Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist, Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, or Young Justice

The first step to having wisdom is to know that you know nothing.

Socrates


Hall of Justice, July 04, 2010

Two figures stood side by side on top of a hill overlooking the Hall of Justice, the HQ of the Justice League. The man on the left was old. No other way to say it, he was old. But fancy. He wore a three piece suit, matching black and white. The man that stood to his right was different. He was a young, blonde boy, wearing a black, sleeveless shirt, black leather pants, white gloves, a red trench coat with a weird symbol on the back and a hood. Under the domino mask he was wearing, you couldn't see he had beautiful, golden eyes.

"I still can't believe I let you talk me into this." Ed grumbled, not liking the predicament he was in.

Kent gave him a disapproving look, replying with, "Quit complaining, sonny. Don't blame me for your choices. You picked this option."

"Only because it was the only way you were going to give me automail limbs!" Ed almost yelled, his anger getting the best of him again.

"Hey, you could have just studied and tried to get back to your own world, I wasn't stopping you."

Much had changed in the three years that Ed had been in this new reality. He no longer hated milk, thanks to a special spell from Kent that rearranged his taste buds. He was now standing at a respectable height of 5'7. His skepticism of magic had also changed. He wasn't as doubtful about it, thanks to Kent, but someone had to do some serious work to make him believe they were magic.

However, just as some things changed, some stayed the same. Like Ed's temperament.

"I would like to see you get forced into another reality, without knowing if there's a way back and see how you like it!" This time Ed did yell, and now people were starting to notice them.

"You really need to learn how to control your anger, kid." Kent was scolding Edward, but then he just sighed. "Let's get going. Don't want to miss our chance."

Ed just mumbled, "Whatever."

They then walked to what Kent described as a secret trapdoor into the Hall. "It's actually a trap door to get out of the Hall. I would sometimes get so bored during meetings, I would just exit via trapdoor, and then just have a good time with Inza." He explained.

"That's nice. Well, let's get this over with." Ed replied.

As they traveled through the underground tunnel, Ed had thought about all that had happened to him in three years. He lost his left leg in an attempt to bring back his mother (which failed miserably) and lost his right arm in order to bind his brothers soul to a suite of armor. Then he did something that he couldn't remember doing that had made the keeper to the gate of knowledge banish his soul to another reality. And in that reality, he gained metal limbs of steel to replace the lost ones, magically connected to him so that they feel like human limbs. He read so many alchemy books, he was sure that he could have passed the state alchemist certification exam, as well as read up on the history of this world to blend in. He worked his body to the bone to be able to do feats that even a member of the Armstrong clan would flex his muscles in excitement over. He agreed to become a hero that would protect those that could not protect themselves.

That last one was the one that he didn't really plan on. Sure, he planned on helping others with alchemy, but not in the capacity that it would be required here in this reality.

"Ah, here we are, this should lead us right into the kitchen." Kent snapped Edward out of his thoughts with that. "I'll bet that they're in the library." As Kent led Edward towards the library, the alchemist took a chance to look around. The place had amazing architecture. He wondered how much material went into it, and also wondered what he could create with all of it.

When they got to the statues of the original 7, the only thought going through Ed's mind was 'What a bunch of narcissists.'

That's when he could hear an argument in the next room. The room that Kent was leading him to.

"Today was supposed to be The Day! Step one in becoming full-fledged members of the Justice League!" Ed guessed that that was one of the sidekicks.

They entered the room and stayed quite to find out what the argument was.

"Well sure… but I thought that a tour of the HQ was the first step?" The guy that Ed could only guess was Kid Flash looked confused. He was looking at Aqualad and Robin. In front of them was Speedy, who had his back to Green Arrow, Batman, Flash, Aquaman, Red Tornado, and the Martian Man Hunter.

"Except the Hall isn't the League's real HQ!" Speedy exclaimed. It would seem that he was the one who was starting the argument. "I bet they never told you the Hall is just a front for tourists and a pit stop to catch a zeta tube to the real HQ, an orbiting space station called the Watchtower!"

Green Arrow looked sheepishly at his fellow heroes when they glared at him. "I know, I know," he said with a sigh, "But I thought maybe we could make an exception?" Batman sent him the most powerful glare that Edward had ever seen. "Or not."

"I hope we aren't interrupting something." Kent had gotten fed up with listening to this kid causing a scene, and tried to diffuse some of the tension in the room.

"Oh great. We work for years to get in here, but it seems like complete strangers can just barge in whenever they want!" Their appearance just seemed to make Speedy madder.

"They aren't strangers." Batman said, his voice was the gruffest that the blonde had ever heard. "At least not one of them. Who's your friend, Kent?"

"This here is a person from another reality, seeking to use his talents as a hero for helping others." Kent introduced Ed, as he waved. "His name is Edward Elric. He needs to come up with a superhero name, but that can come later. I brought him here to see if you would know of any way to get him some field experience."

"This is bullshit!" Speedy apparently didn't like being ignored.

"You're not helping your case here, son." Aquaman, seemingly tired of his yelling, tried to calm Speedy. "Stand down, or-"

"Or what?" The young Archer had reached his maximum anger level, and interrupted Aquaman. "You'll send me to my room? And I'm not your son! I'm not even his!" He pointed at Green Arrow with a look of pure hatred. "I thought I was his partner." He grabbed his hat and threw it on the ground. "But not anymore." He walked up to the shocked sidekicks. "I guess they're right about you three. You're not ready." He turned and faced Ed. "And you will never be a real hero."

He marched out of the library, stepping on the hat for emphasis, and left. Green Arrow picked up the hat, a look of sadness coming over him.

Just then, Superman came up on the big computer console. "Superman to Watchtower, there's been an explosion at the Cadmus facility. It's on fire!"

Batman walked up to the console, saying "I've had my suspicions about Cadmus. With the fire, I can invest-". He was cut off by the screen splitting in two, Zatara coming on the other half.

"Zatara to Justice League! Wo-Tan the sorcerer is using the Amulet of Abin to blot out the sun! Requesting a full League response!"

Batman was unsure. "Superman?"

The Man of Steel looked ready to take off, no doubt about to go help Zatara. "It's a small fire. The local fire department can handle it."

"Then Cadmus can wait." Batman decided. "All Leaguers rendezvous on Zatara's location. Batman out." The adult heroes began to file out, but Batman turned to the young protégés. "Stay put."

"What? Why?" Exclaimed Robin.

"This is a league mission," intoned Aquaman.

"You're not trained-"Flash began.

"Since when?"

"You're not trained to be a part of this team, is what I meant."

"There will be other missions when you're ready." Promised Aquaman.

"In the meantime, stay put." Batman then turned to Kent. "I hate to ask but watch over them."

He left with the other League members, with them leaving through the zeta tube to reach the nearest point of Zatara's last location.

There was silence in the room for a while before Kid Flash spoke.

"When we're ready?" muttered Kid Flash, "How are we ever supposed to be ready if they treat us like… like…. Sidekicks."

"My mentor," whispered Aqualad solemnly, "My king. I thought he trusted me."

"Trust? They don't even trust us with the basics! Did you miss the part about the secret HQ in space!?"

"What else aren't they telling us?"

"I have a better question," Robin butted in, "Why didn't we leave with Speedy?"

That was when Ed, after not speaking the entire time, interjected his opinion. "Because you don't care about getting into the League as much as saving other people."

The young heroes were startled at his words, having forgotten that he was there.

"Who are you?" Robin asked.

"What is Cadmus?" Ed ignored his question.

There was a pause between the heroes, but eventually, Robin answered with a smirk, "I don't know, but I can find out." He headed for the computer.

He sat down and began typing at a frantic pace. The screen flashed as bars of information flew past faster than the eye could follow. "Access denied, "Said the computer.

"Wanna bet?" chuckled Robin as he began to type again.

"Whoa!", said Kid Flash, his eyes trying to follow Robin's fingers, "How are you doing that?"

"Same system as the Bat cave."

"Access granted."

"Alright," Robin began. "Project Cadmus. Genetics lab here in DC. That's all there is. But if Batman's suspicious," he turned to the other heroes, "Maybe we should check it out."

"Solve their case before they do." Said Aqualad with a smirk, "it would be poetic justice."

"Hey, they're all about justice, right?" said Kid Flash excitedly.

Aqualad then frowned before saying "But they said stay put."

"For the blotting out the sun mission, not this!" Cried Robin.

"Wait, are you going to Cadmus?" Asked Kid Flash, rounding Robin to face him, "Cause if you're going, I'm going." They both turned to grin at Aqualad.

"Just like that?" He asked, "We're a team on a mission?"

"We didn't come for a play date," smirked Robin.

"Do you guys mind if I tag along?" Ed smirked. "I want to start being a hero somewhere, why not with a couple of rebels like you?"

"Isn't he going to try to stop us?" Asked Aqualad, pointing at the old magician, who had been looking at a picture on the wall.

He looked at them and grinned. "I never agreed to watch you guys. Batman left before I could say yes."

Cadmus Building


The Cadmus building was small and the fire even smaller. A few scientists seemed to be trapped on the top floor and waved frantically to the firefighters below. Suddenly, a second explosion rocked the building, hurtling the trapped scientist out the window. A yellow and red blur blew by the firefighters and Kid Flash caught the scientists as they fell. He quickly dropped them off on the roof as he struggled to run up the wall of the building. With a grunt, he fell and reached out his hands to grab the window ledge of the second story of the building.

"Hey look!" called a fireman below, "It's Flash Boy!"

"Kid Flash!" he called back, "why is that so hard?"

Aqualad, Robin, and Ed arrived on the scene. Aqualad decided to take charge. "We need a plan. Robin, can you… Robin?" Aqualad noticed that Robin had disappeared. He heard a boyish cackle and saw Robin swing up to the second story window, pick up Kid Flash, and head inside.

"How about this, you put out the fire, and I get the two scientists?" Ed suggested.

"If you can, then do it." With that, Aqualad came to the firemen's aid, while Ed went up to the building.

With an audible clap, Ed pressed his hands to the building, lightning appearing on the surface, and all of a sudden, a part of the wall turned into a slide, designed to slowly let the scientists get to the ground. After they got into the slide, Ed clapped his hands again, pressing his hands to the ground, and from that, the ground raised from under Ed, elevating him to the second floor.

He entered the building, seeing Kid Flash looking around the room, and Robin hacking a computer. Aqualad followed seconds later.

"Appreciate the help," grumbled the Atlantean as he saw the were scientists safely on the ground.

"You handled it, said Robin as he continued hacking, "Besides we're here to investigate. Poetic justice, remember?"

Aqualad and Ed started to look around, trying to find some physical information to tell them what Cadmus was up to. Aqualad stopped suddenly after rounding a corner, and stared.

"What is it?"

"There was something in the-"Aqualad mumbled.

"Elevator should be locked down," said Kid Flash as he ran up behind Aqualad.

Robin joined them and peered at the elevator. He drew up his wrist computer and scanned. "Thought so" he said, "This is a high-speed express elevator. Doesn't belong in a two story building."

"Neither does what I saw." Said Aqualad, walking up to the doors and opening them. Robin came up behind him and peered into the dark and seemingly bottomless pit. "I guess that's why they need an express elevator. C'mon," said Robin as he shot a grappling line into the roof. He jumped into the darkness as the others grabbed the rope and slid down after him.

As Robin fell, he watched the floors go by. They were all marked with their respective sub-level. At sub-level 26, the rope ran out and Robin swung himself onto the ledge of the elevator. He began to bypass security as his fellow heroes joined him. Before he could finish hacking, Ed thought that it would be faster to open it himself. Clapping his hands again, he pressed them to the elevator, the trade mark lightning appeared on the surface. The elevator doors dematerialized.

"Whoa, what was that?!" Kid Flash exclaimed.

Ed looked at him with a look of pride. "Alchemy: the science of understanding the structure of matter, breaking it down, then reconstructing it as something else. If you want, you can stop at step two. Breaking it down."

Kid Flash looked excited, and said with a hint of mischief, "Ed, this might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

They entered the room and they found themselves at the end of a long, dark hallway. "Welcome to Project Cadmus," said Robin.

Kid Flash ran ahead, leaving behind streak of color. "Wait!" hissed Aqualad, but Kid Flash ignored him. The Atlantean slapped himself on the forehead as they all ran after the speedster.

Just as Kid Flash turned a corner, he cried out. In front of him were massive behemoths, quadruped giants marching down the hallways with tiny little creatures on their backs. Kid Flash slid out underneath them, moving too fast to stop completely. He quickly rolled out from under them as the others joined him.

They took a moment to observe the parade of beasts. "No," said Aqualad sarcastically, "Nothing odd going on here." The parade passed and they saw a large door across the hall from them.

After another dematerialization act, they entered the next room. Robin gapped at what was beyond it. "Okay, I'm, officially whelmed." Thousands of glowing creatures were in tubes stacked to the ceiling, all crackling with electric power.

"This is how they hide a massive underground facility form the world," said Kid Flash as they walked inside, "The real Cadmus isn't on the grid! It generates its own power using these… things! It must be what they're bred for or something."

"Of course," said Aqualad, "Even the name is a clue. The Cadmus of myth created an army by sowing dragon teeth into the earth."

"And this Cadmus creates new life too," said Robin.

"Let's find out why," said Ed, pointing to a computer at the far end of the room, "Robin?"

"On it." The boy wonder began hacking and read the information as it came. "They're called Genomorphes. Whoa! Look at the stats on these things! Super strength, telepathy, razor claws…."

"Living weapons," Ed finished. "This goes against everything that I stand for."

"They're engineering an army," muttered Kid Flash, "But for who?"

"Wait, there's something else," Robin continued, "Project Kr. The file's triple encrypted, I can't hack it."

"If it's well protected, they must not want us to find it," said the alchemist.

"Which means we should totally look into it," Robin replied with a grin, "We might just make you a good hero yet."

"Don't move!" cried a voice. They all turned and faced a man in blue and gold armor surrounded by a pack of dog-sized Genomorphes. "Wait," said the man, "Robin? Aqualad? Kid Flash? And…... I'm sorry, have we met?"

"No." Ed realized that he was the only one who this man didn't know.

"At least he got your name right," laughed Robin, taunting Kid Flash.

"I know you," Aqualad said, "Guardian. You're a hero."

"I do my best."

"Then what are you doing here?" demanded Kid Flash.

"I think that's my question, boys," Guardian folded his arms, "I'm chief of security and you're trespassing. But we can call the Justice League, figure this out."

"You think the League will approve of you breeding weapons?" yelled Kid Flash.

"Weapons?" asked Guardian, "what are you-"a tiny genomorph crawled onto his shoulder, its little horns glowing re. Guardian's eyes narrowed and he glared at the heroes. "Take 'em down hard! No mercy!" he ordered and the Genomorphes attacked.

Immediately, Robin threw down a smoke grenade, shrouding the area before he used his grappling hook to escape. Ed did his clap and pressed his hand on the ground making a wall appear before the Genomorphes, and turning to join Robin, calling to the other two, "Run! The wall will slow them down, but not stop them!"

Red lights began to flash and an alarm blared. As Robin began his hacking, Kid Flash ran up behind him. "Way to be a team player, Rob!" he accused.

"Weren't you right behind me?" asked Robin.

"Can we do this later?" Ed motioned towards the wave of Genomorphes that were chasing Aqualad towards them. The elevator doors slid open and they quickly jumped inside. Aqualad rolled in just as the doors closed behind them.

As they took a breather, Kid Flash glanced at the numbers atop the elevator doors. "We're going down? Dude! Out is up!"

"Yeah, but Project Kr is down," breathed Robin, "Sub-level 52."

"This is out of control," said Aqualad with a sigh, "Perhaps… perhaps we should contact the League" For a moment, they were silent. Then the elevator doors opened with a ding. Beyond the doors was cavernous hall. The walls were covered in a pustules-filled ooze that made it look like it was alive.

"Well?" said Ed as he stepped forward, "We are already here."

"Yeah," muttered Robin, "Bizarre looking hallway one or bizarre looking hallway two?"

"Hold!" they turned to see a tall, frail, blue skinned humanoid with large horns emerge from around the corner. Robin threw a shuriken at it, but it stopped in midair. The shuriken then went straight back at them. Robin threw another shuriken to stop it, and they all turned to run away.

As they rounded a corner, they saw a massive sliding door slowly close as a scientist walked out. Kid Flash tripped up the scientist and braced the door with a nearby canister. They all then slipped through the door way. When they all entered, Aqualad kicked the canister to make the doors shut.

"So what now?" asked Aqualad, "We're trapped in here for a while."

"Uh, guys?" Said Kid Flash, "You'll want to see this." He pressed a few buttons on the console before him and the room lit up. In the center of the cove was a tall glass pod. Inside, a young man in a white jump suit lay propped up against a table with three tiny Genomorphes surrounding his head. What was most intriguing, however, was the red 's' emblazoned across his chest. "Big 'k', little 'r'," said Kid Flash as he approached the pod, "The atomic symbol for Krypton!" He turned back to the others questioningly. "Clone?"

"Robin, hack!" ordered Aqualad.

"Right." The boy wonder quickly bypassed the computer terminal's security and read aloud. "Weapon designation Superboy, a clone who was grown in," his eyes widened, "Sixteen weeks! From DNA acquired from Superman!"

"Stolen from Superman." Replied Aqualad angrily.

"There is no way the big guy knows about this." Kid Flash added his two cents.

"His solar suit allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation 24/7." Said Robin grimly.

"What are those Genomorphs doing?" asked Aqualad, pointing to the tiny trolls.

"They're G-Gnomes. Telepathic. They're force feeding him an education."

"And who knows what else?" said Kid Flash, "They're making a weapon out of Superman's… Well, son."

Aqualad motioned to press the Atlantean symbol on his belt, "Now we contact the League." But when he pressed it nothing happened.

"We're in too deep, literally." Robin explained.

Robin turned to Ed, and asked, "Do you think that you could create a thick wall to stall them while we figure something out?"

Ed shook his head. "In order for me to create a thick wall, I need to have a lot of material to use. I can't just create something out of nothing."

"What they're doing is wrong." Kid Flash exclaimed. "We can't leave him like this."

"Way ahead of you." Robin responded, typing away.

The pod that held the Superboy opened up and, for a moment, there was silence. Then, Superboy flexed his hand. His knuckles cracked violently and they all took a step back, except Ed, who was looking closely at the G-Gnomes horns that were glowing red.

Suddenly, Superboy grabbed Ed, and threw him hard against a wall, knocking him out.

The young Kryptonian then dove for Aqualad.

He was lying on the Atlantean and beating down on him before anyone could react, but almost immediately was held by Robin and Kid Flash.

Easy, Supey!" shouted Robin, "We're on your side!" Superboy backhanded Kid Flash into the far wall, knocking him unconscious. "I don't want to do this!" cried the boy wonder as he stuffed a smoke grenade in his face. Superboy then smacked Robin away, who somersaulted in midair, and fired a taser gun at the angry Kryptonian. The voltage seemed to do nothing to him, as the boy of steel grabbed the wires, and yanked Robin to him. Catching him in the air, Superboy slammed him into the ground, making another go unconscious.

Aqualad came up from behind and tried putting him in a sleeper hold, but the super strength teen jumped up, slamming the Atlantean into the ceiling before throwing him to the ground, and landing on his chest for good measure.

Superboy stood there, looking at the four unconscious teens, before carrying out his orders.


A list of thanks

First off, I cannot believe the reception this story has gotten with only 2,000 words. I thought that I would only get a few people to read this, but this is far more than I ever imagined. Thank you all who have viewed this story.

Second, a special thanks to those who have this story as a following, you guys are awesome.

And third, to kyunaru, thank you for being the first to review this story, and to follow it.

Now, IMPORTANT, I need people to send in OC ideas for Ed's love interest. PM me, don't leave them in the reviews. I will need birth place, religion, looks, normal clothes, name, etc. But just one thing. SHE CAN'T HAVE POWERS, OR THE CAPACITY TO FIGHT CRIME. SHE WILL NOT BE A PART OF THE TEAM! She will eventually find out his secret identity, but she will not be a crime fighter.

Also, I need people to send in ideas for Ed's superhero name.

Lastly, I need someone to help me write fight scenes, because I am going to suck at them.

Till next time, I'm just Chillin, Killin.