all. While looking in on the seats and leather interior, a flash of shadow in the reflection in the glass brought his attention to the building behind him, making him turn and look at the roof, eyes focusing on what was above rather than around them. "Edward?" Scar said confused and curious, looking up also to find nothing but sky and cloud. "Did you see something?"

"Don't know but I've got a bad feelin'. We should keep moving." The boy said with a growl in his voice, eying the roofs as he turned away and walked forward again, hearing Scar's footsteps following in step with his. They only had to wait another block before their unwanted friend came crashing down on them, having leapt from the top of an eight story apartment building down to the street below, separating the two men by a large crater in the stone street between them. It slowly rose out of its crouched position to stand straight, clothes in poorly sewn rags, skin oddly dark even when engulfed in shadow of the very building it'd jumped down from, a small breeze sweeping through to whiff the smell of old blood and decay over them both, making them cough as it turned toward Ed who was unfortunately alone on his side of the street. A poorly sewn together face, mismatched eyes and beastly teeth glimmering in the light made Ed freeze to the spot. This was an all too familiar sight from the day he and his brother had attempted to bring their mother back, having him lose his limbs and left Al bodiless. He thought he'd lose his lunch if not for Scar coming behind the thing and trying to use his arm's power on it, red lightening flashing in the late afternoon light, brightening up the shadow as the thing somehow dodged the attack, making the Ishbalan strike the ground instead.

It screeched with an inhuman voice, a clawed hand coming around to gauge the man's eyes out, an evil grin on its face as it did only to be lost to Ed finally making a move of his own, using his fake limb as a shield against the creature's assault. The clang of metal on nail rang through the air, making the thing spin around for yet another strike only having to duck out of the way of a lethal blade swung at its head. Glaring and growling in annoyance it back flipped to a few feet away, straightening again before moving quickly in a zig-zag pattern, becoming a blur in their sights as it roundhouse kicking their feet from under them to flip and come down again with claws bare and extended for the finale. Wordlessly the two rolled to the side, heading in opposite directions to dodge the attack once again, Ed nearly getting stuck under a car while Scar just ended up with his back against a mail box, quickly getting to his feet and activating his arm again. The creature seemed to stare at his limb in curiosity but seemed to care less about what he could do and why as it rushed at the man again, not caring what he did as long as it could do what it wanted. Ducking out of the way of the creature's blows and not paying much attention to see the mail box get sliced in half, he grabbed the thing's left leg and let his arm do its job. Red lightening filled the air as the thing screeched its rage and pain into the air, making it slash at Scar's face, throwing the man a good distance away. "Scar!" Ed called in concern and surprise that the older man was tossed away so easily and with so little effort. Turning back to the creature, what they both saw nearly made their eyes pop out of their sockets. Somehow it was still standing like any other person, using the wreckage that was once the mailbox as support as it used one of its free hands to clutch at the severed limb in obvious pain. Glaring daggers at them both the creature simply screeched at them in its rage, even as yet another shadow came running toward it from behind the two and straight at the creature without any sign of hesitation at all. Raising a shining blade into the air, the mysterious figure used that seemingly rare moment to strike.

Cliffhanger!! Oh man this was actually a good chapter if I do say so myself and I quite literally do say so! And it's only the second installment! I can't wait for the kinds of reviews this is gonna bring in and I hope they come soon 'cause I feel a little out in the storm compared to everyone else on this site if you really think about it. Is my writing that bad or am I just not that exciting at this point? Are you guys ignoring me? Hey. Hey… HEY!!

On with the notes already!! Get a move on you slouch! Geez:

…. No notes huh? That's definitely not a first but… I think I just jinxed myself anyway… yeah I didn't feel like changing any names and what have you from my other stories but if you're curious and you don't want to left in the dark you'll find the info at the ends of my chapters in 'Aurora Borealis' and probably in its sequel too. If you care that is… I'm just sayin' people sheesh. No need to get grouchy.

Next time in 'Fullmetal Dimensions'!:

Chapter 3: Another Lazy Dog: Friend or Foe?

Scar and Ed meet up with a new friend in the mystery city, who's probably lazier than Mustang! But is he really as reliable as he says he is? Or is he another one of the creepy creatures in disguise? And how will the twin's involvement help both groups find Al, who's been picked up by a friendly face that just might have something else other than help in mind, and figure out what's really been happening lately in Central? Can these oddball strangers really be trusted or are they just smiley-faced pawns in a scheme bigger than anything the Elrics and their military buddies have ever seen before? Find out whenever the hell it is I release:

Chapter 3: Another Lazy Dog: Friend or Foe?