Hey! It's me! Uhh... Here's chapter three! I did foreget to write the disclaimer in both of the last chapters, didn't I? Sorry.
Disclaimer: If I owned FMA, you really think I'd be sitting here with the time to write a story about it? No. So I don't. So sad... I want to own it, heck yeah. But I don't. There you go. Happy? On with the show!
Colonel Mustang ran across town. He saw the flames licking high in the sky from the fire over by Fullmetal's apartment. He saw the sky, pitch black, taunting every second he waisted running. It only fuled his speed. "Fullmetal runt! Why do you have to put me threw this kind of crap?" He muttered to himself, trying to get his blue coat to stay draped over his shoulders. He foreged threw his coat pockets for his white gloves and slipped them on. Roy expected nothing less than the worse.
He stood behind the flames and snapped his fingers. Another small fire was formed and etched itself into the bigger fire. A small claring was smothered out, giving Roy an opening to slip in before the wall rebuilt itself. He ran in and saw a body, limp and looking lifeless, on the cold ground. How long has it been here? Who does it belong to? Roy asked himself as he slowly made his way to the body.
A gasp pried threw his lips as he aproached the body. "Who would do this to him?" He gasped, slipping his hand under the body's head. He picked it up in his arms and ran threw the wall of fire, the flames reaching up and burning any bare skin, as well as parts of his uniform. Roy swore under his breath at the singing pain from the burns. Across the body's chest was a word cut into the skin. "Rage," Roy read aloud. He started to nuge and shake the body, shaking it so it would wake, if it was still alive.
"Wake up! Wake up, Fullmetal!" Roy called out.
Other officers began to show up, each with buckets and hoses of water.
Chime... Chime... Chime... Chime... Chime... Chime... Chime... Chime... Chime... Chime... Chime... Chime... Roy counted twelve chimes of the tower clock as he tried to get Fullmetal awake. At the last chime, Roy called it. "Twelve o' clock PM. Fullmetal... Why...?" Roy felt his throat choke a little.
A gasp of life came from Ed's throat. Ed coughed.
Roy became alerted. Based on Roy's basic knowlage of medics, he knew he had to get Ed out of the area and fast. Roy scoped up Ed again and bolted for the Millitary hospital, all the way talking to Ed, scolding him.
Ed didn't remember almost any of Roy's comments, execpt for the few ones with the word 'short' in them. He tried to frown.
When Roy saw Ed's attempt to frown, he knew Ed was going to make it. After all, Ed wouldn't be Ed if he didn't try to get mad at being called short. Roy smiled and ran harder, ignoring the constant sting of the burns he had recieved. He even smiled at the pain. It would get him at least a few days in the hospital, a few days of no paperwork.
But, way across town, Rage wasn't feeling so happy. He sat and stared at his blood-stained claws, feeling shock and despair. Wrath had told him to wait on a bench as he went and told the man with an eye-patch about their win agenst Edward.
Wrath smiled. "Yes, yes! We won! And it was all thanks to Rage!" Wrath smiled.
The man smiled, also, but turned from Wrath. They won because of the Rage inside of that boy. They won because I had sensed such pain inside of him. If only I can fully awaken the Rage inside of him, if only I can awaken the Truth. He smerked. He turned again. "Good job, Wrath. Share my praise with Rage, also. Regain your fatuige and power and strength. Rest up. Eat a good meal. Have a break. You two did well. Envy or Greed wouldn't have done such a wonderful job. Father will be happy when he learns of this."
Wrath's eyes lit up. "Thank you!" He called, bolting out the door.
"Father will be very, very happy..." The man laughed, walking into the shadows.
Ed sat up. Around his head was a bandage. It hurt to move. His Auto-Mail had been compleatly busted. "Crap..." He moaned. "Winry's gonna' kill me." It was then there was a knock at the door. Ed leaned forward a bit, groaned, and slumped back in his bed.
Roy opened the door. "Feeling better, Fullmetal?" He asked. Around his neck was a bandage. His face was burned, but not very badly. One eye was covered with a patch. Roy caught Ed staring at it. "Oh, this...?" Roy asked, putting a hand on the patch. "Just a burn. Nothing, really. When you play with fire, you get burned. As the Flame Alchemist, I should know what. Ha ha." Roy half-smiled at his little joke.
Ed frowned at it and looked away.
"Still don't like me, huh?" Roy sighed.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Ed asked finally.
"I could be like everybody else and say that I need my oficers alive for future wars..." Roy tugged on his jacket. "Or I could be nice and say that I've decided to help you."
Ed jumped. "Errk- What!!!?"
"Why so suprised, Fullmetal? You're surrounded by fire, injured, the name 'Rage' cut across your chest-"
"And you got all the details from Winry, right?" Ed finished Roy's sentence.
"And missing one little brother." Roy corrected. His eyes fixed into a steady glare. "I haven't talked to Winry yet. I just find it odd that Alphonse is... Gone?"
Ed swalowed hard. "Sh-Shut up!" Ed yelled at Roy. "It's my buisness to know where he is! It's my buisness to know and not yours!"
Roy flipped out a picture, sort of like how Hughes did. He handed it to Ed with scorn. Ed glarred at Roy before looking down at the picture.
A quiet gasp eased into the air as bright gold eyes saw the contents of the photo.
A single person wearing a red coat, bright orangle flames, and a look of despair was all that could be captured. The rest of the photo was blurred by the smoke of the flames. This person had a head of aburn-colored hair and pale white skin. He was running away from the scene, looking back over his shoulder.
"We captured this photograph just as the felon fled the scene. Nobody here, as stupid as it sounds, knows the felon. We thought you, perhaps, could tell us who he might be?" Roy asked.
Ed nodded. "Yeah, I know him. Why don't you, of all people, know?" Ed looked up, offering the picture back. There was signs of fear in his voice, but covered well with anger.
Roy sighed. "Hmm, might as well give up the act, eh?"
"Just tell me why you even waisted your time showing me this." Ed wanted Roy to take the picture back before he ripped it in half.
Roy leaned over and took the photo out of Ed's hands, slipping it into his coat pocket. "Well, Fullmetal, you certianly won't like this but..." Roy stopped, knowing that Ed would have something to say. Ed remained quiet for once. "We've peaced everything together. You've been out for a day and a half, long enough for us to know that Alphonse is no longer the person you've seen him as.
Ed's eyes widened. "Tell me about what you guys found out." He wispered, lowring his gaze to the floor.
"Alphonse is now working with the humunculi. He is called 'Rage', and holds more power than the others, far more. He has the power of flames, like me. You alone couldn't talk, or even fight, Alphonse back. He was convinced that we were evil and they were good. Alphonse also had no previous memory of either sides. We are waiting for your recovery to make any movements. We are hoping to trade Alphonse-" Roy was going to say more before Ed cut him off.
"Don't you dare think I'm letting you touch my brother! He's nothing to be traded for, either, so just call it off!" Ed yelled, clutching the bed sheets.
"We know you're in pain, Fullmetal, but Alphonse is now considered-"
"Don't you dare tell me what my brother is! He's the same person I know, even if he's gone dark! I know he's in there, and he wouldn't slump to just let the millitary find me if I was gone!" Ed shouted louder.
Roy was done with trying to be nice. "I have no care right now about your worries! If Alphonse somehow regained his memory while with them, we would all be murdered! If death is how we will get Alphonse out of the grip of the humunculi, then death shal be the toll!" Roy roared.
Sheska looked up from her book, shaken. "D-D... Did I just hear... Alphonse will be... K-Killed...?" She stood up and bolted to where she thought the sound had come from.
Ed looked up, his eyes burning. A single tear crawled down his cheek. He gripped the sheets harder than before, anger pulsing threw his veins. Ed stood, his head throbbing, and ran at Roy, pulling back his fist.
"Stop!" Sheska cried, flinging the door.
Ed stopped, his free hand wrapped in Roy's coat. Roy jumped at Sheska's voice. Ed kept his hand curled in a fist.
"D... Don't do it... Please..." Sheska looked down, she even scarred by her own shout. Her voice was broken by sobs that she kept in her throat. "D... Don't... Don't hurt Alphonse... P-Please..." The sobs didn't stay back long. They broke out, tears starting to roll down her cheeks. She coughed, trying not to cry. As the thought drove threw her mind, as the words crawled down her throat, the image of Al sitting in a pool of blood, a huge red stain on the chest of his shirt ran across her mind's eye. It only made sher choke and sob harder.
Roy looked over at Sheska. "Sh... Sheska... You have not a friendship with Alphonse, yet you care so much. How come?"
"A... Al... Was... Was kind to me... He... He stayed long hours at night, when all of you were asleep, cleaning and orginising the files with me, talking to me... Helping me... He was more of a friend than I've ever had...! He made it so me and Winry met... And ever since him... I've had friends and I haven't been so lonely! You can't do this to us, S-Sir!" Sheska's words stabbed threw both Ed and Roy's hearts.
Rage, meanwhile, had long ago fallen asleep on a park bench, waiting for Wrath. When he woke, he was in a pitch-black room, pain surging threw both of his wrists and both of his anchles. A set of slitted-eyes stared at him threw the darkness. They were about six feet away.
"So... You're awake, huh?" A voice hissed. A light flickered on. It was a candle light. Rage thought it was a man, the man that the eyes belonged to. The man slowly approached Rage.
Rage saw that it was a man with long, green hair proded out into spikes going everywhere and anywhere. Rage could hardly keep his one eye open. "Huh. You're not exactly what Pride bragged you up to be." The man put his hands on his slim hips. "I gess he'd kill me if I didn't properly meet you. I'm Envy." Envy looked down, sighing. He dropped the candle onto the cement floor. It flickered out. "Aww, crap... That was my last candle..." Envy pouted.
Rage listened intently, happy that he wasn't alone in the dark.
Envy looked into Rage's eyes. "So, can you talk, or do I have to feel like I'm talking to yet another brick wall?"
Rage looked down, then slightly nodded. "W... Where... Where am I?" He managed over the burning pain. He tried to pull his arm to his wrist, but found that it didn't move.
An overhead light turned on. Envy and Rage both looked up in unison, the Envy turned his head to a black door. It slowly creaked open, and the man with an eye-patch walked in, the same smirk on his face as before, his arms neatly tucked behind his back. Envy placed his hands on his hips again as a bored frown took away his slight smile.
"Hello, Envy, Rage..." The man smiled.
"Oh, hey, Pride..." Envy turned back to Rage.
The man, Rage found out to be Pride, walked over.
Rage looked down. He wasn't even on the ground. His limbs had been pinned onto a giant, wooden wheel. Clasps had been clamped around Rage's wrists and anchles, along with metal spikes jabbing into his flesh. Three in each arm, four in each leg, and one in his neck, just missing the spine and any vital points. Blood ran down Rage's pale skin.
Pride smiled. He passed Envy and stood just in front of the wheel. Pride reached out and gently touched Rage's skin. "You see, Rage..." He drew his hand away. "You are not one of us, and never will be. So, before Father finds out..." Pride looked to Envy, who stepped back in respect. "I shal simply get rid of you."
"Wh-W-What?!?" Rage stuttered.
"Hmmm...? Oh, yes. Rage... You possess so much rage within you... That I just cannot let you go. One of Father's children must have it. I'm sure, if you were more like us, that you would've made Father very happy, very happy indeed."
"N-No! I'm not going to d-die!" Rage screamed, struggling.
"You shouldn't more around much, Kid. It only hurts worse." Envy hissed happily.
A memory hit Rage's head. It was the memory of feeling nothing. Feeling no pain, feeling no worry. It was all... All empty. The feeling then pulsed threw Rage.
"You're welcome..." The Truth was back, once again, and had wispered in Rage's head.
"Thanks," Rage wispered back. He felt no pain from the spikes.
Pride then noticed Rage wasn't suffering anymore. This brought a frown to his lips.
Rage noticed the frown and smiled. "I told you, I'm not going to die." Rage ripped threw the spikes. He ripped out of the clamps. It made him smile wider when he felt no pain, though there were many large gashes and splinters in each of his limbs.
Pride frowned harder as Rage fell to his knees, but stood like nothing had ever happened. "Envy." Pride looked at Envy.
"It's about time, Pride!" Envy ran at Rage, tackling him down.
The fight was on.
Sheska turned to leave the room when a hand was placed on her shoulder. Roy smiled at her.
"I... I don't know what gets into me. Sheska... I assign you this mission to help Fullmetal, Winry, and me to find Alphonse."
"B-B... But I normally don't go o-out on m-missions..." Sheska stuttered, a wide blush spreading across her face.
Roy nodded. "Yes, I know. But I do think a change of scene will do us all good. Isn't that right, Fullmetal?" Roy turned to Ed's bed.
The wind tossed the hospital curtians back and forth. The bed sheets were roughed-up, and the window remained open.
"Fullmetal!" Roy growled.
Sheska sort of laughed. Winry had told her at least a thousand times of Ed doing this kind of thing, then either turning back up in the place you'd least expect him, or the place he was originally missing from.
Roy noticed Sheska's giggle and smiled.
The door flipped open. Riza walked in, a worried look on her face. Sheska stepped aside as Riza walked over to Roy. She leaned over and wispered in Roy's ear.
"Get Fullmetal, now." Roy commanded.
Riza nodded as she looked out the open window, noting Ed's absense. She went over to the windowseal and lept out it. Roy tapped Sheska's shoulder and left the room. Sheska took it as a signal and folowed. Roy went streight to his office and threw open the door. Sheska stood at the doorway. Roy tore open his desk drawers, getting his white gloves and slipping them on.
"S-Sir..." Sheska stuttered, once again moving out of Roy's way.
Roy turned. "Yes?" He kept walking angerly. He knew his answer just by looking in her eyes. "Stay here. Call out all soliders."
Sheska nodded.
Rage slid to the ground, grunting.
Envy laughed as he lept away. "Get up, Kid! Put up a fight!" He taunted.
Rage stood, calling out a shard of power. His hands grew hot as they turned from skin to scales. A fire burned around his hands as he charged at Envy.
Envy dodged the fist blow and was stupid enough to catch the second one. Rage made his hand blaze, burning Envy's. Envy lept away again, growling.
"Gah! You fight just like that stupid Mustang guy!" Envy scowled. "Why is it you see that fire is the only way to fight? I like that Fullmetal twirp better than you or Mustang!"
"F... Fullmeh.... Metal...?" Rage wispered to himself, shaking his head.
Envy saw an opening and charged. He punched. Rage dodged and kicked. Envy grabbed Rage's foot, flipping him into the air. Rage twisted around, causing Envy's wrist to turn to a painful point. Envy let go for a split second. Rage grabbed his own wrist, cocking his elbow down. As Envy fussed with his hurting wrist, Rage pounded him down, his elbow going into the crook of Envy's neck. Envy shouted out.
"Envy! Why are you letting this kid beat you?" Pride yelled.
"Why don't you come over here and help me if you don't like the way I fight?!?!" Envy yelled.
Pride sighed. "I might as well get in some target practice..." He started running at Envy.
Envy squirmed away from Rage. Rage screamed as he felt a sudden sting to his ribs. Pride slowly slid his sword out of Rage's flesh.
When did he draw his sword?!? Rage yelled at himself inside his mind, leaping back. Blood squirted out of the wound. Rage made his right hand go up in flames and he pressed it to the wound. The burnt skin covered it, for now.
Envy ran at Rage. Rage dodged Envy's first kick and caught his second one, but Envy leaped back, so Rage fell down. Envy stuck one foot on Rage's chest, pinning him down.
"Ohh, Pride... Come finnish the kid for me? I just don't have the heart to spill his blood. My hands will remain unstained of Elric blood, unless it's the Fullmetal twirp's." Envy sighed, desgusted.
"Envy, Envy, Envy... You have grown a soft spot... For what? This mere human?" Pride examined his sword, allready stained with blood. "Surely my skills could be used for something worth more than a human life-"
"Shut up!" Rage exclaimed. "You guys are no better than humans! You guys are no better than the rest! So shut up!"
Pride smiled. Envy pushed down harder, snapping one of Rage's ribs.
"How about you shut it, fool. I, frankly, am getting tired of you," Envy stepped down harder, making Rage cough and squeal at the sound of yet another broken rib. "And I don't like putting up with things that I don't like!" Crack. "Why don't you just hurry up," Crack. "And die!" Crack crack.
All of Rage's ribs had been shattered. Rage coughed and sputtered. There was a bright flash.
Rage stood up then. He had no injuries, and no enimies. He, instead, was looking into the eye of a big, black gate. "Uhh..." He stuttered.
A huge, purple eye opened inside of the gate. It peared out at him threw the darkness of what was within the gate. "Alphonse..." A dark voice hissed. "You have not gained your memory back?" It asked.
Rage shook his head. "I... I just want togo back!" He cried, confused.
"I shal give you one more piece of knowalge... But... In return... It shal be even harder to find 'The Truth'." A huge bolt of white static charged into Rage.
Pictures flashed threw his head. One, of a blonde boy. More of that boy. His name. His age. His clothes. His features. The love that bonded Rage and the boy. The bond between Ed and Al.
-, or Rage, and his memory back together? Will this crucial piece of information about Rage's brother bring Edward to his younger brother's rescue? Who knows. Not even I. Please excuse the few spelling errors within this story... For nobody's perfect. Here's just something I wanted to include. =)
~My favorite quote of the FMA manga series, Volume 14, quoted by: Father, requoted by me~
"If one sees an insect on the floor, does one see it crawling and call it a fool? Than why shal I call you humans fools? No, insects are so beheath you that you simply do not notice them, because you harness much more power than they ever could have. They are not fools for being weak. We are just too better for them. It's the same way I feel about you humans."
Harsh, huh? Well... I just kind of liked it, and it stuck, so... Sorry for those who don't like it. Sorry for those who can be such jerks as to never saying a complement... Not that I know any! I'm just saying... Please don't be rude, is all. Please don't comment just to argue. I'm young, I make mistakes, and I really am trying hard on this story. If you don't like it, instead of commenting really rude, please just say one of your nicer concerns, and stop reading. I thank those of you, mostly Flame(you know who you are- the one I'm dedicating this to!), for being nice. Thanks, Flame! (if I may call you that)
