Chapter 2: Chaos Unfurled
The following takes place a week and a half after the past events:
I think I love you…
A whisper was let out into darkness, a man's voice, but there was no image to match to this soft whisper. Suddenly a pair of light blue eyes opened, the only things shining in the pitch black area of a man's dream. A body formed around the blue eyes, a beautiful shape, and the woman that was formed turned to a slight angle shooting a wave as she began to walk away.
W-wait! Who are you?
She winked, disappearing off into the darkness so suddenly. The light flooded in as two emerald bright irises adjusted to the sight of the real world. A man, hunched over a wooden desk with a half empty bottle in one of his hands; He was wearing blue and gold, issued uniform, slacks and up top was a white sleeveless muscle shirt.
"Welcome to reality kid!"
A voice shouted as another man peeked in over his shoulder, red hair and a slightly larger build than the other; A bit of scruff on his chin, barely considered any facial hair of the sort, and a pair of brown eyes that closed when the happy man grinned. Breda, as he was called around the office here, in Central, slapped the hammered comrade of his and continued on his way chuckling.
"Mmf…Don't remind me"
The green eyed male groaned in pain, leaning back and stretching, but he lost balance causing the chair to tip one side and then the other before falling back with a harsh thud. He didn't move, a moment or two went by, before one of his arms came out and threw the bottle to crash against a nearby wall.
"I can hear someone's up and awake…it's about time…"
Another voice stated from another room, this one with onyx hair and ebony eyes, and a gentle smirk lying upon his lips as he read through several sheets of parchment. He began to thumb through them, and then set the stack down, pushing back and standing up with an irritated yawn.
"Ugh, how long was I out, huh?"
The man on the ground took a long reach, pulling himself up and kicking the chair back up right. He looked back, rolling his shoulders and stretching a bit more as he looked to the irritated raven haired male, Roy. It turns out he and the drunk were good friends, but not on such good terms at the time.
"Couple hours at the most, but please Vincent… it is getting a bit annoying cleaning up after your depression"
Roy gave a soft sigh, rubbing his forehead and then cleaning out an ear with one of his pinkies, he would flick the residue off of a pair of white gloves without a second thought. Rolling his eyes he walked past Vincent towards the door, stuffing both hands in his pants pockets and disappearing.
"I'll be back in a while…and Vincent, clean yourself up alright?"
Everyone stopped their actions for a moment, blinking at their Colonel's rash words and disappearance; he usually wasn't so quick to get out of there. The man now identified as Vincent scratched his cheek which was covered in messy scruff, the beginning of a beard that he hadn't really taken any point of cleaning up. He took a moment to glance down, his hands weren't human, automail, same with his arms up to his shoulders, and they gleamed in the light of the office.
"Well…that's the third girl in a week, new record eh big man?"
Vincent's head turned sharply with a devil like glare in his beautiful green eyes, he was aimed for a blonde with a cigarette gently placed between his teeth. The man would aptly crunch down nervously on the stick, the sound audible with the awkward silence the two provided in the room. This one was Jean Havoc, or public enemy number one, in Vincent's books.
"You really should keep that bull shit to yourself kid…"
Jean gave a shrug, his hands and shoulders lifting,
"Hey, I was just saying-"
With seemed like inhuman speed, Vincent lunged forward, gripping his hand around the scruff of Havoc's shirts lifting him slightly into the air, only enough to make his heels lift off the ground a bit.
"Like I said…Ugh…too fast"
He groaned a bit and raised a hand to his head in pain, the speed rushing into him like a brick wall, all the booze causing his head to pound like crazy. Havoc sighed in relief and pushed the angry man off of him, flicking his forehead with two fingers.
"Take it easy big man, I think you should take Mustang's advice, clean yourself up, get yourself another lady friend and relax."
There was more silence, Vincent wandered back to his chair and the smell of the bottle he had smashed up, sighing he fell forward onto the desk at which his cheek was pressed against the cold uninviting wood.
"Listen man…for once, mr. love's right…get back out there, it shouldn't be too hard for you. What, with your good looks.. and..all"
Breda sauntered to the fallen man, pushing his face down into the desk like any pest would and giving a sigh. Suddenly Havoc joined in, slapping Vincent across the back, posing and raising a hand into the air to point up,
"I propose, we go out and get sparky a woman, personally!"
More silence, Breda glanced back at him and threw his arms into the air,
"Hoorah! A day on the town, I like it…"
Vincent simply groaned, once the red head had let go of him he ruffled his brunette locks in frustration,
"Guys…"
He groaned, carrying out the word in a sort of whine, but before he had finished, the chair was kicked out from underneath him and both men grabbed one of his metal limbs, dragging him out the door.
"Guys, get the hell off of me!"
"Nope, buddy welcome to intervention."
"Yup, you're getting off a' your depression, and getting yourself a lady friend, and a life"
Kicking and screaming, Vincent began to charge up angrily but was viciously smacked upon the head, causing his concentration to snap out.
"Quit your whining boy, it's for your own good."
They dragged him down stairs, and far enough where he simply sat there with a completely pissed expression on his face, the other two men beginning to hum a bit as they jauntily walked into town.
At the same time, in another part of the large City, Roy Mustang stood; it was a train station. Outside it was a rather nice day, large puffy clouds and bright blue skies, the shadows of those clouds traveled over tall buildings. Roy stood with one hand in his pocket, the other holding a watch which was attached to the other pocket, the second hand seemed to cause him impatience. A large puff of smoke came out of the distance, his head raised with a soft glimmer in those unfeeling ebony eyes.
"Finally…"
He would whisper as the train slowly, but eventually came to an abrupt stop with the screech of its breaks. The doors on one side would slide open, people around Roy began to shift as they prepared to board the train themselves; but Roy wasn't here to board the train, he was meeting someone.
People rushed out, and people rushed in, but Roy didn't know who he was looking for and he was getting a bit nervous. Suddenly there was a shadow over his shoulder and a deep, raspy voice whispered,
"Roy Mustang…you're shorter than I expected."
And then a chuckle as the raven haired colonel turned with a slightly irritated expression dawning his features. Staring up into almost hateful eyes, he felt a shudder rush up his spine. Standing before him was Ace, whose eyes quickly closed as he grinned happily. Ace crossed his arms, he was accompanied by his brother, and Trace's two lackeys, Agony and Pain. Roy's black eyes became smaller as he thought of the possibilities,
"M-melody?"
The two of them shared awkward stares for a second or two; Ace leaned down with his hands on his knees so he was at eye level with the raven haired man. He cleared his throat and whispered,
"I say sir…do I look like a young woman?"
Roy shook his head nervously, but quickly pulled himself together with a smug chuckle; bringing his hand up for a shake he stated,
"Colonel Roy Mustang…I assume you're Melody's current caretakers…all, three of you?"
Another blank stare as the possibilities flowed back into his head. At this Ace stood straight and crossed his arms almost angrily glaring down at the little man, the two behind him did the same.
"Now sir, ya' may be her Uncle, but boy are ya' short sighted…"
The three chuckled, Ace pointed towards himself with a large thumb.
"Names' Ace, that's all ya' need ta' know now…these boys' are Agony, and Pain…"
He moved his hand each way to point at the two behind; Roy looked past him at the large and skinny men, taking a bit of a gulp.
"I hope…the names don't mean anything for me, huh? Let's be reasonable"
He chuckled a little and raised both his hands, trying to create a sort of peaceful feeling between the individuals. It only caused more silence, before Ace gave a chuckle and suddenly picked the Colonel off of his feet in a hug.
"Just think a' me as Grandpa! No, no brother… brother Ace…and yell' be brother horse face…"
Ace grinned like a child who had just found the prize in the cereal box, twirling around with the small man in his arms and humming. Roy coughed a bit, squirming and pushing away,
"I shouldn't be treated! - Erm…I noticed you don't have a little bundle of joy.. um, brother, Where's my niece by the way?"
Placing a hand above his eyes he looked around interested, blinking a bit.
"Oh, well…Colonel, you see, being the stubborn lil' brat she is, she came ahead of us and…"
The big man scratched his cheek a bit with a finger, a dumb look upon his gentle features.
"We don't know where she is…but, I don't think Melody could cause much damage in a city like this"
He said this with a sort of hopeful tone with a chuckle, now rubbing the back of his head he looked over his shoulder to the city with a smile; it was much unlike their humble little home in the desert which was about the third size, just from a glance.
"Well…is that so?"
Roy placed his thumb and pointer finger to his chin with a sigh,
"Come on then, I'll introduce you around, and we'll find her…I'm not really much worried, she's accompanied right, I was told there would be four of you with Melody."
Ace gave a nod, looking back at the Colonel, but he didn't speak. Roy turned to lead the three to a nearby car that was running with a driver up front; you couldn't see his or her face through the window. Ace, Agony, and Pain grabbed each a suitcase, just in case they were going to have to stay in this large city for more than a few hours.
Back with the boys, Vincent, Breda and Havoc, the situation had changed; Vincent was walking on his own finally with the two on either side of him, both were grinning, while Vincent had his still angry expression. They had been walking around for an hour or two and the afternoon sun was lowering slowly.
"Guys, can we go back now-"
"Now come on Vincent, we're not letting you go back just to drown your sorrows in fire water"
Breda groaned and slapped him on the back a bit with a grin, the sidewalks and streets were becoming less and less populated. The trio continued to walk on, Breda had a hot dog conveniently in his hand as he munched on it quietly, Havoc was lighting up another cigarette with a grumble; the man had been shot down a few times in those few hours, not only for Vincent, but for his own dates.
They were passing by a rather large alleyway, it was dark in back but trashcans lined the starting walls from where they were, Vincent stopped suddenly; he would stare curiously into the darkness, eyes narrowing as they tried to pick out a figure, but it wasn't the figure that would cause him to speak up.
"Did you hear that?"
Vincent mumbled and headed off in a sprint, Breda and Havoc glanced over their shoulders curiously, seeing him disappear and jumped, chasing after.
"Hear what, I didn't hear anything but your whining sparky!"
Havoc chuckled a bit; Breda stuffed the hot dog into his mouth letting out mumbling as he tried to follow after, but Vincent proved too fast for the both of them as he disappeared into the darkness at the end of the alleyway. Breda stopped, coughing and choking, trying to breathe as Havoc stopped too, heaving and gasping for breath.
"The bastards probably just trying to get out of this, damn it…"
The blonde haired, blue eyed addict took his cigarette between two fingers and took a gasp of fresh air, before placing it carefully between his teeth. Meanwhile Vincent kept running, until he practically ran into a brick wall because of his focus.
"Could have sworn I heard a scream…"
He muttered to himself, looking this way and that at the two options he had to go, Vincent kept quiet for a moment. There it was again. A soft scream, like a child, a little girl perhaps; Vincent grit his teeth and headed the first way down the alley the sounds of his fast paced footsteps echoed around him.
There, two shadows, Vincent ducked back behind a wall and peeked around the corner. A rather large figure, and three little ones, but he couldn't see much else.
"I'm sorry for scaring you little ones, but please you need to get back home quickly, it's not safe for you out here in the open…"
A man's voice whispered, Vincent tried to get a better look, there were three children; there were two girls and a boy, the smallest girl with a teddy bear that was rather scuffed up and her thumb in her mouth she looked terrified. The children nodded to whatever else the figure had told them, and ran off, Vincent took this as an opportunity, he ran out from behind the wall.
"Hold it! What's going on here?"
The figure turned around sharply, a pair of slim black glasses hiding his pupils as this man's eyes narrowed a bit. Tan skin, except for a pale 'x' across the span his eyes covered. The large built man wore a tan shirt, its texture from afar could almost be mistaken for a sort of potato sack; his trousers were army green, large deep pockets with lines in the softer material about knee high, his shoes were regular tennis shoes, a slightly lighter army green; Hanging down against his leg was an intricate, colorful belt that was tied around his waist.
Vincent's eyes widened, he stumbled back as his fingers pressed against his palms into fists. Thoughts rushed through his mind as the man's face stared at him; there was silence, before the sound of static charges welling up in this man's arms echoed through the darkness.
"Scar…"
The other did not respond, Vincent's eyes narrowed, seeming to glow with the light from the mid day sun against the alley walls, the sound of the electricity grew almost ear piercing and suddenly he charged forward with no thought at all.