Jasper put his hand to his face and sighed heavily, this was the famous Elric temper that he was usually able to keep under control. The man groaned on the floor and one of his subordinates helped him up, Colonel Mustang laughed at the round red mark on the man's forehead. "Well, I guess you are a state alchemist. Only an Elric would have a dangerous temper like that, I should have recognized your face and height." He smirked to himself as Jasper took a hasty step forward and Havoc grabbed his left arm and yanked him back. "Pompous old windbag."
Myrte rolled her eyes, "I think it would be best to discuss matters that are more important instead of fighting." The man nodded, "Yes of course allow me to introduce myself, I'm Colonel Wilhelm York." Myrte answered with her own title, "I'm The Flaming Soul Alchemist Colonel Myrte Mustang." York paled at this, "M-Mustang?" He was suddenly very respectful, "Please this way, I believe this belongs to your subordinate." He handed her Jasper's pocket watch and led the way to a private room.
Myrte handed Jasper his watch and their fingers touched for a split second. Both were looking at each other but they looked away and pulled their hands back. Jasper put it back in his red jacket's pocket and sat down at the table. York offered tea and they talked about the mysterious assassins who were chasing them around the country.
York arranged a train ride to Central for all of them and phoned the military police in Risembool to check on the Elric's house. They waited for the report and the man on the phone sounded scared when he greeted York, "Sir, this is Pendleton reporting on the Elric family Mr. Elric yelled at me when I had no news on his son." Jasper laughed aloud, "That would be like him." York apologized to the young man and personally escorted them to the train station.
Onboard they discussed their options in whispered conversation, at least two of them had their eyes on the other passengers. No where was safe for them. So they decided to go and investigate independently.
Meanwhile Colonel York made a call to Central and asked for the Lt. Fuhrer, "Sir, Mustang and Elric are headed your way again. I did not have the proper place or time to dispose of them myself. Please forgive my lack of preparation they are on the train arriving at midnight tomorrow." There was a pause, "Yes sir I will make sure to, no sir I have not filed a report and they did not use their own names. It was them you can rest assured." Another pause and the man closed his eyes as he stiffened and spoke in a monotone, "Yes sir I will."
The phone went dead and York pulled on his coat and left the building without another word. He then shot himself and ran into the hospital covered in his own blood, he had shot himself in the heart. The nurse at the desk hurried to him and caught him as he fell, "Colonel what happened? Who did this to you?" York coughed blood on her white uniform and choked out two names, "Mustang, Elric shot…" He fell silent as his heart stopped beating and the only sound the nurse heard was the steady drip of his blood falling to the ground in a pool.
News spread fast that Myrte and Jasper were dangerous, the morning news had their names in bold black letters, questioning why they would kill such a kind caring man. The nurse was quoted saying that he had been her childhood crush and had never done anything that deserved such a horrible death. The story also said his wife had fallen to the ground in tears screaming in agony, unable to answer a single question.
When the train stopped at East City the next day someone boarded the train with a brand new paper. Jasper caught the headlines and stopped the man, he offered 520 cenz for it and showed the front page to Myrte his eyes dark with anger.
Myrte and him read the paper together silently the others watching as the two seemed to lose their cool. Myrte cursed loud enough to make a mother and her child stare at her disdainfully. She shrugged and told her men what it said, they all reacted like Jasper had snatching the story to read it for themselves.
Someone noticed them and both Myrte and Jasper glared at the passenger who looked out the window. No one spoke until they got to Central and split up, Myrte and Jasper went to HQ and asked to see the Fuhrer. The secretary at the desk recognized them and called for Mps who attempted to apprehend the pair.
They barely escaped and hurried to Hughes's house where the others waited for their return. Once there the two changed their disguises and stole Hughes's two best hats. Then they left without a word and raced through the busy streets of Central, the clouds over the city were grey and depressing. Jasper loved to feel the rain on his face but right now the rain was not going to help.
They hurried to the Armstrong house where Olivia Armstrong still owned the estate with a strict hand. There the two were received abruptly and Olivia looked them over critically. She listened to the story with an emotionless face and harsh eyes.
Myrte looked at her with an equally critical look and waited patiently. Olivia spoke after some minutes of thought. " I believe you. Obviously you were far gone at the time of his death. You two have been framed. I can do what I can but I'm not going to clear your names. Just because I trust you doesn't mean I can help." Now I know why Dad avoids her, and why does she glare at me like that? Myrte was a little uneasy in her presence.
Olivia stood and left the table, Myrte and Jasper followed her working to keep up with her pace. "So you believe us but you won't get involved?" Mustang took on a stern tone and walked next to the General, this was a dangerous move but Myrte was in a bold mood.
Olivia nodded silently, "I can not put myself on the line, how will helping you benefit me?" Jasper and Myrte looked at each other and then spoke in unison, "What about your nephew? He isn't like his father." Olivia looked at them, "He's still Alex's son so I am unmoved by him." She stopped at a door at the end of the hall, "Please leave I have other business so get out of my house."
She slammed the door behind her and the two left quickly not wanting to get in trouble. "She is a heartless woman." Jasper commented as they hurried through the rainy streets of town. "Well she is famous for being heartless." Myrte replied coldly, "You should always care about those you work with." She said offhandedly. However Jasper was rushing up to a man in a suit with dirty blond hair and golden eyes.
She caught up with him as the man was about to walk across the street but Jasper called out, "Hey Uncle Alphonse!" The man turned and grinned at Jasper. "Hello Jasper, I was just thinking about you." Alphonse pointed to the front story on his newspaper. And Jasper sighed heavily, Alphonse glanced up at Myrte and smiled.
"You must be Myrte?" He shook her hand warmly and held it for a few seconds longer than normal. Myrte was going to say something but she remembered he had once been an empty suit of armor. She realized he probably remembered not being able to feel the warmth of someone's skin every time he touched someone.
He turned to his nephew, "So is Ed in town too?" "No he's at home with my mom and Nina." "How is Winry, she hasn't written in a while." "Good taking care of customers as usual." "Winry's always helping someone. So what about this murder, you didn't kill him did you?" "Of
course not, we were on a train when he died, and we can prove it." Myrte listened to them talk, maybe he could help them.
"So how are your parents Myrte?" Alphonse asked politely. Myrte was caught in the middle of a thought, "Oh, they are just fine, in fact they are celebrating their anniversary in a few days." Alphonse grinned at this, " I'm glad they are well. It has been a long time since I've seen them."
The three walked back to Hughes's house where Alphonse was greeted warmly and they talked about the trouble they were in.
That night Hughes returned home to find another guest in his house and he sighed loudly, "Why me?" He muttered to his plate of waiting dinner as he sat down alone at the table.
Myrte came to sit beside him, "I'm sorry Hughes, its just that we need somewhere to stay for a night or two. In fact they'll probably come to investigate you. Since you're my brother you are number one on their search list, and that's why we're here, I want them to catch just a few of us because I want answers." Her brother gave her the look he had given her since childhood, it was one of those 'you're crazy!' looks.
She grinned back, "It's the only option to protect our families." She left with those words hanging in the air, to Hughes she had asked for his trust and that everything would turn out ok. But he really didn't believe that, somehow something would be lost, he just hoped it wasn't going to be his sister.
Alphonse proved good at strategy, and was full of insight and ideas. Obviously he had learned well from his earlier years, of course he wanted to know about their adventures. Myrte wondered how he was Edward's brother, this man was nothing like him. Alphonse was kinder and had a smile that was permanent, she found it amazing to believe he had fought homunculi once.
Sometime after midnight a neighbor's dog began barking wildly, and it woke them all up. Hughes peeked out the window and paled, Myrte sent everyone but Jasper and herself into the cellar and Jessica sealed them in. Jasper and Myrte took a relaxed pose sitting at the table playing poker, Hughes had gone with the rest to hide, his sister wasn't about to ruin his reputation.
Several minutes of silence passed and Jasper won the first game, they focused on the cards to keep from looking expectant. Myrte glared at him as she dealt another round of cards, her opponent grinning remorselessly. The door suddenly exploded open and men in black outfits rushed into the room and pointed guns at their heads.
Myrte smiled politely, "Can we help you?" A man in a military uniform stepped in and walked up to the two who were still playing their game while watching their enemies. Myrte nearly choked when she saw that it was the Lt. Fuhrer who ordered them to lower their guns. "Colonel Myrte Mustang, The Flaming Soul Alchemist I was hoping we'd get to talk." He glanced at their game and sighed dismissively.
"You two are just as predictable as your parents were, I knew you'd want us to find you. Now where are the rest of your men and brother?" Myrte held a stoic look on her face, "Unfortunately I'm not sure, just the two of us came here, my brother is out for the night." She kept her eyes on his face showing no signs of fear.
Jasper looked bored, he was sitting there with his cards still in hand and patiently waited for the enemy to make the next move. The Lt. Fuhrer gave a sarcastic smile to them and snapped a small gun out of his sleeve he pointed it at Jasper's right arm. "Please do tell the truth, I have a lot of work to do now spit it out if you don't want any harm to come to Jasper."
Myrte shrugged her shoulders and took a sip from her cup on the table, "Well then lets just get this over with." She looked at Jasper with a look of pain and regret. "My men are somewhere here in Central but I'm not sure where, same with my brother." She wasn't fibbing, the group had already escaped through a tunnel they had created.
Her eyes shone with truth and the Lt. Fuhrer gave a pleased laugh, "Ah You know when you've been bested. I like that in a person, so what else can you tell me?" Jasper snorted, "We know nothing else, just that Thompson's goons have been after us for the past two weeks."
The man laughed again, "Yes well, you have a very special invitation that only lasts tonight." He turned and headed back to the door, "Grab them." Jasper and Myrte flew into action fighting back to back and catching the men off guard. The Lt. Fuhrer turned back and shot his gun at Jasper's right arm a small magnetic piece of metal with a wire attached stuck to the palm of his automail hand. Jasper fell over writhing in pain, electricity shooting into his automail and up into his entire body.
Myrte snapped her fingers the wire did not catch fire, she snapped again and again but the gun was flame proof as well. She then went for him and burned his boots. The man cursed and released the trigger, and Jasper's body stopped shaking. Myrte singed his eyebrows and then burned his sleeves. She was about to hit him hard when she felt hot breath on her neck.
She drove her elbow back but it hit what felt like rock instead of flesh. She slowly glanced behind her shoulder and took in a sharp breath. The men he had brought were chimera, people who had been crossed with animals with the help of alchemy. The man behind her was covered in a tough shell much like a tortoise. He moved relatively slow but her moment of shock gave him the chance to smash his fist into her stomach. She fell to her knees in pain and looked at Jasper, he was still lying face down but he was pushing himself up on his left arm.
He staggered to his feet and looked at the chimera around him, one woman looked like she had been fused with a leopard, she would be hard to fight. A gorilla, cobra, bear, tortoise and some kind of bird were the other chimera. Jasper shook his head, he felt sorry for the poor soldiers. The Lt. Fuhrer gave a signal and several of the chimera jumped on him. He kicked off one but claws raked his back and he yelled out in rage.
Something grabbed his automail arm, it was the cobra-man he had poisonous fangs! Jasper yanked his arm free and punched him with it. The cobra-man backed away the hood on his neck flattening menacingly. Jasper turned in time to get punched in the eye by the bear-man. He skidded across the room his left eyes swollen shut.
The leopard-woman rushed him and tried to catch him again with her claws but he blocked with his right arm and she hissed in pain. He had trouble watching her with just one eye. He jumped over her next swipe and planted his knee into her head. He jumped back as she stood straight up and glared at him with her cat eyes, her skin was covered in the leopard print pattern and she had a long thick tail that was moving from side to side angrily.
Jasper sighed as she leapt forward, he dodged her attack and clapped his hands and transmuted himself a spear from the ground. He pointed it at her and began to strike but she slashed it in two, I hate chimera! Myrte was finally back on her feet and snapping her fingers like crazy, she was really sorry for Hughes's house.
Black smoke filled the building blocking sight and causing everyone to choke. Jasper took his right arm and drove it into the leopard-woman's head knocking her unconscious. He was about to call for Myrte in the blackness but someone hit him over the head with a chair. The Lt. Fuhrer laughing was the last thing he remembered.
Myrte felt a hard blow against her back and she fell to the floor, arcs of wild burning pain shooting up and down her spine. She went black as unending pain took over her thoughts. The chimera changed back and they left with the prisoners, leaving Hughes's house in total chaos.
Alphonse Elric stopped, he just stood there and a shiver went up his spine. It wasn't because of the rain soaking through his clothes, he had always cared enough for people to know when they were in trouble. "Please be ok Jasper, Myrte." He whispered as he continued walking down the street. He turned a corner and bumped into someone, he looked over to apologize and saw a very familiar face. It was Denny and Maria Brosh. They were walking hand in hand and finely dressed. "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Brosh! How have you been?"
Maria smiled, after being cleared of Maes Hughes's murder she had let her hair grow long, the smile was genuine, "Alphonse you don't have to be so respectful to us." "I know but it just wouldn't feel right." He smiled helplessly, "How is Edward?" "Oh right you haven't seen him since the wedding, he's the same old Ed. Nothing has changed."
Denny pulled up a newspaper, "We figured this was false." Alphonse nodded, "No the enemy is trying to frame people again." Al looked down at his watch and waved farewell, "I have to be somewhere, it was good to see you again." "Same here Alphonse!"
The happy couple continued on their way, Maria looked at Denny, "I hope everything goes well for them, being framed for a military crime can destroy a reputation in just a few hours. I was lucky to have Mustang see through the lies." Denny held her closer as they walked down the street under their umbrella.
Central was buzzing with talk about Mustang and Elric the next morning. Hughes's house was off limits to civilians and the wreckage checked out by a prominent state alchemist known for his technique in building houses. He verified that the burns on the walls and the hole in the floor were caused by alchemy. Someone said they had seen the fugitives the day before in the early afternoon. Papers were printed with a photograph of Hughes's poor house and a story that said Mustang and Elric had struck again but that the victim was her own family!
People pulled children indoors and mps and soldiers were crawling all over the city apprehending anyone who looked anything like the fugitives who were said to be on a murderous rampage against the state. The fact that Hughes had disappeared sent fear into every person in Central. Things were getting out of hand and none of Mustang's subordinates knew what to do.
