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Ed groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, cringing as his head pounded painfully. He blinked a few times as he looked around in confusion. It was incredibly dark, the only source of light being a pitifully burning torch at the other end of the room. He watched the flame sputter a few times, but in the end it continued shining, casting the room in a dim, weak light. There were no windows in the little room. Hanging all over the walls, were multiple chains and cuffs. He assumed this was probably where they usually held a lot of people. A single steel door stood across from him, but it was more likely than not, locked. Up above he could just barely make out metal support beams. Upon closer inspection, the walls appeared to be made from heavily compacted dirt. He looked down to see that the floor was also dirt. He looked down at his ankles and sighed in irritation as he saw the heavy-duty bracelets around them, attached to thick chains. He reached behind his head with his remaining arm, his fingers skimming a bandage that had been wrapped tightly around his head. He immediately realized what had happened. The big oaf had thrown a rock at him! He growled angrily. He'd get him back. He jerked his head up as the door creaked open.

"Ah, I see you're finally awake. I hope you slept well. I must apologize if Vern was a bit rough with you." A woman walked in, her head held high and her shoulders squared in an air of confidence. Wavy white locks framed her slender face. Her red eyes quickly found Ed's gold ones and held them there. She smiled kindly at him. She looked like any normal person, dressed in a simple t-shirt and slacks, but there was something about her that sent off the warning bells in Ed's head.

"Oh yeah, I slept great. Though waking up wasn't as fun thanks to that jerk. Now, who the hell are you," he replied sarcastically. She frowned, her eyes narrowing slightly. Ed ignored the shivers the look sent down his spine.

"My name is Amy Lent." Ed nodded in acknowledgement. He felt relieved when she didn't ask his name. Maybe she already knew?

"So, where am I," he asked nonchalantly. She grinned at him. It was a bit unnerving.

"You're currently under Central. We have a vast network of tunnels and chasms dug out all around this city. Though, it did take a long time, and a few alchemists to accomplish it," she replied cheerily. Ed raised an eyebrow.

"I thought Ishvalans weren't supposed to do alchemy," he questioned. She laughed.

"Oh, we didn't do it. We had to kidnap a few alchemists to do the dirty work for us. I'd introduce you, but they aren't around anymore," she said. Ed didn't miss what she implied. They were all dead. Killed. Well, that would explain all the chains in the walls. He couldn't help but wonder what they intended to do with him then. He cleared his throat.

"What exactly do I have to do with all this? Why am I here," he asked. Instantly, her smile fell. A dangerous glint entered her eyes as she glared at him. He subconsciously pressed himself back up against the wall to get a little distance. She sighed.

"Revenge," she answered simply. Ed frowned. Sure, he knew he made plenty of enemies. It wasn't exactly something he usually avoided, but he didn't know what he'd done to make her want revenge. He certainly didn't recognize her from anywhere.

"What did I do?" Her eyes widened, before she burst out laughing, startling him. She sighed as she sat down cross-legged in front of him. She grinned.

"Oh, sweet heart, it wasn't you. It was your father. He had one of the highest death tolls in the Ishvalan war. I watched his flames burn my parents to a crisp. I want him to pay. So, now he's going to watch his precious son die at the hands of the people he tried to kill," she replied, her voice full of malice. This time it was Ed's turn to laugh. She glared down at him with a pout.

"Oh, that's rich! Me, his son? Yeah right," he laughed. Amy raised an eyebrow in confusion while Ed wiped tears from his eyes.

"I'm not his son. Geez, only an idiot would think that." She scowled, standing up to leave.

"Yeah right. I don't believe you for a second. You're probably just trying to save your own skin. Either way, you're still going to die, and we have all we need to make it happen. Then the military will fall right along with you and your father," she sneered. Ed frowned, a sudden thought coming to him.

"Wait, are you guys by any chance behind all the train disappearances?" Amy stopped and turned to face him with a mad grin.

"Yes, that was us," she replied smugly.

"Why? What could you possibly have to gain," he asked, hoping to get some information out of her. She only smiled at him.

"Like I'd really tell you our plans," she said in amusement. She crossed her arms over her chest and studied him. She gave him a weird look.

"You don't seem to be very worried, considering I just told you you're going to die," she stated. Ed shrugged.

"I've gotten out of worse," he said in a bored tone. She looked at him in surprise.

"Oh really? How interesting. I suppose your father isn't doing a very good job at keeping his son safe then. I guess we'll just have to keep a careful eye on you," she commented. Ed smirked.

"I'll still find a way out no matter what you do," he said confidently, throwing her a cocky smile. She turned towards the door with a sigh.

"What a bad attitude for a prisoner to have. Looks like we'll have to destroy that spirit of yours. We wouldn't want you causing us any unnecessary trouble," she said. Ed's stomach dropped. Suddenly he didn't feel as confident anymore.

"I'll send you a little friend, so you don't get so bored trying to plot your failed escape." And with that, she left, slamming the door shut behind her. He could faintly hear voices talking outside his cell. He frowned. He would admit, he felt a little worried about this new "friend". He shook his head. He'd deal with that later. For now, he was desperately trying to fit all the pieces together. His mind wandered back to the conversation they'd just had. It was obvious from the way she held herself and the way she spoke to him, that she was in charge of the whole operation. What he couldn't figure out was why. Why was she going through all this trouble, and for what? He sighed in frustration. He wasn't any closer to figuring it out. He was still left confused. He had hoped she'd open up about it, but she was apparently smarter than most villains he'd come across. She wasn't so eager to spill her guts, even if he was just a helpless kid. He ground his teeth. He hated to admit it, but he really was helpless. He had no clue where exactly he was, other than under the city, but that didn't help him at all. He was locked away, and at the mercy of his captors. He was still missing his arm, making it harder to fight if that's what it came down to. He was a sitting duck. Even if he did get out of the cell, what would he do then? He didn't know the expanse of their tunnels. He didn't know how many people were in on the whole thing? How many people would be trying to stop him? He was completely clueless, in the dark.

He looked up as the door creaked open again, revealing a grinning man. His face was badly scarred, and his nose looked like it had been broken many times. He was shorter in stature, but well built. He had something metal slung over his shoulder. The flickering light of the torch reflected off the steel surface, and Ed's eyes widened in recognition. The man gave him a twisted grin, his eyes shinning with madness.

"Heh! Looky 'ere wha' we fished from the lake, little boy," the man cooed. Ed was too distracted by his thoughts to blow up over the short comment. His mind went in to overdrive as images flashed before his eyes. A man's weathered face and bright red eyes, pushing him over the side of the boat. He shuddered. So, these guys were affiliated with the man, Sam Heckel. They had to be, if they had known where his arm was. He felt a sense of dread as the man stepped forward, waving around his detached arm. It was covered in rust, probably from having been underwater for so long. He had no doubt that the wires would be all messed up. There was probably some pretty extensive damage, and he could only hope it still moved. Winry was so going to kill him.

The man walked up to him. He dropped his automail arm to the ground with a loud clatter. Ed flinched. The man grinned before kneeling down to look his in the eyes. He chuckled. Ed scowled. His breath smelled like booze. No wonder his speech was so slurred.

"I bet yer missin' yer arm," he stated. Yes, Ed did miss his arm, but he had a sinking feeling that he was going to get it back now. His stomach dropped. He doubted this guy would be gentle, and the fact that his arm was most likely damaged, did not make him feel any better.

"Time for some fun," the man said gleefully. He grinned widely as he stood up. He grabbed Ed by the front of his shirt, hauling him up to his feet. He grabbed one of the many chains in the wall, along with Ed's one wrist. He chained it up to the wall. Ed sighed in irritation.

"Can't have you falln' over," he said, as if what he was doing was simply a kindness. Without another word, he stooped over and picked up the discarded arm at his feet. He grinned widely, like a kid who had just gotten just what he wanted on Christmas. He gave no warning as he shoved it into Ed's port. Ed's eyes widened as he fought the urge to cry out. He clenched his teeth. He would not give him the satisfaction. He squeezed his eyes shut as he waited for the wave of pain to pass.

"Aw! Thas' no fun," he heard him protest. Ed scowled as he opened his eyes to glare up at him.

"D-do you really e-enjoy pain that much," he ground out. He wondered how many other people this guy had had the pleasure of torturing in this place. It was sick!

"Yeah, actually, I do," he replied shamelessly. Ed grit his teeth.

"Well, then in that case, when I get out of here, you're the first one on m-my list of people to beat," he hissed angrily. All he got in response was a hearty laugh. His arm was disconnected again, as they repeated the process over and over again, until Ed could no longer bite back the agonized screams that could be heard echoing throughout the whole area.

Roy couldn't help the growing sense of dread, as they got closer to his house. He and Riza sat in silence throughout the whole ride, the tension continually building. Finally, they pulled into the driveway. Roy leapt out of the car, not even bothering to close the door as he made his way to the door, with Riza following close on his heels, gun in hand. He froze as they reached the door- or what was left of it. What had been his door when he left, was now laying in pieces on the ground. He felt his panic grow as he rushed inside, quickly pulling on his ignition gloves. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the living room. Everything had been left untouched. He made his way into the kitchen. It was a mess. All the drawers had been pulled open, as if someone had been searching for something. Or maybe Ed was looking for a weapon. His eyes skimmed through all the drawers, until he finally reached the knife drawer. Yes, Ed had definitely found himself a weapon. He allowed himself to feel slightly more relieved. Maybe the boy was completely fine then. He hurriedly ran upstairs, racing to the end of the hallway, while Riza stayed back to check and make sure the rest of the rooms were empty. Roy peered around the corner into Ed's room. It was empty. He frowned and looked around. Maybe Ed was hiding?

He saw scuff marks on the dresser, where Ed had probably scrambled on top of it. He pushed it aside, leaning over to look out the window. Down below, he could see signs of a struggle. Grass had been torn out in clumps, and he could see a faint indent where something heavy had fallen. He frowned. Whatever had come had obviously been huge… and powerful. He didn't know many people that could overpower Fullmetal. There's no proof he was overpowered though, he chastised himself. That's when he saw it. He leaned further out the window to look at the side of the house. He cringed. The paneling had been badly cracked and dented. He desperately hoped it hadn't been Ed who had caused it to be broken in so badly.

"Sir, there's no sign of him, nor whoever broke in," Riza reported as she walked in the room. Roy could see her eyes darting back and forth, sweeping the room for any clues he may have missed. She walked forward and bent down to examine the windowsill.

"Sir, someone was bleeding. We should send a blood sample to the lab," she stated. Roy looked down at the spots of dried blood on the sill, before nodding. He prayed to anyone who would listen, that it wasn't Ed's blood.

"Right. Hawkeye, get a sample to the lab. I'm going hunting," he commanded. Riza nodded and went to work on the sample. Roy dashed out the room and down the stairs. He ran out the door, not even bothering to try and fix it. There were more pressing matters to attend to at the moment… Like how on earth he was going to find Edward. He sighed in irritation. He didn't have a clue where to start. His eyes scanned over the yard and he sighed again. Whoever had the boy had been big and powerful. That certainly didn't sit well. His mind went back to the blood they found. Maybe there would be a trail. He sprinted across the lawn and went about searching. He didn't dare get his hopes up. He grinned victoriously when he spotted patches of red. He followed it. The trail led him down the sidewalk for a ways. All the while his mind worked in overdrive. He was beyond worried. He was, dare he say it, scared. He was scared for the boy. That fear buried itself deep within his gut, refusing to go away. A flash of silver caught his eye, dragging him away from his thoughts. He knelt down and picked up a small kitchen knife. Dried blood crusted along the blade. He smirked. So Fullmetal hadn't gone quietly. He felt a small bubble of pride well up inside him at the thought, but just as quickly it was gone, replaced by a new fear. What if he was hurt? He frowned as he looked around some more. Where he stood, there was a considerably larger quantity of blood than before. A large deep crimson spot stained the pavement. In the dried pool was a single stone. His frown deepened as he glared at the spot. He would find Ed. If the boy was hurt, the culprits would pay in full… with interest.

"Don't worry, Ed. Just hang on a little longer," he muttered.

Ed hissed in pain as he cracked open his golden eyes. He felt sore all over. His right arm burned painfully from the torture he'd been forced to endure. Blood dripped from his port. He felt it annoyingly trickle down his side. He shuddered. He didn't know how long he'd spent screaming while his arm connected to his abused nerves over and over. His throat felt raw. He looked down at the steel limb that hung limply at his side and grinned weakly. The idiot had left his arm attached when he finally left. Ed assumed that the man probably thought it was too busted to work or he was too weak to lift it. That or the guy was just an idiot. Ed was leaning more towards that answer being the right one. He hadn't even bothered chaining it to the wall along with his other arm. He concentrated hard on his right hand, willing it to move. He smirked triumphantly when his fingers twitched. He made a quick mental not to thank Winry later. Slowly he lifted it, wincing at the pain it sent through his port. He clenched his teeth tightly as he twisted to reach up to his chained wrist, pressing his palms together. He took a deep breath before pressing his metal fingers to the cuff. Blue alchemic light filled his vision before he heard a clank and the cuff fell to the floor in pieces. Now that there was nothing holding him up, he collapsed onto his knees with a pained groan. He felt exhausted.

He looked up towards the steel door of his cell and sighed. He had to get out before they came back for him. He had to get out and find out what they were up to. He growled in frustration. There was always something to be done. The world just wouldn't let him rest his pained body. He stood shakily to his feet and wobbled over to the door. He made quick work of destroying it.

He grinned. He'd give 'em hell. After all, creating chaos was his specialty. He'd just set off a few explosions, kick some butt, and wait for Mustang to get his lazy self down there so they could figure out what was going on. He sighed. Just another ordinary day.


Hey guys! Sorry if the ending of this chappy seemed kinda rushed. I had to end it quick. I just haven't had enough time nor motivation to write lately. :(

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!

~SoulEater Alchemist